Well, it looks like 12 folks have now applied for the Trustee gig, including former Trsutee Fred Sisk and William "Bill" Curtis, who served a brief stint as the office's chief of staff before stepping down in mid-May to retire (again).
You can find the complete list of names and resumes (including all the new ones), right smack here.
I expected Fred to apply. He served as Trustee for a few years and worked in the office for a loooong time. He's also credited with tipping off the TBI (which took a loooong time to investigate) about office issues.
Curtis, who spent 40 years at Curtis Mortgage where he was president and CEO, joined John Duncan III's staff in September 2010. He's well-respected and was later tapped to serve as chief of staff after Joshua Burnett resigned.
When he Curtis, he told me it was to spend more time with his grandchildren. My guess is someone encouraged him to throw his name in, and he's doing it because he's a nice guy. I seriously don't expect him to run for office. He's a lot more low key than most of the top officials over at the Deathstar and would more than likely not want to put up with all the BS that comes with the full-time, fully-elected gig.
Showing posts with label Fred Sisk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fred Sisk. Show all posts
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Trustee candidates begin to emerge
Expect more, but here are the resumes from the first batch of candidates for the Trustee's spot . . . and click right smack here for them. I'm on vacation, so feel free to analyze them yourselves. There's nothing fancy about them, but a few folks in there appear qualified (at least on paper).
Previously, I blogged here and here (and wrote a WBIR story here) about potential candidates, but so far none of them have applied. I'm sure that will change for at least a few. From what I understand, Commission Vice Chairman R. Larry Smith is out of the running. I kind of expected that as he didn't have the six votes on the commission (although he probably could have come close).
Privately, some commissioners want former Trustee Fred Sisk in the office, but aren't sure if they want him at top. Still, officials say his experience in the department will be crucial as it transitions into whatever.
Also, word is that Commissioner Ed Shouse will run for the office, regardless of whether he is selected for the interim role (and remember, Ed hasn't applied for it yet).
Previously, I blogged here and here (and wrote a WBIR story here) about potential candidates, but so far none of them have applied. I'm sure that will change for at least a few. From what I understand, Commission Vice Chairman R. Larry Smith is out of the running. I kind of expected that as he didn't have the six votes on the commission (although he probably could have come close).
Privately, some commissioners want former Trustee Fred Sisk in the office, but aren't sure if they want him at top. Still, officials say his experience in the department will be crucial as it transitions into whatever.
Also, word is that Commissioner Ed Shouse will run for the office, regardless of whether he is selected for the interim role (and remember, Ed hasn't applied for it yet).
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Potential picks to replace Duncan
With John Duncan III out as trustee, you know folks are
going to come from all around the woodwork, looking for that good $110K-a-year
(or so) job. Heh.
Anyhoo, at this point it looks like the county commission
will meet some time in the upcoming weeks to hash out the rules and then start
taking resumes.
I know board Chairman Tony Norman would like to appoint a
caretaker to the post rather than someone who intends to run for the seat. From
what I’ve heard, though, not everyone is on board with the plan, so we’ll see.
So far, I’ve heard six names getting kicked around.
Sooooo, in alphabetical order:
- Ann Acuff: Former longtime Knox County finance worker and high up on the bean counting team's totem pole before retiring about a year or so ago.
- Mike Hammond, a Knox County commissioner, former board chairman and someone who’s been rumored as a candidate for the criminal court clerk post.
- Craig Leuthold, a former Knox County commissioner, former trustee office employee, currently with the property assessor’s office.
- Ed Shouse, a Knox County commissioner, member of the pension board, chairman of the county’s investment committee and all-around sharp guy.
- Fred Sisk, former Trustee and all-around nice dude.
- R. Larry Smith, a Knox County commissioner, the board’s current vice chairman and someone who’s been rumored as a candidate for a number of seats.
Now, I’m also hearing that of these potential picks, only
Sisk is interested in seeking the spot in the caretaker capacity. (I've heard the same also about Acuff although I haven't talked to her and I'm not absolutely sure she wants the job or if folks are just floating her name.)
“Whoever wants to run, can run and start fresh,” Sisk told me.
“I don’t want to use the appointment as a leg up.”
Fred said he’d be able to start immediately and “that there
are a number of things that need to be done.”
He noted that the county just wrapped up its fiscal year, so
that means the annual audit is right around the corner. After that? Tax season.
Sisk also said he’d be willing to stay on board to help
mentor a new trustee through the transitional process. (This in fact should
have been done under Duncan, but he opted not to keep Sisk.)
Say what you will, but the idea makes a lot of sense.
Duncan’s term expires Aug. 31, 2014.
As for Kristin Phillips, who is serving as the interim
trustee, I don’t expect her to run. She’s served in a manager capacity for
quite some time, however, she also lives in Anderson County. Or Blount County.
Or whatever county that isn’t Knox County.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
No end in sight for Trustee probe
It seems on the surface, anyway, that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation moved fast when agents looked into former Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner.
And the resolution was even quicker.
Less than a year after the TBI started its September 2010 probe, the long-time judge resigned from his post and pleaded guilty to official misconduct, a felony.
That was a few weeks ago.
So what the heck is going on with that investigation into the Trustee's Office? It's been kicking around for years, and a number of folks, including several county commissioners, have called me, saying they believe it's political.
I'm not sure about that, but it certainly seems to be dragging.
And, of course, state investigators aren’t saying much.
“It’s still an ongoing active investigation, so there’s nothing we can release,” Jerri Powell, special agent in charge of the TBI’s Criminal Intelligence Unit, told me Friday. “I’d say it will be a little bit (longer).”
And that was the extent to that conversation.
However, John Duncan III, the county’s trustee since September (who has nothing to do with the past allegations), provided some insight to me last week.
Although he acknowledged that “there’s no indication on when things will get wrapped up,” he did say that as recently as two weeks ago, “they were asking for old records.”
He didn’t elaborate on what. Either that or I forgot to ask. (Hey, it’s freakin’ blog, I can’t provide everything here. I got to save the good stuff for the paper.)
“My impression is that they just had one investigator and they had to pull her off the case and put her on other cases,” Duncan said. “But the last time they came in there were three of them.”
Well then, maybe something will happen soon.
Anyhoo, Duncan said they were looking at (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) “extra comp time payments and ghost employees."
“They requested documents for people who were supposedly out serving summons,” he said. “They were digging back eight to 10 years. I’m not sure how many (former employees) were involved.”
Well, that makes sense.
This whole mess dates to the Mike Lowe era.
Back in February 2009, Duncan’s immediate predecessor, Fred Sisk, asked the TBI to examine payroll practices in the trustee’s office after a $68,000-a-year employee received $195,000 in total 2008 compensation. (That would be operations manager Johnny Haun, whom Sisk fired by the way.)
The state also is looking into payroll discrepancies involving extra payments of overtime, vacation and sick leave. (Some of the would be under the Sisk-administration.)
Sisk also fired Sam Harb, the office’s delinquent-tax supervisor and online payment manager, in April 2010.
Harb, too was connected to the TBI probe. In fact, when the whole thing began, the agency seized three computers of employees, including his.
For his part, Duncan says he’s cleaned house (essentially two folks) of anyone who might have any connections to the investigation. (He actually got rid of a third person for unrelated reasons when he took office.)
“To the best of my knowledge there’s no one in my office being looked at,” he said.
When asked what he’s heard about the investigation (the state isn’t telling him a whole lot either, according to Duncan), he said: "You always hear different things that they’re supposedly looking into. You also hear about people doing political work on county time.”
Then, after saying that, he quickly stressed that he told his workers that he won’t accept any future campaign contributions and that they better not be doing work on county time.
He did say that a few of them asked whether they could support candidates in the city’s upcoming mayoral race.
He said that’s fine. As long as it’s after 5 p.m.
And the resolution was even quicker.
Less than a year after the TBI started its September 2010 probe, the long-time judge resigned from his post and pleaded guilty to official misconduct, a felony.
That was a few weeks ago.
So what the heck is going on with that investigation into the Trustee's Office? It's been kicking around for years, and a number of folks, including several county commissioners, have called me, saying they believe it's political.
I'm not sure about that, but it certainly seems to be dragging.
And, of course, state investigators aren’t saying much.
“It’s still an ongoing active investigation, so there’s nothing we can release,” Jerri Powell, special agent in charge of the TBI’s Criminal Intelligence Unit, told me Friday. “I’d say it will be a little bit (longer).”
And that was the extent to that conversation.
However, John Duncan III, the county’s trustee since September (who has nothing to do with the past allegations), provided some insight to me last week.
Although he acknowledged that “there’s no indication on when things will get wrapped up,” he did say that as recently as two weeks ago, “they were asking for old records.”
He didn’t elaborate on what. Either that or I forgot to ask. (Hey, it’s freakin’ blog, I can’t provide everything here. I got to save the good stuff for the paper.)
“My impression is that they just had one investigator and they had to pull her off the case and put her on other cases,” Duncan said. “But the last time they came in there were three of them.”
Well then, maybe something will happen soon.
Anyhoo, Duncan said they were looking at (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) “extra comp time payments and ghost employees."
“They requested documents for people who were supposedly out serving summons,” he said. “They were digging back eight to 10 years. I’m not sure how many (former employees) were involved.”
Well, that makes sense.
This whole mess dates to the Mike Lowe era.
Back in February 2009, Duncan’s immediate predecessor, Fred Sisk, asked the TBI to examine payroll practices in the trustee’s office after a $68,000-a-year employee received $195,000 in total 2008 compensation. (That would be operations manager Johnny Haun, whom Sisk fired by the way.)
The state also is looking into payroll discrepancies involving extra payments of overtime, vacation and sick leave. (Some of the would be under the Sisk-administration.)
Sisk also fired Sam Harb, the office’s delinquent-tax supervisor and online payment manager, in April 2010.
Harb, too was connected to the TBI probe. In fact, when the whole thing began, the agency seized three computers of employees, including his.
For his part, Duncan says he’s cleaned house (essentially two folks) of anyone who might have any connections to the investigation. (He actually got rid of a third person for unrelated reasons when he took office.)
“To the best of my knowledge there’s no one in my office being looked at,” he said.
When asked what he’s heard about the investigation (the state isn’t telling him a whole lot either, according to Duncan), he said: "You always hear different things that they’re supposedly looking into. You also hear about people doing political work on county time.”
Then, after saying that, he quickly stressed that he told his workers that he won’t accept any future campaign contributions and that they better not be doing work on county time.
He did say that a few of them asked whether they could support candidates in the city’s upcoming mayoral race.
He said that’s fine. As long as it’s after 5 p.m.
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