Black Wednesday focus of Inside TN

Schmid, Harmon, Barker

Black Wednesday.

Say the words to anyone who follows local government and they’ll know just exactly what you’re talking about.

It was a special called meeting of the Knox County Commission that took place on Jan. 31, 2007. At the time, the board was tasked with filling 12 term-limited offices.

The meeting was riddled with accusations of vote-trading and marked by numerous restroom breaks as officials sneaked off to cut deals. At one point a newly appointed commissioner was even secretly sworn-in, so he could help cast a deciding vote for another officeholder and hook up a political friend.

In the end, the board was found guilty of violating the state’s sunshine law.

However, there also was some good that came out of that meeting.   

   

This Sunday’s edition of “Inside Tennessee” on WBIR 10News focuses on Black Wednesday and its aftermath.

The guests are Knoxville News Sentinel editorial page editor Scott Barker and former county commissioners Mark Harmon and John Schmid.

The 30-minute political and public affairs program, which was taped Thursday, kicks off at 9:30 a.m. Sunday on WBIR.

Panelists include WBIR reporter Mike Donila, attorney Don Bosch and governmental relations specialist Susan Williams.

WBIR reporter Michael Crowe serves as the show’s moderator.

Harmon V Owen: Democratic executive committee election getting fun

Mark Harmon, a former Knox County commissioner who is seeking a spot on the state's Democratic Executive Committee and is no relation to the actor (that I know of), sent over the following television ad (I got a chuckle at the beginning):



In his email, Mark said that his opponent, Bill Owen, "thinks that donations to candidates are the key qualification for the Democratic executive committee. Yet, he has given the following to Republican candidates during the time he's been serving on the Democratic Executive Committee (source: RIGHT SMACK HERE, using federal campaign contribution data):

OWEN, WILLIAM S, KNOXVILLE, TN ASSET & EQUITY LLC/Consultant
11/17/98 $750 McCain, John (R)
9/23/03 $2,000 National Republican Senatorial Cmte (R)
3/9/00 $1,000 Thomas, Bill (R)
2/24/99 $1,000 McCain, John (R)
10/17/95 $1,000 Quillen, James H (R)

Bill responded over at the hippie's site, saying:

Mr. Harmon has spent the entire campaign bragging about bringing "resources" to candidates. But the reality is he has never given any money-or any other visible resource- to the Tennessee Democratic Party. Yes, I guess the truth hurts his campaign, but elections are about choices and to date Mr. Harmon had chosen to be "Missing in Action" when it comes to contributing to Tennessee Democratic Nominees except in rare instances.

You can find Bill's entire statement, RIGHT SMACK HERE.

As always, send me your campaign stuff for publication consideration.

Francis leaving election commission

Dennis Francis (photo by Metro Pulse)

Denis Francis is apparently stepping down from the Knox County Election Commission when his term ends in two months. As you might recall, Francis, a local attorney, was appointed to serve out the term for the seat held by Democrat Cameron Brooks, who left in April 2011 to take a new job (but is apparently back, so that didn't last long, but I digress.)

According to former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe, who writes a column over at the Shopper, State Rep. Gloria Johnson will make a recommendation for his replacement to the state Election Commission.

Ashe also said that former Knox County Commissioner Mark Harmon and attorney Tammy Kaousias are possible replacements.

I talked to Dennis a little while ago and he said that he doesn't want to stay on board. He said representing the Sevier County Election Commission and dealing with that whole Pigeon Forge liquor mess is keeping him busy.

Plus, he said: “I'm not having that much fun. They horse- (insert bad word here) Mackay, so it's hard to get warm and fuzzy with them.”

Heh. Hahahaha. Nice!

Dennis was referring to commission's April 2011 meeting when, voting along party lines, the commission fired Greg Mackay, the longtime elections administrator, and one of Dennis' close friends.

I asked him: “It's cool, I use that quote, right?”

Dennis: “I've told them that so many times, one more would probably be redundant.”

Hah.

UT twit crashes the County Commission

“It was a weird, illogical, compromised and petty world I would be entering. It may be too much to change. But the effort was needed, the tasks were needed, and the forthcoming lessons in human nature and organization behavior would be worth the ride.” - former county Commissioner Mark Harmon

Former Knox County Commissioner Mark Harmon recently published a book. I don’t plan to review here (I’m not even through it yet), although I’ll probably write something for the paper later. (Maybe during these slow holiday months.)

I just figured if you like Knox County politics (does anyone actually like Knox County politics?), then you should probably check it out.

Tellico Books out of Oak Ridge published the 140-something page book, “Crashing the Commission Confessions of a University Twit.” It’s a very smooth read, written mostly in a conversation style, and if you know the players, then you'll appreciate some of the inside humor.

And, whether you agree or not with his politics (he ain’t from around here; he’s a Democrat; therefore, he’s a hippie), Harmon is a smart guy and there’s some cool insight (although maybe not necessarily anything you haven’t read before) into term limits, Black Wednesday and whatever else happened during his tenure on the commission (I’m only on page 70 right now).

Harmon, a University of Tennessee professor, represented the 2nd District on the commission from 2006-2010. When voters downsized the board from 19 members to 11, he opted not to run again (which would have pitted him against his friend, Amy Broyles).

Check out the book. You can order it by clicking right smack here.

I won’t spoil anything for you.