Bob Thomas kicks off mayoral bid

Yes, yes, I know I'm lazy. I should probably write up something fancy about Bob Thomas's kick-off yesterday in his bid for Knox County Mayor.

But I'm lazy. Heh. Click RIGHT SMACK HERE for the video we did yesterday.

Previous Coverage:

The primary is still two years away, but Knox County Commissioner Bob Thomas on Friday will announce a political treasurer for his mayoral bid, a move that will allow him to raise and spend money on his campaign.

Thomas, one of two at-large Republican commissioners and a former local radio personality, said he will file the paperwork at the Knox County Election Commission at 1:30 p.m. He plans to name Mike Price, a well-known developer in West Knoxville and former University of Tennessee football standout, as his treasurer.

“We need to go ahead and get it going,” he told WBIR 10News on April 28.

Rest of that story RIGHT HERE.

Padgett rebuilding could take awhile

Knoxville mayoral candidate Mark Padgett got thumped tonight.

Wasn't much of a surprise.

Heck, I'm writing this two hours before the early voting results have come in.

How could I not?

He ran one of the most damaged campaign I've seen in a long time. Perhaps ever. Lies, distortions, hate. (And not to mention the personal confrontations he had in private with other elected officials and members of the media.)

This crap doesn’t work. Not in a city election.

Anyhoo, I knew I write something about tonight. I knew it weeks ago. And I had all these witty things I wanted to say. But, really, it’s just not worth it.

What can you say, if you've been following this mess?

I'll let the rest pontificate. (That means you hippie, and you rogue, and maybe the mean ones can weigh in, too.)

As for me? I've got two points (unless I digress) that I feel need mentioning.

The first: The “I'm a small businessman” angle. Huh?

WTH? Does he own a business? Yeah. Is it small? No.

It's minuscule. It was stupid to run as a businessman.

He had nothing. He invented something.

He should have run as a martyr. He should have run humble. He should have told the truth.

“I've got five employees – I created five jobs. But, hey, that's important. That helps five families. And one day, I'll grow this company. But, if I had help – if I had the support of my city, if the elected officials had sought grants, created grants, whatever – then maybe my company would be bigger. As mayor that's what I'll do. I'll take these miniscule businesses grow. Five jobs will become 10. Maybe 20. I know what needs to be done. I know what it’s really like to struggle.”

THAT'S what he should have said. Or something like that. Or whatever. But, maybe you get the idea.

Instead, he hid behind the door. He dodged the questions. And he made up numbers. It wasn't until Metro Pulse writer Cari “Mean” Gervin put a gun to his head and said she'd pull the trigger if he didn't answer the question that he finally came clean.

FIVE. Five employees.

And some people don’t even believe that.

The second: The negative campaign. I mean, come on. How cliche is that crap now? What is this, the county? I mean seriously. The mailers, the emails, the whatever.

Sell your soul.

The push to the runoff – the second part of the this election – should have been a run at the next office, the next time. Not now. Cause he wasn't winning this one. (Even going negative.) Jeez. Look at the freakin' primary numbers.

What? Opponent Madeline Rogero is gonna not get that one extra percentage point between then and tonight? Give me a break.

Padgett should have been a pro. He should have cruised. He should have gone positive. Instead, we got bush league.

And that's going to hurt him for a long time.

He's upset too many people.

He had a chance to get the Rogero voters in a race when there is no Rogero.

No chance now. They want nothing to do with him.

(I’m betting Madeline will be gracious in public. Doesn’t mean it’s real.)

He needed those Democrats. That is, if he ever was a Democrat. Or wants to stay one.

Forget it now.

That bridge isn't flame retardant.

He lost his viability among Republicans, too.

They're not sticking around. Not after that thumping.

The money won't come next time. And there'll be a next time. Believe it. That kind of arrogance, confidence, whatever. He'll run again. He has to. (We all know why.)

In the meantime, Padgett should offer up an olive branch.

Turn in the turd who “masterminded” that piece of crap hate mail.

If he doesn't know who it is, he should find out.

Because it didn't exactly do him any good.

Nor did missing the two points I just made.

Daring Dan refused entry to 911 Center

Well, tonight it ends, one of the most half insane, half-damaged elections I’ve seen in a loooong time.

All sides annoy me.

Anyhoo, while Knoxville mayoral candidate “Battling” Madeline Rogero was no doubt in bed at 1 a.m. Mark “Screw Sleep” Padgett was doing some silly “vote rock” or whatever where he campaigned all night to the point where he probably won’t be as effective today – when he probably needs to be – and Rogero will. Or something like that. If I’m even making sense here.

The point of this rambling is that my boy Dan Andrews took Padgett up on his challenge and followed him around for a while earlier today (or late last night). That is until about 1:20 a.m. when the Man with the Supposed Plan visited the E911 Center to take a tour. You know, because that’s where you get votes at 1:20 a.m.

Dan didn’t make it. They wouldn’t let him in. But, according to Andrews, officials let in Padgett and his entourage. Now why didn’t Mark go to bat for Dan? Oh well.

Here’s the story right smack here.

In the meantime, the News Sentinel has rounded up a bunch of folks to twit, tweet, whatever about the election tonight. Check it out under the hashtag #knoxvotes. You can also follow me on Twitter. Just click the link over there to the right on the ol’ blog.

Have a good day, and good luck to both candidates.

Padgett releases two spin jobs today

Knoxville mayoral candidate Mark Padgett has a spin release for everything. He sent me on the other day about taking a whizz.

Kidding. But, he might have, if he'd thought about it.

Or not.

Anyhoo, in today's spin job, the campaign says that opponent “Madeline Rogero's new TV commercial (“Believe”) hides her public record of raising taxes, raising her own pay and creating a politician slush fund.”

Well, no kidding. Her commercial also didn't say she was arrested for being a hippie and that she drinks firewater for breakfast.

I mean, WTH is the relevance?

Padgett's commercials don't say that his business experience consists of creating only five jobs. Or that he drinks rubbing alcohol for breakfast. (Hey, that's a rumor I heard. It must be true. Yeah, someone told me it. Whatever.)

But, why would they?

Still, Padgett again talks about how Rogero voted on “five” tax increases. He might want to check that one. And how she voted to use taxpayer dollars to “fill up a slush fund for Knox County politicians . . . .”

You know what? It's not even worth going into. The Metro Pulse already explained the details this crap. Click right smack here for what the hell raisin' hippies (is that an oxymoron?) had to say.

This race sickens me. BOTH sides annoy me. It's one big freakin' cliché.

And I can't wait until it's over. (Write in my name for mayor.)

In the meantime, another spin job has just come in – that's two from the camp today – and it says that Padgett plans to campaign 24 hours “around the clock” before election day.

So? Just do it. Don't brag about it.

What's he going to do in the middle of the night? Go tent-to-tent through the homeless camps?

I told you he had a spin release for everything.

Heh.

FOP questions whether Padgett told truth

(As always, please note that I don't support any of the candidates and I will be voting for either myself or county spin-control manager Michael “Big Sexy” Grider.)

The local Fraternal Order of Police has called out Knoxville mayoral candidate Mark Padgett. Because some members don't think he told the truth.

You see, the FOP – when they were looking to endorse candidates in the primary and in Tuesday's election – asked them all the same question: “Have you ever been arrested?”

Padget said he was never asked. (You can read the original story by clicking right smack here.)

The organization said he was. And that he answered “no.”

As you might recall, Padgett got bagged for some pissant reckless driving, speeding ticket, whatever in Florida back in 2003.

He basically blew past a cop. Not a big deal really. Until someone says ya lied about it.

“To be fair to everyone, we asked all of the candidates the same questions,” said Mark Taylor, president of Knoxville Fraternal Order of Police, Volunteer Lodge No. 2 “One of those questions was, 'have you ever been arrested?'”

He said FOP officials had no official information that either candidate have ever spent any time in the clink before they conducted the interviews.

The FOP's Pac Committee met individually with each candidate on Aug. 25. Prior to that, they each received a questionnaire, just so the organization could get a better picture of where they stood.

“Everyone who came in front of us was asked the same thing – even the judges – just to be fair,” said Charlie Bundren, the FOP's financial secretary and manager of its fund raising arm. “He (Padgett) said he had not been arrested.”

Bundren said the committee is comprised of the organization's 14-member executive board. He said there were probably about 10 members in the room that day.

I talked to Padgett about the accusations. His response was somewhat shaky.

He first said he “didn't remember” whether he was asked. He said he asked Mark Taylor recently whether he had been. “I'm pretty sure Mark said they didn't (ask that question),” he told me.

Then he said: “My answer, Mike, is 'no they never asked me that – not in the questionnaire or in the interviews.'”

Bundren's response?

“He's not being truthful. Either that or he forgot.”

Bundren, who spent almost 32 years with the Knoxville Police Department and retired as a top-ranking criminal investigator, said “it's a natural question that a law enforcement officer asks.”

I figured I'd give Padgett another chance. Ask the question again. Cause I'm a nice guy.

“I don't remember them asking me that,” he told me. “I wouldn't have lied about it. There was nothing to hide there.”

He said pretty much everyone knew about the driving incident, which he called a “silly, stupid speeding ticket.”

He reiterated: “That's not my recollection” about the direction of the interview questions.

Anyhoo, Bundren said regardless of the answer, the FOP still would have endorsed Padgett's opponent, Madeline Rogero.

(Rogero, by the way, got busted in 1974 and 1989 for acting like a hippie.)

Bundren said the FOP's main concern is that they don't want to endorse someone who has a major crime. Yeah, the whole egg-on-the-face thing.

In this case, “it wouldn't have made any difference, although we got some answers (from other candidates) that shocked all of us,” he said.

Rogero declined to weigh in on the issue, other than to say that she was asked about her prior arrests and didn't have a problem discussing them.

The rain tax, the plan, the (wo)man. Or whatever.

OK, now I've had a few people ask me about the so-called “rain tax.”

Why haven't you written about it? Why haven't you reported it? Why haven't you . . . Whatever.

I don't cover the city. I cover the county. Posts about the city are just gravy for the ole blog. And cause I'm a smart ass, I throw up a few. (Along with the beer I drink when no one is looking.)

Others have also chimed in about this thing. Click right smack here for the rogue's take on it.

But, I'll do Padgett a solid. Since I just spent a few sentences, rambling on like a mental patient about whether he told the truth.

Padgett says no one has written about his 28-page plan. Er, not exactly. I touched on it during a follow-up story after the primary. And I've made fun of it – along with everything else in the world that makes me laugh cause I love entertainment at the expense of others – on the blog.

But, if you click right smack here you can read the 28-page Padgett Plan.

(Oh yeah, and Mark wanted me to tell you that he's on his sixth pair of shoes cause he's been knocking on a lot of doors.)

And man, I digressed.

Back to the “rain” whatever.

If you click right smack here you can check out Padgett's spin release about the tax. He calls out Rogero. He says she's not telling the truth. (Or that's what he told me, anyway. I don't actually read these things. Unless they come from Michael Grider over at the county because I really like to make fun of those.)

According to the big spin:

In several radio interviews, Madeline Rogero stated that she has not proposed a rain tax and that she does not want one. However, according to her Metro Pulse questionnaire, “As mayor, I will implement the Energy and Sustainability Plan produced this past year by Mayor Haslam’s Energy and Sustainability Task Force, which I co-chaired.”

“Talk about misleading people,” Mark told me.

I asked Rogero about this.

She said: “I said before and I'll say it again: I have not proposed nor do I favor a user fee. I was a co-chair the last year with (city policy maker and overall bad ass) Bill Lyons and there were different subgroups that met on different issues. And one of the subgroups proposed that the city leadership look at that, and the city leadership has not proposed to do so and neither have I.”

Final wrap; left over crap. I mean, stuff

Because I got some leftover scribblings, I'll just post them here, clear out the notebook.

Since I mentioned that Rogero received the FOP's endorsement, it's fair to mention that Padgett has snagged a few, too, including support from some of the Haslams, the Realtors and Home Builders Association and Jim Clayton over there at Clayton Bank and Trust.

I don't know whether endorsements will make or break an election, but they probably do help.

As Padgett noted, people don't have a lot of time to sit down with each candidate, so they look to an organization or a friend to find out where they stand. It's good “word of mouth advertising,” Padgett said.

Well, that's certainly the truth.

Heh.

Padgett, Rogero: Is there any money left?

Knoxville mayoral candidates Mark "Where's the Plan, Man" Padgett and "Battling" Madeline "Mad Dog" Rogero have now officially raised enough money to pay off the national debt.

Unfortunately, the two - who have raised somewhere in the vicinity of $80 trillion - are going to use it to make you all suffer through more silly, mundane, whatever television advertisements. At least until next Tuesday.

And then it's over. God, I hope. Maybe the loser will spend his/her remaining coin to track down the person who sent out the hate mail letter. Didn't Padgett say somewhere he wanted to team up and find the person(s) responsible?

(I'd go look out on the golf course. Heh.)

Anyhoo, rambling here. Don't care. (And yeah, I made up that crap about $80 trillion. It's more like $2 billion.)

Rogero raised $123,260 for the month of October. Padgett raised $95,295.

(By the way, do not read anything into this post as to who I think, care or want to win based on whether I put Rogero's name first or Padgett's. I heard some jack-leg the other day talking about how reporters do that. I'm voting for myself. Or Michael Grider.)

Axl, Bill, Tony, definite ramblings

Did you miss me? Thought not. Took a five-day weekend; headed down to Florida to catch the first part of the Guns N’ Roses U.S. tour.

Thought about mentioning it before I left. Because I thought it would be funny if some clown wanted to swing by my pad when I wasn’t there. I’d let them deal with my vodka-fueled giant of a brother and his biker pals. Funny. But not really safe. For them. I decided to let it go. I’m rambling. I know.

Anyhoo, Axl Rose – even at almost 50 – can still bring it. The true porch screamer. From skinny metal head in the 1980s and early 1990s to a now-a-days outlaw. After the band released Chinese Democracy, the government over there banned him from the country. Cool thing to have on the resume.

I might put that one on my bucket list, so long as it isn’t America that bans me. Tennessee, however, would be more likely. I mean, just ask Gov. Big Bill. If he doesn’t like what you say, he’ll just have his goon squad throw you in jail.

Heh.

Speaking of the man who controls the state and has aspirations for the country (in say four to eight years), a reader sent me the form letter his office gives to anyone who complains about the curfew, arrests, whatever.

He got it on Oct. 28. Here:

Dear Friend:

Thank you for writing to Governor Haslam and sharing your concerns regarding the Occupy Nashville protests. Listening to and learning from Tennesseans is very important to us, and we appreciate hearing from you.

We all have a right to peaceably assemble, and those assemblies should be safe, sanitary, and non-destructive.

Criminal activity and deteriorating sanitary conditions over the past several days on Legislative Plaza created an environment that is unsafe for the protestors, state employees, and everyone who lives, works and enjoys downtown Nashville. Therefore, permits will be granted to protestors on a daily basis from 9:00am until 4:00pm.

While this administration wholeheartedly supports freedom of speech, assembly and petition, it is our responsibility to keep people safe on state property. Abiding by these hours allows for a safe event, while ensuring the people's right to peaceably assemble.

Again, thank you for writing. We look forward to working with you and all Tennesseans to make our great state an even better place to live, work and raise a family.

Kindest regards,
The Governor's Office of Constituent Services

OK, some more stuff to catch up on.

The St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series. Cool. I like Tony LaRussa. Glad the coach is going out on top.

I hope you had a good Halloween.

The Knoxville mayoral election is next week. If you don’t like any of the candidates, write in my name.

I’m not going to address the recent hate letter that disparaged a mayoral candidate and a bunch of supporters. OK, I will address it. Whoever wrote it is a dick.

Moving on here.

My boy Larry Van Guilder over at the Shopper News just had surgery. He’s feeling a lot better, and he should be back in force soon.

That’s also pretty cool.

Harmon to Rogero: Say you're sorry

There’s quite a bit of energy and feistiness getting poured into this Knoxville mayoral campaign. Certainly, a lot more than you’d normally see in an election where only about four people are expected to vote.

Heh.

Anyhoo, on Wednesday, Mark “Da Plan” Padgett called a spin conference to announce some endorsements. Later, opponent “Battlin’” Madeline Rogero – again playing the defensive role – called her own spin deal.

She also issued a spin release which you can find right smack here.

Truth be told, I didn’t read the thing. They’re all the same, but the names change. I just skim these things to make there’s no cuss words in them. Cause this is a family blog. And we don’t cuss, talk about beer or throw in sexual innuendos that my editors haven’t caught yet.

But, I digress.

Since I do read the comments here (entertaining stuff, particularly the things about Toby and Rikki kicking ass and drinking beer) I learned that Rogero threw out some Black Wednesday references.

So, this morning, “Metal Shed Hater” Brian Hornback sent me some spin from Ivan “Darn Straight I’m a Republican” Harmon, a former mayoral candidate.

You can find the note by clicking right smack here.

(Normally, I'd just reprint it here, but I'm having formatting troubles this morning and too lazy to work through them.)

Yeah, this is going to be a good race.

Heh.

Knoxville's Battlin' Madeline strikes back

Knoxville mayoral candidate Madeline "Mad Dog" Rogero has a press conference today at 3 p.m.

(it's probably going on about right now.)

She sent the Media a spin release, which she asked folks to embargo.

Until now.

So, here's Battlin' Madelin's prepared thoughts on the losing mayoral candidates endorsing her opponent Mark "Da' Plan" Padgett:

A few years ago, over at our County courthouse, a small group of political insiders tried to stage a coup, on a day we all know as “Black Wednesday.”

Earlier today, standing next to many of those same “Black Wednesday” insiders, my opponent put on a show that perfectly illustrates the contrast between us. He lined up a group of politicians and job-seekers on the steps of the County courthouse. Their appearance with him has almost nothing to do with who is the best choice for city mayor, and everything to do with the old-style insider politics of the County courthouse.

Sadly, my opponent’s stunt today has shown us that he is, in the end, a child of those same courthouse politics. But, Mark, let’s be clear: Though today is a Wednesday, there will never be a “Black Wednesday” here in our city.

We reject those politics. Our Knoxville conducts business in the open. His Knoxville makes deals in the back room. Our Knoxville takes humble pride in what all of us accomplish together. His Knoxville will arrogantly reserve power to the few. Our Knoxville looks forward to a bright future. His Knoxville wants to move backward to a dim past.

That Knoxville is over. Our Knoxville has already begun. Behind me is a great example of what enlightened and experienced leadership can accomplish.

For 30 years, the Three Rivers Market (TRM) operated out of a much smaller building on Broadway with limited parking as its sales revenue continued to grow, even during this recent recession. They desperately needed a larger location.

I proudly served as Bill Haslam’s Director of Community Development. Our department, working with the Partnership for Neighborhood Improvement, created the city’s business expansion revolving loan program that provided critical gap financing in the form of a business expansion loan. Working together, TRM was able to purchase this property and construct this beautiful building, making a $2.5 million investment in this community.

The result? Increased sales, and sales taxes, and a workforce that’s going to double.

My community development team also managed the city’s commercial façade improvement loan program. Look up and down Central Avenue and you will also see millions of dollars of new investment spurred by our public-private partnership.

In fact, this program alone has invested $3.5 million in Knoxville, resulting in $11.9 million in private sector investment, 260 new jobs, and over 400 construction jobs.

The TRM success story is one we can repeat all over Knoxville in the next four years, one we will repeat. Because our Knoxville knows that a productive partnership between business and government is already woven into the city. In Mark’s Knoxville, it’s just being discovered.

Effective economic development with a solid return on investment has been happening here, and will keep happening here. It takes a Mayor with experience to make it work, and I’ve been working on it for over 25 years. He’s been reading about it for maybe nine months. Business-government cooperation is not something Knoxville needs to be schooled on by Mark Padgett.

I think the choice between us is clear.

I intend to continue what we were so successful at during Mayor Haslam’s administration: making Knoxville greater. We listened, and together with neighborhoods and businesses we created the Downtown North Redevelopment Plan that is transforming this area.

I have the experience. Together we put together the vision. And the results are right in front of you.

As Mayor, I will never stop working to build our city, help bring good jobs and businesses here, strengthen our neighborhoods and improve our quality of life. That is my promise to the people of our city.