Padgett expected to run for clerk

Word going around is that Knox County Clerk Foster Arnett Jr., a Republican, will have some competition in August's general election. (He's not expected face an opponent - or one of any merit, anyway - in the May primary.)

Mike Padgett, a Democrat, who was term-limited out of the clerk's office in 2007, has picked up - or plans to up - a nominating petition for the seat. And yes, before you ask, he can run again. Term limits apply to the amount of terms in a row someone can serve, rather than the overall number of terms.

The last time Padgett, as I recall, was really involved in politics was a failed bid in the Democratic Primary for the U.S. Senate in 2008.  His son, Mark, lost the city mayoral bid a couple years ago to Madeline Rogero in a non-partisan race.

Audit released - some problems found

A combined series of accounting errors between the county trustee’s office and the finance department during 2011 and earlier led the school system to operate under the guise that it had $1 million more in its reserve funds than it actually did during the past couple of years, according to a report made public to the county’s Audit Committee on Tuesday.

No cash, however, actually changed hands and the money was never spent. The mistake occurred on paper only.

Still, auditors dinged the county for the snafu, saying it could eventually have led to more compounded accounting issues, and “resulted in unnecessary complexity in the Trustee’s accounting records.”

Since discovered, though, the mayor’s office and trustee’s office have corrected the matter, using more “stringent recordkeeping procedures” put in place last year at the recommendation of the Audit Committee, according to county Finance Director Chris Caldwell.

“There’s no such thing as a good finding, but this is a good finding in the sense that the procedures worked and for the first time in a long time, there is a great communication between the Trustee’s Office and the finance department that allows us to tie down every account,” Caldwell said.

The county’s Audit Committee spent part of Tuesday discussing the county’s annual report, an in-depth analysis that delves into the fiscal year budget that covered July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013.

In it, the external auditor, Knoxville-based Pugh & Co., cited three problems.

External auditors found a $2.4 million discrepancy between the county’s financial books and the Trustee Office’s financial books. They called the difference a “material weakness,” a technical description that describes a misstatement which could take longer to correct or could be missed altogether.

The $2.4 million overstatement stemmed from a series of liability accounts that were never reconciled between the two departments for a number of years.

The mistake led officials to believe that the county’s reserve fund – and the school system’s reserve fund – each appeared to have about a $1 million more in them then they really did. (The school system gets a cut of collected property taxes.)

Caldwell said now both offices have put procedures in place to fix the matter and to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Auditors also noted two “significant deficiencies,” mistakes that are slightly less damning than material weaknesses but still keep management from discovering a problem in a timely manner.

Auditors said the county’s accounting systems doesn’t produce reports that allow auditors to easily follow the county’s capital assets, which include any equipment that’s worth more than $5,000, like vehicles or buildings.

The county by the end of the month plans to bring in a consultant to tailor the reporting needs and resolve the matter, Caldwell said. The consultant will probably cost about $5,000.

The audit also said that the county at times didn’t adhere to the Davis-Bacon Act, a federal mandate that requires officials to follow certain rules to ensure that the contractors who oversaw a series of low-income housing projects funded with more than $200,000 in “community development block” grants turned in the proper payroll paperwork.

County officials said turnover in the community development department at the time created a lapse in monitoring. The new employees have been trained in the proper procedures.

Neither Caldwell nor Leuthold were in charge of their respective departments when the mistakes occurred.

Mistakes that aren’t corrected could end up affecting the county’s bond rating, which could lead to higher interest rates when the county takes out loans or issues bonds.

County audit to note a few problems

As I said would happen back in mid-December, the county received a clean bill of health from its auditors in a review tied to its annual report, which covered the entire previous fiscal year.

However, I noted that when the county officially turns over the single audit report (this is kind of the sister report to the comprehensive finance report, or CAFR), that there were going to be some problems.

Well, that report will be made publicly on Tuesday when the Audit Committee accepts it. And, like I predicted, officials will talk about several problems auditors found.

“A government our size is always going to have an audit finding,” said County Finance Director Chris “Money Bags” Caldwell. “We expect a handful of findings. The key to the thing is cleaning up the findings from the previous year.”

However, Caldwell, who didn’t actually take the top finance gig until the middle of last year so you really can't blame him for any of it, said the county has taken care of the problems.

You can read the original story I wrote right smack here.

A different look at teacher survey

In the KNS’ continuing effort to hunky-dory-up (first time I’ve ever used that word in print) all things for the school system, the paper’s latest press release today – right smack here if you want to pay money for stuff you can find elsewhere for free – left out some crucial information.

Big surprise. But, hey, it’s not just me complaining. Hit the social media world. Lots of folks have expressed dismay! (Yellow Card for you, KNS. Heh.)

Anyhoo, the school system last night released the results to its anonymous teacher survey.

Let’s look at how the Slantinel reported the “facts” and then let’s look at how the real world sees them.

KNS: 29.9 percent of teachers agreed that Common Core standards will benefit instruction and student learning, while 22.6 percent disagreed.

Real World: A combined 37.3 percent of teachers “STRONGLY Disagree” and “Disagree” that Common Core standards will benefit instruction and student learning, while 35.6 percent "Agree" and "STRONGLY Agree."

Big FREAKING difference, huh? See how it gets switched around when you include more facts?????

How about another one:

KNS: 32.5 percent disagreed that teachers had the opportunity to provide input regarding the district’s strategic direction, while only 17.8 percent agreed they had.

Real World: A combined 60.9 percent “STRONGLY Disagree” and “Disagree” that teachers had the opportunity to provide input regarding the district’s strategic direction, while only 19.2 percent “Agree” and “STRONGLY Agree.”

Now, in order to continue its consistent quest of inconsistency, KNS decides to note that “77.9 percent of teachers said their school was a good place to work and learn.”

Well, wait a minute here, but that 77.9 percent is a combination of the “agree” and “strongly agree” categories. Why combine them both now????

Oh yeah.

Heh.

‘Cause everything is hunky-dory.

In the meantime, you can find the entire survey right smack here and make up your own mind.

Whether you agree or disagree. 

Regas could still operate as eatery

Well, it looks like there's a chance the Regas Restaurant could remain an eatery.

I just got off the horn with Roger Moore, president of the real estate services firm Sperry Van Ness/R.M. Moore, which helped oversee the sale, and he said the new owners  have “no definitive plans” yet but could potentially lease the lower portion of the building for restaurant and office space.

(Moore by the way is no relation to the baddest a$$ James Bond but a nice guy nonetheless.)

The new owners, he said, are a group of local investors, dubbed Regas Property, LLC.

“I can’t say as of yet who they are because they don’t want it made public yet, but they have a passion for Knoxville and the Regas,” he said. “The property is important to them to maintain and as part of Knoxville’s history.”

Moore added that the investors, in part, also purchased the iconic building because there were other potential suitors that wanted the property but planned to demolish it.”

Regas Restaurant sold for $2 million

Area's in blue were sold

The former Regas Restaurant, a long-time downtown meeting place for some of the area and region’s biggest political players, has been sold for $2 million to a new company dubbed Regas Property, LLC, according to the paperwork filed Monday with the Knox County Register of Deed’s Office.

The building, located at 318 N. Gay St. just north of Market Square, closed Dec. 31, 2010. At the time, proprietor Bill Regas said the eatery was tough to keep open as it competed with construction projects, other nearby culinary competition and an overall poor economy.

Brothers Frank and George Regas founded the restaurant in 1919.

The sales includes the iconic building, and the property and parking lot that fronts West Depot from N. Gay Street to Williams Street with the exception of a 25-foot strip owned by the City of Knoxville. The total is roughly 2.25 acres.

Regas Property, LLC is a new company. The address goes back to real estate services firm Sperry Van Ness/R.M. Moore.

Big Bill vs. Raccoon for Governor

I meant to post this on Friday, but looks like Big Bill will have some competition during his re-election. Or, well, he'll have a challenger anyway. From Tena Lee of the Gallatin News Examiner:

A Gallatin man who made national headlines when state wildlife officials confiscated his pet raccoon last year has announced he is running for governor.

Mark "Coonrippy" Brown, 55, pulled a petition for the office on Friday with intentions to challenge incumbent Gov. Bill Haslam in the Republican primary in August.

"This is all about the raccoon," Brown said.

Brown gained national attention in July following the seizure of his pet raccoon, Rebekah, by Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officials. Brown claimed he was targeted by the agency after videos of him with another raccoon, Gunshow, went viral. His quest to regain ownership of Rebekah was eventually featured on CNN when he appeared on the Anderson Cooper 360 RidicuList in August.

Brown said his letter to TWRA officials seeking a permit went unanswered and a petition to Haslam with over 60,000 signatures was returned unopened.

"Gov. Haslam ignored the cries from the entire United States," he said.

The Gallatin High School graduate said that by running for governor he hopes to "expose the people in office who are not for the people."

"He can free prisoners, he can pardon people, but he refused the online petition and refused to accept the letter," he said. "All eyes were on Tennessee and it made us look bad. It made it look like we were under Caesar's law."

Brown said he has plenty of support for a campaign on Facebook, YouTube and "the media across the planet."

The licensed firearms dealer and former city of Gallatin employee said he's not deterred by his lack of political experience and hopes to capitalize on his outsider status.

"We've got to take this country back one state at a time," he said. "We live in the United States of the Offended -- not the United States of America."

Friday was the first day candidates could pick up petitions for the Aug. 7 state and federal primary races and for nonpartisan Sumner County general election seats, such as school board. The deadline for petitions to be returned is noon on April 3.

State, Farragut candidates can get nominating petitions for election

Only a handful of candidates on Friday picked up a nominating petition to run in the primary election for open state House and Senate seats that represent the area, according to the Knox County Election Commission.

However, most incumbents have suggested recently that they plan to seek re-election.

The deadline to qualify is noon April 3.

As it stands, Cheri Siler, a Democrat and instructional coach in the Knox County school system, picked up a petition to run for the 7^th District state Senate seat currently held by Republican Stacey Campfield.

Knox County Commissioner Richard Briggs, a Republican, also is expected to challenge Campfield, but he did not pick up a petition yet.

The state primaries are set for Aug. 7 with the general election is scheduled for Nov. 4.

Also on Friday, state Rep. Gloria Johnson, a Democrat, picked up a petition to seek re-election for her  District 13 seat, as did state Rep. Steve Hall, a Republican and the District 18 House incumbent.

The following state seats also are up for re-election: 5^th District Senate (Randy McNally, R); 14^th District House (Ryan Haynes, R); 15^th District House (Joe Armstrong, D); 16^th District House (Bill Dunn, R); 19^th District House (Harry Brooks, 19); and 89^th District House (Roger Kane, R).

Friday also marked the first day that Town of Farragut candidates could pick up nominating petitions, although no one did. The mayoral post and two alderman seats are up for re-election.  The seats are non-partisan. That election is also set for Aug. 7.

Candidates need to meet certain qualifications to run for office. In addition, they need 25 signatures from registered voters who can vote in that particularly race.

Was McClain's BOE candidacy a ruse?

Word I’m hearing now from several sources is that Jim McClain, who picked up a nominating petition on Dec. 27 to run for the 9^th District School Board seat, did it for show, rather than to actually run.

Funny.

Anyhoo, Georgiana Vines over at the Slantinel wrote a column about his possibility as a candidate – right smack here for the pay wall that mostly features information that you can read elsewhere for free – and, well, quite frankly, at the time I wondered what his intentions were.

As Vines noted, he didn’t really distinguish himself from Pam Trainor, the incumbent whose campaign he actually managed four years ago. In her column, McClain suggested that he “sees the reasoning for Common Core standards” and didn’t “blame McIntyre for the mixed feelings in the community.”

So what were his motivations? Well, maybe he will run. Or maybe he just wanted to get the juices flowing, maybe get some other folks invigorated enough to run.

Whatever the case, two others since then – retired teacher Larry Clark (as noted by the rogue blogger Brian Hornback right smack here) and librarian Amber Rountree – have also since picked up nominating petitions.

Those two, I suspect, will distinguish themselves from Trainor who (from the way I’m hearing it) pretty much ignored the overall will of South Knoxville residents when she approved the superintendent’s gazillion dollar school budget a few years ago and then most recently agreed to give the superintendent another year on his contract.

The biggest beneficiary if McClain does pull out, however, will more than likely be Clark if he does decide to run. I suspect that the two of them would have split each other’s votes, allowing Rountree and Trainor to slide into the August general election. (This is assuming it would have been a four-person race.)

Now, it’s going to be a little harder to predict.

Well, not really.

But that’s for another time.

For the latest on who has picked up petitions, click right smack here.

Davis to host kick-off gig Jan. 7

Local attorney Kristi Davis, who is seeking the Circuit Court Judge Division 1 seat, announced a campaign kick-off reception for Tuesday from 5-7 p.m. at the Bistro at the Bijou.

The public is invited and campaign contributions are welcome but not required.

The primary is in May and the general election is set for August. Incumbent judge, Dale Workman, has said that he won't seek re-election.

Davis, a Republican, is expected to face opposition from attorneys Ray Jenkins, Billy Stokes and Bill Ailor, who have also announced their intentions to seek the position. All are Republicans.

As always, any candidates can send me their election announcements, campaign plans, etc. for publication.

KCSO releases NYE traffic stats

The Knox County Sheriff's Office today released its holiday traffic stats for New Year's Eve, and it looks like deputies popped 11 people for DUI.

The Man with the Badge and crew conducted saturation patrols throughout the county, starting at 9 Tuesday night and ending at 5 Wednesday morning.

Deputies issued 405 citations for various offenses and threw 95 people in the clink.

They also worked seven crashes where alcohol was involved. No fatalities, however, were reported.

Knoxville unveils homelessness plan

The City of Knoxville, in a long-winded press release that was no-doubt written by new spin-guy Eric Vreeland (who never met a news story he couldn't hack 4 inches off - heh), has released a draft plan to combat homelessness.

You can find the plan itself right smack here. (And no, I'm not copying and pasting the whole release.)

The city will host a "public input session" at 5:30 p.m. on Feb 11 at the Cansler Family YMCA, 616 Jessamine St.

The City Council has set a 5:30 p.m. Feb. 27 date to talk more about the plan. The council will hold that meeting in the Main Assembly Room of the Death Star.

You can also email comment about the plan to Michael Dunthorn at mdunthorn@cityofknoxville.org.