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Priorities, priorities…
Posted By katie allison granju
Offered without comment, two stories from Knox County government during the past 24 hours:
Clinic offering free health services for working poor denied county grant funding
Mayor Mike Ragsdale reimburses county taxpayers for things like unused plane tickets and $76 car detailing services, using some of the $82,788.81 remaining in his campaign warchest.
Mar 28th, 2008
Mayor says campaign donations for P-card reimbursements falls under “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy
Knoxville, TN. Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale explained today that his use of campaign donations to repay some of his P-card purchases falls under a newly revealed “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The mayor went on to say that the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy covers many other aspects of his administration.
“Purchase receipts, for instance, fall under ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’” explained Ragsdale. “If a staffer doesn’t tell us that they don’t have purchase receipts for copies at Kinko’s or flashingblinkylights.com or whatever, well, then, we don’t ask. It makes everything run much smoother.”
“This also explains why ‘each and every year, I write a check to Knox County government for no known reason,’” said Ragsdale. “‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ doesn’t allow me to ask myself why I’m doing it, and of course, if I don’t ask myself why, then I can’t tell myself why. So I’m totally in the dark about why I do these things, but as long as it’s not illegal, I’m not going to worry about it.”
Mayoral office spokesperson Dwight Van de Vate said that the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy also extended to staff hirings and firings.
“For example, the mayor didn’t ask about Cynthia Finch’s dismissal, so we didn’t tell him,” said Van de Vate. “I’m not sure if he even knows yet that she’s now President of Development and Strategic Planning for an employment agency.”
“To be honest,” Van de Vate added, “‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ covers pretty much everything we do these days. We’re all pretty much clueless about everything that goes on in this office. Believe me, it’s better that way. If I knew what I was supposed to know to do this job then I couldn’t do it, if you know what I mean. If you don’t know, don’t ask, because I can’t tell”