Nowadays, a free SUV and gas make for a pretty sweet benefit
Larry Van Guilder questions Knox County’s take-home car policy, which I predict will be the next frontier in investigative reporting on county spending.
Knox County government’s top accountant, John Troyer, is one of 151 drivers of county-owned take-home vehicles, without taking into account sheriff’s vehicles. Most are less than fuel-efficient at a time of rising gas [...]
Can sunshine sometimes lead to a chill?
George Korda argues that the state’s position - that communications between constituents and elected officials are subject to open records laws - will lead to a chill in discourse:
The purpose of the First Amendment is to protect individuals from government. A ruling like Ann Butterworth’s sets up government being protected from the private complaints, [...]
A tale of two ouster suits
Larry Van Guilder looks at whether the ouster movement against Mayor Mike Ragsdale is likely to succeed given state history on the matter.
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John Gill speaks on special prosecutor issue
Story is now updated with Gill’s comments:
Elaborating on Nichols’ letter John Gill, Special Counsel, Knox County District Attorney General’s Office said, “We have an obligation to review any allegation of this kind and determine if there is any basis for it. If there were a case in which, even if the [...]
Read More..>>Nichols responds to Hammond
Read Randy Nichols’ letter to Commissioner Mike Hammond regarding Hammond’s request to have a special prosecutor look into issues related to Mayor Ragsdale’s office.
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Knox County time machine
Larry Van Guilder is so much older than he’s younger than that now…or something like that.
He’s predicting looking back at Knox County - from the future.
Analysts have since noted reasonable steps were available as early as 2002 to avert catastrophe. These included scaling back “legacy projects,” a favorite of the scandal-ridden Ragsdale administration; slashing the [...]
Knoxville Talks quote of the week
“We’re watching the landscape closely all the time,” Van de Vate said. “It’s a Darwinian environment, the survival of the fittest.”
-Knox County Mayoral spokesman Dwight Van de Vate, discussing the resignation of Alison Wagley, Director of the county’s beleaguered Office of Neighborhoods.
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DEVELOPING: Alison Wagley resigns
Alison Wagley, Director of Knox County’s Office of Neighborhoods is leaving county government for a new job at ORNL. Details available shortly at WBIR.com.
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Another day in Knox County, another draft audit release…
Read the just-released draft audit of the Knox County Hospitality Fund RIGHT HERE
RELATED: Dwight Van de Vate’s pre-emptive letter on the topic, sent June 5 to County Commissioners
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KnoxBlabber: Has a county commissioner found a clever way to fire Mike Ragsdale?
A KnoxBlabber asks whether Commissioner William Daniels’ proposal to eliminate the Office of Neighborhoods isn’t actually a clever bid to oust the mayor:
As commissioners meet Wednesday to consider how to allocate the county’s grant monies, Knox County Commissioner William Daniels says he will propose eliminating the Knox County Office of Neighborhoods.
Daniels says he and others [...]
In case you missed it
Yesterday afternoon, we posted the entire 75 page document in which the Ragsdale administration responded to questions county commissioners had about specific items in the proposed budget. It’s interesting reading.
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Knoxville’s “Silent Majority” is online
The folks who today presented the DA with a petition asking for an investigation into ousting Mayor Mike Ragsdale have a website: www.KnoxvilleSilentMajority.com
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DeFreese on the march
I just got off the phone with Knox County Commissioner Victoria DeFreese, who informs that she and citizen Charles Bowers, along with some other folks, will be hand-delivering a letter to DA Randy Nichols at 10am this morning, demanding that he take action on various complaints against Mayor Ragsdale.
Stay tuned…
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Read More..>>Setting a bad example?
Larry Van Guilder questions whether Knox County employees really need to be driving SUVs , particularly brand new SUVs:
Meanwhile, the mayor and two of his senior staffers drive SUVs, the property assessor’s office is requesting a new four-wheel drive Ford Explorer and public works director Bruce Wuethrich asserts that four-wheel drive vehicles are required in [...]
Read More..>>Draft Knox County Hospitality Fund audit release - coming soon to a commission meeting near you
Auditor Richard Walls says today he expects the draft audit of Mayor Ragsdale’s Hospitality Fund to be released to county officials sometime next week.
The Mayor’s office sent this letter to Knox County Commissioners in advance of the audit release. (Click here to view a larger version). Make of it what you will…
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Read More..>>The “reasonable man” standard may be unreasonable
Larry Van Guilder:
There’s a new tool for dispensing justice in Knox County. Building upon a suggestion from Commissioner William Daniels, Commissioner Richard Briggs unveiled a dazzling world of opportunities when he proposed using the “reasonable man” standard to gauge the validity of undocumented p-card charges made by Mayor Mike Ragsdale and his senior staffers.
That [...]
Should Ragsdale resign?
Thats what Michael Silence is asking in his online poll today.
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Dwight Van de Vate speaks
Just about every week, I call Dwight Van de Vate to ask whether he or someone else from Mayor Ragsdale’s administration will appear on Inside Tennessee, and every week he very politely declines.
So I’m happy to at least be able to feature this interview with Mr. Van de Vate here at Knoxville Talks today.
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Read More..>>The Ragsdale resignation petition
A group of citizens presented a petition with 100 signatures to County Commission last night requesting that commissioners join them in forcing Mayor Ragsdale out as Knox County Mayor. You can read the petition right here.
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Blogger calls for Ragsdale resignation
From a local conservative blogger:
Mr. Mayor,
Over the past several months many voters, including your staunch supporters, have begun to question your ethics, leadership, management, and personal conduct when it comes to your leading the Knox County Government. It is these questions and lack of faith in your leadership that we ask you respectively to resign [...]
