Ragsdale budget might work great in la-la land
Larry Van Guilder says Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale’s new budget has no basis in reality; the numbers just don’t add up:
Unless Mayor Mike Ragsdale’s optimistic revenue projections are met, a lot of time and energy will have been devoted to devising and printing budgets that will be worth little more than bonfire material by [...]
Read More..>>Oil from Ijams?
KnoxPatch theorizes that Ragsdale could balance the budget by drilling for oil at Ijams Nature Center:
According to a statement on Mayor Ragsdale’s MySpace page, “In order to balance the Knox County budget, provide a proper education to your youth, and buy me some more wigs from that there J’s Mega Mart, a new revenue source [...]
You can buy a wig at J’s Mega Mart, but you can’t buy gas
Randy Neal noted this incongruity in Mayor Ragsdale’s spending records earlier today, and 10News reporter Robin Murdoch has followed up on this blogger’s lead.
And for a complete rundown of all the things you CAN buy at J’s Mega Mart, be sure to check out this highly detailed report from the KnoxBlab satirist who launched the [...]
Read More..>>Glitches in the Ragsdale presentation
According to folks who attended Mayor Ragsdale’s State of the Community presentation this morning, six county commissioners showed up late, saying the fax they received from Ragsdale’s office had the time wrong
And the printed agenda handed out to attendees at this morning’s event gave a URL where the budget would appear online “immediately following the [...]
The lingering p-card J’s Mega Mart Mystery
The KnoxBlab satirist ponders the mystery of p-card spending at J’s Mega Mart:
On page 35 of the audit, in Exhibit 3, “Knox County Mayor’s Office Questionable Transactions Remaining — Michael Ragsdale Purchasing Card,” Item #46 is listed as 9/30/05/ J’s Mega Mart/ $19.65.
“But the really, really puzzling one is J’s,” said Walls. “I’m confident that [...]
Read the final Knox County p-card audit
Just released.
LINK
What jumps out at you from the final audit?
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Ragsdale’s thoughts on working smarter
Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale recently participated in a roundtable discussion hosted by Business TN Magazine on the topic of workforce development.
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Harsh words for Mayor Ragsdale
Suffice it to say that Larry Van Guilder is pulling no punches in his assessment of Ragsdale’s current troubles in the press.
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Gossip vs. news
Rich Hailey’s thoughts:
It seems pretty clear to me. If the story affects public policy or expenditures then it is news and should be reported. Otherwise, it’s just gossip.
It doesn’t matter whether other outlets report it.
It doesn’t matter whether the “people” want to know.
It doesn’t matter if it boosts ratings.
If it’s not in the public interest, [...]
For discussion: should the media report on Mayor Ragsdale’s divorce?
Commenters at the Knoxville News Sentinel and WBIR.com are divided. Some say divorce is a personal tragedy (and having been through it myself, I can attest to that), unworthy of public scrutiny. Others say the current context of Ragsdale’s political and legal troubles make the divorce a legitimate topic for media coverage.
What do you think? [...]
Mayor Ragsdale’s wife sues for divorce
Mayor Ragsdale has been sued for divorce by his wife Claudia; she cites “inappropriate marital conduct” as her grounds for divorce.
Mrs. Ragsdale has been battling cancer.
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Randy Nichols should appoint a special prosecutor
Frank Cagle is pulling no punches in calling on Randy Nichols to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Mayor Ragsdale’s office:
It’s about time to give District Attorney Randy Nichols a Profile in Courage award. When seemingly everyone is able to see gross evidence of wrongdoing, with auditors from the county, the state comptroller, and HUD [...]
Read More..>>Taking the News Sentinel to task
LVG says our local newspaper of record isn’t doing its job:
The emperor Nero, it’s said, fiddled while Rome burned. We might say that our town’s only daily newspaper is following suit.
In today’s Knoxville News Sentinel you can find an article by Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale on the importance of education in developing and [...]
Where Cynthia Finch succeeded and where she failed
Conservative KNS columnist Greg Johnson on Cynthia Finch’s written response to the Knox County p-card audit:
If the response was intended to absolve Finch, it failed miserably. If Finch’s goal was to lay some public groundwork for a racial and/or sexual discrimination lawsuit, she may have made points but at the expense of appearing to play [...]
Read More..>>This week on Inside Tennessee
We’ll be taping this week’s edition of Inside Tennessee tonight.
Our guests will be Commissioner Victoria DeFreese, and government relations expert Mike Cohen.
We asked Mayor Ragsdale’s office to send a representative to appear on the show, but they very politely declined.
The show will air Sunday morning at 9:30 am on WBIR.
(And for those of you who [...]
Knox County political quote o’ the day
Frank Cagle in (the snazzy new online version of ) Metro Pulse: “I suppose it’s progress that the Ragsdale administration no longer steals e-mails, but is instead asking for them.”
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Cynthia Finch fires back
LVG’s thoughts on Cynthia Finch’s mammoth letter bomb from Wednesday afternoon:
After wading through a 26-page letter and 11 “exhibits” prepared by Cynthia Finch’s lawyer for the edification of her former boss and anyone else who cares to read the documents, I came to these conclusions:
1. This is a shot across the bow, a preview of [...]
Why did he stir this pot?
LVG questions Mayor Ragsdale’s motives in engaging Commissioner Victoria DeFreese over her communications with constituents:
It is hard to see what public good will come from Mayor Ragsdale’s request for Commissioner Victoria DeFreese’s records of e-mails, faxes and phone calls from constituents concerned about spending in the Mayor’s office. Now the debate begins on whether these [...]
UPDATE: DeFreese calls press conference
UPDATED: DeFreese has now explained what Ragsdale asked for from her.
Knox County Commissioner Victoria DeFreese has called a press conference for Monday afternoon to release a letter she says Mayor Ragsdale’s office sent her late last week concerning an “open records request.” When pressed. Commissioner DeFreese said that was all she was willing to say [...]
COMMENT: Ragsdale’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy
This is a hilarious comment to my earlier post today about Knox County politics & priorities (and for the humor impaired, I feel compelled to point out that this is political satire - of the highest order):
Mayor says campaign donations for P-card reimbursements falls under “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy
Knoxville, TN. Knox County Mayor Mike [...]
