• Real Solutions To Real Problems :
  

It seems to me just about everybody running for office is pretty much for the same things: better schools, safer neighborhoods, good government in general and who wouldn’t be for those things? I think it’s about time someone tried to really address what’s wrong with our county government and offer some real solutions. We’re certainly not going to solve our problems by merely talking.

• What’s wrong with our county Government:

There is an impression that our county governmental officials don’t listen to the average person; that they are more interested in acquiring power and building little kingdoms or getting relatives employed.

There have been numerous scandals associated with spending in the courthouse.

Something just occurred recently that I think illustrates the problems with our government perfectly. The Mayor’s office revealed that Knox County’s agreement with the City of Oak Ridge to dispose of its green waste had cost taxpayers at least $100,000 and likely much more. The Mayor evidently cannot remember just why he signed amendments changing an agreement that had been revenue neutral (meaning it wasn’t costing us money) to the point where we were paying to take someone else’s garbage. Evidently the only person who understood the need for these amendments to the agreement had died! The very next day, the Mayor announced that he was asking every department of Knox County government to submit budgets with 4% and 8% cuts. Now to me, that simply illustrates that the Mayor isn’t being as fiscally responsible as he is expecting everyone else to be. There cannot be one standard for everyone else and another standard for the Mayor and his office.

The solution for addressing many of our problems seems to be to appoint a “blue ribbon panel” or form a new committee to “look into” things. I think this is simply a way for officials to avoid the problem and hand it off to somebody else.

Let’s start with the basics and offer up solutions.

• First steps to make things right with our Government:

Every public official, regardless of whether it is a federal, state or local official has the responsibility to be responsive to the general public. This is a form of accountability. If elected to the Knox County Commission, I intend to respond immediately to every telephone call, email, and letter. I won’t hesitate to contact any department, agency or other branch of the government to try and at least get an answer for the people of South Knoxville.

The situation with the amendments to the waste agreement shows in my opinion the necessity for the County Commission to be informed whenever the Mayor has made changes in agreements, if for no other reason than allowing transparency for the public and taxpayers. That would also make it less likely any Mayor is going to squander taxpayer dollars with a stupid agreement.

It seems to me one thing that the Commission should insist upon is that EVERY office and agency affiliated with county government should be audited, with the results being provided to not only the Mayor, but every member of the County Commission. I think these audits should be performed yearly. Even if this requires new funding, I think it would be worth it for folks to know nothing is amiss in any of the respective offices and that tax dollars are being spent on taxpayer related issues and the performance of actual duties.

Auditing every department of Knox County government yearly should help provide some of the transparency needed. If audits have been performed yearly, we need to question why they failed to note many of the things that have come to light and clearly we need to engage a new auditor.

Considering removing some of the trappings of power. I’ve addressed on aspect of that on this website. Urging the Knox County Trustee to eliminate the Delinquent Tax Attorney; not only would this actually save literally millions of dollars for the taxpayers, but it would remove any and all semblance of impropriety from the Trustee’s office and stop blurring the line between an official function and an extension of the Trustee’s personal political machine.

I would certainly also consider giving up the several thousands of dollars each County Commissioner receives to dole out to whatever he or she thinks is a worthy cause in his or her district. These funds are oftentimes used to promote an incumbents’ self interests and political agendas. If we are truly serious about dealing with financial problems in the county, I don’t think the Commissioners should be exempt. There is a grant process in place for legitimate requests as it is and this seems to me to merely be a waste of taxpayer dollars.

One final solution is likely a matter of character with each individual public official. The founding fathers of this country certainly knew what they were doing when they suggested a separation of powers. The courts should be independent of the legislative and executive branches, so as not to be influenced unduly and vice versa. The recent atmosphere of political in-fighting has severely damaged Knox County and the entire government’s credibility with the public. The Mayor and County Commission should try and work together. The Mayor is not always going to be right, nor will the Mayor always be wrong. If there is wrong-doing, it needs to be prosecuted and quickly.