August 22, 2014 The Industrial Board Elects Officers--New City Landowner Marshall Ramsey Becomes Secretary-Treasurer

At Wednesday's special called meeting of the Industrial Development Board of the City of Morristown, the previous officers were re-elected.


Jack Fishman will continue as chairman.
James Craine continues as vice-chairman.
Marshall Ramsey was elected as secretary-treasurer.
Anderson Smith apparently continues as "assistant" secretary treasurer.


Prior to July 1, 2014, Marshall Ramsey acted as secretary-treasurer of the IDB and signed documents on behalf of the Board although he was not qualified to serve on the Board.


He was not qualified to serve on or be an officer of the Industrial Board of the City of Morristown because he did not live in the City of Morristown nor did he own property in the City of Morristown.


Luckily, Ramsey had friends in high places.


Ramsey finally became a "legal" member of the Industrial Board on July 1, 2014, when George (MUS) McGuffin, Don "TIF" Bunch, and Wayman Skelton deeded him a city lot in Hampton West Subdivision and a few hours later the City Council appointed him to the IDB.

August 20, 2014 Industrial Board Elects Officers Today

At the Morristown Industrial Development Board meeting this morning, the IDB will be electing "officers."


The current officers are Chairman Jack Fishman, Vice-chairman James Craine, and Secretary Marshall Ramsey.


It appears that the IDB is holding an election right now because one of its current officers (Marshall Ramsey) has been serving on the Board and has been signing legal documents for the Board for nearly two years without even being qualified to serve on the Board.


The most basic qualification for IDB membership is that an individual has to be a city voter--i. e. they reside in the City or they live outside the city but own property in the city. [This came from a discussion I had with IDB Attorney Bill Foutch about IDB qualifications several months ago]


Another requirement is that an IDB member can't serve on any other city board.

Ramsey lives in the county.


When questions about Ramsey not meeting IDB qualifications were raised recently, George McGuffin (of MUS and McGuffin Law fame), Don "TIF" Bunch, and Wayman Skelton came to Ramsey's rescue. They deeded a city lot in Hampton West to Ramsey on July 1, 2014, which made Ramsey a city property owner. With that freshly-signed July 1, 2014, deed in hand, Ramsey was re-appointed by city council to the IDB on---yep---July 1, 2014.


Now to tidy things up, the IDB is electing officers so its newly-qualified member Marshall Ramsey can be officially elected as secretary to the Board and can legally sign IDB documents.


And, yes, it is possible that someone else could be elected secretary or to any of the other offices today.


Another item of interest for future posts: Ramsey was not the only member of the 16-person Industrial Board who had been serving without being qualified to serve on the Board...more on the others later.

August 15, 2014 Hopefully, MUS Now Understands the Qualifications for MUS Board Membership

The Morristown Utilities Systems (MUS) Board held a special called meeting yesterday (see post below) and nominated Gene Jolley, Rod Isaacs, and Jay Smith for the Board seat currently held by Gene Jolley.


Four members were present (McGuffin, Jolley, Nichols, and Dickerson). Jolley abstained from the vote, and Lynn Elkins was absent.


These names will be sent to Mayor Danny Thomas who will submit one of the names to the full city council for approval or rejection.


The MUS Gang That Can't Shoot Straight thinks it finally has a three-person slate where all three are qualified to serve.


The next hurdle for any nominee is city council which has the ultimate decision on approval or disapproval. 


In a council meeting weeks ago, Councilman Paul LeBel stated that Glenn Thompson was council's choice. LeBel then asked for a "show of hands" of those in favor of Thompson. Six hands went up--LeBel, Senter, Bivens, Alvis, Garrett, and Chesney. 


The Council Gang of Six asked City Administrator Tony Cox to send a letter to the MUS Gang of Five letting MUS know of council's preference. Apparently, the Gang of Five didn't get the memo from the Gang of Six or decided to ignore it.


That leads us to another twist to the MUS saga. This is MUS' third submittal of three qualified names to the Mayor. The 2012 (George) McGuffin Law provides that if Council rejects the Mayor's third nominee, then MUS and the Mayor are out of the picture, and Council can make its own nominations.

So, if the Gang of Six really wants Glenn Thompson, the Gang just has to reject the nominee that the Mayor selects, and then the Gang can nominate and appoint Thompson.


[Scroll down for yesterday's post on how the self-nominating MUS Board twice nominated unqualified persons for the Board and had to back up and revise its slate of candidates.]

August 14, 2014 Morristown Gang of Five That Can't Shoot Straight

Thank you to the many people who kept coming to the blog during the past 9-month hiatus and who called periodically and asked when I would post again.


It's time to start posting again and we'll start with The Gang That Can't Shoot Straight (aka the Morristown Utilities System Board). The 5-member MUS Board is having a special called meeting today at 11:30.




They have to have a special called meeting to see if they can finally come up with THREE names of QUALIFIED individuals to nominate for the board seat now occupied by Gene Jolley whose term expired a few weeks ago.




You would think that would be easy. Not for MUS. In their previous two attempts at the three-person nomination process, they have selected two qualified individuals and one unqualified individual.




The nominees have to meet the very simple and basic qualifications to serve on the MUS Board, but the MUS Board (a) doesn't know that you can't serve on the MUS Board if you are on any other City Board and/or (b) doesn't bother to ask their proposed nominees if they serve on any other Board.


Bizarre.


Especially since the MUS Board is made up of 5 individuals who have collectively served on the Board for over 80 years and the nominees they are proposing are friends and business associates.


The five current members are Chairman George McGuffin (with 40 years on the MUS Board) along with Harold Nichols (over 20 years on the MUS Board), Gene Jolley, Lynn Elkins, and Bryan Dickerson.




In their previous two strike outs:


1) MUS nominated Gene Jolley, Ray Campbell, and Jerry Isaacs. Problem: Isaacs serves on a City Board and so was not able to serve on the MUS Board, too. New meeting required.




2) MUS then held a special meeting with its attorney Dick Jessee present and nominated Gene Jolley, Rod Isaacs, and Joel Hice. Problem: Hice serves on the Industrial Board for the City and was ineligible to serve on the MUS Board, too. [Jessee is also the City attorney and is McGuffin's brother-in-law.]




So, MUS is holding another special called meeting today to see if they can possibly come up with three nominees--all of whom are not serving on another City Board--to send to the Mayor who will then select one name for consideration by the full City Council.




It's good to be back...Enjoy! 

August 3, 2013 Max Biery Nominates Three for His MUS Commission Position

Max Biery, former head of JTEKT, has served as a Morristown Utility Commissioner for about 12 years.

His current term on the MUS Board expires this year. In June, the MUS Board prepared a slate of three nominees, including Biery, for the Mayor's selection and council's confirmation or rejection in July. That slate consisted of Biery, Steve Isaacs, and Terry Brimer.

On July 16, 2013, the Mayor nominated Biery from that slate, but the Morristown City Council in a 4-3 vote rejected Biery's nomination for another term as a utility commissioner. The votes to reject Biery's nomination came from Dennis Alvis, Bob Garrett, Paul LeBel, and Chris Bivens.

 

On July 26, 2013, the MUS Board met and Biery, leaving off the names of Isaacs and Brimer, proposed a completely new slate of three nominees to send to the Mayor: Bryan Dickerson, Jim Sexton, and Glenn Thompson.

That video is here:

Earlier in the same meeting, Biery alluded to the fact that this meeting could be his last when he asked Clark Rucker for one "last" explanation of a degree day.

The Mayor's nomination of an individual to take Biery's place followed by a "yes" or "no" vote by the full council will likely take place at the Council's August 6, 2013, meeting.

October 31, 2012 Morristown Utilities Approves "First" of Three Steps in Taking Over Operation of the City of Morristown's Sewer System

In what MUC Chairman George McGuffin described as the "first" of  three stages in the take-over of management of the city sewer system by MUC, MUC voted on October 25 to contract with the City to handle maintenance of all sewer pump stations.

All commissioners (George McGuffin, Harold Nichols, Lynn Elkins, Gene Jolley, and Max Biery) voted "yes."

The resolution that was passed by MUC states that the "City and MUC have determined" it mutually beneficial that the first step in the systematic transfer of the operation of the sewer system to MUC is the maintenance of the pump stations.

The resolution says that MUC and the City "developed" the attached agreement that provides for MUC to assume maintenance of wastewater pump stations beginning January 1, 2013.

McGuffin says that we have all talked about this several times. 

According to MUC General Manager Jody Wigington, maintenance of the pump stations by MUC will be put before council at a future meeting.

[The City currently contracts with Veolia Water to manage the wastewater/sewer system. A new contract with Veolia or changes to their current contract will have to be made to accommodate the transfer of pump station maintenance to MUC.]

October 26, 2012 Congressman Phil Roe at MUC

 

Congressman Phil Roe visited with the Morristown Utilities Commission prior to its October meeting yesterday. After a presentation by MUC on technology, Roe took questions.

Above, Roe responds to a question from Lynn Elkins on the impact of Obamacare on businesses.  Roe noted that businesses that currently provide health insurance will "do the math" and eventually eliminate costly health insurance and pay the $2,000/per employee fine.

Next, Roe gave an example of the negative impact of Obamacare on businesses that do not provide health insurance.

Below, Congressman Roe (left) poses for a picture with MUC Commissioners (l-r) Lynn Elkins, Harold Nichols, Gene Jolley, Max Biery, George McGuffin, and MUC Gen. Mgr. Jody Wigington.

August 6, 2012 MUC: No Round-up Money for Cameras to Televise City Council Meetings But Up To $51,000 for Helen Ross McNabb Lighting and Up To $10,000 for Boys/Girls Club Interior Lighting

At its July meeting, Morristown Utilities Commission (MUC) donated "up to $51,000" of round-up funds to Helen Ross McNabb (HRM) Center for lighting at the planned HRM building:

Then MUC donated "up to $10,000" of round-up funds to the Boys and Girls Club for an indoor energy-efficient lighting upgrade where there is apparently a TVA grant already in place to assist with a project that is estimated to cost $17,000:

After allotting $61,000 of round-up money to HRM and Boys/Girls Club, MUC took up a request from Morristown Mayor Danny Thomas for donation of round-up funds to the City of Morristown for the purchase of cameras to tape council meetings. The tapes would then be broadcast on MUC and Charter Cable government/education channels in the same way that the county has been televising its meetings for nearly 10 years.  After some very interesting discussion and comments, this request was denied:

July 18, 2012 McGuffin Thanks the Five Councilmembers Who Rejected Twenty-One Other People and Then Promptly Attacks Mayor

George McGuffin was re-appointed to the Morristown Utility Commission at yesterday's council meeting. No surprise there.

Afterwards, McGuffin strode to the podium to thank the five councilmembers who serially rejected twenty-one other candidates for the MUC post over the past year and who even changed state law to pave the way for McGuffin's re-appointment.  

[Ironically, the law that was changed for McGuff was an appointment process that MUC proposed and brought to the council in 2001. After the 2001 appointment process and other MUC changes were put on a referendum for a vote OF THE PEOPLE, MUC paid for signs and political ads in the local "news"paper supporting the MUC referendum question and asking voters to Vote FOR Private Act 2 which was the MUC Referendum Question.]

In his "acceptance speech," McGuffin bragged on MUC and then directed some very personal remarks to Mayor Danny Thomas who, McGuffin said, should be "ashamed" of changing his cable and internet from MUS FiberNet to a competitor. [With the vitriol shown by MUC toward the Mayor, it was probably prudent of the Mayor to move his personal email and internet from MUC to another provider.]

Sons Frank McGuffin and Patrick McGuffin, councilmember Bob Garrett, and fellow MUC Commissioner Lynn Elkins joined in a round of applause for McGuff's remarks.

Despite McGuff's personal remarks, Thomas made no comment. In fact, Thomas (in suit and tie) went to McGuffin to shake hands after the meeting adjourned. McGuffin (in the red shirt) barely shook hands before jerking his hand back and walking off to hug Kay Senter--one of the Five.

July 16, 2012 MUC Board Meets Today (VIDEO ADDED) To Select George McGuffin and Two Throw Away Nominees

The Morristown Utility Commission Board meets this morning at 8:00 AM to select its twenty-second list of three nominees for the MUC seat held by MUC Chairman George McGuffin.

The MUC Board is composed of George McGuffin, who has been on the Board for over 34 years, Harold Nichols, Gene Jolley, Lynn Elkins, and Max Biery. UPDATE: Only Harold Nichols, Lynn Elkins, and Max Biery showed up for the meeting.

Unless George McGuffin voluntarily steps aside after a year of fighting to stay on the Board and after state law was changed to ensure that he could continue at the helm of MUC, the list will be headed by George McGuffin with two throw-away names included simply because the list has to have two other people on it.

UPDATE: It's McGuffin, and the two throw away names are Jay Smith and Lloyd Etter.

Under the new McGuffin Law that applies only to Morristown and overturns the vote of the people in the 2001 referendum, this list will go directly to the city council tomorrow and the five councilmembers who created gridlock for the past year by blocking approval of 21 previous people will finally get to "officially" put George McGuffin back on the MUC throne.

The councilmembers who voted to change state law for McGuffin are Paul LeBel, Kay Senter, Bob Garrett, Claude Jinks, and Chris Bivens with a big assist from Sen. Steve Southerland and Rep. Don Miller who ushered the McGuffin Law through the state legislature and kept a tight lid on it all by refusing to let the people vote on the McGuffin Law in a referendum.

The seven don't want any pesky people voting again--why, that might open everything up to everyday people. They don't want that.

The list of 21 rejectees is here.

July 4, 2012 21st Morristown Leader Rejected as Not Good Enough by LeBel Five

Tom Strate, longtime Morristown resident, businessman, and insurance agent, was nominated to the Morristown Utility Commission by Mayor Thomas on Tuesday. His nomination was quickly rejected in a 5-2 vote.  Strate thus joins the 20 other people who are not good enough to sit on the MUC Board. See the full list of 21 rejectees at the end of this post.

Two councilmembers supported Strate (Mayor Thomas and Gene Brooks). Five councilmembers (Paul LeBel, Bob Garrett, Kay Senter, Claude Jinks, and Chris Bivens) voted to reject Strate.

The Morristown Utility Commission, made up of Harold Nichols, Gene Jolley, Max Biery, Lynn Elkins, and Chairman George McGuffin, sent Strate's name along with two others (George McGuffin and Jay Smith) to the Mayor last week. The Mayor made his nomination of Strate from the MUC-provided list.

The last three of the 21 rejections have taken place after the new McGuffin law that was ushered through the state legislature by Sen. Steve Southerland Rep. Don Miller and ratified by five councilmembers on May 1st with LeBel, Senter, Bivens, Garrett, Jinks, Southerland, and Miller refusing to allow the people to have their voice heard on the issue in a $250 referendum.

Under the McGuffin Law a/k/a McGuffin Appointment Process, MUC will submit its next list of three nominees directly to the council.  The councilmembers who pushed to change state law for one person are positively giddy at the prospect of being able to take the next three-person MUC list, immediately throw away two of those names and then nominate that one special person, George McGuffin, at long last. 

It has been noted that the current appointment process was put in place BY THE PEOPLE (72%) as part of the 2001 MUC Referendum Question. The five councilmembers pushing the McGuffin Law were asked to have a referendum on any proposed change to the 2001 voter-approved appointment process.   They refused. 

Sen. Steve Southerland was asked to provide for a referendum and let the people vote. He refused.

Rep. Don Miller was asked to let the people decide. To quote Don Miller's one-word response to requests from citizens and state legislators to let the people of his district vote on this issue: "NO."

TWENTY-ONE REJECTEES
In 2011 and 2012, not one of the following nominees to sit on the MUC Board could get the approval of a majority of the full council.

Mike Minnich
Glenn Thompson
Carroll Fowler
Wally Long
John Allen
Mike Davidson
Bruce Sluder
Jerry Isaacs
Gene Lynch
Steve Henrikson
David Wild
Steve Isaacs
Chris Horne
Joel Hice
Jo Ervin
John Hodge
C.L. "Buddy" Jones, III
Randy Harville
Terry Brimer
Peter Cantwell
Tom Strate

July 3, 2012 MUC Selects One Nominee for the McGuffin Seat (and Two Toss-Aways)

George McGuffin, chairman of the MUC Board of Commissioners presided over the monthly MUC meeing last Thursday, June 28, at 8 AM.  Other MUC commissioners in attendance were Harold Nichols, Lynn Elkins, Gene Jolley, and Max Biery.

One of the first items on the agenda was a vote on three names to submit to Mayor Danny Thomas for his selection of one name to submit to the council for the MUC seat currently held by George McGuffin.

The MUC Commissioners approved a three-name list consisting of George McGuffin, Jay Smith, and Tom Strate.

Actually, let's face it. This is really a one-name list (George McGuffin) with two toss-aways (Jay Smith and Tom Strate) thrown in simply because MUC is required to submit three names.

Keeping George on the Board is the name of the game, and it is a very important game.

So important that 20 people--selected by the MUC Board--have already been rejected by what is now a five-member council coalition determined to keep anyone else from sitting in the "McGuffin seat."

So important that these same five councilmembers got Sen. Steve Southerland and Rep. Don Miller to sponsor a bill to change state law to overturn a part--the MUC appointment process--of the 2001 MUC Referendum so that the MUC appointment comes directly to council for a direct vote after rejection of three mayoral nominees.

So important that these five councilmembers (Paul LeBel, Bob Garrett, Kay Senter, Claude Jinks, and Chris Bivens) were afraid and refused to allow the people to vote in a new referendum in 2012 on whether there would be a change to the appointment process that the people had put in place BY THE PEOPLE--at the urging of MUC--in the 2001 MUC referendum. 

So important that Rep. Miller, who was asked by fellow legislators and several of his constituents to let the people vote in a referendum on approval or rejection of the McGuffin Law, repeatedly said "no" to letting the people vote. 

Miller wants the people to vote for him for state representative, BUT he doesn't want to let the people vote in a referendum on the MUC Act as they were allowed to do in 2001.

June 7, 2012 LeBel's One Concern: Why Isn't the MUC/McGuffin Law Appointment on the Agenda?

At the June 5 Morristown City Council meeting, Paul LeBel was strangely silent, pretty much confining himself to pushing buttons to vote.

At the end of the meeting, however, he did have a question. Why was the Morristown Utilities Commission (MUC) appointment pulled from the agenda?

Mayor Thomas answered, and Paul went back to his IPad.

Actually, the agenda as it was posted on the city's website and printed out for meeting attendees did not have the MUC appointment on it at all. So there was no Mayor's appointment to pull. 

LeBel was ticked, but he contained himself better than usual.

What LeBel really wanted to ask, in my opinion, was "look, the McGuffin Law is in place thanks to the efforts at the state level of Rep. Don Miller and Sen. Steve Southerland in helping me, Kay Senter, Claude Jinks, Bob Garrett, and Chris Bivens overturn the appointment process adopted by the votes of 3,202 people in the 2001 MUC referendum, so when do I get to vote for the 20th time against the mayor's nominee from the MUC list and finally set it up to  vote for George McGuffin--the only person in all of Morristown who I think is capable of sitting in what is now and for 34+ years has been the 'McGuffin' seat on MUC?"

May 24, 2012 McGuffin Itching for Council To Reject Twentieth MUC Nominee

MUC (Morristown Utility Commission) named three people this morning to its twentieth list of nominees for the Board seat currently held by George McGuffin. 

McGuffin, who has served on MUC for over 34 years, chaired the meeting at which he was dutifully nominated by his fellow MUC Commissioners along with two good people (Peter Cantwell and Jay Smith) who are window-dressing and throw-away nominees whose names are used to fill out the required slate of three.

McGuffin desperately wants to be re-appointed.  He has been mightily frustrated and  inconvenienced by having to go to the state legislature and get state law changed just to ensure that McGuffin finally gets back on the MUC Board.  The McGuffin Law went into effect on May 1, 2012. It overturns the local voter-approved MUC appointment process and puts the McGuffin Law appointment process in place .

For McGuffin, trampling on the little people and wiping out the 2001 referendum votes of 3,202 people has been a distraction and a bother, but the power is obviously worth it.

Harold Nichols is the McGuffin sidekick and business partner and MUC Commissioner who made the nominations this morning.  Nichols does a great job of keeping a straight face as he brags about the newest nominee Jay Smith and then says of Council: "We'll see what they do." 

Earth-to-Harold. The LeBel Five (Paul LeBel, Bob Garrett, Kay Senter, Claude Jinks, and Chris Bivens) will do just what McGuffin wants them to do and just what you and the other MUC Commissioners (Max Biery, Lynn Elkins, and Gene Jolley) want them to do. 

They'll reject the Mayor's nomination of anyone other than George McGuffin--just like they have done WITH YOUR BLESSING to the nineteen other nominees not named McGuffin! 

And then, bless your little heart,  the McGuffin Law will let MUC's next candidates go straight to the City Council. The LeBel Five will reappoint McGuffin, and all will be right in little Morristown.

For McGuffin and Company, those twenty rejectees are just throw-away nominees and stepping stones for McGuffin to walk on to get what HE wants---another five-year term.

May 14, 2012 McGuffin Describes the "McGuffin Law" As MUC Prepares Its NINETEENTH List of Candidates

George McGuffin, 34+ year member of the Morristown Utilities Commission (MUC), is tickled to death that the McGuffin Law passed its last step and received final approval by FIVE councilmembers on May 1.

The McGuffin Law changes the appointment process for MUC Board members from what 3,202 voters approved as part of the 2001 MUC Referendum Question to an appointment process that McGuffin, local State Rep. Don Miller, local State Sen. Steve Southerland, and five councilmembers want in 2012--WITHOUT A REFERENDUM.

MUC has submitted EIGHTEEN lists of three MUC-approved candidates to Mayor Thomas for the past 9-10 months.  Mayor Thomas has submitted one of those MUC-approved candidates to the City Council for approval or rejection. All EIGHTEEN have been rejected. Why?  Their last name is not McGuffin.

EIGHTEEN people have been rejected by City Council to keep anyone else from taking the "McGuffin seat" on MUC. The MUC-appointment process that was approved by the people in the 2001 MUC Referendum has been changed for McGuffin.  State Law has been changed for McGuffin.

In the video above, McGuffin presides over Thursday's (May 10th) special meeting of the MUC Board at which time MUC selected its NINETEENTH list of three candidates to submit to Morristown Mayor Thomas.

Harold Nichols, a current and/or former business partner of McGuffin, nominates Terry Brimer, Peter Cantwell, and for the NINETEENTH time, drum-roll please, George McGuffin.

McGuffin starts the meeting by reading about how the voters made changes to the MUC Private Act  IN A REFERENDUM in 2001. Then MUC Manager Jody Wigington steers him to the section about how the FIVE councilmembers amended and overturned the 2001 voter-approved appointment process on May 1, 2012. 

[The FIVE councilmembers who have been party to rejecting EIGHTEEN people and who have snubbed the PEOPLE and changed state law in order to force the appointment of the ONE and ONLY PERSON they want (McGuffin) are Paul LeBel, Kay Senter, Bob Garrett, Claude Jinks, and Chris Bivens.]

Finally McGuffin adds that Mayor Thomas' nomination of Randy Harville, who was on the EIGHTEENTH MUC LIST, was rejected by Council (5-2) on May 1 under the new McGuffin Law and that MUC will send another list to the Mayor.

McGuffin then explains that the newly-ratified McGuffin Law provides that MUC has to "send the Mayor three names today and if he follows suit (and dares to refuse to appoint Me/McGuffin)...as he has done for eighteen times, then we'll have one other time that we have to send names to him and then it will go directly to city council."

Gene Jolley, a current and/or former McGuffin business partner, says "Just one more time after this one?"

McGuffin says "That's the way I understand it."

General Manager Jody Wigington then makes an interesting comment about City Council having the right to make the decision after the third rejection of the Mayor's nominee. "I guess they could choose to do it that day or not."

Probably "not" that day.  The McGuffin Law says that MUC has to provide a full list of three candidates to the Council after receiving notice that a nominee from the third list submitted to the Mayor did not receive a majority vote.  

After the five Councilmembers get through rejecting every person in Morristown who isn't George McGuffin (well, twenty of them), MUC will have to announce a meeting at which a full list of three candidates will be named to submit directly to the Council.  That list, like the twenty before it, will include George McGuffin.

Then LeBel, Garrett, Senter, Jinks, and Bivens with the blessing of and thanks from the irreplaceable George McGuffin can officially put McGuffin back on the MUC Board.

After overriding a referendum (without a new referendum), after rejecting TWENTY PEOPLE (17 under the old appointment process and 3 under the McGuffin Law) and after changing state law, a key part of the Morristown power structure will remain in place.

The-powers-that-be will be happy once again.

May 9, 2012 Longtime Councilman Jinks: "Change (Overturning the People's Vote in the 2001 MUC Referendum) Is Progress"

Lots of bizarre things are said at City Council and never reported by the local "news"paper.

The video above chronicles one such moment. 

At the end of the May 1 meeting, longtime councilman Claude Jinks gave a closing lecture on the theme of "change."  Claude's lecture was apparently an attempt to justify his vote earlier in the meeting to "change" the MUC appointment process that 3,202 people put in place in the MUC referendum of 2001! 

Yes, Jinks thinks it's good to "change" and overturn what 72% of voters  supported in 2001!  After all, why should Jinks or Senter or LeBel or Garrett or Bivens care what those 3,202 people thought!

Later in the same meeting, however, Claude opposed any "change" to the MUC Board when Claude voted to reject Mayor Thomas' EIGHTEENTH appointment to the MUC Board.  Click here.

Claude was for change before he was against change. 

Did Claude's lecture and the contradiction get reported? No.

Why is this self-proclaimed man of the people against "change" on the MUC Board? Well, as one person pointed out at the meeting, Claude's daughter-in-law Jackie Jinks works at MUC where George McGuffin is a THIRTY-FOUR YEAR member and chairman of the Board.

McGuffin wants to stay on the MUC Board, and it is McGuffin's seat that is up for appointment right now. 

Claude, the man of the people, supports McGuffin. Claude is so devoted to McGuffin that he voted to change the appointment process that was put in place BY THE PEOPLE in a referendum in 2001.   Then Claude voted over and over again for months on end to reject the Mayor's appointment of anyone except McGuffin to the MUC Board. Finally on May 1, Claude voted to change state law for McGuffin.

Claude let the people vote on the MUC appointment process in the MUC referendum in 2001, but Claude refused to let the people vote on the McGuffin Law changes to the MUC appointment process in a $250 MUC referendum in 2012.

It is one thing to support McGuffin or anyone else. It is the height of arrogance, however, for an elected official to vote to overturn a referendum in order to change state law and get what you and your friend (McGuffin) want. 

But that is exactly what councilmembers Jinks, LeBel, Garrett, Senter, Bivens, Rep. Miller, and Sen. Southerland did. They refused to LET THE PEOPLE SPEAK on the McGuffin Law in a $250 referendum.

Jinks, LeBel, Garrett, Senter, and Bivens wouldn't spend $250 to LET THE PEOPLE SPEAK in a referendum, but they voted on May 1 to spend $1,000 to sponsor the 18th hole at a proposed Frisbee Golf course!

The local "news"man didn't report Claude's contradictions or his family link to MUC.

No surprise there. What and how the "news"man reports on meetings and officials all depends on who you are and where you rank on his and his boss' list.

The "news"man absolutely loves to use spin and in some cases outright false statements to criticize Gene Brooks. But his new specialty is using his "news" articles to go after Mayor Danny Thomas who did the unforgivable in 2011 by defeating the "news"man's friend Frank McGuffin, son of George of MUC fame, in the Morristown mayoral race.

Now if Brooks or Thomas had given a lecture on how good and necessary change is while voting against any change on the MUC Board, the "news"man would have been all over it with a three-part series using words such as flip-flopping, inconsistent, contradictory, self-serving, conflict of interest, and on and on.

Claude, however, gets a pass because Claude is on the McGuffin side which the "news"man supports. Not a peep about conflicted Claude.

May 2, 2012 Randy Harville Rejected by The Five (Councilmembers)

MUC (Morristown Utilities Commision) sent three names (Randy Harville, Peter Cantwell, and George McGuffin) to the Mayor.

Mayor Thomas submitted one name (Randy Harville of Holston Gases) to the full Council..

Five councilmembers (Paul LeBel, Bob Garrett, Kay Senter, Claude Jinks, and Chris Bivens) quickly rejected Harville at yesterday's council meeting. Mayor Thomas and Councilman Gene Brooks supported Harville's nomination.

Randy Harville thus becomes a part of Morristown political lore--joining the seventeen other people who have been nominated to the MUC Board only to be rejected by a majority of city councilmembers.

Harville is in good company--but just not good enough to sit in the MUC seat reserved by LeBel, Garrett, Senter, Jinks, and Bivens for George McGuffin.

One MUC Board member (Lynn Elkins) showed up at yesterday's council meeting. She got to see Harville's rejection.

She also got to see five councilmembers (above) who like Elkins have been carrying water for George McGuffin take the last step in the process of changing state law for McGuffin.

Before rejecting Harville, the same five councilmembers voted to ratify/approve a new state law (the McGuffin Law) that changes the MUC appointment process that was put in place by 3,202 voters in a 2001 referendum.

The McGuffin Law, that was sponsored and ushered through the state legislature by Rep. Don Miller and Sen. Steve Southerland, overturns the current 2001 voter-approved appointment process and will soon let the five officially put 34-year Board member George McGuffin back on the MUC throne for another five years.

After all, no one else in all of Morristown can sit in the "McGuffin" seat.

April 26, 2012 Morristown Utilities Selects Three Candidates for Its EIGHTEENTH List

Yesterday, the MUC Board (George McGuffin, Harold Nichols, Gene Jolley, Max Biery, and Lynn Elkins) met at 8 AM.

They selected a list of three candidates for the MUC seat currently held by longtime (34 year) MUC member George McGuffin.

The three candidates on this EIGHTEENTH list of candidates are: George McGuffin (18th time), Peter Cantwell, and Randy Harville.

Harville is the local manager of Holston Gases.

After Max Biery makes the nominations, he asks MUC Gen. Mgr. Jody Wigington if he (Wigington) knows Harville. Wigington laughs and says, "Yes, he's a competitor."

The reason that the MUC Board is submitting its18th list is because there are five councilmembers (LeBel, Garrett, Senter, Jinks, and Bivens) who think that George McGuffin is the ONLY person in Morristown who can serve in this position.

These five think that NO ONE in Morristown--not any of the previous 17 MUC candidates that have been rejected thus far and NO ONE ELSE that might be nominated by MUC in the future--is capable and qualified to serve on the MUC Board.

At the May 1 council meeting, these five will get to approve and officially enact the "McGuffin Law."  The McGuffin Law was proposed LeBel and Associates back in November 2011 and sponsored in the state legislature in 2012 by two local legislators: State Sen. Steve Southerland and State Rep. Don Miller.

The McGuffin Law changes the current appointment process--that was put in place by the voters as part of the 2001 MUC Referendum. After the five enact the McGuffin Law, it will let them officially put McGuffin back on the MUC Board a few weeks or months down the road. 

Of course, McGuffin never really left the MUC Board. He has remained on the Board as a "holdover" from the date his term expired on July 31, 2011.

Why is a Board appointment so important that state law has to be changed to ensure that McGuffin stays in place?

Certain positions (MUC Board) and certain people (McGuffin) are key to control and power in Morristown.

The MUC Board and McGuffin are two important pieces of the appointed/unelected local power (pun-intended) structure.

To keep those pieces in place, the "McGuffin Law" was sponsored and pushed forward in the state legislature by our local State Sen. Steve Southerland and local State Rep. Don Miller. It was signed by Governor Haslam and now comes back to the "LeBel Five" for final approval.

FYI: Sen. Southerland sponsored the McGuffin Law in the State Senate but refused to vote on it! Rep. Miller was asked by local citizens and later by state legislators to allow a referendum for approval of the McGuffin Law. He refused.

These five councilmembers (LeBel, Garrett, Senter, Jinks, and Bivens) and these legislators (Sen. Southerland and Rep. Miller) asked for your vote when they ran for office, but they refused to write the McGuffin Law or to make changes to the McGuffin Law to allow the people to vote on approval or disapproval in a referendum.

Why are these seven afraid of letting the people whom they serve "vote"?

Why were the people "good enough" to elect these people and "good enough" to put the current  MUC appointment process in place as part of the 2001 MUC referendum question, but the people are not "good enough" in 2012 to vote in a referendum on whether to change that appointment process by voting to approve or disapprove the McGuffin Law? 

When politicians act in an unusual way---and refusing to allow their constituents to vote IS unusual---it typically goes back to power and fear of losing control. If you are unsure about the result of a referendum or fear that you can't totally control a referendum, then you just do what you want to do without a referendum. And you try to cover yourself by blaming others for the problem!

When crazy things are happening and politicians refuse to let the people they serve vote, follow the money/power trail.

April 19, 2012 C.L. "Buddy" Jones III Rejected by City Council

In near record time, Paul LeBel, Bob Garrett, Kay Senter, Chris Bivens, and Claude Jinks rejected Mayor Thomas' nomination of businessman/pharmacist C.L. "Buddy" Jones, III, to the Morristown Utilities Commission.

Jones, son of C.L. "Bud" Jones, thus becomes the seventeenth rejectee.

Current MUC member George McGuffin refuses to bow out gracefully and become an advisor/chairman emeritus to the MUC Board. 

Instead, McGuffin has spent nine months "letting" his name be put on seventeen MUC lists, resulting in LeBel and associates rejecting seventeen other good and qualified people.

While rejecting anyone and everyone else for the MUC seat, LeBel and company decided to push for a new law, the McGuffin Law, that would get rid of the current voter-approved appointment process that just isn't working for McGuffin.

Governor Haslam signed the McGuffin Law yesterday. Now the McGuffin Law comes back to City Council for final approval to officially let five council members cancel out the appointment process that was approved by 3,202 voters as part of the 2001 MUC referendum question.

We have serial rejections of many good people, actions to overturn the voter approved appointment process, and votes to change the local MUC Private Act just so George McGuffin, who has been on the MUC Board for over 34 years, can serve til ???

The message from the money/power group is clear. A referendum for the little folk is fine AS LONG AS THE RESULTS WORK FOR US (the-powers-that-be)!

But if we, the-powers-that-be, decide later that the referendum results are NOT working for US, we'll use 2 state legislators and 5 councilmembers to wipe out the votes of 3,202 people and change the law FOR US.

Coming soon...more on MUC and the McGuffin Law.

April 16, 2012 MUC Selects Three Candidates for MUC Board as McGuffin Law Moves Forward Without Voter Input in a Referendum

Three of the five Morristown Utilities Commissioners (Harold Nichols, Lynn Elkins, and Max Biery) met last week to select three candidates for the MUC seat currently held by George McGuffin. This is the SEVENTEENTH list MUC has prepared during the last nine months.

Two MUC commissioners (Gene Jolley and George McGuffin) did not attend.

The three nominees are Peter Cantwell, Buddy Jones III, and, of course, George McGuffin. McGuffin has held the current seat for 34 years.  McGuffin could pull his name from contention now, but he won't. Keeping this MUC position has become much like a life-and-death power struggle for McGuffin.

Keeping McGuffin in place is also vitally important to the five councilmembers (LeBel, Senter, Garrett, Bivens, and Jinks) who voted in November 2011 to change state law for McGuffin.

The Five asked our two local state legislators (Rep. Don Miller and Sen. Steve Southerland) to push a bill through the state legislature to change the current appointment process that was put in place by 3,202 people (72%) in a 2001 MUC referendum. 

BUT the five councilmembers would not agree to put their proposed MUC appointment changes on a referendum in August 2012 and LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE if a change should be made.

The two state legislators agreed to re-write the appointment process but they, too, would NOT agree to put their appointment changes to a vote OF THE PEOPLE in an August 2012 referendum.

In an incredible move, Sen. Southerland made changes to the local bill and sponsored the local bill but did NOT vote for it.

Rep. Miller took the bill to the House State and Local Government Committee and there publicly refused a request to consider an amendment to provide for a referendum to let the PEOPLE SPEAK and give direct approval or disapproval at the ballot box.

Meanwhile, McGuffin is keeping a low profile as he waits for the "McGuffin Law" to be signed by Governor Haslam and returned to city council so that the LeBel Five (Paul LeBel, Bob Garrett, Kay Senter, Chris Bivens, and Claude Jinks) can give final approval to put the McGuffin Law into effect.

Then, a short time after the McGuffin Law is in place, the FIVE who have chosen to override the 2001 referendum and WHO HAVE REFUSED TO LET THE PEOPLE SPEAK in a referendum in 2012 can officially appoint McGuffin to MUC and keep the good old boy system in place.

After all, politicians just need the people briefly at election time.  After that, the special interests and money people take over.

The McGuffin Law overturns the appointment process that MUC, headed by Chairman George McGuffin, asked the council and the voters to approve in 2001.  But when the law doesn't work for you later---even if it's a law YOU previously supported and that the PEOPLE overwhelmingly voted for--you just change it to what works FOR YOU.

What about the referendum? What about the people?

There are very few instances when a referendum is permitted in Tennessee--approval of a local Private Act is one of those instances.

What does it tell you when seven elected officials (LeBel, Senter, Garrett, Bivens, Jinks, Miller, and Southerland) unite to refuse to let the people speak through a $250 referendum?

We have reached rock bottom in the City of Morristown when seven elected officials oppose LETTING THE PEOPLE SPEAK IN A REFERENDUM.

Of course, you have to remember that four of these (LeBel, Senter, Garrett, and Bivens) also wanted to put public comments from the people at the end of city council meetings and to reduce the time allowed for public comments from three minutes to two minutes.

Thankfully, there are two elected officials--Mayor Danny Thomas and Councilman Gene Brooks--who show respect for the 2001 REFERENDUM results and who are willing to abide by the results of that referendum until proposed changes to the appointment process are submitted TO THE PEOPLE in a new REFERENDUM on whether to change the 2001 voter-approved MUC appointment process.