Some background regarding the MH Humane Society:
1) The city and county provide the majority of funding for the MH Humane Society--just over $130,000 from each government
2) The Humane Society was asleep at the wheel for the past several years during which their non-profit status was lost and only recently re-established, approximately $50,000 was lost through alleged embezzlement by an employee, insurance coverage was not maintained and a large payout to an employee who was purportedly injured on the job had to be made from operating funds, a new "Director" (with close connections to former county commissioner/current Humane Society member Larry Baker) was quickly hired with poor results as an employee and disastrous results as the public face of the Humane Society; a new election for board members was totally botched and new ballots were sent out recently; and it goes on and on.
A few months ago, County Mayor Bill Brittain along with County Attorney Chris Capps and County Commissioner Doe Jarvis met with City Mayor Danny Thomas, City Administrator Tony Cox, and City Attorney Dick Jessee to iron out a contract with the Humane Society.
This contract was brought to the county commission in August by Mayor Brittain. At that meeting, Mayor Brittain and Attorney Capps proposed one change to the contract. The contract was approved with the change and the Humane Society was given until November 1 to approve the contract.
Shortly after presenting and getting approval by commission of a proposed City/County/Humane Society contract, Mayor Brittain--who is a member of the Humane Society Board--began working with the Humane Society on a contract that is different in many respects from the one that he brought to county commission in August and asked commissioners to approve.
Yesterday, Mayor Brittain sought approval from the Public Services Committee of his 2nd Humane Society contract.
There were comments and extended discussion at and after the meeting about the Humane Society and the current situation.
The frustration of commissioners is evident.
When Public Services Chairman Herbert Harville asked if there was a motion to approve Brittain's newest Humane Society contract, there was silence. Finally, Harville declared that there was no motion and he moved on to the next item.
When all this mess started out, it seemed like it was primarily a financial/bookkeeping issue and that the treasurer should step down and there should be additional oversight of the Humane Society finances.
As more information has emerged and as I have attended Humane Society "board" meetings and have stepped in to foster animals as well, it is evident that the problems go way beyond just treasurer/bookkeeping issues.
The Humane Society was started decades ago by dedicated individuals who worked with care and concern for the animals uppermost. Some of those individuals are still on the Board and are good people who didn't intend for this mess to happen. They assumed and trusted that everything was being done correctly, but they didn't verify.
The mess did happen, and it hasn't been cleaned up. In fact, it has been made worse by the hiring of the current "director" months ago with continuing problems with shelter operations and then improper attempts by the existing Board to influence an election for board members by sending out a ballot declaring that certain candidates on the ballot were ineligible to serve on the board.
After several of these individuals provided proof of their Humane Society membership and eligibility, the votes from the first election were never counted and a new ballot prepared. The new ballots are to be counted on October 9.
In all of this, Diane Fox, current Humane Society secretary, showed the most common sense at the September 23 meeting of the Humane Society Board.
When the contract that County Mayor Bill Brittain, City Mayor Danny Thomas, and Humane Society Attorney Scott Reams had drafted was presented to the Board, Fox voted "no."
Her reasoning and her statement was that any contract decision should be made by the Humane Society Board which would be elected and known by October 9. Common sense.
It appears that there is common sense on the part of commissioners as well to wait for the election results on the Humane Society Board. And with the City as a party to the contract, why are all these contracts being drafted by certain officials and attorneys but no contract has been presented to or even discussed at a City Council meeting or work session?
Showing posts with label Herbert Harville. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Herbert Harville. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 07, 2014
Thursday, January 24, 2013
January 24, 2013 Wayne NeSmith Appointed To County Commission Seat Vacated by State Rep. Tilman Goins
The Hamblen County Commission appointed Wayne NeSmith to the District 4 Commission seat earlier this afternoon.
The vote was 10 votes for NeSmith and 2 votes for Darrell Williams, a member of the Downtown Merchants Association. Williams previously ran for an at-large City Council seat in 2011. [Paul LeBel won that council seat by about 24 votes over Charles Cook with Williams and Luke Pack coming in a distant third and fourth respectfully.]
NeSmith replaces Tilman Goins who was elected to the county commission in 2010 and resigned in December 2012 after his November 6 election to the State House of Representatives. Goins defeated former State Rep. Don Miller in a stunning victory in the 2012 Republican primary. Goins was officially elected State Representative in the November General Election without Democrat opposition. Click here.
NeSmith has lived in Morristown/Hamblen County almost all his life and was a strong Goins supporter in the State House of Representatives race. NeSmith will fill out the remainder of Goins' term which expires in August 2014. All commission seats will be up for election in 2014.
Voting for NeSmith were Larry Baker, Larry Carter, Tim Dennison, Rick Eldredge, Stancil Ford, Tim Goins, Herbert Harville, Nancy Phillips, Howard Shipley, and Dana Wampler.
Voting for Williams were Doe Jarvis and Doyle Fullington.
Not present was Paul LeBel.
The vote was 10 votes for NeSmith and 2 votes for Darrell Williams, a member of the Downtown Merchants Association. Williams previously ran for an at-large City Council seat in 2011. [Paul LeBel won that council seat by about 24 votes over Charles Cook with Williams and Luke Pack coming in a distant third and fourth respectfully.]
NeSmith replaces Tilman Goins who was elected to the county commission in 2010 and resigned in December 2012 after his November 6 election to the State House of Representatives. Goins defeated former State Rep. Don Miller in a stunning victory in the 2012 Republican primary. Goins was officially elected State Representative in the November General Election without Democrat opposition. Click here.
NeSmith has lived in Morristown/Hamblen County almost all his life and was a strong Goins supporter in the State House of Representatives race. NeSmith will fill out the remainder of Goins' term which expires in August 2014. All commission seats will be up for election in 2014.
Voting for NeSmith were Larry Baker, Larry Carter, Tim Dennison, Rick Eldredge, Stancil Ford, Tim Goins, Herbert Harville, Nancy Phillips, Howard Shipley, and Dana Wampler.
Voting for Williams were Doe Jarvis and Doyle Fullington.
Not present was Paul LeBel.
Monday, November 12, 2012
November 12, 2012 Hamblen Public Services Committee Approves Rezoning, Rejects Morristown Regional Planning Commission Recommendation
The Hamblen County Commission Public Services Committee met last Monday after the Jail Study and Finance Committees.
The main topic was a request to rezone property on Noe's Chapel Road from agricultural to commercial. The Owner was present and stated that he intends to work on and rebuild old cars in a car restoration business.
Although the land is in the county, it is also in the city's "urban growth area"---an area previously designated for possible "growth" and future annexation by the City.
As part of the city's urban growth area, the Morristown Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) heard the rezoning request first and recommended that the rezoning be denied by the county commission which had the final say.
At the start of the meeting, Public Services Chairman Herbert Harville made a motion to accept the MRPC's recommendation and deny the rezoning. Harville's motion did not receive a second, and extended discussion began.
According to the owner, the MRPC denied the request over concerns about traffic.
The owner pointed out that the property had previously been the site of a home-based plumbing business (Kilgore Plumbing) with numerous employees coming in an out. He added that traffic for his proposed car restoration business would be minimal since he expects to be working on only about four or five cars at any one time.
He added that the cars would be kept inside a building.
Commissioner Nancy Phillips made the motion to recommend that the full commission rezone the property. Commissioner Howard Shipley seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously out of the Committee. The rezoning will be voted on by the full Commission this Thursday, November 15.
Friday, September 21, 2012
September 21, 2012 Donation of $125,000 in Public Funds to MHHS Foundation Fails in Hamblen County Commission
On September 10, the Hamblen County Budget Committee voted 8-4 to recommend that the full commission give $125,000 of public funds to the MHHS Foundation for use in a building project and reserve all remaining funds in the former Hamblen County endowment fund for future jail capital projects. Click here. [Paul LeBel and Herbert Harville were not present at the Budget Committee.]
When that recommendation went to the full commission yesterday, it failed to get the 2/3 majority vote (10 YES) that was required for approval.
Yesterday's vote was 8 YES and 6 NO, two short of the ten required for approval under the special act.
Doe Jarvis voted for the recommendation in Committee but voted NO yesterday. He was joined with a NO vote from his very good friend Paul LeBel.
Although it's hard to resist pressure from powerful people who come to commission asking for public money for their projects, it appears that there is---at least for now---a significant group of commissioners who feel that public money should go for county government projects first and foremost.
Helen Ross McNabb Center Foundation and MHHS Foundation have raised huge amounts of money already, plans are drawn, and both will more than likely proceed with their planned construction with or without a donation of public money from the Hamblen County Commission.
But they go to public bodies (MUC and County Commission), ask for a public donation, and are often able to get support from commissioners who have no trouble in spending other people's money even while major county needs for roads and jails are present.
The eight YES votes were Stancil Ford, Larry Baker, Howard Shipley, Nancy Phillips, Dana Wampler, Rick Eldridge, Tilman Goins, and Herbert Harville.
The six NO votes Doyle Fullington, Larry Carter, Tim Dennison, Tim Goins, Paul LeBel, and Doe Jarvis.
That Hamblen County endowment money is burning a hole in commissioner's pockets. If it is not clearly set aside for county government capital projects soon, foundations and other non-profits will continue to come and ask for 14 people to take public dollars and donate them for foundation and non-profit capital projects.
When that recommendation went to the full commission yesterday, it failed to get the 2/3 majority vote (10 YES) that was required for approval.
Yesterday's vote was 8 YES and 6 NO, two short of the ten required for approval under the special act.
Doe Jarvis voted for the recommendation in Committee but voted NO yesterday. He was joined with a NO vote from his very good friend Paul LeBel.
Although it's hard to resist pressure from powerful people who come to commission asking for public money for their projects, it appears that there is---at least for now---a significant group of commissioners who feel that public money should go for county government projects first and foremost.
Helen Ross McNabb Center Foundation and MHHS Foundation have raised huge amounts of money already, plans are drawn, and both will more than likely proceed with their planned construction with or without a donation of public money from the Hamblen County Commission.
But they go to public bodies (MUC and County Commission), ask for a public donation, and are often able to get support from commissioners who have no trouble in spending other people's money even while major county needs for roads and jails are present.
The eight YES votes were Stancil Ford, Larry Baker, Howard Shipley, Nancy Phillips, Dana Wampler, Rick Eldridge, Tilman Goins, and Herbert Harville.
The six NO votes Doyle Fullington, Larry Carter, Tim Dennison, Tim Goins, Paul LeBel, and Doe Jarvis.
That Hamblen County endowment money is burning a hole in commissioner's pockets. If it is not clearly set aside for county government capital projects soon, foundations and other non-profits will continue to come and ask for 14 people to take public dollars and donate them for foundation and non-profit capital projects.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
September 16, 2012 Hamblen Budget Committee Votes Against Donating $100,000 to Helen Ross McNabb Building
The vote was 5 YES, 6 NO, and 1 ABSTENTION. [Commissioners Paul LeBel and Herbert Harville were not present. Commissioner Tim Goins abstained]
The vote came after spirited discussion about the very nature of non-profits and donating public money to non-profits.
Commissioner Doyle Fullington commented that he wanted to hold on to the money for county needs--particularly with the economy in the shape it is. He said he would be voting against the donation of $100,000 to the Helen Ross McNabb Foundation for a McNabb building project and the donation of $125,000 to the MH Hospital Foundation for a Foundation building project.
Commissioner Tim Dennison reminded everyone that the county already has specific needs on its plate with a decertified jail and road maintenance and repairs. He wanted everyone to look at using this money wisely.
Commissioner Doe Jarvis led the push to donate public money to the McNabb Center for a McNabb construction project. He thinks there are "answers" for the jail.
Commissioner Fullington made it clear that it was never his intention that money from the Hamblen County endowment would be donated to non-profits. In referring to the request for $125,000 from the Morristown-Hamblen Hospital Foundation, Fullington noted that the hospital directors sold MHHS hospital to Covenant precisely because of Covenant's ability to fund improvements and operate the hospital. He added that the term non-profit can be misleading since non-profits may make a profit--they just don't give it to shareholders.
Voting against donating public money to McNabb for the McNabb building project were Doyle Fullington, Tilman Goins, Tim Dennison, Larry Carter, Rick Eldridge, and Nancy Phillips.
Voting to donate public money to McNabb for the McNabb building project were Doe Jarvis, Stancil Ford, Larry Baker, Howard Shipley, and Dana Wampler.
[Previously, Helen Ross McNabb obtained a donation of up to $51,000 of "round-up" funds from the Morristown Utilities Commission for the proposed McNabb building project. Click here for video of the MUC vote, and click here for video of the initial McNabb request for $148,000 from MUC.]
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
March 10, 2009 County Commission Rejects Land Purchase for a New East High
The meeting was at the Health Department on Main Street. There was no set time--the notice just said that the Education Committee would meet "after" the called county commission meeting was over.
It started as a discussion about a 1.4 Million dollar land purchase for a new East High School.
It ended with 10 commissioners voting "no" and 3 commissioners voting "yes."
After the Education Committee vote was taken yesterday, the school board, Dr. Lynch, and Central Office administrators scooped up the powerpoint presentation and left the building.
Commissioner Joe Swann, chairman of the Education Committee, said to Director of Schools Dale Lynch, "You just heard the door slam on your building program."
Joe Swann, Tommy Massey, and Ricky Bruce voted "yes."
Voting "no" were Stancil Ford, Larry Baker, Guy Collins, Herbert Harville, Reece Sexton, Joe Spoone, Doyle Fullington, Paul Lebel, Dennis Alvis, and Dana Wampler. Commissioner Nancy Phillips was absent.
There were discussions about the price of the land, access roads, site preparation costs, increased traffic, safety concerns, renovations vs. new construction, and practice fields for sports.
Joe Spoone said he wanted to see the funding plan for the entire project before any property is purchased.
Well, when you look at the true costs for the entire project, you will see that the $80 Million estimate is just a fraction of the total taxpayer costs.
There is not $80 Million sitting around waiting to be spent on another school building program. The $80 Million has to be borrowed, and that means there are interest costs on top of the actual building costs.
Over a 20-year payout period, an $80 Million dollar building program would cost county taxpayers another $61 Million in interest for a total cost of $141 Million TAX Dollars (principal + interest).
Over a 25-year payout period, that same $80 Million dollar building program would cost county taxpayers another $80 Million in interest for a total cost of $160 Million TAX dollars (principal + interest). [These costs are from a county cost estimate]
Those are sobering figures that should make anyone pause ---but especially so in these uncertain and difficult economic times in Hamblen County and across the nation.
Another sobering figure is the debt still owed by the county (taxpayers) on the previous (1998) $35 Million dollar school building program and $5 Million capital improvement program. The re-payment schedule for that $40 Million debt was set up as interest only payments for the first 8 years or so, meaning that after making "minimum payments" for 8 years or so, the county still owed the same $40 Million that it had borrowed at the start.
It started as a discussion about a 1.4 Million dollar land purchase for a new East High School.
It ended with 10 commissioners voting "no" and 3 commissioners voting "yes."
After the Education Committee vote was taken yesterday, the school board, Dr. Lynch, and Central Office administrators scooped up the powerpoint presentation and left the building.
Commissioner Joe Swann, chairman of the Education Committee, said to Director of Schools Dale Lynch, "You just heard the door slam on your building program."
Joe Swann, Tommy Massey, and Ricky Bruce voted "yes."
Voting "no" were Stancil Ford, Larry Baker, Guy Collins, Herbert Harville, Reece Sexton, Joe Spoone, Doyle Fullington, Paul Lebel, Dennis Alvis, and Dana Wampler. Commissioner Nancy Phillips was absent.
There were discussions about the price of the land, access roads, site preparation costs, increased traffic, safety concerns, renovations vs. new construction, and practice fields for sports.
Joe Spoone said he wanted to see the funding plan for the entire project before any property is purchased.
Well, when you look at the true costs for the entire project, you will see that the $80 Million estimate is just a fraction of the total taxpayer costs.
There is not $80 Million sitting around waiting to be spent on another school building program. The $80 Million has to be borrowed, and that means there are interest costs on top of the actual building costs.
Over a 20-year payout period, an $80 Million dollar building program would cost county taxpayers another $61 Million in interest for a total cost of $141 Million TAX Dollars (principal + interest).
Over a 25-year payout period, that same $80 Million dollar building program would cost county taxpayers another $80 Million in interest for a total cost of $160 Million TAX dollars (principal + interest). [These costs are from a county cost estimate]
Those are sobering figures that should make anyone pause ---but especially so in these uncertain and difficult economic times in Hamblen County and across the nation.
Another sobering figure is the debt still owed by the county (taxpayers) on the previous (1998) $35 Million dollar school building program and $5 Million capital improvement program. The re-payment schedule for that $40 Million debt was set up as interest only payments for the first 8 years or so, meaning that after making "minimum payments" for 8 years or so, the county still owed the same $40 Million that it had borrowed at the start.
Friday, October 21, 2005
October 21, 2005 A l-o-o-o-ng meeting. B-i-i-i-ig issues.
Three big issues dominated Commission's four-hour meeting yesterday:
1. Resolution to "bill" the federal government for illegal immigrant education costs
2. Resolution to appropriate $60,000 to the Hamblen County School Board for a new "International School"
3. Resolution to have junkyards in Hamblen County put fences or trees around their property
1. Resolution to "bill" the federal government for illegal immigrant education costs.
This proposal from Commissioner Tom Lowe had been studied and worked on for months. Commissioners received a copy of the proposal over 10 days ago. Yesterday, Commissioner Ricky Bruce stated that he thought some of the figures on migrant population were wrong.
After much back-and-forth, the Commission decided that the resolution would be considered again and the school board would be asked again to provide information and data to be used in the resolution. (Commissioner Lowe had great difficulty getting figures from the local Board of Education, and the migrant population data that was used in the resolution came from the State of Tennessee Department of Education)
2. Resolution to appropriate $60,000 to the Hamblen County School Board for a new "International School"
After public comments from many people (most opposed to the school) and after extensive discussion and questions from commissioners, the vote was 8-6 to approve the $60,000 appropriation to the International School venture. The vote was no surprise.
The eight commissioners voting to help start a new school site at Walters State were: Dennis Alvis, Ricky Bruce, Maudie Briggs, Doyle Fullington, Donald Gray, Herbert Harville, Edwin Osborne, and Joe Spoone.
Opposing the funding of a new school site at Walters State were: Larry Baker, Guy Collins, Tom Lowe, Linda Noe, Nancy Phillips, and Bobby Reinhardt.
One individual who spoke against the International School brought out what he considered to be at a minimum "ethical" conflicts of interest involving three commissioners. This individual mentioned that Commissioner Ricky Bruce's sister (Paula Bruce Combs) is an assistant principal in the Hamblen County School System. He said she was selected as an assistant principal less than a year after her brother Ricky Bruce was elected to the Commission. (Since her appointment was in 2003, the current Director of Schools, Dale Lynch, is the one who appointed Commissioner Ricky Bruce's sister to the assistant principalship).
He added that Commissioner Herbert Harville's son Stan is a principal (non-tenured) at Witt and Harville's daughter-in-law is a teacher. Stan has tenure as a teacher, but he is not protected by tenure as a principal.
Finally, the speaker said that Commission Chair Joe Spoone has the most conflicts and closest family ties to the school system. He pointed out that Joe's brother, James Spoone, is a Hamblen County bus driver (non-tenured). Joe's sister, Carolyn Spoone Holt, is chairman of the Hamblen County School Board. Joe's wife, Charlene Spoone, is a technology assistant (non-tenured). Joe is covered by his wife's medical insurance with the Hamblen County School Board.
He mentioned that Joe used to be on the county's insurance plan but apparently decided to become a dependent on his wife's school insurance over a year ago. Most people consider the school insurance to be the Cadillac of insurance while the county insurance has been referred to as a Chevrolet. (Chevrolet owners don't get upset with the comparison. I'm certainly not knocking Chevrolets-- I drive a Chevy PU occasionally.)
The speaker said that the conflicts might or might not be considered as legally precluding these three from voting on school issues, but he wanted Bruce, Harville, and Spoone to consider the ethics of the situation. He asked that they consider recusing themselves from the vote and the discussion on the International School to avoid even the "appearance of impropriety."
You can see by the vote that Joe Spoone, who has the most conflicted situation, didn't think that his brother's employment by the school board, his sister's position as chair of the school board, his wife's employment by the school board, or his own medical insurance coverage under the school board plan creates an "ethical" problem or gives off even the "appearance of impropriety."
Because of the gentleman's concern about conflicts, ethics, and the appearance of impropriety, I raised a question about Joe voting on the International School issue. I hope that by simply raising the question, there is at least a greater awareness of the ethical issue here and the obvious appearance of impropriety.
Tennessee's conflict of interest statute is so limited that it is likely that there is no technical legal conflict. You just about have to pay yourself directly to have a legal conflict of interest.
"Ethical" and "appearance of impropriety" questions are more complex. I'm afraid that Tennessee (as all who have watched Tennessee Waltz corruption charges unfold across the state) has few and largely toothless ethics standards at this point in time. The "call" on the type of ethical questions that the gentleman raised is apparently left to the person with the conflict to decide.
Obviously, Commissioner Spoone may take the position that there is no "appearance of impropriety" and that he is not "ethically" conflicted by the fact that his wife is employed by the school board and his medical insurance is provided by the school board through his wife's plan, that his brother is employed by the school board, and that his sister is chairman of the school board.
I think that the gentleman yesterday who discussed these family and economic ties was actually telling commissioners that sometimes common sense tells you more about conflicts of interest than all the laws on the books. Sometimes common sense tells you that you have a personal conflict and that stepping aside is the right thing to do.
It is Tennessee's loose ethics laws that have precipitated the current ethical crisis in the state and that have prompted the renewed emphasis on ethics legislation at every level of government. Is there anyone, including Commissioner Joe Spoone, who can say with a straight face that his many close family and economic ties to the school board have no effect on his vote?
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I'll get into more on the International School in later posts, but I do want to add something important now for all citizens and taxpayers to consider. The School System's ELL (English-Language Learners) student count resulted in state and local match BEP funding for 11.5 ELL teachers in the current 2005-2006 school year. The school system, however, employed only 8 ELL teachers for 2005-2006.
There will be, and has been, "spin" galore about the ELL teacher situation. As Commissioner Phillips pointed out yesterday, if the school system had followed the BEP funding guidelines in this area (11.5 teachers), we would only be 2.5 teachers short of the 14 that will be required for ELL students in 2006-2007 instead of being 6 short! Another item that the Board likes to "spin" is to say that the state/local BEP funding doesn't cover the full costs of these ELL teachers in Hamblen County.
Well, the fact is that the state provides 62.7% of the BEP funding for these teachers and Hamblen County provides the required BEP local funding match of 37.3%. The school system says that this level of state/local BEP funding doesn't cover its teacher and benefit costs. What is not mentioned is that Hamblen County provides additional funding over and above the required BEP local funding match of 37.3%. Hamblen County provides approximately $5 million dollars in additional funding above the required match and has done so for several years through maintenance of effort provisions. And on top of the $5 million provided above BEP local match requirements, Hamblen County also provides additional money to the schools every year through the payment of school construction debt on behalf of the school system---principal and interest payments that are paid from the county's debt service fund. (If you hear it said that the school system helps pay the school construction debt, that is correct but only to a small degree. The school system agreed years ago to contribute $500,000 of its BEP money to help in the payment of the huge school construction debt that was incurred by the county with the recently completed $35 million school building program--this $500,000, however, does not begin to cover the principal and interest costs that the county incurs and pays each year for school debt outside of the BEP and school budget.)
There will be a dozen different and carefully worded explanations for the current "crisis" and shortage of ELL teachers. Putting all this "spin" aside, the simple fact is that the school system shorted this program area for at least two years and has now put together a plan to start a brand new school for "newcomers" --a plan that will involve bussing 120 students from all over the county to and from a site at Walters State with loss of instructional time and ever-rising costs to the local taxpayers in future years.
3. Resolution to have junkyard owners put fences or trees around their property
This proposal that has been in the works for over six months seemed to be going along well until a few days before the commission meeting when several owners of junkyards asked to meet with Commissioner Nancy Phillips to express their concerns.
Junkyards in Hamblen County were "grandfathered" in when countywide zoning was enacted in the early 1990's. That means that junkyards in existence when zoning was first adopted can not be forced out of business (unless they cease operations for an extended period of time) even though they do not conform to the current zoning of their area.
County attorney Rusty Cantwell, at the request of several Hamblen County residents and several commissioners, researched what could be done to gradually require junkyard owners to put fences or trees around their property to help shield any unsightly piles of cars or junk on their property from public view. Coming out of committee, the proposal was to require owners to build a fence or plant trees as a screen around the junkyard--and allow them 3 years to do this.
Because of the discussion about changes, the commission did not take action yesterday. Yesterday's meeting was recessed, and the full commission will meet again on Monday, October 24, at 6:00 pm to iron out the details of the junkyard ordinance. Some suggestions made yesterday were to allow 5 years before a fence or trees must be planted and to only make the fencing and trees apply to junkyards fronting on county roads--with the idea that the state can be pushed to address the junkyards that have frontage on state roads.
Coming up soon...update on county vehicles (should be very interesting), audit information, and the long-awaited report on the headlines you've seen and those you haven't seen (but should have) in the Tribune.
1. Resolution to "bill" the federal government for illegal immigrant education costs
2. Resolution to appropriate $60,000 to the Hamblen County School Board for a new "International School"
3. Resolution to have junkyards in Hamblen County put fences or trees around their property
1. Resolution to "bill" the federal government for illegal immigrant education costs.
This proposal from Commissioner Tom Lowe had been studied and worked on for months. Commissioners received a copy of the proposal over 10 days ago. Yesterday, Commissioner Ricky Bruce stated that he thought some of the figures on migrant population were wrong.
After much back-and-forth, the Commission decided that the resolution would be considered again and the school board would be asked again to provide information and data to be used in the resolution. (Commissioner Lowe had great difficulty getting figures from the local Board of Education, and the migrant population data that was used in the resolution came from the State of Tennessee Department of Education)
2. Resolution to appropriate $60,000 to the Hamblen County School Board for a new "International School"
After public comments from many people (most opposed to the school) and after extensive discussion and questions from commissioners, the vote was 8-6 to approve the $60,000 appropriation to the International School venture. The vote was no surprise.
The eight commissioners voting to help start a new school site at Walters State were: Dennis Alvis, Ricky Bruce, Maudie Briggs, Doyle Fullington, Donald Gray, Herbert Harville, Edwin Osborne, and Joe Spoone.
Opposing the funding of a new school site at Walters State were: Larry Baker, Guy Collins, Tom Lowe, Linda Noe, Nancy Phillips, and Bobby Reinhardt.
One individual who spoke against the International School brought out what he considered to be at a minimum "ethical" conflicts of interest involving three commissioners. This individual mentioned that Commissioner Ricky Bruce's sister (Paula Bruce Combs) is an assistant principal in the Hamblen County School System. He said she was selected as an assistant principal less than a year after her brother Ricky Bruce was elected to the Commission. (Since her appointment was in 2003, the current Director of Schools, Dale Lynch, is the one who appointed Commissioner Ricky Bruce's sister to the assistant principalship).
He added that Commissioner Herbert Harville's son Stan is a principal (non-tenured) at Witt and Harville's daughter-in-law is a teacher. Stan has tenure as a teacher, but he is not protected by tenure as a principal.
Finally, the speaker said that Commission Chair Joe Spoone has the most conflicts and closest family ties to the school system. He pointed out that Joe's brother, James Spoone, is a Hamblen County bus driver (non-tenured). Joe's sister, Carolyn Spoone Holt, is chairman of the Hamblen County School Board. Joe's wife, Charlene Spoone, is a technology assistant (non-tenured). Joe is covered by his wife's medical insurance with the Hamblen County School Board.
He mentioned that Joe used to be on the county's insurance plan but apparently decided to become a dependent on his wife's school insurance over a year ago. Most people consider the school insurance to be the Cadillac of insurance while the county insurance has been referred to as a Chevrolet. (Chevrolet owners don't get upset with the comparison. I'm certainly not knocking Chevrolets-- I drive a Chevy PU occasionally.)
The speaker said that the conflicts might or might not be considered as legally precluding these three from voting on school issues, but he wanted Bruce, Harville, and Spoone to consider the ethics of the situation. He asked that they consider recusing themselves from the vote and the discussion on the International School to avoid even the "appearance of impropriety."
You can see by the vote that Joe Spoone, who has the most conflicted situation, didn't think that his brother's employment by the school board, his sister's position as chair of the school board, his wife's employment by the school board, or his own medical insurance coverage under the school board plan creates an "ethical" problem or gives off even the "appearance of impropriety."
Because of the gentleman's concern about conflicts, ethics, and the appearance of impropriety, I raised a question about Joe voting on the International School issue. I hope that by simply raising the question, there is at least a greater awareness of the ethical issue here and the obvious appearance of impropriety.
Tennessee's conflict of interest statute is so limited that it is likely that there is no technical legal conflict. You just about have to pay yourself directly to have a legal conflict of interest.
"Ethical" and "appearance of impropriety" questions are more complex. I'm afraid that Tennessee (as all who have watched Tennessee Waltz corruption charges unfold across the state) has few and largely toothless ethics standards at this point in time. The "call" on the type of ethical questions that the gentleman raised is apparently left to the person with the conflict to decide.
Obviously, Commissioner Spoone may take the position that there is no "appearance of impropriety" and that he is not "ethically" conflicted by the fact that his wife is employed by the school board and his medical insurance is provided by the school board through his wife's plan, that his brother is employed by the school board, and that his sister is chairman of the school board.
I think that the gentleman yesterday who discussed these family and economic ties was actually telling commissioners that sometimes common sense tells you more about conflicts of interest than all the laws on the books. Sometimes common sense tells you that you have a personal conflict and that stepping aside is the right thing to do.
It is Tennessee's loose ethics laws that have precipitated the current ethical crisis in the state and that have prompted the renewed emphasis on ethics legislation at every level of government. Is there anyone, including Commissioner Joe Spoone, who can say with a straight face that his many close family and economic ties to the school board have no effect on his vote?
-----------------------------------------------------------
I'll get into more on the International School in later posts, but I do want to add something important now for all citizens and taxpayers to consider. The School System's ELL (English-Language Learners) student count resulted in state and local match BEP funding for 11.5 ELL teachers in the current 2005-2006 school year. The school system, however, employed only 8 ELL teachers for 2005-2006.
There will be, and has been, "spin" galore about the ELL teacher situation. As Commissioner Phillips pointed out yesterday, if the school system had followed the BEP funding guidelines in this area (11.5 teachers), we would only be 2.5 teachers short of the 14 that will be required for ELL students in 2006-2007 instead of being 6 short! Another item that the Board likes to "spin" is to say that the state/local BEP funding doesn't cover the full costs of these ELL teachers in Hamblen County.
Well, the fact is that the state provides 62.7% of the BEP funding for these teachers and Hamblen County provides the required BEP local funding match of 37.3%. The school system says that this level of state/local BEP funding doesn't cover its teacher and benefit costs. What is not mentioned is that Hamblen County provides additional funding over and above the required BEP local funding match of 37.3%. Hamblen County provides approximately $5 million dollars in additional funding above the required match and has done so for several years through maintenance of effort provisions. And on top of the $5 million provided above BEP local match requirements, Hamblen County also provides additional money to the schools every year through the payment of school construction debt on behalf of the school system---principal and interest payments that are paid from the county's debt service fund. (If you hear it said that the school system helps pay the school construction debt, that is correct but only to a small degree. The school system agreed years ago to contribute $500,000 of its BEP money to help in the payment of the huge school construction debt that was incurred by the county with the recently completed $35 million school building program--this $500,000, however, does not begin to cover the principal and interest costs that the county incurs and pays each year for school debt outside of the BEP and school budget.)
There will be a dozen different and carefully worded explanations for the current "crisis" and shortage of ELL teachers. Putting all this "spin" aside, the simple fact is that the school system shorted this program area for at least two years and has now put together a plan to start a brand new school for "newcomers" --a plan that will involve bussing 120 students from all over the county to and from a site at Walters State with loss of instructional time and ever-rising costs to the local taxpayers in future years.
3. Resolution to have junkyard owners put fences or trees around their property
This proposal that has been in the works for over six months seemed to be going along well until a few days before the commission meeting when several owners of junkyards asked to meet with Commissioner Nancy Phillips to express their concerns.
Junkyards in Hamblen County were "grandfathered" in when countywide zoning was enacted in the early 1990's. That means that junkyards in existence when zoning was first adopted can not be forced out of business (unless they cease operations for an extended period of time) even though they do not conform to the current zoning of their area.
County attorney Rusty Cantwell, at the request of several Hamblen County residents and several commissioners, researched what could be done to gradually require junkyard owners to put fences or trees around their property to help shield any unsightly piles of cars or junk on their property from public view. Coming out of committee, the proposal was to require owners to build a fence or plant trees as a screen around the junkyard--and allow them 3 years to do this.
Because of the discussion about changes, the commission did not take action yesterday. Yesterday's meeting was recessed, and the full commission will meet again on Monday, October 24, at 6:00 pm to iron out the details of the junkyard ordinance. Some suggestions made yesterday were to allow 5 years before a fence or trees must be planted and to only make the fencing and trees apply to junkyards fronting on county roads--with the idea that the state can be pushed to address the junkyards that have frontage on state roads.
Coming up soon...update on county vehicles (should be very interesting), audit information, and the long-awaited report on the headlines you've seen and those you haven't seen (but should have) in the Tribune.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
September 13, 2005 More Spending
Check my September 2 post: "Waiting for the other (budget) shoe to drop"
PLANNING COMMISSION
The Planning Commission is going to ask for a 14% budget increase.
The County Commission approved the Planning Commission budget on August 4--in the exact amount that the Planning Commission itself requested.
Yesterday, however, the other budget shoe began to drop as the Planning Commission passed a budget amendment to increase their budget by $32,000. It appears that this request for increased spending may come to the full Commission on September 22 or more likely October 20.
Unless something really unusual happens, the amendment will pass. Two of the members of the Planning Commission are county commissioners (Joe Spoone and Herbert Harville) and voted for the original Planning Commission budget and have already voted for the budget increase as members of the Planning Commission.
The Hamblen County Commission passed a deficit county budget on August 4--meaning we expect to spend $460,000 more than we expect to take in during fiscal year 2005-2006. See my post of August 5. This Planning Commission amendment increases spending by $32,000 but may be accompanied by a prediction of increased revenues due to higher charges that have been implemented for fees and permits.
COUNTY INVENTORY
I just received a copy of the county inventory as of June 30, 2005. I don't want to comment too much on it at this time--except I will tell you that there are huge differences in the inventory reported 6/30/05 and the inventory reported on 6/30/04. Some of the differences are expected and are the result of reporting new equipment, vehicles, and items that were purchased in the 2005 fiscal year. But a large part of the difference can be traced to inaccurate reporting on the 2004 inventory--lots and lots of county equipment that should have been on the 2004 inventory was somehow "left off" and is just now showing up on the 2005 inventory.
When I asked whether there would be any report on mileage and hourly meter readings for vehicles and equipment as requested by the full commission almost two years ago, the Finance Director stated that GASB (that's "governmental accounting standards board") doesn't include mileage and condition in inventory reports. Of course, GASB wasn't even part of the discussion. I simply wanted to know if the Finance Director would send out an e-mail or request to department heads to include the mileage and condition information with the inventory. She did that last year for every department except the Sheriff. The County Mayor, who was sitting in a chair on a back row, answered and said if mileage information was desired, I would have to ask each department for it. Again, "don't ask and I won't tell/ Do ask, and I still won't tell."
I remember, when commission was discussing buying new patrol vehicles a few years ago, Commissioner Joe Spoone said he'd like to know about the mileage on the old vehicles that we were replacing. There is obviously a difference in, say, a 1999 vehicle that has 50,000 miles and the same vehicle with 125,000 miles. You might consider trading in the high mileage vehicle but not the low mileage one regardless of the model year.
That's why finding out and keeping up with how many miles are being put on county vehicles is important.
I'll keep you posted on the response as I ask for the vehicle and equipment information today and tomorrow.
.
Thus far, I have found that most department heads and other elected officials are quite co-operative when a commissioner or citizen asks a question.
There are only a very few who get upset when questions are asked and who resort to personal attacks on those who ask questions about public money and public property.
Most officials know that citizens pay the bills, and citizens have a right to know how their money is being spent.
PLANNING COMMISSION
The Planning Commission is going to ask for a 14% budget increase.
The County Commission approved the Planning Commission budget on August 4--in the exact amount that the Planning Commission itself requested.
Yesterday, however, the other budget shoe began to drop as the Planning Commission passed a budget amendment to increase their budget by $32,000. It appears that this request for increased spending may come to the full Commission on September 22 or more likely October 20.
Unless something really unusual happens, the amendment will pass. Two of the members of the Planning Commission are county commissioners (Joe Spoone and Herbert Harville) and voted for the original Planning Commission budget and have already voted for the budget increase as members of the Planning Commission.
The Hamblen County Commission passed a deficit county budget on August 4--meaning we expect to spend $460,000 more than we expect to take in during fiscal year 2005-2006. See my post of August 5. This Planning Commission amendment increases spending by $32,000 but may be accompanied by a prediction of increased revenues due to higher charges that have been implemented for fees and permits.
COUNTY INVENTORY
I just received a copy of the county inventory as of June 30, 2005. I don't want to comment too much on it at this time--except I will tell you that there are huge differences in the inventory reported 6/30/05 and the inventory reported on 6/30/04. Some of the differences are expected and are the result of reporting new equipment, vehicles, and items that were purchased in the 2005 fiscal year. But a large part of the difference can be traced to inaccurate reporting on the 2004 inventory--lots and lots of county equipment that should have been on the 2004 inventory was somehow "left off" and is just now showing up on the 2005 inventory.
When I asked whether there would be any report on mileage and hourly meter readings for vehicles and equipment as requested by the full commission almost two years ago, the Finance Director stated that GASB (that's "governmental accounting standards board") doesn't include mileage and condition in inventory reports. Of course, GASB wasn't even part of the discussion. I simply wanted to know if the Finance Director would send out an e-mail or request to department heads to include the mileage and condition information with the inventory. She did that last year for every department except the Sheriff. The County Mayor, who was sitting in a chair on a back row, answered and said if mileage information was desired, I would have to ask each department for it. Again, "don't ask and I won't tell/ Do ask, and I still won't tell."
I remember, when commission was discussing buying new patrol vehicles a few years ago, Commissioner Joe Spoone said he'd like to know about the mileage on the old vehicles that we were replacing. There is obviously a difference in, say, a 1999 vehicle that has 50,000 miles and the same vehicle with 125,000 miles. You might consider trading in the high mileage vehicle but not the low mileage one regardless of the model year.
That's why finding out and keeping up with how many miles are being put on county vehicles is important.
I'll keep you posted on the response as I ask for the vehicle and equipment information today and tomorrow.
.
Thus far, I have found that most department heads and other elected officials are quite co-operative when a commissioner or citizen asks a question.
There are only a very few who get upset when questions are asked and who resort to personal attacks on those who ask questions about public money and public property.
Most officials know that citizens pay the bills, and citizens have a right to know how their money is being spent.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
August 31, 2005 County Mayor David Purkey "blows a gasket"
The biggest news is the news that hasn't been reported yet. Isn't that usually the case?
What local news has not been reported? The "answer" from County Mayor David Purkey as to why he and the Finance Director have not come to Hamblen County Commission Audit Committee meetings and have not at least sent written responses to questions that were submitted months ago about the 2004 audit.
It's hard to find any hint of co-operation and answers to financial questions anywhere in the letter. It is easy, however, to find explosive anger and pent-up hatred in his vitriolic and venomous response.
What, you might ask, has prompted yet another outburst from the County Mayor? Financial questions. Now just why would financial questions cause the county's "chief financial officer" to blow a gasket?
The Audit Committee submitted written follow-up questions to the state auditors months ago about findings in the 2004 audit. The state auditors answered most of the questions. For audit questions that they could not answer, they referred the committee to the County Mayor and Finance Director. When the questions were submitted to Mayor Purkey, the county's chief financial officer, he just ignored them. Finally, the Audit Committee voted to have Audit Chairman Osborne send a letter to Commissioner Herbert Harville, a member of the Audit Committee and Chair of the Finance Committee, asking him to communicate with Mayor Purkey and attempt to get some co-operation and answers.
Here is the Mayor's reply to Herbert Harville's request on behalf of the Audit Committee for co-operation and answers. The letter was dated August 9, 2005, and provided on August 26. Even though Mr. Purkey was present at the Aug. 26 meeting, it was Commissioner Harville who read the letter to the Committee and to the public. It's long, it's threatening, and it's full of personal attacks. Since there were no financial answers in the letter, I asked Herbert jokingly, "Does this mean we won't get answers to the shifting of money?" Herbert didn't answer. He didn't have to because the answer is very clear. It's obvious that County Mayor David Purkey has taken the position that so many others in office take as soon as questions are asked: "I don't have to answer anything." His response to 04 audit questions is apparently, "Don't ask, and I won't tell" / "Do ask, and I still won't tell."
===========================================================================
August 9, 2005
TO: Honorable Herbert Harville
Chair Finance Committee
FROM: David W. Purkey
Hamblen County Mayor
RE: Response to Edwin Osborne' s Letter of August 8, 2005
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for sharing Mr. Osborne's letter which was apparently passed out at an unscheduled Audit Committee meeting yesterday. As you know, Mr. Osborne failed to provide me with a copy which has become standard operating procedure for Linda Noe and her cronies.
Mr. Osborne has publicly stated on multiple occasions that he will be a candidate for Hamblen County Mayor in the 2006 election. On one particular occasion, he appeared before the County Board of Equalization in an attempt to have his property taxes reduced. As a sitting county commissioner, Mr. Osborne responded to the Board's chastisement of this action by threatening to run for County Mayor. I join with the voices of other county commissioners and elected officials who have recognized Mr. Osborne's weakness as the Audit Committee Chair in allowing the processes of his committee to be tainted by his political aspirations. I can provide the names of others with whom he has declared his candidacy.
At any rate, Mr. Osborne states in his letter that his committee is at an "impasse". I would agree. The impasse has resulted from the blatant attempts by Ms. Noe and her cronies to utilize the Audit Committee as a political tool outside the parameters of state law. The Audit Committee's statutory authority is to recommend the employment of an independent auditor to examine the county's books. The committee then receives the audit document after the independent auditors have completed their work. Mr. Osborne is looking for a full-time job and I am sensitive to that. Clearly, his fixation on running for County Mayor has severely damaged his ability to lead the committee. I fully appreciate that he does not know how to proceed in this context.
Mr. Osborne's statement that "State Auditors indicated that they did not know Hamblen County had an audit committee last year" is puzzling since the committee has existed for over 25 years. In fact, Mr. Osborne's late father was the long time distinguished chair of that committee.
Mr. Osborne infers that there has been a "failure to follow up on and correct previously identified internal control deficiencies". The County Mayor's Office, the Finance Department, and the Road Superintendent received five (5) findings (one involved implementing centralized purchasing which we did immediately and was no easy task with existing resources). As detailed in our audit responses, all deficiencies have been addressed. Again, Mr. Osborne is posturing politically as he attempts to blame my office with findings in other offices. He and Ms. Noe know very well that the County Mayor does not supervise the school system, trustee's office, county clerk and others, where another elected official is in charge by state law.
Mr. Osborne states that the County Mayor has refused "to address certain repeat findings in the FY 04 audit." All findings have been addressed as they pertain to my office. He sees a finding and immediately throws blame. I see a finding and seize the opportunity to improve. That is a major difference in us. I would suggest that he read the state audit document.
Mr. Osborne accuses me of "urging other departments and elected officials to avoid audit committee meetings or provide responses". This is an absolute misrepresentation of the facts and he knows it. We all attended the meeting that Mr. Osborne himself called to sit down with state auditors and discuss the findings and responses within the audit document. His comment is an insult to every county-wide public official who attended that meeting and who is individually elected to office by the people of this county. I do not tell the other elected officials what they can and cannot do. I am a coordinator, not a dictator, as he alleges.
Mr. Osborne refers to "[my] willful decision not to provide requested information [which] compromise[s] the effectiveness of the Audit Committee in its oversight role." This is another untrue statement by Mr. Osborne. The state auditors have verified and said publicly at the very meeting that Mr. Osborne has developed amnesia about, that my office has done so and has been a pleasure to work with. My responsibility is to provide information and answers to the independent state auditors, not to his political campaign committee.
Mr. Osborne concludes by threatening all elected officials with a statement referring to, "future activities of the audit committee [as it] considers even more serious matters". Once again, let me be clear about the law. My responsibility is to the independent state auditors, not to Mr. Osborne as just another Linda Noe crony. He and Ms. Noe have clearly directed the committee outside of state law in a very selfish manner.
These people and others in their group appear to be dedicated to destroying the good name of this county. They never offer any solutions with their threats and conspiracy theories.
Mr. Chairman, I would both challenge and caution them to be ready to back up their lies and misrepresentations with actual facts when the time comes.
I can assure them that this time is coming, maybe sooner than they think...
Thank you.
DWP/kr
Cc: All County Commissioners
All Elected Officials and Department Heads
County Attorney Rusty Cantwell
Councilman Claude Jinks
===========================================================================
That's the answer from the "chief financial officer" of the county to financial questions from the Audit Committee of the Hamblen County Commission.
What local news has not been reported? The "answer" from County Mayor David Purkey as to why he and the Finance Director have not come to Hamblen County Commission Audit Committee meetings and have not at least sent written responses to questions that were submitted months ago about the 2004 audit.
It's hard to find any hint of co-operation and answers to financial questions anywhere in the letter. It is easy, however, to find explosive anger and pent-up hatred in his vitriolic and venomous response.
What, you might ask, has prompted yet another outburst from the County Mayor? Financial questions. Now just why would financial questions cause the county's "chief financial officer" to blow a gasket?
The Audit Committee submitted written follow-up questions to the state auditors months ago about findings in the 2004 audit. The state auditors answered most of the questions. For audit questions that they could not answer, they referred the committee to the County Mayor and Finance Director. When the questions were submitted to Mayor Purkey, the county's chief financial officer, he just ignored them. Finally, the Audit Committee voted to have Audit Chairman Osborne send a letter to Commissioner Herbert Harville, a member of the Audit Committee and Chair of the Finance Committee, asking him to communicate with Mayor Purkey and attempt to get some co-operation and answers.
Here is the Mayor's reply to Herbert Harville's request on behalf of the Audit Committee for co-operation and answers. The letter was dated August 9, 2005, and provided on August 26. Even though Mr. Purkey was present at the Aug. 26 meeting, it was Commissioner Harville who read the letter to the Committee and to the public. It's long, it's threatening, and it's full of personal attacks. Since there were no financial answers in the letter, I asked Herbert jokingly, "Does this mean we won't get answers to the shifting of money?" Herbert didn't answer. He didn't have to because the answer is very clear. It's obvious that County Mayor David Purkey has taken the position that so many others in office take as soon as questions are asked: "I don't have to answer anything." His response to 04 audit questions is apparently, "Don't ask, and I won't tell" / "Do ask, and I still won't tell."
===========================================================================
August 9, 2005
TO: Honorable Herbert Harville
Chair Finance Committee
FROM: David W. Purkey
Hamblen County Mayor
RE: Response to Edwin Osborne' s Letter of August 8, 2005
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for sharing Mr. Osborne's letter which was apparently passed out at an unscheduled Audit Committee meeting yesterday. As you know, Mr. Osborne failed to provide me with a copy which has become standard operating procedure for Linda Noe and her cronies.
Mr. Osborne has publicly stated on multiple occasions that he will be a candidate for Hamblen County Mayor in the 2006 election. On one particular occasion, he appeared before the County Board of Equalization in an attempt to have his property taxes reduced. As a sitting county commissioner, Mr. Osborne responded to the Board's chastisement of this action by threatening to run for County Mayor. I join with the voices of other county commissioners and elected officials who have recognized Mr. Osborne's weakness as the Audit Committee Chair in allowing the processes of his committee to be tainted by his political aspirations. I can provide the names of others with whom he has declared his candidacy.
At any rate, Mr. Osborne states in his letter that his committee is at an "impasse". I would agree. The impasse has resulted from the blatant attempts by Ms. Noe and her cronies to utilize the Audit Committee as a political tool outside the parameters of state law. The Audit Committee's statutory authority is to recommend the employment of an independent auditor to examine the county's books. The committee then receives the audit document after the independent auditors have completed their work. Mr. Osborne is looking for a full-time job and I am sensitive to that. Clearly, his fixation on running for County Mayor has severely damaged his ability to lead the committee. I fully appreciate that he does not know how to proceed in this context.
Mr. Osborne's statement that "State Auditors indicated that they did not know Hamblen County had an audit committee last year" is puzzling since the committee has existed for over 25 years. In fact, Mr. Osborne's late father was the long time distinguished chair of that committee.
Mr. Osborne infers that there has been a "failure to follow up on and correct previously identified internal control deficiencies". The County Mayor's Office, the Finance Department, and the Road Superintendent received five (5) findings (one involved implementing centralized purchasing which we did immediately and was no easy task with existing resources). As detailed in our audit responses, all deficiencies have been addressed. Again, Mr. Osborne is posturing politically as he attempts to blame my office with findings in other offices. He and Ms. Noe know very well that the County Mayor does not supervise the school system, trustee's office, county clerk and others, where another elected official is in charge by state law.
Mr. Osborne states that the County Mayor has refused "to address certain repeat findings in the FY 04 audit." All findings have been addressed as they pertain to my office. He sees a finding and immediately throws blame. I see a finding and seize the opportunity to improve. That is a major difference in us. I would suggest that he read the state audit document.
Mr. Osborne accuses me of "urging other departments and elected officials to avoid audit committee meetings or provide responses". This is an absolute misrepresentation of the facts and he knows it. We all attended the meeting that Mr. Osborne himself called to sit down with state auditors and discuss the findings and responses within the audit document. His comment is an insult to every county-wide public official who attended that meeting and who is individually elected to office by the people of this county. I do not tell the other elected officials what they can and cannot do. I am a coordinator, not a dictator, as he alleges.
Mr. Osborne refers to "[my] willful decision not to provide requested information [which] compromise[s] the effectiveness of the Audit Committee in its oversight role." This is another untrue statement by Mr. Osborne. The state auditors have verified and said publicly at the very meeting that Mr. Osborne has developed amnesia about, that my office has done so and has been a pleasure to work with. My responsibility is to provide information and answers to the independent state auditors, not to his political campaign committee.
Mr. Osborne concludes by threatening all elected officials with a statement referring to, "future activities of the audit committee [as it] considers even more serious matters". Once again, let me be clear about the law. My responsibility is to the independent state auditors, not to Mr. Osborne as just another Linda Noe crony. He and Ms. Noe have clearly directed the committee outside of state law in a very selfish manner.
These people and others in their group appear to be dedicated to destroying the good name of this county. They never offer any solutions with their threats and conspiracy theories.
Mr. Chairman, I would both challenge and caution them to be ready to back up their lies and misrepresentations with actual facts when the time comes.
I can assure them that this time is coming, maybe sooner than they think...
Thank you.
DWP/kr
Cc: All County Commissioners
All Elected Officials and Department Heads
County Attorney Rusty Cantwell
Councilman Claude Jinks
===========================================================================
That's the answer from the "chief financial officer" of the county to financial questions from the Audit Committee of the Hamblen County Commission.
Monday, August 08, 2005
August 8, 2005 If you can't stand the heat...
We had commission committee meetings today. These are the pre-meeting meetings (like a work session) where we discuss items that will come up at the regular Commission meeting on August 18. Nothing big came up although there was a lot of good debate and exchange of ideas.
We will ask Charter Cable Company to dedicate a channel to the county for use in televising county commission meetings. Currently, we deliver tapes to Walters State Community College and lately there have been problems with the airing of those tapes. Sometimes, no tape was shown at all. Sometimes, the meeting was not shown in its entirety. (Once , this was because the entire meeting was not filmed. Other times, however, part of the tape would be shown on one day and the other part on another day instead of the full meeting being aired in one sitting).
If you can't stand the heat...
The last meeting of the day was the Audit Committee. Edwin Osborne is chairman. Members present were Maudie Briggs, Herbert Harville, Linda Noe, and Joe Spoone. (Ricky Bruce was present for an earlier meeting, but he left before the Audit Committee meeting began).
The main agenda item was a letter that had been prepared by Chairman Osborne and that was addressed to Finance Chairman Herbert Harville. The letter remarked on the difficulty (impossibility?) in getting answers to 2004 audit questions from the County Mayor or Finance Director. It said that the Audit Committee is at an impasse and noted that County Mayor David Purkey had "willfully" encouraged other elected officials and departments heads not to respond in writing to the Audit Committee and not to attend Audit Committee meetings.
The Mayor's statement urging officials and departments heads to boycott Audit Committee meetings a couple of months ago was very effective. No one attended the Audit Committee then, and no one attended the Audit Committee today. Today, as the Audit Committee prepared to meet, the Mayor told county employee Jeff Atkins and local news person Paul Meador, "let's go," and they did. They skeedaddled out of there, so you probably won't hear anything about what happened at the Audit Committee on tomorrow's radio news.
The boycott game appears to be part of a power play. Commissioner Osborne is in for a rough time as he starts to ask questions. It'll be even rougher if he actually insists on answers.
Of course, Harville stated that this was "political." Apparently, asking for financial information about the county is "political," but withholding financial information is not. The vote was 4-1 to send the letter that asks Harville, who is chairman of the Finance Committee, to try and get some response out of County Mayor David Purkey and the Finance Department in connection with audit questions that have been asked but never answered.
Harville was the lone dissenting vote.
Since he voted against sending the letter in the first place, I asked Commissioner Harville if he would have any conflict or difficulty in trying to resolve the audit situation and getting some answers from the County Mayor. Harville said "no." I didn't want to see Harville placed in an uncomfortable situation doing something that he really didn't want to do.
Harville then asked Commissioner Osborne if Osborne really thought that he (Harville) could get answers to audit questions when Osborne and the committee had been unable to do so in numerous prior attempts. That was a very good question. I guess only time will tell whether Herbert Harville can succeed in getting Mayor Purkey to provide financial answers where others have been unable to do so.
If Harville can get answers to the 2004 audit questions that have been ignored for months by the County Mayor and Finance Director, we'll have to make him the official liaison between the Hamblen County Commission and the Hamblen County Mayor/Finance Department.
Stay tuned...
We will ask Charter Cable Company to dedicate a channel to the county for use in televising county commission meetings. Currently, we deliver tapes to Walters State Community College and lately there have been problems with the airing of those tapes. Sometimes, no tape was shown at all. Sometimes, the meeting was not shown in its entirety. (Once , this was because the entire meeting was not filmed. Other times, however, part of the tape would be shown on one day and the other part on another day instead of the full meeting being aired in one sitting).
If you can't stand the heat...
The last meeting of the day was the Audit Committee. Edwin Osborne is chairman. Members present were Maudie Briggs, Herbert Harville, Linda Noe, and Joe Spoone. (Ricky Bruce was present for an earlier meeting, but he left before the Audit Committee meeting began).
The main agenda item was a letter that had been prepared by Chairman Osborne and that was addressed to Finance Chairman Herbert Harville. The letter remarked on the difficulty (impossibility?) in getting answers to 2004 audit questions from the County Mayor or Finance Director. It said that the Audit Committee is at an impasse and noted that County Mayor David Purkey had "willfully" encouraged other elected officials and departments heads not to respond in writing to the Audit Committee and not to attend Audit Committee meetings.
The Mayor's statement urging officials and departments heads to boycott Audit Committee meetings a couple of months ago was very effective. No one attended the Audit Committee then, and no one attended the Audit Committee today. Today, as the Audit Committee prepared to meet, the Mayor told county employee Jeff Atkins and local news person Paul Meador, "let's go," and they did. They skeedaddled out of there, so you probably won't hear anything about what happened at the Audit Committee on tomorrow's radio news.
The boycott game appears to be part of a power play. Commissioner Osborne is in for a rough time as he starts to ask questions. It'll be even rougher if he actually insists on answers.
Of course, Harville stated that this was "political." Apparently, asking for financial information about the county is "political," but withholding financial information is not. The vote was 4-1 to send the letter that asks Harville, who is chairman of the Finance Committee, to try and get some response out of County Mayor David Purkey and the Finance Department in connection with audit questions that have been asked but never answered.
Harville was the lone dissenting vote.
Since he voted against sending the letter in the first place, I asked Commissioner Harville if he would have any conflict or difficulty in trying to resolve the audit situation and getting some answers from the County Mayor. Harville said "no." I didn't want to see Harville placed in an uncomfortable situation doing something that he really didn't want to do.
Harville then asked Commissioner Osborne if Osborne really thought that he (Harville) could get answers to audit questions when Osborne and the committee had been unable to do so in numerous prior attempts. That was a very good question. I guess only time will tell whether Herbert Harville can succeed in getting Mayor Purkey to provide financial answers where others have been unable to do so.
If Harville can get answers to the 2004 audit questions that have been ignored for months by the County Mayor and Finance Director, we'll have to make him the official liaison between the Hamblen County Commission and the Hamblen County Mayor/Finance Department.
Stay tuned...
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
August 3, 2005 A deficit budget in the making
The Hamblen County Commission meets tomorrow at 4:00 pm. The 7/1/05-6/30/06 budgets for Hamblen County General Government (General Fund), School Fund, Highway Fund, Garbage Fund, Debt Fund, and a few minor funds are on the agenda.
Most of the budgets have no serious problem. The only budget that is in the red, with a deficit of $760,000 is the county's general fund.
The current proposal is to give $3.1 million new dollars to the school system and to leave the county with a $760,000 deficit.
(The general fund deficit may end up being even higher because it appears that the Planning Commission plans to wait until after the budget is passed and then present commission with a request for an unspecified amount of additional money for an additional employee and perhaps other costs. Overcrowding in the jail is still "out there." What else could there be? I certainly hope that there isn't another hospital bail out or transportation emergency or super-fund site clean-up that we haven't been told about and that will be presented as an "emergency" with immediate action required.)
It appears that Commissioner Harville's plan to give the schools $300,000 of county trustee fees has hit a snag. Harville, whose son Stan is principal at Witt Elementary, decided on July 19th that $2.8 million new dollars was not enough of an increase for the schools, so he proposed giving the schools $300,000 more out of the county trustee's fees. On July 22nd, County Mayor David Purkey revised the county budget and showed the $300,000 as a "transfer payment" from the general fund to the school fund.
I tried to call Mayor Purkey yesterday and today, but he was either busy or gone. I wanted to share with him a letter that he provided to commission during the 2002 budget process--a letter from County Technical Assistance Services that seems to express the opinion that you can't do what the Mayor has shown-- transfer money from fund to fund.
I sent this letter to the county attorney for his review, and to Finance Director Epps today. With the letter, I noted that if the county wants to give another $300,000 to the schools while putting the general fund $300,000 deeper in debt, there are other ways to do this. For example, we can lower the general fund tax levy and increase the school tax levy or we can lower the general fund wheel tax revenue and add to the schools wheel tax revenue. Of course, we can just raise the school tax rate as well.
There will be a large number of school employees at the meeting tomorrow. They have been told to come and to protest the fact that county commission is only giving the school system $3.1 million new dollars instead of the full $4.1 million new dollars as requested. Some of these employees (cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians) have been told by the Board and by Director Lynch that they will not get a raise unless county commission provides more money.
Apparently, the school board is not spreading the millions of new dollars around to all employees and is blaming the county commission for the choices that the board has made in terms of who gets what and how much. As I've mentioned in previous blogs, the school board alone determines how the millions of new dollars will be spent. It can spread the millions out to all employees, or it can leave some employees out-- as it apparently has chosen to do.
Tomorrow, public address announcements will be made at the schools to rally the troops, memos will probably go out to school employees, and there will be a packed courthouse. During the hoop-la as the employed fight over more money and better benefits, will anyone think of the person who has no job or who works for minimum wage? Will anyone think of the people they know on a fixed income of $600/month? Will anyone think of the people they know who have no insurance? Will anyone think of the person who has no, or a meager, retirement? Will anyone think of the neighbor down the street who already faces a property tax increase due to the 2005 property reappraisal?
Will anyone think of the entire community and consider that maybe we should be thankful for what we have? Will anyone think of the general fund and how a $760,000+ draw down/deficit will affect it this year and the next? The big picture includes all citizens. Maybe it's time for moderation and even-handedness, instead of the "I want it all" attitude that we see too often at this time of year.
Yes, I taught school for 11 years. Yes, I loved to see a raise. Who doesn't? Maudie Briggs has said that our factories are gone and they're not coming back. Our trustee has pointed out that our revenues have flat-lined for now. It's a time of economic adjustment, and a lot of people are being hit hard. In the big picture, would it be so awful if some people took a smaller raise this year to ensure that their fellow employees are also able to receive a share of the pie? Would it be so awful if we balanced the general fund, gave the schools $2.5 million, and avoided the disaster that is being set up for next year?
We are rushing headlong toward a disaster during the next budget cycle if we go ahead and in our frustration pass what just about everyone knows is a bad budget. It's amazing to watch those who have preached long-range planning and those who have touted financial expertise express a willingness to wash their hands of it all at this point and just pass something, anything--even if it is bad for Hamblen County and a potential disaster for taxpayers next year.
Where's the concern about long-range, strategic planning in this budget? Where's the willingness to work for the taxpayers instead of throwing one's hands up in frustration? Instead of just mindlessly voting for a bad budget, who is going to put forth an alternative?
Most of the budgets have no serious problem. The only budget that is in the red, with a deficit of $760,000 is the county's general fund.
The current proposal is to give $3.1 million new dollars to the school system and to leave the county with a $760,000 deficit.
(The general fund deficit may end up being even higher because it appears that the Planning Commission plans to wait until after the budget is passed and then present commission with a request for an unspecified amount of additional money for an additional employee and perhaps other costs. Overcrowding in the jail is still "out there." What else could there be? I certainly hope that there isn't another hospital bail out or transportation emergency or super-fund site clean-up that we haven't been told about and that will be presented as an "emergency" with immediate action required.)
It appears that Commissioner Harville's plan to give the schools $300,000 of county trustee fees has hit a snag. Harville, whose son Stan is principal at Witt Elementary, decided on July 19th that $2.8 million new dollars was not enough of an increase for the schools, so he proposed giving the schools $300,000 more out of the county trustee's fees. On July 22nd, County Mayor David Purkey revised the county budget and showed the $300,000 as a "transfer payment" from the general fund to the school fund.
I tried to call Mayor Purkey yesterday and today, but he was either busy or gone. I wanted to share with him a letter that he provided to commission during the 2002 budget process--a letter from County Technical Assistance Services that seems to express the opinion that you can't do what the Mayor has shown-- transfer money from fund to fund.
I sent this letter to the county attorney for his review, and to Finance Director Epps today. With the letter, I noted that if the county wants to give another $300,000 to the schools while putting the general fund $300,000 deeper in debt, there are other ways to do this. For example, we can lower the general fund tax levy and increase the school tax levy or we can lower the general fund wheel tax revenue and add to the schools wheel tax revenue. Of course, we can just raise the school tax rate as well.
There will be a large number of school employees at the meeting tomorrow. They have been told to come and to protest the fact that county commission is only giving the school system $3.1 million new dollars instead of the full $4.1 million new dollars as requested. Some of these employees (cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians) have been told by the Board and by Director Lynch that they will not get a raise unless county commission provides more money.
Apparently, the school board is not spreading the millions of new dollars around to all employees and is blaming the county commission for the choices that the board has made in terms of who gets what and how much. As I've mentioned in previous blogs, the school board alone determines how the millions of new dollars will be spent. It can spread the millions out to all employees, or it can leave some employees out-- as it apparently has chosen to do.
Tomorrow, public address announcements will be made at the schools to rally the troops, memos will probably go out to school employees, and there will be a packed courthouse. During the hoop-la as the employed fight over more money and better benefits, will anyone think of the person who has no job or who works for minimum wage? Will anyone think of the people they know on a fixed income of $600/month? Will anyone think of the people they know who have no insurance? Will anyone think of the person who has no, or a meager, retirement? Will anyone think of the neighbor down the street who already faces a property tax increase due to the 2005 property reappraisal?
Will anyone think of the entire community and consider that maybe we should be thankful for what we have? Will anyone think of the general fund and how a $760,000+ draw down/deficit will affect it this year and the next? The big picture includes all citizens. Maybe it's time for moderation and even-handedness, instead of the "I want it all" attitude that we see too often at this time of year.
Yes, I taught school for 11 years. Yes, I loved to see a raise. Who doesn't? Maudie Briggs has said that our factories are gone and they're not coming back. Our trustee has pointed out that our revenues have flat-lined for now. It's a time of economic adjustment, and a lot of people are being hit hard. In the big picture, would it be so awful if some people took a smaller raise this year to ensure that their fellow employees are also able to receive a share of the pie? Would it be so awful if we balanced the general fund, gave the schools $2.5 million, and avoided the disaster that is being set up for next year?
We are rushing headlong toward a disaster during the next budget cycle if we go ahead and in our frustration pass what just about everyone knows is a bad budget. It's amazing to watch those who have preached long-range planning and those who have touted financial expertise express a willingness to wash their hands of it all at this point and just pass something, anything--even if it is bad for Hamblen County and a potential disaster for taxpayers next year.
Where's the concern about long-range, strategic planning in this budget? Where's the willingness to work for the taxpayers instead of throwing one's hands up in frustration? Instead of just mindlessly voting for a bad budget, who is going to put forth an alternative?
Saturday, July 23, 2005
July 23, 2005 "Oops"
Remember your mom telling you, "haste makes waste"?
At the Commission meeting on July 21, the Finance Director and County Mayor David Purkey got kind of hot when I expressed my frustration at being handed financial figures and budget info during the meeting and not having an adequate opportunity to review them before a vote was taken.
My point was that we need time to review figures to see if they match what was voted on previously in committee. The whole thing reminded me of what happened just two weeks ago when we received the certified tax rate and the Trustee took those figures and calculated new revenue totals and Mayor Purkey and Ms. Epps took those figures and gave us new budget summaries and then ...
OOPS, I took a look at the calculations and found out the new tax rate had been miscalculated--it was 11 cents too high. That meant that the revenue projections were $1.2 million too high, and the budget summaries were no good. Haste makes waste!
The word I used to describe my feelings at the meeting on Thursday, being handed figures and then told to vote, was "stunned." Yes, I am stunned that we sit there while papers and numbers are thrown at us on the day we are to vote. In this instance, some of the papers and data were handed to us in the middle of the meeting while other business was being handled.
When I got home Thursday evening, I had time to review the data and found that the general government fund was showing "only" about a $460,000 deficit where it was about a $760,000 deficit when we left the July 19 meeting.
On Friday afternoon, July 22, I planned to e-mail Mayor David Purkey and Finance Director Nicole Epps to see if the $300,000 difference was related to the extra $300,000 that Herbert Harville and 8 other commissioners had voted to take out of the county government fund and give to the school system on top of the $2.8 million in new funds that the schools were already getting.
I went to work and didn't get home until 5:30. There was no use in sending an e-mail then--everyone at the Courthouse would be gone. My question about the $300,000 that was left off would have to wait until Monday.
Oops!!
On Saturday, July 23, guess what arrived in the mail?
An "Oops!" letter from County Mayor David Purkey and his Finance Director Nicole Epps. There was indeed a $300,000 mistake in the General Fund. The $300,000 that Commissioner Harville had voted to give to the schools from Trustee's fees had been left off of General Fund expenditures. Long and short of it: the figures we voted on so hastily and without reviewing them were wrong.
"Haste makes waste?" Yes, it certainly does.
At the Commission meeting on July 21, the Finance Director and County Mayor David Purkey got kind of hot when I expressed my frustration at being handed financial figures and budget info during the meeting and not having an adequate opportunity to review them before a vote was taken.
My point was that we need time to review figures to see if they match what was voted on previously in committee. The whole thing reminded me of what happened just two weeks ago when we received the certified tax rate and the Trustee took those figures and calculated new revenue totals and Mayor Purkey and Ms. Epps took those figures and gave us new budget summaries and then ...
OOPS, I took a look at the calculations and found out the new tax rate had been miscalculated--it was 11 cents too high. That meant that the revenue projections were $1.2 million too high, and the budget summaries were no good. Haste makes waste!
The word I used to describe my feelings at the meeting on Thursday, being handed figures and then told to vote, was "stunned." Yes, I am stunned that we sit there while papers and numbers are thrown at us on the day we are to vote. In this instance, some of the papers and data were handed to us in the middle of the meeting while other business was being handled.
When I got home Thursday evening, I had time to review the data and found that the general government fund was showing "only" about a $460,000 deficit where it was about a $760,000 deficit when we left the July 19 meeting.
On Friday afternoon, July 22, I planned to e-mail Mayor David Purkey and Finance Director Nicole Epps to see if the $300,000 difference was related to the extra $300,000 that Herbert Harville and 8 other commissioners had voted to take out of the county government fund and give to the school system on top of the $2.8 million in new funds that the schools were already getting.
I went to work and didn't get home until 5:30. There was no use in sending an e-mail then--everyone at the Courthouse would be gone. My question about the $300,000 that was left off would have to wait until Monday.
Oops!!
On Saturday, July 23, guess what arrived in the mail?
An "Oops!" letter from County Mayor David Purkey and his Finance Director Nicole Epps. There was indeed a $300,000 mistake in the General Fund. The $300,000 that Commissioner Harville had voted to give to the schools from Trustee's fees had been left off of General Fund expenditures. Long and short of it: the figures we voted on so hastily and without reviewing them were wrong.
"Haste makes waste?" Yes, it certainly does.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
July 19, 2005 Tiptoe around the Taxes
Good news: Two of the tax whammies (see post of July 16) may have been avoided.
Bad news: The county passed a budget for its general government fund that is $760,000 in the red.
Hamblen County Commission's Budget Committee met. Commissioner Phillips proposed a plan to give the schools local property tax growth of about $500,000 and to "predict" and budget local sales tax growth of about $700,000. Net result is about a $1.2 million increase in local school spending on top of the $1.6 million increase in state BEP funding. This passed in committee 7-6. Commissioner Ricky Bruce was absent. This still must go to full Commission on July 21 for approval.
Then Herbert Harville, copying an idea from a Knox County School Board member, proposed to pull $300,000 out of the county's general government revenue and put this part of the county's revenue into school revenue. Harville's surprise maneuver, taking county government revenue and placing it into school revenue, passed with only a handful of "no" votes.
The county's general government fund was $460,000 in the red when we walked in to start our meeting. After Harville's proposal passed to take an additional $300,000 away from the county's general government fund (that is for law enforcement, county court clerk, veterans service officer, court, planning commission, etc.), the county's general fund budget was suddenly $760,000 in the red.
Harville is an ex-superintendent of schools and his son Stan is the principal at Witt Elementary. Harville is good with numbers, so he knew full well that his plan would put the government's general fund even deeper in the red. That apparently didn't matter to him. He supported a deficit budget spending plan for the county--a plan that is $760,000 in the red. It passed. I voted "no."
The previous Commission tricked voters into voting the 'temporary' wheel tax permanent via Briggs' "pick your poison" statement in April 2002. The previous Commission, eight of whom still serve on the currenet Commission, then went back on their "pick" statement and gave the voters a second dose of poison, voting in August 2002 to go ahead and enact a $0.15 property tax increase on top of the wheel tax extension. In 03-04, the new Commission enacted a $0.21 property tax increase on the outside garbage rate to rescue a garbage fund that was "broke." Then there was a litigation tax increase. And during this time (02-04) the Commission twice took money out of the debt fund, transferred about $700,000 to the general fund, and spent it.
Question: How can you make the wheel tax permanent (about $1.4 million in revenue), enact a $0.15 countywide property tax increase (about $1.5 million in revenue), enact a $0.21 garbage property tax increase (about $700,000 in revenue), raise litigation taxes, and then move about $700,000 into the general fund from the debt fund and still find yourself with a $760,000 deficit budget? More and more tax money has been raised, but we still find ourselves saying it isn't enough.
Maybe revenues will be better than expected. Maybe expenditures will end up less than expected. Maybe we'll be OK.
No one wanted to look for cuts. Commissioner Phillips said she had called county offices, and no one could cut anything other than a little here and there. Commissioner Osborne said our processes and accounting are so poor that it would be useless to look for any savings anywhere. I agree that our processes and accounting are poor--we know this from our audits and from the deafening silence from our "chief financial officer," County Mayor David Purkey, who insists on keeping two sets of financial numbers but who won't tell our audit committee why he moved $360,000 around from fund to fund in 2004 without authorization from county commission. I do not agree with Osborne or Phillips that it would be useless to look for every saving there is--big or small.
I noted again Commissioner Spoone's remarks that in all his 20+ years on Commission, he had never seen Commission accept all budgets without a cut. I suggested that a committee of up to 3 commissioners be appointed to examine the budget closely, talk to department heads, and report back with any savings. That didn't go to a vote.
Harville and several commissioners won't even talk about or look for cuts. Instead, they voted to put the general fund deeper into debt than it was when we walked into the meeting.
Lots more to come about how we got here...
Bad news: The county passed a budget for its general government fund that is $760,000 in the red.
Hamblen County Commission's Budget Committee met. Commissioner Phillips proposed a plan to give the schools local property tax growth of about $500,000 and to "predict" and budget local sales tax growth of about $700,000. Net result is about a $1.2 million increase in local school spending on top of the $1.6 million increase in state BEP funding. This passed in committee 7-6. Commissioner Ricky Bruce was absent. This still must go to full Commission on July 21 for approval.
Then Herbert Harville, copying an idea from a Knox County School Board member, proposed to pull $300,000 out of the county's general government revenue and put this part of the county's revenue into school revenue. Harville's surprise maneuver, taking county government revenue and placing it into school revenue, passed with only a handful of "no" votes.
The county's general government fund was $460,000 in the red when we walked in to start our meeting. After Harville's proposal passed to take an additional $300,000 away from the county's general government fund (that is for law enforcement, county court clerk, veterans service officer, court, planning commission, etc.), the county's general fund budget was suddenly $760,000 in the red.
Harville is an ex-superintendent of schools and his son Stan is the principal at Witt Elementary. Harville is good with numbers, so he knew full well that his plan would put the government's general fund even deeper in the red. That apparently didn't matter to him. He supported a deficit budget spending plan for the county--a plan that is $760,000 in the red. It passed. I voted "no."
The previous Commission tricked voters into voting the 'temporary' wheel tax permanent via Briggs' "pick your poison" statement in April 2002. The previous Commission, eight of whom still serve on the currenet Commission, then went back on their "pick" statement and gave the voters a second dose of poison, voting in August 2002 to go ahead and enact a $0.15 property tax increase on top of the wheel tax extension. In 03-04, the new Commission enacted a $0.21 property tax increase on the outside garbage rate to rescue a garbage fund that was "broke." Then there was a litigation tax increase. And during this time (02-04) the Commission twice took money out of the debt fund, transferred about $700,000 to the general fund, and spent it.
Question: How can you make the wheel tax permanent (about $1.4 million in revenue), enact a $0.15 countywide property tax increase (about $1.5 million in revenue), enact a $0.21 garbage property tax increase (about $700,000 in revenue), raise litigation taxes, and then move about $700,000 into the general fund from the debt fund and still find yourself with a $760,000 deficit budget? More and more tax money has been raised, but we still find ourselves saying it isn't enough.
Maybe revenues will be better than expected. Maybe expenditures will end up less than expected. Maybe we'll be OK.
No one wanted to look for cuts. Commissioner Phillips said she had called county offices, and no one could cut anything other than a little here and there. Commissioner Osborne said our processes and accounting are so poor that it would be useless to look for any savings anywhere. I agree that our processes and accounting are poor--we know this from our audits and from the deafening silence from our "chief financial officer," County Mayor David Purkey, who insists on keeping two sets of financial numbers but who won't tell our audit committee why he moved $360,000 around from fund to fund in 2004 without authorization from county commission. I do not agree with Osborne or Phillips that it would be useless to look for every saving there is--big or small.
I noted again Commissioner Spoone's remarks that in all his 20+ years on Commission, he had never seen Commission accept all budgets without a cut. I suggested that a committee of up to 3 commissioners be appointed to examine the budget closely, talk to department heads, and report back with any savings. That didn't go to a vote.
Harville and several commissioners won't even talk about or look for cuts. Instead, they voted to put the general fund deeper into debt than it was when we walked into the meeting.
Lots more to come about how we got here...
Thursday, July 14, 2005
July 14, 2005 Briggs: Mayor Purkey might "slip up and incriminate himself"
Calm before the storm…
The first three committee meetings (Finance, Public Services, and Personnel) went as smooth as silk.
We discussed joint city-county Metro government. I proposed that we ask that County Mayor David Purkey meet with Morristown City Mayor Gary Johnson to get a feel for how the City might view establishing a Metro Study Committee.
I am hopeful that the City will at least be open to discussing and studying Metro. Most everyone I have heard from thinks it’s time to look at this. This proposal will go to the full Commission on July 21.
In other action, Planning Commission appointments from the Mayor are to be forwarded to the full Commission, and a change to the Personnel Handbook is planned so that exempt/salaried employees will be treated in the same way as non/exempt employees now are.
The storm…
During the Audit meeting, Commissioner Maudie Briggs said that County Mayor David Purkey probably doesn’t want to come and answer audit questions because he’s afraid he might “slip up and incriminate” himself.
At the end of the meeting, Briggs added that Hamblen is just a “peon” county.
Here is what led up to those comments and that outburst. It was amazing.
Audit Chairman Edwin Osborne called the Audit meeting to order at 5:00 pm. Commissioner Maudie Briggs and I, members of the Audit Committee, were present. Jim and Mary Young, Hamblen County residents, were there to watch and took notes.
Commissioner Ricky Bruce is a member and had been present for the other meetings, but he left and didn’t attend the Audit meeting. Commissioners Herbert Harville and Joe Spoone left to attend a Planning Commission meeting. Joe Spoone came back to the Audit meeting after the Planning meeting was over, but Herbert Harville did not.
Commissioner Osborne began by pointing out that County Mayor David Purkey has refused to attend audit committee meetings and has refused to answer written questions about the 2004 audit. As a result, the role of the audit committee is unclear.
Osborne noted that Mayor Purkey maintains that the audit is the official financial “Bible” for Hamblen County. Osborne, a CPA, stated that a financial audit is a look at a very small number of financial transactions that have been taken from a very few sample areas. In Osborne’s opinion, a financial audit cannot be held up as a financial “Bible,” and he said the state auditors themselves would never call it that.
Osborne also pointed out that Enron and Worldcom had "clean" financial audits right before they collapsed.
Osborne expressed concern that Mayor Purkey and Finance Director Nicole Epps always respond to any financial questions about 2004 with a pat answer: “We’ve been audited.” He said a financial audit, which is different from a performance audit, does not mean that everything is OK.
To explain it in laymen’s terms. A financial audit is important, and the state auditors are doing an outstanding job with that. But a financial audit is a bit like a person looking only at his year-end bank statement and a few checks he wrote during the year and trying to figure out from that if everything is OK. The financial audit, like the year-end bank statement, will tell you what you have left, but it does not examine in detail how you got there or whether you have spent money properly and as intended.
I then remarked that it is very troublesome to me that financial questions about 2004 audit problems are being ignored. That’s when Briggs pounced. She said my questions were threatening. When asked to explain what was threatening about a simple financial question, she said it was my use of the word “why” in my question. That’s what made it threatening.
PS: Next time, I’ll remove the word ‘why’ at the beginning of my question and I’ll try to ask it in a way that Briggs would approve—“For what reason did you move $350,000 around from fund to fund in 2004 without authorization from County Commission. Please explain what past errors you were correcting.”
Briggs didn’t stop there. She added that in her opinion I am out to get two elected officials and hang them from the lanyard. She seemed to be longing for the good old days when nobody reviewed figures or called Nashville to check out facts. She ended by asking, “What does Nashville care about this ‘peon’ county in East Tennessee anyway?”
Whoa! Let’s calm down. First, we are not a peon county. Second, a financial question about the spending of public money is not a threat. Third, a financial question can’t ‘get’ anyone --unless there are serious problems in the handling of funds. Fourth, open and honest answers are the easiest way to get rid of financial questions.
Lastly, I certainly hope that Mrs. Briggs did not mean it when she said that County Mayor David Purkey was afraid to come to meetings and respond to financial questions because he was afraid he might “slip up and incriminate” himself.
Let’s try to stay focused on accountability. Let’s avoid the personal attacks...It's all about fiscal responsibility and taking care of tax dollars--the people's money.
My questions have always been about what has been done financially, not who’s doing it.
The answers should always be about what has been done financially, not who’s asking.
The first three committee meetings (Finance, Public Services, and Personnel) went as smooth as silk.
We discussed joint city-county Metro government. I proposed that we ask that County Mayor David Purkey meet with Morristown City Mayor Gary Johnson to get a feel for how the City might view establishing a Metro Study Committee.
I am hopeful that the City will at least be open to discussing and studying Metro. Most everyone I have heard from thinks it’s time to look at this. This proposal will go to the full Commission on July 21.
In other action, Planning Commission appointments from the Mayor are to be forwarded to the full Commission, and a change to the Personnel Handbook is planned so that exempt/salaried employees will be treated in the same way as non/exempt employees now are.
The storm…
During the Audit meeting, Commissioner Maudie Briggs said that County Mayor David Purkey probably doesn’t want to come and answer audit questions because he’s afraid he might “slip up and incriminate” himself.
At the end of the meeting, Briggs added that Hamblen is just a “peon” county.
Here is what led up to those comments and that outburst. It was amazing.
Audit Chairman Edwin Osborne called the Audit meeting to order at 5:00 pm. Commissioner Maudie Briggs and I, members of the Audit Committee, were present. Jim and Mary Young, Hamblen County residents, were there to watch and took notes.
Commissioner Ricky Bruce is a member and had been present for the other meetings, but he left and didn’t attend the Audit meeting. Commissioners Herbert Harville and Joe Spoone left to attend a Planning Commission meeting. Joe Spoone came back to the Audit meeting after the Planning meeting was over, but Herbert Harville did not.
Commissioner Osborne began by pointing out that County Mayor David Purkey has refused to attend audit committee meetings and has refused to answer written questions about the 2004 audit. As a result, the role of the audit committee is unclear.
Osborne noted that Mayor Purkey maintains that the audit is the official financial “Bible” for Hamblen County. Osborne, a CPA, stated that a financial audit is a look at a very small number of financial transactions that have been taken from a very few sample areas. In Osborne’s opinion, a financial audit cannot be held up as a financial “Bible,” and he said the state auditors themselves would never call it that.
Osborne also pointed out that Enron and Worldcom had "clean" financial audits right before they collapsed.
Osborne expressed concern that Mayor Purkey and Finance Director Nicole Epps always respond to any financial questions about 2004 with a pat answer: “We’ve been audited.” He said a financial audit, which is different from a performance audit, does not mean that everything is OK.
To explain it in laymen’s terms. A financial audit is important, and the state auditors are doing an outstanding job with that. But a financial audit is a bit like a person looking only at his year-end bank statement and a few checks he wrote during the year and trying to figure out from that if everything is OK. The financial audit, like the year-end bank statement, will tell you what you have left, but it does not examine in detail how you got there or whether you have spent money properly and as intended.
I then remarked that it is very troublesome to me that financial questions about 2004 audit problems are being ignored. That’s when Briggs pounced. She said my questions were threatening. When asked to explain what was threatening about a simple financial question, she said it was my use of the word “why” in my question. That’s what made it threatening.
PS: Next time, I’ll remove the word ‘why’ at the beginning of my question and I’ll try to ask it in a way that Briggs would approve—“For what reason did you move $350,000 around from fund to fund in 2004 without authorization from County Commission. Please explain what past errors you were correcting.”
Briggs didn’t stop there. She added that in her opinion I am out to get two elected officials and hang them from the lanyard. She seemed to be longing for the good old days when nobody reviewed figures or called Nashville to check out facts. She ended by asking, “What does Nashville care about this ‘peon’ county in East Tennessee anyway?”
Whoa! Let’s calm down. First, we are not a peon county. Second, a financial question about the spending of public money is not a threat. Third, a financial question can’t ‘get’ anyone --unless there are serious problems in the handling of funds. Fourth, open and honest answers are the easiest way to get rid of financial questions.
Lastly, I certainly hope that Mrs. Briggs did not mean it when she said that County Mayor David Purkey was afraid to come to meetings and respond to financial questions because he was afraid he might “slip up and incriminate” himself.
Let’s try to stay focused on accountability. Let’s avoid the personal attacks...It's all about fiscal responsibility and taking care of tax dollars--the people's money.
My questions have always been about what has been done financially, not who’s doing it.
The answers should always be about what has been done financially, not who’s asking.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
June 29, 2005 Reappraisals and State Certified Tax Rate
We had a budget meeting yesterday. We were given agendas as we arrived along with additional, updated information on some funds--like highway and sanitation. Right at the start, Commissioner Guy Collins moved for a 2% increase for some employees (about 9) in the sanitation department. Some commissioners were concerned about picking out some employees for a raise and not others and trying to give a raise when we don't yet have the certified tax rate from the state.
The motion passed with Herbert Harville, Nancy Phillips, and I voting "no." My no was not in opposition to the raise--I agree with Guy that these employees and all other county employees deserve a raise. I just didn't want to start picking out some employees for a raise and not others. It's a matter of fairness. Also, I want to see what the "certified" rate is before voting on any budget and raises.
If you are wondering what the "certified" tax rate is, it is the adjusted tax rate that the state will provide to us in the next few weeks. 2005 is an appraisal year, and most property in Hamblen County increased in value. After appraisals and appeals are complete, the state takes the new appraisals and adjusts the tax rate downward to get the certified rate. The purpose is for the new higher appraisals and the new lower certified tax rate to bring in the same amount of money to the county as the old lower appraisals did with the old higher tax rate.
When you apply all this to an individual taxpayer, it can be summed up like this---If your property increased in value more than the county average of about 12%, then you will likely be paying more property tax dollars to the county in 2005 than you did in 2004 just because of your appraisal increase. But be aware that Commission can also take the certified tax rate and increase it, regardless of the appraisals. Any increase above the state certified tax rate is a tax rate increase and that, too, can result in a higher tax bill for most people.
The Budget Committee will meet again on Thursday, July 7, at 4:00 in the Hamblen County Courthouse, large courtroom. These are open meetings, and visitors are welcome. Just a reminder to those who have cable TV- Tapes of county commission meetings are shown on Charter Cable channel 7 at 9:00 pm on Tuesday and Saturday evenings and on Adelphia Cable channel 73 at 1:30 and 7:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Have a wonderful Fourth of July! We have much to be thankful for.
Stay tuned...
The motion passed with Herbert Harville, Nancy Phillips, and I voting "no." My no was not in opposition to the raise--I agree with Guy that these employees and all other county employees deserve a raise. I just didn't want to start picking out some employees for a raise and not others. It's a matter of fairness. Also, I want to see what the "certified" rate is before voting on any budget and raises.
If you are wondering what the "certified" tax rate is, it is the adjusted tax rate that the state will provide to us in the next few weeks. 2005 is an appraisal year, and most property in Hamblen County increased in value. After appraisals and appeals are complete, the state takes the new appraisals and adjusts the tax rate downward to get the certified rate. The purpose is for the new higher appraisals and the new lower certified tax rate to bring in the same amount of money to the county as the old lower appraisals did with the old higher tax rate.
When you apply all this to an individual taxpayer, it can be summed up like this---If your property increased in value more than the county average of about 12%, then you will likely be paying more property tax dollars to the county in 2005 than you did in 2004 just because of your appraisal increase. But be aware that Commission can also take the certified tax rate and increase it, regardless of the appraisals. Any increase above the state certified tax rate is a tax rate increase and that, too, can result in a higher tax bill for most people.
The Budget Committee will meet again on Thursday, July 7, at 4:00 in the Hamblen County Courthouse, large courtroom. These are open meetings, and visitors are welcome. Just a reminder to those who have cable TV- Tapes of county commission meetings are shown on Charter Cable channel 7 at 9:00 pm on Tuesday and Saturday evenings and on Adelphia Cable channel 73 at 1:30 and 7:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Have a wonderful Fourth of July! We have much to be thankful for.
Stay tuned...
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