October 11, 2009 One of My Public Requests Is Answered: Committee Agendas Are on the Hamblen County Website

Wow!  For a long time now, I have asked the county commission to put committee agendas and minutes on the Hamblen County website.

At long last, County Mayor David Purkey and his staff have finally done it. And it wasn't hard at all.

Click here to see the agenda for tomorrow's October 12 Finance Committee meeting.  [You will also see that agendas for nine Finance meetings long gone by (January 09-September 09) have just now been posted, and if you hit on archives, even older agendas are available.] 

[NOTE: The chairmanship of the Finance Committee has been changed by Chairman Stancil Ford.  Ford has removed Joe Spoone from his position as Finance Chairman. Ford has named Commissioner Louis "Doe" Jarvis, who was appointed earlier this year to replace Joe Swann, as Chair of this year's Finance Committee. Joe Spoone is rumored to be contemplating a run for County Trustee, a position being vacated by Bill Brittain who is running for County Mayor. Ford is the one who named Spoone as Finance Chair for 08-09, but he has replaced Spoone as Chairman for the current 09-10 year.]

The Public Services agenda for October 12, 2009, is here.  As with Finance, Public Services agendas for Jan 09-Sept 09 have just now been posted, and if you hit on archives, even older agendas are available.

When I made a request for posting of agendas and minutes of committee meetings in late 2006/early 2007, committee minutes were posted for January 2007 and then no more minutes. Agendas were posted from January 2007-August 2008 and then no more. 

Even when the Mayor and his staff stopped posting the agendas, I continued to ask privately and in public meetings for better use of the website, more information, and agendas and minutes in particular. Because I believe in open and accountable government, I am extremely pleased to see that the agendas for tomorrow's meetings have not only been posted--but they were posted BEFORE the meeting.

NOTE: An article in the local newspaper dated September 18, 2009, Page A-3, had stated that agendas would be posted after the meetings had taken place. From the article Beginning in October, Shelton (Amber Shelton, the Mayor's Executive Assistant) will post committee agendas but not until after the committees have met, she said.  The next paragraph quotes Shelton: "We're looking at putting them on before but sometimes there's just not enough time before the meetings. This way (posting the agenda after the meeting), people will have a reference so they can look back and see when an issue was discussed." 

When this article appeared in the paper, I, like most people, questioned the usefulness of an agenda posted AFTER a meeting. I knew that committee agendas are prepared and printed and mailed out to commissioners about 5 days before the committee meetings, so I knew the agendas could be posted online about 4-5 days before the meetings in order to give citizens and taxpayers a heads-up on what is coming before the committees--if the Mayor wanted it done.

The next web project should be to post MINUTES of these committee meetings. It's important to know what is going to be discussed (Agendas), but it's just as important to be able to see the minutes of those meetings to find out who was present, what discussion took place, what recommendation, if any, is coming out of the committee to the full commission, and the record of votes taken.

And, finally, a very important change would be to have those committee meetings at a time when citizens and taxpayers can actually attend if they want to.

You can have an agenda and you may be interested in a particular item that is going to be discussed, but unless you are retired or don't work or can take off work for an extended and uncertain period of time, you probably can't make it to a set of meetings that start at 11:30 AM with no set time for any meeting except for the first one.

Stancil Ford was elected to the commission in 2006 and became chairman in September 2006. Stancil, as Chairman, changed committee meetings from an afternoon meeting time to 11:30 AM and said that he changed to the 11:30 meeting time so people could attend the meetings on their "lunch hour."  Give me a break!

Stancil and several commissioners are retired. Other commissioners own their own company or have high managerial positions that allow them to leave work and attend these 11:30 AM meetings without losing pay. Working citizens and taxpayers don't have the same scheduling luxury that these commissioners have.  Stancil could change the meetings to a more taxpayer-friendly meeting time next month if he wanted to. Of course, other commissioners could also bring this up for public discussion if they wanted to see taxpayer-friendly meeting times.

The commission meets as a body once a month at 5:00 PM on the Thursday after the 3rd Monday. At commission meetings, it's usually just push-a-button, record the vote, and meeting adjourned.  

Committees of the full commission meet on the second Monday of each month. Committees are where the real discussion, if there is any, takes place, before an item is sent to the full body. More time is allowed for public input at committee meetings. Committees should meet at or near 5:00 PM like the full commission does--a more taxpayer-friendly meeting time--instead of 11:30 AM meetings which effectively shut out the average working taxpayer.

September 5, 2009 County Commission Stops Unauthorized Car Allowances in Order to (Finally) Comply with State Law

At its August 20 meeting of the full commission, the Hamblen County Commission voted 12-1 to stop three of the four car allowances that have been paid for several years in violation of state law. [Commissioner Tommy Massey was absent.]

This was a total reversal of what the Finance Committee had recommended on August 10. See my post on the August 10 Finance Committee meeting here.

At the August 10 Finance Committee meeting, I had asked the committee to stop payment of unauthorized car allowances. The Committee refused to stop these unauthorized payments and, instead, voted to study the issue again in September. The payments were going to continue despite state law that does not allow Hamblen County to pay car allowances, despite an April 2009 state attorney general's opinion on county car allowances, and despite the county attorney's May 2009 opinion (which was just a review of the state attorney general's opinion noting that Hamblen County is not among those counties authorized to provide car allowances).

After years of paying unauthorized car allowances and with the prospect of these payments continuing for still more months, I spoke to the full commission during the public comments forum on August 20 and, as I had done on August 10, I again asked that these unauthorized car allowances stop now and that Hamblen County come into compliance with state law now. Why continue to violate state law and pay out thousands of taxpayer dollars on unauthorized car allowances?

Despite state law and my request that the commission comply with state law immediately, Finance Chairman Joe Spoone made a motion to postpone any decision and to "study" the car allowance situation in September. Thankfully, one commissioner was listening and had the courage to question what was going on and to stand up for the taxpayers.

Commissioner Dana Wampler noted that Hamblen County is out of compliance---as I had stated---and Wampler then amended Spoone's resolution to stop three of the car allowances now (Ely, Hopkins, Young) and to pay mileage to those individuals if they use their car on county business. The situation is still set for review in September, but unauthorized car allowances will stop.

During discussion of the amendment, Wampler turned to county attorney Rusty Cantwell and asked about the unauthorized car allowances and when the county should come into compliance. Rusty said that there are three car allowances (the fourth car allowance is that of the County Mayor but Rusty doesn't think that the Mayor's $600/month car allowance is really a car allowance). As far as when the county should come into compliance with state law, Rusty said that was "up to you (the commission)." That response from the county attorney was a bit of a surprise.

Thankfully, Commissioner Wampler stuck to his guns and decided that the county should come into compliance with state law right away. The motion to stop unauthorized car allowances passed 12-1. Guy Collins voted no. I'm not sure if Collins' "no" vote meant that he wanted to keep paying unauthorized car allowances or if he just didn't understand what was going on. Tommy Massey was absent.

I appreciate Commissioner Wampler for doing the right thing. I'm guessing that he took some flak for that after the meeting. Stancil Ford doesn't really like for the public to have any input. He doesn't like a lot of discussion by commissioners at the full commission meetings, and he doesn't like to have changes from the original script.

When you watch the tape of the meeting, Ford turns to County Mayor David Purkey and to County Attorney Rusty Cantwell. Ford is not really happy with the question and comments and amendment by Commissioner Wampler, but in the end he can't stop the amendment and he himself votes for the amendment. Why? Because the amendment brings Hamblen County into compliance with state law and saves taxpayer money, too. How could you oppose that?

The real question is, why did it take four months to get a vote on coming into compliance with state law on the floor at a county commission meeting? Many thanks to Commissioner Wampler for doing "the right thing." Commissioner Wampler showed that one commissioner can make a difference when he or she just does "the right thing" and puts it out for a vote.

Joe Powell tapes the meetings for the county and they are shown on Charter Ch 7 (goverment/education channel) at 9:00 PM on Tuesday? and Saturday nights. [I watch on Saturdays, and I think Tuesday is the other day that the tape is shown.] You can call the county mayor's office (586-1931) to find out what other day the tape is aired.

April 21, 2009 Open Meetings Act in Hamblen County: Now Meetings Are Announced That Aren't Taking Place!

On Sunday, the Tribune announced in a front-article that "Hamblen County commissioners and school board members will meet in a work session Monday to continue their discussion on the future of the school building program."

According to the paper, the work session was set for 6:00 PM in the old East High library.

The only commissioner present for the "commission-school board work session" was Ricky Bruce.

We've gone from no public notice of meetings to front-page notice of meetings that don't take place! [The "green" link to the Tribune's Sunday front-page notice of the meeting is working now but don't expect it to work for very long--for some reason, the Tribune doesn't leave permanent links up to its stories. My "blue" blog link is still good.]

The rumor is that the county called or attempted to call the meeting off last Friday, but the school board/Tribune either didn't get the message or ignored it and went ahead and announced the meeting in the paper.

At the "joint" meeting, Dr. Lynch discussed the commission's refusal to fund purchase of the McCorkle property on 25E for a new East High. He then passed out info to Board members and the press and discussed properties that could be purchased around the existing East High.

City Administrator Jim Crumley has apparently given the following estimated sales prices to Lynch: Talley-Ward could be sold to the school system for $810,000; Long-Reel track for $505,000; and King Park for $160,000.

Lynch said other private properties available have an estimated purchase price of around $692,000.

Then talk of one high school v. two came up. School Board Chair Janice Haun said she opposed one high school. Carolyn Spoone Holt (Commissioner Joe Spoone's sister) said most parents want two high schools.

Clint Harrison said he had never heard of one high school until recently, and added that one high school should not be built just to save money.

Carolyn Wolfenbarger said she was "adamantly" against one high school.

Former Morristown High and West High School teacher Coach Gene Quarles talked at length about maintaining two high schools and said he could see the benefits of a third high school in order to keep the population of each high school at around 900 students.

He said that some of those behind one high school are driven by a desire to have the top athletic program rather than a top education program.

April 7, 2009 Ricky Bruce Leads Committee Supporting Sales Tax Increase

A committee to support increasing the sales tax in Hamblen County in the area outside the city limits was formed last night at the Hamblen County Board of Education offices. The committee is encouraging voters to vote FOR increasing the sales from 9.5% to 9.75% on the May 5, 2009, referendum ballot.

The committee was named "Win The Vote."

Hamblen County Commissioner Ricky Bruce moderated the meeting and broke the attendees into five groups (Finance, Advertising, Youth Volunteers, Other Volunteers, and Strategy).

Hamblen County Commissioner Tommy Massey led the Finance Committee. Sitting with Massey's group were Commissioners Dana Wampler, Joe Spoone, Stancil Ford, Herbert Harville, Dennis Alvis, Reece Sexton, Nancy Phillips, Mayor David Purkey, School Board Member Joe Gibson, and School Business Director Traci Antrican.

Massey first proposed raising $10K for newspaper ads, print ads, and posters at every voting station. Massey, noting that Commissioner Lebel had once discussed sending out a letter from commission to voters, asked Commission Chair Stancil Ford about this. Ford gently nixed that idea, responding that there had been some controversy over a previous sales tax letter that had been signed by Mayor David Purkey and himself and sent to voters.

Massey suggested that if each of those sitting with his group donated $100, there would be about $1,000 to start with. Later in the evening, Tish Jones of HC*ExCell and P-16 told everyone that you can't take donations until you have registered as a single-issue committee. Tish supports just about every tax increase.

Commissioner Nancy Phillips and School Board member Joe Gibson said they would get on the phone and try to raise money. Bruce said he would take care of committee registration on Tuesday. Massey said all contributions could be sent to his mailing address (P.O. Box 339, Talbott, TN 37877).

Traci Antrican, Business Director of Hamblen County Schools, was named treasurer of the "Win The Vote" committee.

SB Member Joe Gibson is worried that voters are not going to vote for the tax because of the way it is worded on the ballot (FOR or AGAINST increasing the sales tax). Gibson wanted to promote the sales tax as a "choice"--EITHER vote for the sales tax increase OR there will be a property tax increase. Gibson's remarks brought back memories of the "pick-your-poison" approach that the county commission used in 2002 to trick/blackmail/extort voters to support the Wheel Tax Referendum.

Commission Chair Stancil Ford--of state income tax fame--discouraged Gibson's "pick-your-poison" approach, noting that such a statement would bite you down the road. Stancil knows that voters remember all too well the infamous "pick-your-poison" statement when Commission Chair Maudie Briggs told voters that they could EITHER vote for the wheel tax OR there would be a property tax increase. Then just a few months after blackmailing voters into supporting the wheel tax, Maudie and other commissioners turned around and voted to increase property taxes at the same time!

The Strategy Group report was given by School Board Chairman Janice Haun. The very first strategy she mentioned was a proposal to contact ministers to see if they would be supportive and perhaps put info in bulletins. Even aside from the obvious question of legality, I was very surprised to hear a group propose using churches as part of a pro-sales tax strategy. Her group also proposed lots of social networking through Facebook, MySpace, PTO's, HCEA, E-mails, and phone calls.

The Advertising Group report was given by school system employee Teresa Ayers. She said she would develop a logo on Tuesday and added that she would have flyers printed "here" and ready for distribution on Wednesday. She was also going to develop a Powerpoint for PTO's and PTA's to use.

[Note: There was apparently some discussion after the meeting broke up about Teresa doing her pro-sales tax committee work at the Board of Education building on school/taxpayer time. I was sitting in the parking lot after the meeting and for some reason Teresa came over and knocked on the car window just to let me know personally that actually she was going to work on the sales tax powerpoint "at home" instead of at work. I said you're probably going to work on the flyers "at home," too, and she agreed. I didn't ask, but I expect that her comments also meant that no printing would be done on school equipment.]

The Youth Volunteers probably had the most specific action report. Teacher Cari Swann Ashford assisted the group. The two youth presenters proposed asking parents to hand out sales tax increase flyers at work, encouraging 18-year old students to vote FOR the sales tax increase, putting signs up in schoolyards, designing T-shirts, having student workers at poll sites, and campaigning door-to-door. Signs in schoolyards--except on Election Day--might be questionable. Sort of like Teresa Ayers doing single-issue sales tax committee work on school/taxpayer time with school/taxpayer computers, equipment, and supplies.

The Other Volunteers report was given by Paula Bruce Combs, who is a school principal and Commissioner Ricky Bruce's sister. If I remember correctly, Paula became an assistant school principal right after Ricky was elected to county commission in 2002, and then became a principal shortly after that. Some of Paula's proposals included contacting and seeking support from PTO's, friends and family, faith-based groups, retirees, and Red Hat Society members. She also encouraged making announcements to groups, using e-mail, and seeing if a FOR sales tax message could scroll across the bottom of cable Channel 4 screen.

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.

January 25, 2008 Purkey-Ford Send Out Tax-Us-More Letter

The letters are in the mail.

Hamblen County Mayor David Purkey and Commission Chair Stancil Ford want your vote FOR increasing the local sales tax in the referendum.

Purkey and Ford have sent out a "tax us more" letter using the old 2002 "pick your poison" wheel tax blackmail tactic.

"Pick your poison" was the Tribune headline during the 2002 wheel tax referendum when Commission Chair Maudie Briggs proclaimed loudly and clearly that voters could choose EITHER the wheel tax OR there would be a property tax hike.

Well, voters "chose" the wheel tax in May 2002, and Hamblen County Commissioners, no doubt laughing the whole time, took that $1 Million+ and then went ahead and increased the property tax by 15 cents anyway.

Predictably, the Citizen Tribune (a/k/a Jack Fishman) has endorsed the higher sales tax and, just as predictably, the Tribune is running a series of articles on the sales tax referendum---a series that so far has only included comments and interviews of people who support the newspaper's editorial stand.

Fair and balanced? Nope. Slanted and tilted toward taxes, taxes, and more taxes. Yes.

Ford and Purkey stated yesterday that the "education foundation" paid for the printing and mailing of the letter that they signed and that went out on county letterhead. Purkey and Ford were apparently referring to HC*Excell, a 501(c)(3) non-profit---but the letter itself doesn't provide the identity of the financier.

County Mayor David Purkey has already been quoted in the newspaper encouraging people to vote to increase the local sales tax and stating that the commission was unanimous in supporting the sales tax increase.

At yesterday's commission meeting, Commissioner Larry Baker pointed out that Purkey's statement about the commission supporting the sales tax increase was wrong. Baker said that he did NOT vote to support the sales tax increase; he only voted to put the sales tax on a referendum. Stancil Ford agreed that the only vote commissioners took was to put the referendum on the ballot.

School Board Chairman Janice Haun got her turn in the newspaper yesterday. Her message was the same old/same old-- send more money to the school board. Haun said that she ISN'T sure where the money will go, but she IS sure that she wants it and that Dr. Lynch will find a place to spend it. She never mentioned that the school system got an extra $5 Million in BEP money last year. Hopefully, Dr. Lynch was able to find a place to spend that!

Purkey, Ford, Haun...Who will be next in line to tell voters how to vote and to encourage a YES vote for a sales tax increase?

Some Predictions:

Morristown City Mayor Sami Barile and/or City Administrator Jim Crumley, both of whom are adept at overspending, raising taxes by 40% in one year, and then dreaming up the sales tax increase to get county taxpayers to help city officials lower the city tax rate.

Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Thom Robinson keeps a somewhat low profile but would be good for a pro-tax soundbite.

Director of Schools Dale Lynch will surely jump in and push for more money. The schools got an extra $5M in BEP funding last year. But, of course, that can't be enough. More, more, more!

HC*Excell Director Tish Jones will be pushing for higher taxes of all kinds as she constantly repeats "it's for the children, it's for the children, it's for the children."

Alex Rom-Roginski, newly-elected Chamber of Commerce president and Tish Jones' husband, would gladly speak in favor of higher taxes as he has before.

Commissioner Ricky Bruce, who has been telling Hamblen Countians for years that they are undertaxed, should be giving his enthusiastic support for this tax increase and the next and the next!

Commissioner Joe Spoone, whose wife, sister, and brother get school system paychecks, might say something, but he usually likes to remain quiet and let others vote for the tax increases that end up benefiting him and his family.

Commissioner Joe Swann, whose wife is a school teacher, thinks you just can't tax people enough "for the children" no matter where the money goes or what happens.

A smattering of P-16 officials, industry leaders, and perhaps even a current or former principal or teacher would round everything out nicely.

By the time the newspaper series ends, everyone should know exactly how to vote (remove tongue from cheek).

December 11, 2007 Hamblen County Committee Sends Illegal Immigration Resolutions To Full Commission

A Committee of the Hamblen County Commission voted yesterday to send Anti-ILLEGAL Immigration Resolutions on to the full Commission on December 20.

In what was at times a heated discussion, Commissioners Joe Swann and Tommy Massey lined up together to present the case for waiting and studying the issue.

Joe Swann pointed out that businesses pay the majority of property taxes in Morristown and in Hamblen County and he wants to wait to get his "hands around" the whole issue.

Tommy Massey said conditions are deplorable in Mexico, and he defended Commissioner Swann's desire to study the issue.

Commissioners Joe Spoone and Larry Baker along with Sheriff Esco Jarnagin presented the case against ILLEGAL immigration, pointing out the obvious---the issue is ILLEGAL immigration.

And pointing out that it is ILLEGAL immigration even if it benefits the bottomline of a business and even if it benefits the lawbreaker and his family.

They also pointed out the devastating and wide-ranging economic effects of ILLEGAL immigration on the average person in Hamblen County. Increased law enforcement and incarceration costs, increased educational costs, increased healthcare costs, increased costs for social benefits.

More to come...

October 28, 2006 County Building Projects and Accountability

Accountability is being able to say how much you spent, what you spent it on, and where the money came from.

I asked the county Finance Department in early August for accountability for taxpayer money---millions of dollars---spent on the jail annex, courthouse addition, children's library, dental clinic, justice center HVAC, justice center roof, justice center generator, etc.

Weeks passed with no response. So I asked then-Chairman of the Commission (Joe Spoone) to inquire about the requested information. Joe responded publicly at the August meeting of the Commission that he had been told by Finance Director Nicole Epps that a report would be provided to the commission by August 31, 2006.


Well, no report was provided on August 31, 2006.

And now-- over 10 weeks after the request for accountability was first made-- still no report has been provided.

Obviously, if the County Mayor and his Finance Department know what has been spent and where all the money came from, they need to provide that information.

If the County Mayor and his Finance Department don't know what was spent on each project and where the money came from, then they need to be upfront and admit that instead of saying they will provide a report and then stonewalling.

Hopefully, Commission Chair Stancil Ford and other commissioners (Baker, Bruce, Collins, Fullington, Harville, Parker, Phillips, Spoone) who were on the commission when the 5-year plans were adopted or when millions in capital expenditures were made will be able to get a report and accountability for these dollars.

Five of the new commissioners (Lebel, Massey, Sexton, Swann, and Wampler) did not vote for the original plans or subsequent expenditures, but these new commissioners are businessmen and one of them is an accountant (Swann).

Business people and accountants know how important it is to know how much has been spent on a building project and where the money came from.

With the last capital project coming up ---the painting of the courthouse--- there should be accountability for all capital spending to date.

I checked again with Joe Spoone on October 19 about accountability for these funds. He said he that he didn't know why a report on the capital spending hadn't already been provided.

It's now October 28 and there is still no accountability and no report for the total spent on each building project and where the total spent came from (bond money or other sources).

Before new requests for capital spending are voted on and before spending on the last of the "old" capital projects is approved (the courthouse painting), it sure would be nice to know that the County Mayor and his Finance Department are able to account for the millions spent on county buildings and improvements.

There are two posts today...scroll down to read the first October 28 post.

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.

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.
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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.

July 21, 2005 Deficit Budget passes

To no one's surprise, the County Commission approved a deficit general fund budget yesterday. The General Fund is about $500,000 in the hole.

How can you cover that deficit? The same way a family would-- you pull out of your savings (fund balance).

Why would you pass a deficit budget without looking for ways to cut expenditures? I can't answer that. I was fully prepared to take the time to meet with department heads to review each budget and make cuts. Commissioner Joe Spoone had outlined some pretty hefty cuts in a brief conversation with me and some other individuals just two days before. I don't know why those cuts weren't put forward for discussion on July 21.

With some effort, we might have found additional cuts that would have given us a balanced budget in 05-06. One thing is certain. Since we didn't look, we'll never know. Another certainty: we will never get a balanced budget if we do not control spending.

We have growth in the county. We could have a balanced budget if we had the courage to make sure that our spending did not exceed our additional revenue growth. The schools could have had $2.4 million in new money and the county could have had a balanced budget if we had taken new steps to structure the revenue.

Lately, it has been interesting to watch the changes as various commissioners have morphed away from their 2002 campaign promises of accountability and have become big spenders who don't even look for ways to cut expenses.

Several commissioners have apparently now decided that we have a revenue problem (you aren't taxed enough) instead of a spending problem. If you don't think there is a spending problem, then you quit looking for ways to cut spending as happened with the 05-06 budget.

Then you shift money around. The shell game. Example: First you budget insurance in one big line item. Then you don't. Then you budget insurance in some departments and the rest of it in a single line item. Then you don't. Then you budget insurance in every department. Keep the money moving.

The budget will be published in the Citizen-Tribune and then the Commission plans to vote on it on August4.

If our spending continues to outpace our growth in revenues, we are heading toward a train wreck (huge tax increases) in the general fund. Will anyone apply the brakes?

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...

July 15, 2005 The County Budget--Cost Savings

Dear Residents and Taxpayers of Hamblen County,

The Budget Committee met on Wednesday, July 13.

Sorry, no county commissioner (except yours truly and perhaps Joe Spoone) wants to take the time to look at our county's deficit budget to see if anything can be cut to come up with a balanced budget proposal. Sorry, no county commissioner (except yours truly) has put forth any cost savings ideas.

During the preliminary budget process in May and June, County Commission took no action on any department budget. Instead, each departmental budget was presented by the department head and was simply taken "under advisement" by Commission. At that time, reappraisals and appeals were not complete. We didn't have a certified tax rate from the state. We didn't know about our Worker's Comp Insurance rates. We didn't have a lot of information that we now have.

Last week, we were told that most property reappraisal appeals had been completed and that Hamblen County had received its new state certified tax rate (see my post of July 8). New revenue projections were calculated, and we now know that we have a deficit of about $450,000 if we simply approve everything as it was presented to us without cuts. We are now ready to get down to the job of adopting final budgets and tax rates-- we either cut expenses or raise taxes at this point.

Thus far, not one commissioner, with the exception of yours truly, has put forward a single idea for saving a penny. It appears that only two commissioners (Joe Spoone and I) are willing to take the time to review the budgets we originally took "under advisement" and the new revenue figures that we just got.

I have been on the Hamblen County Commission for nearly 3 years, and I regularly attended Commission meetings for about three years before that. That an elected official would not have a single idea for saving money and, worse, would not be willing to take the time to look for and discuss the possibility of spending cuts is not fair to the taxpayers who foot the bills.

I'm willing to work with department heads and other commissioners to find the areas where we can cut. I made a motion to begin the budget review process to look for areas where spending could be cut to keep our spending within current revenues. Commissioner Joe Spoone seconded it.

Commissioner Spoone remarked that he had never seen Commission just adopt the county government budget without a second look and without a single suggestion for a cut. Commissioner Ricky Bruce said he didn't think there was anything that could be cut. Spoone withdrew his second to my motion because he didn't think the proposal to look for areas to cut would pass.

What can be cut? I put forth a proposal last week that would save the county $60,000+ without cutting services at all. Currently, the Hamblen County Sheriff pays out about $65,000 for civilian crossing guards at the schools. My proposal is that the City of Morristown handle school crossings on city streets and that the Sheriff assign on-duty deputies to cover school crossings outside the city limits.

Before I put this forward, I checked with other counties and found that this is the way school crossing safety is handled in many other areas. This would provide not only greater safety for our children at school crossings, but it would also save money. Commissioner Harville said it was useless to even ask the City about this.

Well, I don't think it is ever useless to ask, and the committee agreed to let me talk to City Council about this. There have been a lot of city-county squabbles in the past, but I hope that the City will agree to provide officers to ensure greater safety at school crossings in the city limits, leaving the county to handle crossings outside the city limits.

County Mayor David Purkey also put forth a savings proposal, saying he thought $25,000 could be saved by cutting out some new equipment upgrades at the jail.

Well, with just those two ideas, there is $85,000 in savings. Not exactly pocket-change as was pointed out by a taxpayer in the audience.

Wonder what a closer examination might find?

Are Commissioners willing to look for other savings? I am.

PS If there are some Commissioners who just don't want to take the time to look for savings, wonder if they would at least appoint a small sub-committee composed of those commissioners who are willing to work on this to look for savings? No.

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.