When reporters start investigating and when auditors come in and look for fraud, waste, and abuse in government at the local level, it's not a pretty sight. The News-Sentinel has the Knox County government story.
The initial draft of the special audit of Knox County purchasing card (P-card) use is available online.
Follow-up stories are already coming out as a Mayor's aide says receipts may have been turned in and then lost OR maybe newspaper reporters lost them!
If Knox County Commission had been acting as a check and balance on the Knox County Mayor's Office, a lot of the fraud and waste of taxpayer dollars would not have occurred.
If the citizens of Knox County had realized that regular annual audits are little more than a cursory review of the figures that are provided and that there is only an examination of a few sample charges, then they would have demanded real accountability long ago from both the Mayor's Office and the Commission.
Regular audits do NOT look for fraud, waste, and abuse.
Our State Comptroller, who directs all county audits, has stated this.
"Trust, but verify" is the key to true government accountability.
Newspapers--when they choose to investigate and report--are vital in ensuring government accountability.
Local officials and citizens---not a state auditor who just peeks at a few transactions--are important in seeing that fraud, waste, and abuse does not continue and escalate to the level seen in Knox County.
Knox County's cleansing started with a newspaper that began to report and investigate what was going on in government offices and that challenged a power structure that openly violated the open meetings law.
Knox County's cleansing has been pushed along by talk-radio that allows the public to listen and actively participate in discussions about government actions as well as other local concerns.
Knox County's cleansing has been spurred by several citizens--former accountant Lewis Cosby is among the most prominent--who were so incensed by the waste of THEIR tax dollars that they took action. Lewis Cosby went to the Mayor's office, reviewed and copied documents, and started a detailed examination of invoices, payments, slush funds, and the like.
As Mr. Cosby began to detail the outrageous lack of fiscal control in the Mayor's office, Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale called Mr. Cosby a showboat at a public meeting! Name-calling instead of addressing the issue--a typical response from a politician.
Mr. Cosby was not a showboat. Mr. Cosby was a citizen who was indignant about waste of taxpayer dollars--his own and those of others.
Now, it looks like Mr. Cosby was right all along about fraud, waste, and abuse in Knox County government.
The question is, 'what happens next?'
A lot of commenters at the end of the News-Sentinel article are asking for restitution, firings, criminal charges, and/or ouster suits for elected officials.
Tthe officials and employees will submit their responses to the audit, and only then will it be crunch time.
Who enforces the law against the lawmakers? Who watches and prosecutes government corruption?
Showing posts with label Knox County Commission. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Knox County Commission. Show all posts
Friday, February 29, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
February 20, 2008 Knox Audits Prove It: Regular Audits Do NOT Look for Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
I have not blogged in-depth about Knox County conflicts of interest, open meeting violations, p-card abuse (purchasing cards), and audits.
The outrageous and illegal actions of Knox officials and employees have been headline news in the Knox News-Sentinel, on Knox talk radio, and on internet sites for over a year and will likely continue at a hot clip for at least another year.
The audits of vehicle usage, P-cards (county credit cards), the hospitality slush fund, community grants and grant awards, and several others are set to be released at long last.
Knoxville is fortunate that their major talk radio stations are not owned/partly owned by the same individuals who own the only newspaper. Morristown and Hamblen County are not so fortunate.
If you wonder what would happen if anyone investigated what happens in Morristown and Hamblen County, just take a look at the Knox County audits, the coverups, the lawsuits that it has taken to start the clean-up process, and the multiple resignations of which Cynthia Finch is only the latest.
Many Knoxvillians who were apathetic or who assumed everything was OK are now aware of the widespread conflicts, corruption, fraud, waste, and abuse that are at the core of their government. With INFORMATION provided by the News-Sentinel and talk radio, Knoxvillians came out on February 5th and started the clean-up process.
The outrageous and illegal actions of Knox officials and employees have been headline news in the Knox News-Sentinel, on Knox talk radio, and on internet sites for over a year and will likely continue at a hot clip for at least another year.
The audits of vehicle usage, P-cards (county credit cards), the hospitality slush fund, community grants and grant awards, and several others are set to be released at long last.
One pre-audit casualty is Cynthia Finch, the Mayor's long-time aide. What the regular audits missed (fraud, waste, and abuse), special audits found (fraud, waste, and abuse found).
Now it's a waiting game to find out who and how much and whether the abusers just resign with a hefty severance package or whether they are truly held accountable for their actions.
Knoxville is fortunate to have a paper that has decided to do true investigative reporting (here and here) instead of government press release reporting. Morristown and Hamblen County are not so fortunate. Part I Part II Part III Part IV
Knoxville is fortunate to have a paper that stood up for open meetings and joined in a suit that exposed backroom deals and deliberations made outside of the public eye. Morristown and Hamblen County are not so fortunate.Knoxville is fortunate that their major talk radio stations are not owned/partly owned by the same individuals who own the only newspaper. Morristown and Hamblen County are not so fortunate.
If you wonder what would happen if anyone investigated what happens in Morristown and Hamblen County, just take a look at the Knox County audits, the coverups, the lawsuits that it has taken to start the clean-up process, and the multiple resignations of which Cynthia Finch is only the latest.
Many Knoxvillians who were apathetic or who assumed everything was OK are now aware of the widespread conflicts, corruption, fraud, waste, and abuse that are at the core of their government. With INFORMATION provided by the News-Sentinel and talk radio, Knoxvillians came out on February 5th and started the clean-up process.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
October 3, 2007 Knox Sunshine Verdict: 12-0 For the People
Twelve jurors gave a BIG victory to Tennessee citizens and to open government advocates yesterday. The plaintiffs in court were the Knoxville News-Sentinel and nine citizens. The defendant was the Knox County Commission.
At issue in the trial was Tennessee's Open Meetings Act which states in part: "...the policy of this state [is] that the formation of public policy and decisions is public business and shall not be conducted in secret." TCA 8-44-101.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel and the nine citizens sued Knox County Commissioners for violations of Tennessee's Open Meetings Act (TOMA) in a January 31, 2007, special meeting of the Commission and in actions and conduct prior to that meeting. At the meeting, commissioners appointed 8 new commissioners and 4 new countywide officials (trustee, county clerk, sheriff, and register of deeds) to replace the officials then in office.
Why were 12 officials suddenly being replaced? These 12 officials were term-limited by a Knox County Charter provision that had been approved by Knox County voters in 1994 but that been ignored for 12 years.
When a 2006 Knox case involving term-limited officials reached the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Court issued a ruling in January 2007 that the term limit provisions of the Knox charter were valid and that the 12 officials who were then holding office were in fact term-limited and should be removed from office and replaced.
Yesterday, 12 citizens said that Knox County Commissioners violated both the letter of Tennessee's Open Meetings Law as well as the spirit of the law during the process of appointing replacements for the term-limited officials.
The jurors decided that numerous violations of the law occurred during private meetings of commissioners that took place during numerous recesses at the January 31, 2007, meeting and that other violations occurred during private meetings and deliberations that took place prior to the January 31 meeting.
The ball is in the Chancellor's court now (pun intended). Chancellor Fansler will fashion a remedy for what happened. He has wide latitude in this regard, and you can be sure that Knox County and other public bodies and citizens across the state are watching with deep interest.
Some of the options he has are (1) Order a re-do of the meeting to make the appointments in an open meeting with all deliberations made publicly; (2) issue an injunction that prohibits future "Sunshine" violations and requires that commission report on its compliance to the court.
In a very complex case, each of these options raises its own unique set of issues.
If a "re-do" is ordered, are the eight old term-limited commissioners brought back to vote again on the appointments? Will the re-do really be a new and open consideration of all interested individuals or will it just be a rubber-stamp appointment of the same people again?
If Fansler orders a re-do, will Josh Jordan, son of term-limited commissioner Diane Jordan and himself a former drug-dealer, again be appointed to replace his mother? Will Sharon Cawood, wife of term-limited commissioner Mark Cawood, again be appointed to replace her husband? Will Chuck Bolus, who testified under oath that he suddenly decided to be sworn in early on January 31 but has no recollection at all of how an oath of office suddenly and miraculously appeared in his hand that day, be appointed again?
At issue in the trial was Tennessee's Open Meetings Act which states in part: "...the policy of this state [is] that the formation of public policy and decisions is public business and shall not be conducted in secret." TCA 8-44-101.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel and the nine citizens sued Knox County Commissioners for violations of Tennessee's Open Meetings Act (TOMA) in a January 31, 2007, special meeting of the Commission and in actions and conduct prior to that meeting. At the meeting, commissioners appointed 8 new commissioners and 4 new countywide officials (trustee, county clerk, sheriff, and register of deeds) to replace the officials then in office.
Why were 12 officials suddenly being replaced? These 12 officials were term-limited by a Knox County Charter provision that had been approved by Knox County voters in 1994 but that been ignored for 12 years.
When a 2006 Knox case involving term-limited officials reached the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Court issued a ruling in January 2007 that the term limit provisions of the Knox charter were valid and that the 12 officials who were then holding office were in fact term-limited and should be removed from office and replaced.
Yesterday, 12 citizens said that Knox County Commissioners violated both the letter of Tennessee's Open Meetings Law as well as the spirit of the law during the process of appointing replacements for the term-limited officials.
The jurors decided that numerous violations of the law occurred during private meetings of commissioners that took place during numerous recesses at the January 31, 2007, meeting and that other violations occurred during private meetings and deliberations that took place prior to the January 31 meeting.
The ball is in the Chancellor's court now (pun intended). Chancellor Fansler will fashion a remedy for what happened. He has wide latitude in this regard, and you can be sure that Knox County and other public bodies and citizens across the state are watching with deep interest.
Some of the options he has are (1) Order a re-do of the meeting to make the appointments in an open meeting with all deliberations made publicly; (2) issue an injunction that prohibits future "Sunshine" violations and requires that commission report on its compliance to the court.
In a very complex case, each of these options raises its own unique set of issues.
If a "re-do" is ordered, are the eight old term-limited commissioners brought back to vote again on the appointments? Will the re-do really be a new and open consideration of all interested individuals or will it just be a rubber-stamp appointment of the same people again?
If Fansler orders a re-do, will Josh Jordan, son of term-limited commissioner Diane Jordan and himself a former drug-dealer, again be appointed to replace his mother? Will Sharon Cawood, wife of term-limited commissioner Mark Cawood, again be appointed to replace her husband? Will Chuck Bolus, who testified under oath that he suddenly decided to be sworn in early on January 31 but has no recollection at all of how an oath of office suddenly and miraculously appeared in his hand that day, be appointed again?
I am very pleased with the verdict. The News-Sentinel and the nine citizens have given their time and have spent considerable sums of money to clarify the Sunshine Law and to support open and accountable government in Knox County.
The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government has praised the decision while recognizing that Tennessee's Sunshine Laws (Open Meetings law and Open Records law) are not very strong.
The Coalition, of which the News-Sentinel is a member, wants to strengthen these laws when the Tennessee General Assembly meets in 2008. However, the Coalition's efforts are being opposed by city and county officials and by organizations that represent city and county officials.
These city and county officials and their member associations want to weaken Tennessee's Sunshine laws by providing for more "exceptions" that would prevent citizen access to public records and that would allow officials to meet privately in groups and reach agreements prior to public discussion and sometimes even prior to the public's awareness that a topic is under consideration (the "meeting before the meeting").
If city and county officials get their way in weakening the Sunshine Laws, then the Tennessee General Assembly will need to re-write the introduction to the Open Meetings Act as follows: "...the policy of this state [is] that the formation of public policy and decisions is NONE OF THE PUBLIC'S BUSINESS AND IS TO BE CONDUCTED IN SECRET."
Friday, March 02, 2007
March 2, 2007 That Was The Week That Was
And what a week it was......
Joseph Lee, head of Memphis Light, Gas & Water, admits to a grand jury that MLG&W kept a "privileged customer" list (privileged customer=politician).
City Councilman Edmund Ford, who has already been indicted for bribery, was one of many on that list. Ford was protected from utility cut-off even when his delinquent bills totalled $16,000.
Joseph Lee recently offered to resign, but Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton, who appointed Lee, wouldn't hear of it. Herenton says it's a "witch hunt." Herenton blames everyone, except Lee, for the favored treatment of high and mighty Memphis politicians.
GOOD NEWS IN MEMPHIS. John Ford and Edmund Ford have just come into a sizable inheritance. Edmund Ford will probably rush down to MLG&W to pay his utility bill and then on over to the Cadillac dealership to pay his Escalade lease. Maybe his brother (former State Sen. John Ford) will take his share and pay for his own defense attorney.
-------------------------
Jerry Cooper. Due to a wreck in February that was accompanied by DUI and speeding charges, Sen. Jerry Cooper got a delay in his wire and bank fraud trial. Previously, the judge had denied Cooper's efforts to delay the trial.
-------------------------
Newly-appointed Knox Register of Deeds (ROD) Sherry Witt can't handle her job without the help of her former boss Steve Hall. Hall was term-limited as ROD, and Witt was appointed to replace him on Jan. 31. Now Witt has turned around and hired her ex-boss as an administrative assistant earning $69,000.
Term-limits or no term-limits, one way or another politicians are going to keep their government jobs! The Jan. 31 appointments were a farce--just musical chairs to shift the term-limited officials and their families to new and different positions.
------------------------
Speaking of the musical chairs appointments, the N-S filed suit against the Knox Commission alleging violations of the Sunshine Law when commissioners "recessed" the Jan. 31 meeting several times, During the recesses, commissioners met outside the public view to discuss and deliberate toward the 12 appointments for the term-limited Knox County officials.
Knox Commissioners recently rejected the News-Sentinel's offer to drop the lawsuit if commissioners would admit to violations of the Sunshine Law and then re-do the appointments with public deliberation in a public meeting.
Now, the Commissioners have asked the News-Sentinel to hold off on the suit until the legislature considers changes to the Sunshine Law! Since it took the legislature months to even appoint a Sunshine-in-Government committee, the Knox Commissioners know that there won't be action any time soon from Nashville.
Just a cheap delaying tactic by another set of ethically-challenged officials.
------------------------------------
Phil Williams is a great investigative reporter. He has an interesting report on who gets TDOT (Tennessee Dept. of Transportation) consulting jobs and how they get these jobs.
Gerald Nicely is head of TDOT and he alone gets to pick who gets TDOT consulting contracts. His former chief of staff resigned and went to work for CTE, a consulting firm doing business with the TDOT.
Nicely gave $2.7 million in state contracts to CTE in the first three years of the Bredesen administration. Then after CTE hired Nicely's chief of staff, the commissioner gave CTE more than $4.1 million in contracts in 9-months.
Nicely admits that there is the "potential" for abuse, but denies [of course] that there has been any abuse or favoritism.
------------------------
Speaking of no-bid deals, a former Sumner County Sheriff was convicted of wire fraud in a scheme to give his brother a no-bid contract to build a maintenance garage. Just like in Knox, nobody can resist helping themselves---and their family and close friends---to tax dollars.
------------------------
Joseph Lee, head of Memphis Light, Gas & Water, admits to a grand jury that MLG&W kept a "privileged customer" list (privileged customer=politician).
City Councilman Edmund Ford, who has already been indicted for bribery, was one of many on that list. Ford was protected from utility cut-off even when his delinquent bills totalled $16,000.
Joseph Lee recently offered to resign, but Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton, who appointed Lee, wouldn't hear of it. Herenton says it's a "witch hunt." Herenton blames everyone, except Lee, for the favored treatment of high and mighty Memphis politicians.
GOOD NEWS IN MEMPHIS. John Ford and Edmund Ford have just come into a sizable inheritance. Edmund Ford will probably rush down to MLG&W to pay his utility bill and then on over to the Cadillac dealership to pay his Escalade lease. Maybe his brother (former State Sen. John Ford) will take his share and pay for his own defense attorney.
-------------------------
Jerry Cooper. Due to a wreck in February that was accompanied by DUI and speeding charges, Sen. Jerry Cooper got a delay in his wire and bank fraud trial. Previously, the judge had denied Cooper's efforts to delay the trial.
-------------------------
Newly-appointed Knox Register of Deeds (ROD) Sherry Witt can't handle her job without the help of her former boss Steve Hall. Hall was term-limited as ROD, and Witt was appointed to replace him on Jan. 31. Now Witt has turned around and hired her ex-boss as an administrative assistant earning $69,000.
Term-limits or no term-limits, one way or another politicians are going to keep their government jobs! The Jan. 31 appointments were a farce--just musical chairs to shift the term-limited officials and their families to new and different positions.
------------------------
Speaking of the musical chairs appointments, the N-S filed suit against the Knox Commission alleging violations of the Sunshine Law when commissioners "recessed" the Jan. 31 meeting several times, During the recesses, commissioners met outside the public view to discuss and deliberate toward the 12 appointments for the term-limited Knox County officials.
Knox Commissioners recently rejected the News-Sentinel's offer to drop the lawsuit if commissioners would admit to violations of the Sunshine Law and then re-do the appointments with public deliberation in a public meeting.
Now, the Commissioners have asked the News-Sentinel to hold off on the suit until the legislature considers changes to the Sunshine Law! Since it took the legislature months to even appoint a Sunshine-in-Government committee, the Knox Commissioners know that there won't be action any time soon from Nashville.
Just a cheap delaying tactic by another set of ethically-challenged officials.
------------------------------------
Phil Williams is a great investigative reporter. He has an interesting report on who gets TDOT (Tennessee Dept. of Transportation) consulting jobs and how they get these jobs.
Gerald Nicely is head of TDOT and he alone gets to pick who gets TDOT consulting contracts. His former chief of staff resigned and went to work for CTE, a consulting firm doing business with the TDOT.
Nicely gave $2.7 million in state contracts to CTE in the first three years of the Bredesen administration. Then after CTE hired Nicely's chief of staff, the commissioner gave CTE more than $4.1 million in contracts in 9-months.
Nicely admits that there is the "potential" for abuse, but denies [of course] that there has been any abuse or favoritism.
------------------------
Speaking of no-bid deals, a former Sumner County Sheriff was convicted of wire fraud in a scheme to give his brother a no-bid contract to build a maintenance garage. Just like in Knox, nobody can resist helping themselves---and their family and close friends---to tax dollars.
------------------------
Friday, February 16, 2007
February 16, 2007 That Was the Week That Was
The week that was...
It looks like Sen. Jerry Cooper may get his bank fraud and mail fraud and conspiracy trial delayed after all.
Knox Countians continue to fume over the nepotism, deal-making, and private backroom discussions during the appointment/anointment of friends and family to government jobs in Knox County. See the N-S article here.
Embezzlement allegations have been reported involving two employees of the bookstore at WSCC. The problems apparently go back as far as 5-6 years.
More later on TWTWTW.
For the younger crowd TWTWTW stands for a TV show from ancient times called That Was The Week That Was. TWTWTW was an "older" version of today's Jon Stewart's Daily Show or The Colbert Report.
It looks like Sen. Jerry Cooper may get his bank fraud and mail fraud and conspiracy trial delayed after all.
Knox Countians continue to fume over the nepotism, deal-making, and private backroom discussions during the appointment/anointment of friends and family to government jobs in Knox County. See the N-S article here.
Embezzlement allegations have been reported involving two employees of the bookstore at WSCC. The problems apparently go back as far as 5-6 years.
More later on TWTWTW.
For the younger crowd TWTWTW stands for a TV show from ancient times called That Was The Week That Was. TWTWTW was an "older" version of today's Jon Stewart's Daily Show or The Colbert Report.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
February 13, 2007 Cawoods, Nepotism, and Conflicts of Interest
More on nepotism and family ties in an interesting News-Sentinel article yesterday.
It looks like the husband and wife tag team of Mark and Sharon Cawood will collect over $90,000 from Knox County for their three county jobs (and more if you include Mark's Knox County pension).
Mark Cawood was a term-limited county commissioner. On January 31, Mark's fellow commissioners quickly appointed his wife Sharon to replace him.
Sharon already had a full-time Knox county job as deputy supervising clerk in Knox Juvenile Court ($42,000 salary + $3,900 allowance) when she was appointed to the Commission. (Her husband had helped her get the deputy clerk job just two months ago).
After the family tag team switch in the county commissioner job, Sharon now gets the $19,000+ commissioner's salary along with her deputy clerk salary of $42,000 and the $3,900 allowance.
Worried about Mark? Don't be. Mark was quickly hired by the Sheriff's Department in a court security officer's position ($25,000).
Does Sharon (or did Mark before her) see a conflict in voting on funding and budgets for departments where they work? Sharon: "I don't see a conflict."
Do people who are not in the "government club" see a conflict? A lot of experts and "non-government club" taxpayers see the conflict. Sharon, though, thinks she can forget the family ties and the family paychecks when she votes for the budget of her boss (Cathy Quist) and her husband's boss (Sheriff J. J. Jones).
And Sharon may be a terrific worker, a "godsend" according to her boss Cathy Quist. But how will it look a few months from now when her "other" job as a county commissioner puts Sharon in the position of voting for the budget that her boss Cathy Quist recommends to the Knox County Commission?
How will it look a few months from now when her job as a county commissioner puts Sharon in the position of voting for the budget that her husband's boss Sheriff J. J. Jones recommends to the Knox County Commission?
Are people really supposed to believe that there won't be any effect and that there is no pressure at all on Sharon when her boss's budget or the budget of her husband's boss is up for a vote? Somebody bring the coffee! Sharon needs to take a whiff!
Nepotism? Good old boys and girls taking care of one another and their family? The article quotes Dr. Michael Gant, U-T political science professor, who says, "The reason we have anti-nepotism regulations is so people won't have to be put in those positions."
Unfortunately, most anti-nepotism regulations in Knox County and many other counties only say that commissioners have to declare publicly that they have a real or apparent conflict of interest, but then they can go ahead and vote anyway.
Making a declaration of a conflict before voting doesn't get rid of the voting conflict.
Too many government ethics policies have anti-nepotism suggestions but no anti-nepotism rules or regs or enforcement.
And Hamblen County is just maybe one degree removed from Knox on the nepotism scale.
It looks like the husband and wife tag team of Mark and Sharon Cawood will collect over $90,000 from Knox County for their three county jobs (and more if you include Mark's Knox County pension).
Mark Cawood was a term-limited county commissioner. On January 31, Mark's fellow commissioners quickly appointed his wife Sharon to replace him.
Sharon already had a full-time Knox county job as deputy supervising clerk in Knox Juvenile Court ($42,000 salary + $3,900 allowance) when she was appointed to the Commission. (Her husband had helped her get the deputy clerk job just two months ago).
After the family tag team switch in the county commissioner job, Sharon now gets the $19,000+ commissioner's salary along with her deputy clerk salary of $42,000 and the $3,900 allowance.
Worried about Mark? Don't be. Mark was quickly hired by the Sheriff's Department in a court security officer's position ($25,000).
Does Sharon (or did Mark before her) see a conflict in voting on funding and budgets for departments where they work? Sharon: "I don't see a conflict."
Do people who are not in the "government club" see a conflict? A lot of experts and "non-government club" taxpayers see the conflict. Sharon, though, thinks she can forget the family ties and the family paychecks when she votes for the budget of her boss (Cathy Quist) and her husband's boss (Sheriff J. J. Jones).
And Sharon may be a terrific worker, a "godsend" according to her boss Cathy Quist. But how will it look a few months from now when her "other" job as a county commissioner puts Sharon in the position of voting for the budget that her boss Cathy Quist recommends to the Knox County Commission?
How will it look a few months from now when her job as a county commissioner puts Sharon in the position of voting for the budget that her husband's boss Sheriff J. J. Jones recommends to the Knox County Commission?
Are people really supposed to believe that there won't be any effect and that there is no pressure at all on Sharon when her boss's budget or the budget of her husband's boss is up for a vote? Somebody bring the coffee! Sharon needs to take a whiff!
Nepotism? Good old boys and girls taking care of one another and their family? The article quotes Dr. Michael Gant, U-T political science professor, who says, "The reason we have anti-nepotism regulations is so people won't have to be put in those positions."
Unfortunately, most anti-nepotism regulations in Knox County and many other counties only say that commissioners have to declare publicly that they have a real or apparent conflict of interest, but then they can go ahead and vote anyway.
Making a declaration of a conflict before voting doesn't get rid of the voting conflict.
Too many government ethics policies have anti-nepotism suggestions but no anti-nepotism rules or regs or enforcement.
And Hamblen County is just maybe one degree removed from Knox on the nepotism scale.
Friday, February 09, 2007
February 9, 2007 Knox Conflicts--Great Article
There's a great article by Greg Johnson in today's N-S about the shenanigans, double dipping, and triple dipping in Knox County government.
I'll post later on similarities between Knox and Hamblen conflicts of interest.
UPDATE: Joe Powell has a really good post on Ethics & Government.
I'll post later on similarities between Knox and Hamblen conflicts of interest.
UPDATE: Joe Powell has a really good post on Ethics & Government.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
February 6, 2007 Knox N-S Sues Knox County Commission
Two things you don't want to watch being made: sausage and laws.
Now there's a third: Appointments by Knox County Commission to fill the offices of term-limited officials.
I haven't commented much up until now because I wanted to wait until some of the air cleared.
Well, it looks like the air may never clear!
Conflicts, cronyism, and GOB/GOG (good ole boys/good ole girls) deal-making were at their worst throughout the whole debacle.
A former drug-dealing son was appointed to replace mom (Diane Jordan).
One term-limited commissioner (Billy Tindell) was appointed by his colleagues to replace the County Clerk.
Another term-limited commissioner (Mark Cawood) voted for the new Sheriff (J.J. Jones) and, surprise, now this ex-commissioner is working for the new Sheriff.
And just for good measure, this ex-commissioner's wife (Sharon Cawood) was appointed to take his old commission seat. [The Knox Sheriff's Department has a strong hold on several commissioners as well as commissioners' wives, husbands, and other relatives.]
And the new Sheriff (J.J.Jones)? He immediately hired his old boss ex-Sheriff Tim Hutchison to stay on as chief deputy.
The News-Sentinel has filed suit to clear the air about the process and to try and bring some Sunshine in.
Now there's a third: Appointments by Knox County Commission to fill the offices of term-limited officials.
I haven't commented much up until now because I wanted to wait until some of the air cleared.
Well, it looks like the air may never clear!
Conflicts, cronyism, and GOB/GOG (good ole boys/good ole girls) deal-making were at their worst throughout the whole debacle.
A former drug-dealing son was appointed to replace mom (Diane Jordan).
One term-limited commissioner (Billy Tindell) was appointed by his colleagues to replace the County Clerk.
Another term-limited commissioner (Mark Cawood) voted for the new Sheriff (J.J. Jones) and, surprise, now this ex-commissioner is working for the new Sheriff.
And just for good measure, this ex-commissioner's wife (Sharon Cawood) was appointed to take his old commission seat. [The Knox Sheriff's Department has a strong hold on several commissioners as well as commissioners' wives, husbands, and other relatives.]
And the new Sheriff (J.J.Jones)? He immediately hired his old boss ex-Sheriff Tim Hutchison to stay on as chief deputy.
The News-Sentinel has filed suit to clear the air about the process and to try and bring some Sunshine in.
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