Back in 2005, Joe McCord's dad, Keith McCord wanted to put a lot of condos in near a wetland at Crosscreek, there on Carpenters Grade Road and Sandy Springs.

The Maryville Board of Zoning Appeals turned it down.

Keith McCord sued them.

Meanwhile, Joe McCord puts in some legislation to de-list some 3,000 waterways and it seems a little obvious that this would benefit a development that would disturb a wetland, if a claim can be made that it is a wet-weather wetland.

But in today's paper, there's an article that Joe McCord's Legislation, which he had energetically defended before, has been "watered down" now to just cleaning up the Nolichucky River and another article that Chancellor Forgerty has "set aside" the BZA's decision in Keith McCord's favor for his condo complex. Strangely, this happened Feb. 1st and we are only now hearing about it.

If you want to go see how this series of coincidences play out, there's a meeting tonight:

The Board of Zoning Appeals will meet at 5 p.m. today for a briefing from attorneys about the ruling.

"Concerns raised by citizens relative to traffic is a matter that may be reviewed and considered by the Maryville Regional Planning Commission at the next requested approval phase of the property development ... if permitted by the applicable laws and regulations," the ruling states.

I don't pretended to understand Democratic politics nor do I ponder very often what the reasons behind the actions are, but I do have a question.

How could someone win a majority of the "pledge" delegates and not receive the nomination of the party?

I would appreciate a local perspective.

Thanks!

The Judge Mike Meares campaign has launched their official website at www.mearesforjudge.com. There's a lot of good information, including an interesting "voter education" section on how the court system works. Check it out.

Also, the Committee to Elect Mike Meares is now accepting contributions. You can send your contribution (up to the maximum of $1,000.00) to:

Committee to Elect Mike Meares
c/o Martha Meares, Treasurer
212 High St.
Maryville, TN 37804

Change the name of the lawsuit in this story, and this could be just about any story to come out of this particular courtroom in recent time: (Link...)

Is there any way to determine what the average length of a court case is in this division of Blount County Courts compared to a similar division in a county of the same size? Anecdotally, it just seems like a quagmire in there.

It’s been a tough battle for Satterfield — with dismissals, appeals and reversals — that has dragged on in the legal system for more than four years.

I guess noone ever said Lady Justice was swift.

Sadly, in this case, the plaintiff actually died (in 2005) before the matter could be decided, and the judge dismissed the case after her death (not because she died, apparently). Fortunately for her father, carrying on the lawsuit in her name, there's an Appeals Court:

Blount County Circuit Court Judge W. Dale Young dismissed the suit in March 2006, but Satterfield’s attorneys immediately filed an appeal. In April 2007, the Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed Young’s decision, reinstated the lawsuit and charged ALCOA with the cost of the appeal.

Link...

In all the bruhaha about Harmony Properties, we Blount Countians have largely overlooked a threat at least as great to our signature Chilhowee Mountain view: Look Rock Estates.

Here's a real estate article (I noted it was paid for by the developers, Tom White and Joe Mathis) in the Knoxville News Sentinel from November 7th: (Link...)

What they are selling are "crest view" lots. Meaning, in a Wear's Valley-esque manner, they clear off the very top of the ridge of the mountain so the homeowner can have a full view looking off each direction. And we get a full view of the homeowner throughout the rest of the valley, and most likely, all the way to town. (Link...)

And what are they using to put some urgency in their marketing?

“There are no other residential developments in this area with lots this big that have views from both sides of the mountain,” says White. “We’ve been seeing a trend toward regulations limiting mountaintop development, so with private mountain land drying up, this could be the last chance to build on something like this.”

You think?

In other words, hurry up folks, and help us ruin the mountain before Blount County comes to its senses!

Photos of the place: (Link...)
Another sales article about the place - very reassuring that all lots can be additionally subdivided: (Link...)

Mayor Cunningham is on a roll with the letters!

Look what just popped up at the Daily Times website, re: the Sister City program - (Link...)

Cunningham, who also sent the letter to two county commissioners, said, “I have little love lost of the Russian government in particular” because Russia supplied armaments and advisors to the Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army during the Vietnam war, which killed several of his buddies.

*Update: Lawsy day, the DT has now posted the full text of the letter! (Link...)

**Second Update: WVLT Reporter Steve McLamb reported on the Mayor's letter on the 5:30 p.m. news tonight. (Link...) They've also posted a photocopy of a "copy" of the original letter on county letterhead on their website at (Link...). Strangely, Cunningham told McLamb it was a private letter. Hmmmm. Private letter on county letterhead?

Did anyone watch the Republican YouTube debate? Mitt Romney basically buried himself. He might be a nice guy, but he can't answer a question for squat. I almost felt sorry for him he sputtered around so poorly. Rudy G. handled it fairly well as did Huckabee who probably had the best one-liner of the night. Other observations from the peanut gallery?

Tomorrow's 5:30 meeting of the Planning Commission includes in its agenda a section on Long Range Planning. Three really important items stand out:

Here are the links to the supporting documents, the first being the agenda:

a - agenda for November 20, 2007
b - memo on amendments to subdivision regulations public h…
c - memo on rezoning public hearing for 11-20-07
d - memo on plat reviews for 11-20-07 _minus attachments_
e - memo on long range agenda items for 11-20-07 _minus en…

Might be a good meeting to attend, if you are interested in better understanding the process of how regulations are created. (And if your turkey is thawed.)

Couldn't make the reception Friday night to support Wendy Pitts Reeves? Here's another chance. The next Ethics Committee Meeting is tonight. Here's the full agenda, printed below and a link to make things easier to forward: Link... See "New Business" to find reference to Reeves, Proffitt, and Lewis.

AGENDA
Ethics Committee
Monday, October 29, 2007, 6:00 p.m.
Room 315, Blount County Courthouse
Members: Betsy Cunningham; Brenda Flowers; Ron French; Joe McCulley; and Wendy Pitts Reeves - Chair.

1. Call To Order.
2. Roll Call.
3. Approval of Minutes of October 2, 2007.
4. Public input on items on the agenda.
5. Old business:
a) Discussion/Possible Action Regarding the Ethics Policies and Procedures and the Committee.
i.) Report from Betsy Cunningham on theMake Up of the Committee.
ii.) Review of Changes in the Ethics Policy and Procedures.
iii.) Report from Betsy Cunningham regarding Open Records and Confidentiality.
b) Discussion and update Regarding Conflict of Interest Statement Form.
c) Discussion/Possible Action Regarding Procedures for Filing Complaints.
i.) Review of form letters for complainants and defendants.
ii.) Review of changes on the Ethics Violation Complaint Form.
d.) Discussion/Possible Action Regarding Employee Communication and Training Concerning Ethics
Policy.
6. New Business:
a) Discussion/Possible Action Regarding CTAS Opinion Concerning Health Care Providers
Concerning Commissioner Proffitt and Commissioner Wendy Pitts Reeves.
b) Discussion/Possible Action Regarding Attorney General Opinion Concerning Commissioner Mike
Lewis.
c) Other.
7. Next Meeting.
8. Public input on items not on the agenda.
9. Adjournment.

TDOT has scheduled a public meeting for Thursday, October 25, from 5-8pm in the Heritage High School Auditorium.

At this meeting TDOT will present the ‘Purpose and Need’ for the PPE as well as ‘initial alternatives.’ The public will have opportunities to comment on the Purpose and Need and the alternatives. Written comments can be sent to TDOT for 21 days after the Oct. 25 meeting.

Starting at 5:15 PM (EDT), TDOT will make a formal presentation on the status of the project. The presentation will describe the work completed since the Scoping Meetings in June 2006, the purpose and need statement for the project, and initial alternatives identified for the project.

Following the formal presentation, from 6:00 to 7:00 PM, citizens will be afforded an opportunity to work with TDOT officials in smaller groups and share their ideas on alternatives to be considered. Representatives of TDOT will be available to assist with the exchange of ideas and to provide information on the purpose and need of the project.

The workshop will conclude with a full group discussion and question and answer session between 7:00 and 8:00 PM.

Here's the link: (Link...)

If I were John Loope, I would find the report of the Louisville City Atty/Ethics officer very unsatisfactory. Here's the full text:(Link...) Page 8 of the pdf (numbered page 6 in the document) says basically that all the allegations were dismissed as untrue in the report just because the accuser didn't provide all the evidence. Could it be possible that accuser expected the person tasked with investigating the complaint to uncover and examine the evidence? I mean, when I think of an "investigator," I envision someone in a trenchcoat who can get to the bottom of a matter. Not some attorney who says he took it upon himself to write a report and then declares the conclusion at the beginning. The attorney further says something like: "That [meaning that the accuser didn't provide all the evidence], in and of itself, should end the investigation and result in a finding of no ethical violations. However, since the investigation has the further function of allowing the accused persons to have their say and exonerate their names if there are no facts, I am continuing with the investigation."

So he says right at the beginning of the report that the only purpose of the report is to give the accused their say and that the conclusion has already been made based on lack of evidence PROVIDED BY THE ACCUSER. Not that I'm saying the lack of evidence provided automatically means the accused are guilty, either. But if I were going to be exonnerated in something, I'd hope it was a more ringing endorsement than this.

I'm glad the police investigators don't operate that way.

Hey, folks-

I'd like to invite all of you to join me for a Constituents' Coffee to be held next Tuesday, September 18, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at Montvale Elementary. Click here for more info.

Hope you can come!

~Wendy

Wendy Pitts Reeves, L.C.S.W.
Blount County Commissioner, District 4

AGENDA-BLOUNT COUNTY BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS

September 13, 2007 meeting, 6pm at the Blount County
Courthouse in room 433.
Roll Call and Approval of Minutes:
Appeals:
1. None.
Special Exception:
1. Charlene Teffeteller’s special exception request for a multifamily development on Wildwood Road across from Mackenzie Place. Tax map 37, parcel 46.01
Variance:
1. David Creasman’s request for a 10 feet front setback variance for his property at 6519 Old Walland HWY. Tax map 83, parcel 30.08.

According to the Hunter Growth Strategy, Blount County's Zoning Regulations are "neither fish nor fowl, but a recipe for Urban Sprawl."

Hunter (whom we paid a boat load of money to come up with a "smart growth" plan for Blount County) recommended AGAINST commercializing along our highway corridors, yet you see more and more Rezoning Public Hearings for rezoning to Rural Arterial Commercial Zoning (RAC). Mind you, the RAC is greatly improved from its original form, but still: do we want Scenic Highway 411S to be commercialized beyond the Urban Growth Boundary with the city and straight to the county line? I have seen numerous quotes all over the place where officials state that it is a foregone conclusion.

Is this the welcome we wish to extend the tourists we sincerely hope we draw into our community? Did we learn nothing from the development of "Al- killya Highway"? Currently, the plan is to by-pass Alcoa Highway. Are we planning ahead to by-pass 411S by extending crappy metal building commercial down both sides of it??

And lo and behold, on next Tuesday's Intergovernmental Agenda, I see discussion and possible action to set up another hearing to AGAIN consider rezoning that place with the metal building that the owner built on the apparent pretense of using it as a private dwelling (4004 Hwy 411S, corner of Hitson and 411S). The fact that it had no windows was a major tip-off, of course. Even the TN Property Assessor's Databas calls it a "warehouse." The DT picked it up in this article back in May: (Link...) and here was the outcome; apparently the Planning Commission didn't care that it was an end-run around the law and they voted in favor of it: (Link...)

It was defeated 10-7 at the Commission Meeting (Link...), although the following Commissioners voted for it: Commissioners Farmer, Hargis, Harrison, Hasty, Helton, Lail, McCulley, Melton, Ramsey and Samples.

Roger Fields was quoted in that article as saying the property could not come up for another vote for 2 more years. Yet, here it is again. What's up with that? It is obvious that some in this administration never saw a commercialization on 411S that they didn't like.

Each September a new Chairman is picked. Or re-picked. Dr. Ramsey has been the chair for the last 5 years, if memory serves. Before that, Steve Samples was the Commission Chair for a really long time.

Given that there seems to be some consensus on this site that things aren't going quite as we would like them to in Blount County gov't, how important do you think this position is? Should we keep our fingers crossed that Bob Ramsey gets the job again, or are there others who could somehow influence some positive change?

Who would you ask YOUR commissioners to vote for for Commission Chair?

To refresh you on the options, here is a link to the commission: (Link...).

Note: This vote will take place at the September 20th meeting.

Checking out the committee agendas usually gives you a pretty good idea of the sorts of things that are going to be coming up in the main monthly commission meeting. Here are the links to both of those:

* Intergovernmental Committee Agenda for September 11, 07 (Link...)
* Public Services Committee Agenda for September 11, 07 (Link...)

The Commissioners tend to discuss things more openly in this setting as these meetings are not as formal. If you are looking to become more proactively involved in our local political process, a good way to start is to plan to attend these 2 evenings of meetings with the commission and then the planning commission meeting each month.

The agenda for the main commission meeting (third Thursday of the month) is usually not available until the Thursday or Friday prior to the meeting, but is always worth looking over. Hey, the commission's business is your business.

Hats off to Randy for providing Blount County with this forum.

From what I’ve been reading here bad guys run this county, the newspaper’s a rag and the opposition is pretty weak. Fair enough. Probably true on all counts. But that begs the question. How’d it get that way?

In my humble opinion democracy simply works. People tend to get the government they deserve.

Nobody stole the last county election. Jerry got elected without ballot stuffing or goons at the polls. Rag or not, the Daily Times has 20000+ Blount County subscribers (myself included). The organized opposition (Ravens, CAPPE, Democrats, etc.) are so self centered they rarely even talk with each other.

That’s not to say it’s gotta to be that way.

Show me 400 or 500 motivated Blount Countians who’ll donate 1 or 2 days a week through November 2010, who’ll donate a significant portion of their disposable income to partisan political races and are willing to boycott every last advertiser on every page of the Daily Times… show me that and we’ll turn this thing around !

You think I kid ? Let's look at what we're up against.

The Blount County Republican Party has 150 to 200 Executive Committee members who PAID to be part of their organization. 65 percent of Blount County voters consider themselves Republican. Half of those believe you go to hell for voting for a Democrat. The other half has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo, our own version of the “Permanent Republican Majority”. Don’t kid yourself. These guys are well funded, very motivated and could really give a crap about what you and I think is fair.

It will take a lot of hard work by a lot of motivated people for a very long period of time just to level the playing field.

All that said.

I’d like to hear a few voices who can offer concrete practical ideas on how to change that status quo. We can not get to where we want to go by pouring our emotion through a computer terminal. We can not spend our time and energies dreaming up good ideas with no idea how to implement. In my opinion, you have to get to the streets. You have to engage the voters. You have to beg for money. You have to invest your time. You have to commit to governance.

How can we expect hundreds of Blount County residents to engage in this type of personal sacrifice if we're not willing to do the same ?

Wild Blue Sky

Given that the School System eats up around 60% of the Blount County budget, a pretty momentous event will be taking place tonight at 7 p.m. in the Blount County School Central Office on Grandview Drive. There will be a School Board Meeting and each September, they choose a new chairman. Here are the school board members: Link....

The possibilities are many. Any one of the current board members could theoretically be elected.

The current chairman is Mike Treadway, who works for an architectural firm and serves on the joint construction committee, amongst other committees. He could be selected to serve another year.

And while school board seats are non-partisan by state law, former chairman of the Blount County Republican party John Davis could be selected. He's also a retired teacher and administrator.

Or Charles Finley, retired teacher and administrator.

Or Don McNelly, who holds a doctorate in education and was a professor in the school of education at UT.

Or Chris Cantrell, formerly of the Sheriff's department.

Or Booty Miller, retired teacher and administrator (although not likely, since he already served in this capacity and was passed over when his term expired a couple of years ago).

Or Rob Webb, who works for Rural Metro.

These meetings are always worth attending, given their huge impact on our tax rate.

The Blount County United Way has made much of it's kickoff. And, as most know it strives to do a lot of good with many deserving organizations. But it sure seems strange how a non-profit organization would lead its fund-raising charge with a host of politically-charged Republicans. The object is to bring in as many dollars as possible to help the UW's member agencies, not to politicize the campaign and risk losing donations from those who have serious issues with the highly questionable financial shenanigans of the group unaffectionately being tagged "Bennett & Co."

Let's see, Bennett, Blount Republican party chair, is "chair" of the United Way campaign. Julie Talbott, who works in Bennett's office, is chairing the United Way Day of Caring. Disgraced Circuit Court Clerk, Tom Hatcher, also a Republican, is chairing the UW's Hamburger Luncheon. Now, you'll note Commissioner Mike Lewis is chairing the UW's Golf Tournament, and yes, he is a Republican. But, in his defense, he's been involved in charity golf tournaments for many years, and is a relative newcomer to politics. He's still trying to figure out all this political stuff.

With all due respect to the United Way, this smells kinda stinky. And, the UW administration and Board of Directors should have seen the writing on the wall. Then again, maybe they did, and went with the political angle anyway. Either way, this year, donations from this wallet will be given directly to the member-agencies. It doesn't make sense to send money through an organization that leads a major campaign with politics instead of keeping its eye focused on its mission of helping those with real needs.