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Yikes! Owings urges T. Salter to sue DeFreese
Submitted by Bbeanster on Tue, 2008/07/22 - 8:35am.
Didn't see the first part of it, but tuned in just in time to see an angry, red-faced Ownings saying he's tired of seeing county employees abused and urging Salter (and, presumably anyone else who has been aggrieved) to get an outside lawyer and sue commissioners who falsely accuse them of wrongdoing.
Submitted by Anonymously Nine (not verified) on Tue, 2008/07/22 - 9:41am.
Salter would be a fool to take that advice. The last thing Salter needs is discovery.
Knox County has screwed this up beyond comprehension. The settlement Owings made is a cover up. No one in County government wants this can of worms opened.
So brain-dead Republican obstructionism is now a crime? Lying about Democrats is all of a sudden a bad thing? Hello, last time I checked, Dick Cheney was still Vice President.
Submitted by Bbeanster on Tue, 2008/07/22 - 10:25am.
Evidently brain-deadedness is not strictly a Republican affliction.
Elaine Davis (D) just asked if the city could help pay the costs of the KC Health Department's mosquito spraying operation.
Earth to Elaine (and a bunch of other commissioners)-- City taxpayers are county taxpayers who also pay city taxes. I get really sick of the notion that county tax money should only be spent outside the city limits.
Scoob just said "We provide a lot of things for the city..." complaining about KAT cutting out the Halls express service unless the county coughs up some money to pay for it.
Somebody needs to take Victoria down a peg or two. She likes to fling accusations around without any proof. Bad form for anyone, but especially for a public official.
Submitted by Anonymously Nine (not verified) on Tue, 2008/07/22 - 12:20pm.
Somebody needs to take Victoria down a peg or two. She likes to fling accusations around without any proof. Bad form for anyone, but especially for a public official.
Do you know anything about the issue at hand here? DeFreese isn't wrong. Salter is walking a fine line. I am shocked at some of what Salter has done.
Do you know anything about the issue at hand here?
I know enough to know that both the county and the vendor really screwed up and didn't do their jobs.
I am shocked at some of what Salter has done.
Excuse me if your shock doesn't mean much. You're always shocked about something. You sound like Claude Rains in Casablanca, except that you actually mean it. "Round up the usual suspects! That would be Mike Ragsdale, anyone who ever worked for him, and uh, Mike Ragsdale again."
As for Victoria, she shouldn't publicly accuse someone of filing a false report unless she has proof. Does she? What is it?
Submitted by scottfrith on Tue, 2008/07/22 - 12:52pm.
I'll defend Tom Salter. He did a great job for Keep Knoxville Beautiful while serving as Executive Director. Furthermore, I haven't read anything that says he's done anything wrong or illegal. According to the N/S article, he merely complied with a TDEC request. Heck, he's been in the job less than a year.
Tom's an honorable guy and doesn't deserve the thrashing he's getting. If you have evidence that the guy is a scoundrel, post it online or get it to a newspaper or TV station. I'll believe it only when I see it.
(Full disclosure - I served on the Board of KKB while Tom was Executive Director and am currently President of the Board.)
Submitted by Anonymously Nine (not verified) on Tue, 2008/07/22 - 1:43pm.
I voted for Tom Salter for Commission. I said I was shocked at what he had done in his new job. I would not have voted for him based on his performance in this job.
He could have demanded an investigation in his early weeks in this job. All he did was work with Owings to sweep the mess under the rug.
What ever he did in the past is the past.
Salter is not the first good person to get enveloped in Knox County mud and he won't be the last.
His defense of keeping this contract is on him.
The MO of Team Ragsdale is to use people like Salter as human shields.
Submitted by Peanut (not verified) on Tue, 2008/07/22 - 4:39pm.
In my opinion, his back room shoot from the hip legal advice is exactly why the county is in the mess that it is in with term limited commissioners, sunshine law violations, and now swearning in commissions early. In my opinion, he advice is exactly why he was shown the door in the freaking primary. Also, I hear he is looking for work, maybe he can get a bunch of lawsuits filed and then find one to defend.
Submitted by Bbeanster on Tue, 2008/07/22 - 6:58pm.
The sunshine law violations were the fault of those who broke the law. Not Owings. I'm not his biggest fan, but fair's fair, and blaming him for the boneheaded conduct of many of these commissioners just isn't.
I'm also not passing judgment on Owings, DeFreese or Salter, since I confess to not having followed the mulch issue as closely as I used to follow stuff. I just found it an extraordinary event, hearing the law director blow his stack like that.
Submitted by 4th-Elaine Davis (not verified) on Tue, 2008/07/22 - 7:33pm.
I was trying to ask if there was an alternate or additional funding stream to help offset the costs of notification that Commissioner Campen's resolution proposed.
Submitted by Bbeanster on Tue, 2008/07/22 - 7:55pm.
Elaine,
I understood you were looking for financial help with the spraying program notification. But it seemed weird for someone who represents a city/county district not to recognize that her city constiuents have already paid just as much for this program as anyone who lives outside the city limits.
Since Bee DeSelm left commission, there hasn't been anybody consistently reminding the others that we who live in the city pay county taxes too. We shouldn't have to pay extra to receive services that are taken for granted outside the city limits. Those of us who don't frequent the county jail get damn little for our tax money from county government beyond libraries and schools. And don't even get me started on those money pit senior centers.
Does the county kick in any money to pay for KAT service to Halls or Farragut? I don't think so, and somebody should point that out to Scoobie and Craig Leuthold when they complain about service cuts.
This stuff is VERY frustrating to people who pay city taxes IN ADDITION TO the county taxes that people in Halls pay. Like me.
it seemed weird for someone who represents a city/county district not to recognize that her city constiuents have already paid just as much for this program as anyone who lives outside the city limits.
It does indeed. But the Pinkston brothers have been doing this for as long as I can remember.
Salter would be a fool to take that advice. The last thing Salter needs is discovery.
Knox County has screwed this up beyond comprehension. The settlement Owings made is a cover up. No one in County government wants this can of worms opened.
I would love to see that can of worms opened.
So brain-dead Republican obstructionism is now a crime? Lying about Democrats is all of a sudden a bad thing? Hello, last time I checked, Dick Cheney was still Vice President.
Evidently brain-deadedness is not strictly a Republican affliction.
Elaine Davis (D) just asked if the city could help pay the costs of the KC Health Department's mosquito spraying operation.
Earth to Elaine (and a bunch of other commissioners)-- City taxpayers are county taxpayers who also pay city taxes. I get really sick of the notion that county tax money should only be spent outside the city limits.
Scoob just said "We provide a lot of things for the city..." complaining about KAT cutting out the Halls express service unless the county coughs up some money to pay for it.
A good way to pay for mosquito control would be enforcing existing litter laws. Mosquitoes breed in discarded cups, cans, bottles and tires.
Somebody needs to take Victoria down a peg or two. She likes to fling accusations around without any proof. Bad form for anyone, but especially for a public official.
Somebody needs to take Victoria down a peg or two. She likes to fling accusations around without any proof. Bad form for anyone, but especially for a public official.
Do you know anything about the issue at hand here? DeFreese isn't wrong. Salter is walking a fine line. I am shocked at some of what Salter has done.
Back to the DeFreese bashing...
Do you know anything about the issue at hand here?
I know enough to know that both the county and the vendor really screwed up and didn't do their jobs.
I am shocked at some of what Salter has done.
Excuse me if your shock doesn't mean much. You're always shocked about something. You sound like Claude Rains in Casablanca, except that you actually mean it. "Round up the usual suspects! That would be Mike Ragsdale, anyone who ever worked for him, and uh, Mike Ragsdale again."
As for Victoria, she shouldn't publicly accuse someone of filing a false report unless she has proof. Does she? What is it?
Back to the DeFreese bashing...
You should dig up John Evans' grave so you and Victoria and Nookie can hold bones over your head while you run around bashing people.
I think you mean Paul (or as I like to call him, Grumpy). Nookie's dead. (Band name alert...)
Oops. I guess that puts Nookie in the perfect position to sort all this stuff out.
I'll defend Tom Salter. He did a great job for Keep Knoxville Beautiful while serving as Executive Director. Furthermore, I haven't read anything that says he's done anything wrong or illegal. According to the N/S article, he merely complied with a TDEC request. Heck, he's been in the job less than a year.
Tom's an honorable guy and doesn't deserve the thrashing he's getting. If you have evidence that the guy is a scoundrel, post it online or get it to a newspaper or TV station. I'll believe it only when I see it.
(Full disclosure - I served on the Board of KKB while Tom was Executive Director and am currently President of the Board.)
I voted for Tom Salter for Commission. I said I was shocked at what he had done in his new job. I would not have voted for him based on his performance in this job.
He could have demanded an investigation in his early weeks in this job. All he did was work with Owings to sweep the mess under the rug.
What ever he did in the past is the past.
Salter is not the first good person to get enveloped in Knox County mud and he won't be the last.
His defense of keeping this contract is on him.
The MO of Team Ragsdale is to use people like Salter as human shields.
In my opinion, his back room shoot from the hip legal advice is exactly why the county is in the mess that it is in with term limited commissioners, sunshine law violations, and now swearning in commissions early. In my opinion, he advice is exactly why he was shown the door in the freaking primary. Also, I hear he is looking for work, maybe he can get a bunch of lawsuits filed and then find one to defend.
He advised Commission to settle the Sunshine Law suit - which the KNS was willing to do - and they were dumb enough to insist on going ahead anyway.
The sunshine law violations were the fault of those who broke the law. Not Owings. I'm not his biggest fan, but fair's fair, and blaming him for the boneheaded conduct of many of these commissioners just isn't.
I'm also not passing judgment on Owings, DeFreese or Salter, since I confess to not having followed the mulch issue as closely as I used to follow stuff. I just found it an extraordinary event, hearing the law director blow his stack like that.
I was trying to ask if there was an alternate or additional funding stream to help offset the costs of notification that Commissioner Campen's resolution proposed.
Elaine,
I understood you were looking for financial help with the spraying program notification. But it seemed weird for someone who represents a city/county district not to recognize that her city constiuents have already paid just as much for this program as anyone who lives outside the city limits.
Since Bee DeSelm left commission, there hasn't been anybody consistently reminding the others that we who live in the city pay county taxes too. We shouldn't have to pay extra to receive services that are taken for granted outside the city limits. Those of us who don't frequent the county jail get damn little for our tax money from county government beyond libraries and schools. And don't even get me started on those money pit senior centers.
Does the county kick in any money to pay for KAT service to Halls or Farragut? I don't think so, and somebody should point that out to Scoobie and Craig Leuthold when they complain about service cuts.
This stuff is VERY frustrating to people who pay city taxes IN ADDITION TO the county taxes that people in Halls pay. Like me.
it seemed weird for someone who represents a city/county district not to recognize that her city constiuents have already paid just as much for this program as anyone who lives outside the city limits.
It does indeed. But the Pinkston brothers have been doing this for as long as I can remember.
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