bill young's picture

I was there

I was impressed with the Mayor.

Ya know I think there's Ole Tim.

Good at small talk.

Throwin fist bumps & makin jokes & takin jokes.

But now we've seen a bit of Mayor Burchett..
there's some steal in the Mayor.

And a closely held belief to do the right thing.

Bird_dog's picture

you may mean STEEL

- I believe steal was a previous administration

bill young's picture

Fucked that up

Meant to write Steel

And I can't edit the comment.

Thanks man

reform4's picture

Codes Enforcement

I'm hoping Engineering retains (or moves over) enough staff to take on the codes enforcement responsibilities. I'm not opposed to consolidation, but I do want our laws to be enforced by someone.

Rachel's picture

n/t

n/t

rikki's picture

That's a great point,

That's a great point, reform4, especially since county engineering has been essentially deputized to enforce Clean Water Act regulations. Often they are the first or only government agent involved in projects that can cause siltation, deforestation and other damages that can be avoided. They are also in a position to prevent damage before it happens, a luxury state and federal agencies only get on larger proposals, most of the time.

Rachel's picture

Codes is more than stormwater

Codes is more than stormwater enforcement. There's also building code enforcement, zoning code enforcement, etc.

This is the danger of sticking it all in engineering. Zoning code enforcement in particular has gotten much better recently - if you check out the new county BZA against the old one it's like watching two entirely different bodies - and I worry about it getting lost again.

R. Neal's picture

Low taxes, less government,

Low taxes, less government, fewer regulations, free markets, yada yada.

metulj's picture

I told someone tonight that

I told someone tonight that Burchett will either have to go govern or go Colorado Springs.

Jim Clark's picture

Go Colorado Springs?

What does that mean?

EricLykins's picture

Uncle Sam's big left teat

That's right, one of every three people living in the Colorado Springs area "depends directly or indirectly upon the military" - ie. upon Huge Government. Add in city, county and state workers, and you are probably approaching half of the entire Colorado Springs economy relying on the government. In that sense, Colorado Springs is an American version of almost pure Marxism: a city that is as close as any major city in the United States to being a full-fledged ward of the state (only one that is now planning to stop its road/park maintenance, cut police/firefighting forces, etc.).

Sandra Clark's picture

Question

Is running with hatchet akin to running with scissors?

R. Neal's picture

Heh. You could put an eye

Heh. You could put an eye out!

Sandra Clark's picture

Lots of cuttin'

There is much cutting to do before we go Colorado Springs.

metulj's picture

Well, my point is that

Well, my point is that Burchett talks all of the "free market for everything" claptrap, but he is going to have to govern. I think he knows that, but there is always this glimmer of doubt with him in me.

RigsbyWerner's picture

Burchett's the county mayor, not the city mayor, not much to do

The county mayor doesn't govern, he's an administrative officer and offers financial direction for the county government. It's really not much of a job, but Ragsdale looked to gin the job up such that he would have something to talk about while he laid his plans to run for governor. He usurped all of the political capital from the county commission and elected office holders with help from the Tennessee Supreme Court and immediately wasted all of it and squandered millions of county taxpayer dollars making friends with his expected downstream political allies.

Burchett doesn't have to govern, the job doesn't require governing, it requires administrative duties, being the tichular head of the county government and keeping the county's fiscal house in order. It doesn't require the county mayor to "move the community forward" spout about "JOBS Now!" or otherwise whip up sound bites and headlines for future use in future gubernatorial campaigns. The job doesn't require big black SUVs, an entourage, or police protection/escorts, that was all Ragsdale's trappings for his office to create an aura that he was something other than the county mayor. It worked for a while, it distorted the media's view of what the true role really was and when the whack hit the smack, Ragsdale's gradiosity and over inflated impressions of his job and of himself took their political price. Cost him his wife, his future political ambitions, and any legitimacy in the community other than an ego in a suit with nothing to do.

bizgrrl's picture

The county mayor doesn't

The county mayor doesn't govern, he's an administrative officer and offers financial direction for the county government.

Is this different than any mayor, city or county? Some just have larger budgets (county) than others (city)?

Rachel's picture

Knoxville City Mayor has more

Knoxville City Mayor has more power because s/he controls the purse strings. The Mayor prepares the budget (with input from Council) but Council can only vote it up or down. They can't amend it.

The County Mayor prepares the budget, but Commission controls it, and can hack it up pretty much any way they want.

Also, and this is more a symbolic thing, but the City mayor presides over Council meeting. The County Mayor isn't at the table when Commission meets.

Having said all that, it's not true that the county mayor doesn't need to govern. Of course he does, and he needs more than anything else to provide good leadership.

sugarfatpie's picture

Burchett on Midway Industrial Stinkdoggle??

So when is Burchett going to start trimming the fat at TDC? When is he going to weigh in on Midway Industrial Stinkdoggle?

R. Neal's picture

"Midway Industrial

"Midway Industrial Stinkdoggle"

Heh. +1

StaceyDiamond's picture

Burchett

Don't know why Democrats were so wild about Burchett, not being Hutchinson I guess, but don't think they thought through the situation with the libraries, careful what you wish for. I fear "compassionate conservatism" coming. Everyone wanted to hang out with Bush too.

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