The KNS reporter is apparently afraid of Lumpy too - no mention that he even attended the meeting.

"We managed to change the subject a couple of times, but the third time he really let it rip. He got louder and louder and ended up on his feet, yelling his head off. "Pretty soon somebody is gonna bring a gun to the City/County Building and shoot ALL of us and we'll DESERVE it!"

At this point, I realized that he was sitting there with a gun in his holster or pocket or wherever the heck he keeps it. I've never actually been scared of a public official before."

He is some sort of deputy dawg too with the Shurf's department, right? So it probably either IS allowed to pack at a meeting or he thinks that he is allowed. It's the second scenario that is scary. You can bet your butt he's got a gun on him. And to scare you even more, his 'pretty soon somebody' statement is Lambert fantasizing, but also Lambert warning. Can't you limit the time of public discussants? Just gavel him down and have him removed if he refuses to be quiet? Is there a police officer or a sheriff's deputy present at these meetings?

True happiness is knowing you are a hypocrite. -- Ivor Cutler

Seppuku is in a way the ultimate awful libertarian act -- Frank Popper

but naw, lumpy's got a right to pack just about anywhere nowadays. but he really shouldn't get a pass on this kind of veiled threat.

Snark mashup:

http://blogs.knoxnews.com/mcnutt/2009/07/brawl-over-land-use-rights-eru....

lumpy as a death metal aficionado seemed right

An actual story on the altercation:

http://blogs.metropulse.com/the_daily_pulse/2009/07/lumpy-unleashes-coun...

I wondered if Lumpy would admit making that statement.

It may not have been a direct threat, but it sure as heck was breathtakingly inappropriate coming from a public official. If Lumpy doesn't get that, he should get his rear end off County Commission.

Does anybody know if these meeting are video taped? If Lumpy is going to act this way at every meeting, it needs to be recorded. This meeting wasn't even in his district, can you imagine the ugly scene he will make at the one for Powell.

Well, this is typical of these local committees. Loaded down with rednecks acting their IQ. Intelligent people don't want these positions because they know it is a pain in the rear for no reward and that's monetary or otherwise.
Kind of like president.... nobody wants it, it's not worth it.
So necks like the lumpster live out their glory days on these pathetic low level committees.

It wasn't a low level committee. The first ever city/county task force spent a year working on this and the presentation was very thorough. I could not believe two men could walk in after the presentation started and hijack the entire conversation. Lumpy and Lonnie cared nothing for anyone except themselves. Their arrogant and rude speech was an insult to the other attendees and the people who care about Knoxville. The moderators should have had much better control over the meeting. I was embarassed and angry that childish and stupid behaviour was allowed for five minutes let alone the whole meeting.

Lumpy is such a bully and a baby. He represents the selfish citizens of Knoxville who only care about their own property and view. If you want to see ridgetops and hillsides preserved, please go to these meetings, fill out the survey (which will be online soon) and show the lumps of Knoxville that this city is bigger than they are and there are good people who live here and care and show up to make life better for everybody.

Attendance at Halls meeting was abysmal.

Four task force members (Norman, Jernigan, Frith, Vandergriff)

One reporter

Two county commissioners (Smith and Carringer) and one wannabe (McMilan)

Three citizens (Lonnie; a woman who didn't talk; and Maurice, an unemployed guy from Whittle Springs)

Frith dueled with Lonnie. Call it a draw. -- s.

It was a rather cordial meeting at MLB tonight. 8-10 civilians. We all seemed to agree there was a problem with the bonding process because bankrupt developers have been walking away from their performance bonds, leaving the city/county holding the bag. This is something to consider if a revegetation bond is required.

Mr. Harris (is that Lonnie?) came to speak for property owners/potential developers. (Shareholders vs stakeholders) He may have been surprised that I was there as a "shareholder" as I have been aquiring lots, most of them could be affected by this ordinance.

There was some discussion about why do developers clearcut lots, especially when the market supports higher values for wooded lots. Someone suggested education programs for bulldozer operators. Mr. Harris brought up a good point that almost all the photos were of bad examples, we need more examples of what would be considered good development.

___________________________________
There MUST be a pony in here somewhere!

How did Jernigan get put on the committee? Just curious.

I probably shouldn't stir this pot again, but Lumpy apparently disrupted the meeting at Karns last night.

He is of course entitled to express his opinion, but he's not entitled to disrupt meetings to the point that other attendees can't ask questions and give input.

I was pleased to read the other people there told him to sit down and shut up, although I'm sure that made the meeting even more unproductive.

It is well known that Lumpy can, at times does, act as crazy as an out-house rat. We have known for sometime that he is not always in complete control of his faculties and often "acts out" at public meetings. No one should be surprised at his behavior. Lumpy is just being Lumpy and therein lies the problem. He has been able to get away with his disruption of public meetings for a very long time without any action being taken against him.

I agree that the next meetings should be videotaped so that the citizens of Knoxville and Knox County who have not had the dubious pleasure of seeing Lumpy lose control will be better able to appreciate his lack of judgement and decorum. Perhaps then we will see less apathy when the next election rolls around and Lumpy's name appears on the ballot. If we the people put him in office why can't we the people take him out of office?

That does not mean he will curtail his childish outbursts nor limit his threats....but he will no longer have the cover of being a County Commissioner to hide behind. He can still show up at any public meeting he wishes to attend but he will have to attend as a fellow citizen rather than as an office holder. Perhaps then the police or sheriff's department will be willing to take action against him.

Lumpy enjoys politics and the public attention he gains from being a commissioner and I expect he will continue to run for office as long as the voters in his district are willing to vote for him. However, we do NOT HAVE to vote for him. That is the bottom line. Somehow this man has managed to be elected and re-elected and I can't figure out how. I find myself scratching my head and wondering who are Lumpy's supporters?

Lumpy was elected to this FIRST TERM at the same time as Mark Harmon, Tony Norman, and R. Larry. It just feels like it has been longer because this current commission has been repopulated 5 times since the 2006 election.

Lumpy ran against Margaret Massey Cox,who would have been a great commissioner but that "D" after her name made that impossible in that district.

We can only hope that he will not run again much less get re-elected. It would be great to start a recall effort. That might just scare him enough to curb his behavior.

As for the next task force meeting and his threat to bring his crew... who would that be? Brian Hornback or Lee Trammel? Would they be there to help Lumpy make a fool of himself? Would he bring his grandfather and other family members? I read the comments on the KNS article and there is not one person supporting him.

We will not be at the meeting because I am still gun shy ever since last July, but I do hope someone will record it.

As I said in my blog entry:

"If it were in their power, I'd suggest the commission order a psychological examination for Lambert before he hurts himself or someone else."

I will be surprised if Lumpy can get re-elected if anybody credible runs against him. I've heard more than one person in his district say they didn't realize what they were getting when they voted for him - they thought he'd stick up for the little guy rather than act like a fool while sticking up for developers.

I meant to shoot (video) the Karns meeting but had a conflict at the last minute. It appears that I can make it to the one at the Powell Library.

Of course by that time Lumpy will have cleaned up his act and You Tube viewers probably won't get to see him show his assets.

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Once again I ask you guys to please not let Lumpy get the last word on this.

Take a look at the presentation on the MPC website (www.knoxmpc.org) and fill out the comment form.

Please stop calling him by his nickname. GOBs like him want you to call them by their nicknames as part of their maddening ingratiation shtick. Call him "Greg," "Mr. Lambert," "Lambert," "Commissioner Lambert," or "he/him," but for the love o' pete stop calling him by some nickname.

True happiness is knowing you are a hypocrite. -- Ivor Cutler

Seppuku is in a way the ultimate awful libertarian act -- Frank Popper

Stimulating the economy as best we can!