Mon
Nov 1 2010
08:16 am
By: R. Neal
Sandra Clark reports in the Halls Shopper that Knoxville Vice Mayor Bob Becker is resigning from City Council and moving to Virginia.
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What a moron. Haslam is
What a moron. Haslam is running for Governor. Peabody had to get 15,000 signatures. It couldn't be done. They were smart to not reveal the members of the group or the number of signatures they got. Tuesday the people of Knoxville vote to bring that number down to 7,000. Next year there will not be a Governor's race. But there will be the race for Mayor. The TYP as constructed today is dead. You're just mad that Peabody and friends have exposed what a rip off the TYP is. Brian Paone is unveiling a new TYP plan tomorrow. Others will follow. This TYP is dead.
Wow. Really?
Since you're interested:
* The TYP 2.0 proposal isn't supposed to be the alpha and omega of what to do about homelessness in Knoxville and Knox County, if that's what you're looking for. It's intended to be a suggestion for an upgraded framework and an online discussion outlet for anyone interested in offering and discussing ideas for a TYP that has, among other things, more community support.
Despite what you may think of me personally, I think we can both agree that A) the current plan doesn't enjoy a great deal of support and B) community support is vital to the success of any initiative that hopes to make even significant inroads into addressing an age-old social ill.
* Regardless of whether you're offended or not, it's my right as an American and Knoxvillian to participate in the civic process by offering a proposal for discussion. Please act like an adult about it.
* The website will be ready Sunday, as I am adding a new section based on feedback from a KNS reader. If you like, I'll be more than happy to post the link for you once it's live.
Why must you be a tease?
Why must you be a tease?
It's not intentional, I assure you.
I've been working to add a section that I didn't originally plan to add. Not that I believe you genuinely care or intend to give the concept a fair shake, but you did ask.
It's ready now - thank you for your patience.
(link...)
Don't be alarmed at the abundance of "sidatio.com" links - I couldn't really afford to pony up the coin for dedicated hosting for the plan's website, so I'm using some space I have on my main server at Sidatio.
"I agree that it will be
"I agree that it will be Pavlis and that's a fine pick."
Haslam leaves before Becker leaves.
5-4 Marilyn Roddy is the interim Mayor. Pretty cool to be Haslam, you can be both Governor and Mayor at the same time. You just need a pearl wearing puppet from Sequoyah Hills.
Actually, I thought the REAL
Actually, I thought the REAL story was $300 ea. for high school yearbooks. What a racket! Along with class rings and who know what other stuff they are peddling to kids these days.
The real cost of the yearbooks
The real cost of the yearbooks is $60 per student. Sandra was working on the assumption that only seniors purchased the yearbooks...not so.
That's good to know. I only
That's good to know. I only purchased one yearbook, couldn't afford them every year even at the lower price. It is chartreuse, hard to lose. Don't know what they were thinking. Didn't get my class ring until the end of my senior year and lost it within 6 months.
I don't think there is anyway
I don't think there is anyway that Roddy will be interim Mayor. Council is extremely unlikely to appoint someone who is running for the office.
"Council is extremely
"Council is extremely unlikely to appoint someone who is running for the office."
Good one. You'll be here all week? Tip your waitresses.
You haven't been paying
You haven't been paying attention. When Mark Brown resigned his district Council seat, Council was very careful to appoint a "caretaker" to the seat - someone who wasn't running for it. I see no reason why they won't treat this - and filling Becker's vacant seat - in the same way.
BTW, if they DID pick Roddy, my understanding is that her 10 months in office would qualify as a whole term. So I'm pretty sure she would take herself out of the running anyway.
"BTW, if they DID pick Roddy,
"BTW, if they DID pick Roddy, my understanding is that her 10 months in office would qualify as a whole term. So I'm pretty sure she would take herself out of the running anyway."
Yeah, yeah. You might want to tell Roddy that. She is talking that she will seek the interim Mayor job.
Rachel is more than right
Ms. Roddy is running for the office. If she threw her name out there for the interim post, which in recent articles she has indicated she will not do it, and was defeated by another member on council for the interim post, I think it would be a bad thing for her candidacy. If your council buddies don't have enough faith in you to be elect you mayor, it would be tough for her to win (its gonna be tough either way).
Her opponents would have a definite one up on her with that too.
With Becker gone, how can it not be Pavlis? Bailey and/or Woodhull might try, but will not have support.
Mr. Pavlis has more experience on council than everyone with his previous eight years on council. To me, this is a no-brainer for council to elect him if he indeed wants the position.
Actually, in a lot of ways,
Actually, in a lot of ways, Woodhull is viable. He is honestly independent. To the best of my knowledge, he has no further political aspirations. No one that I know about is mad at him. I could see it.
Bob Becker
I'm really sorry to hear this.
To steal that classic line of Mr Wright's that
we all saw on tv this summer about Mayor Haslam.
"I just like him"
Bob Becker is one of the good guys in politics.
Whenever I hear a Baltimore Orioles score..
I will always think of my friend,Bob Becker.
I'm glad Bob's going to be with his beloved wife..
but I'm sure gonna miss him.
Thank you Bob..you served us well!
What is going on tonight
Is anyone watching Bob Becker tonight on council tonight? It seems like he is being a real pompous jerk. Anyone else get that vibe?
No, he's not being a jerk.
No, he's not being a jerk. He's speaking his mind to a bunch of City Council members who are mostly acting like chickens with their heads cut off because they are skeered of the TYP and Permanent Supportive Housing.
Just my opinion. Others my vary.
There was some talk that
There was some talk that after a council meeting recently that Becker basically got in the face of a few council members as well as Sandra Clark of the Shopper.
If you do not know Mr. Becker, I find him to be one of the biggest horse's butts that has ever walked the face of the Earth.
"If you do not know Mr.
"If you do not know Mr. Becker, I find him to be one of the biggest horse's butts that has ever walked the face of the Earth."
He is tonight. I don't see much to like in this meeting.
It is common for people who
It is common for people who don't realize one council member is being an irrational douche to perceive the council member trying to talk sense into him as the douche.
I didn't see a "irrational
I didn't see a "irrational douche". I saw a jerk with a gavel pushing everyone else around. Glad to see Becker's tail lights. He won't be missed. 60 days on the parks? Do they every do anything?
That was because Becker was
That was because Becker was upset that someone had leaked information he had given them confidentially. That sort of thing makes me angry as well.
Oh, baloney. This was not
Oh, baloney. This was not personal information.
Nothing in the courthouse is a secret unless only one person knows it. And what good purpose is served by keeping Becker's constituents in the dark about his plans to give up the office he ran for?
Becker pitched a gigantic public temper tantrum and embarrassed himself.
I've been known to pitch a
I've been known to pitch a temper tantrum when I felt betrayed. Not necessarily attractive or the best course, but I understand it.
I just thought he was
I just thought he was semi-relieved that he could had permission to be impatient with Della Volpe's incessant preening. At least, I didn't blame Becker at all for his response to Della Volpe's saying that KUB should cut costs on the waste water project. Please. I wasn't the least bothered by Becker's behavior. Sometimes when you can see the end of something that you have been in the middle of you realize how much BS you've been putting up with and that nobody should put up with that much BS. And lately, Council has been full of it, if you ask me. But then, nobody has, I guess.
Seriously, Becker is a dedicated public servant. He's going to be missed. And while I was watching the CC meeting tonight I was having a hard time trying to figure out who was going to be the voice of reason with both Haslam and Becker gone. Could Woodhull keep 'em in line?
It was an embarrassment.
It was an embarrassment.
Umm, Rachel, Pam, blind
Umm, Rachel, Pam, blind loyalty is one thing, but on the slight chance that you might want to know what you're defending, the incident Elliott referenced wasn't Becker's behavior at last night's City Council meeting.
His tantrum came last week at the STEM school announcement at the L&N when he was spitting F-bombs at Sandra Clark and anyone else unlucky enough to be in his vicinity after she asked him if it was true that he was leaving town.
She was a reporter doing her job and didn't deserve to be treated that way.
And I still don't understand what public purpose it serves to keep his plans to resign a loosely-guarded secret.
And I still don't understand
And I still don't understand what public purpose it serves to keep his plans to resign a loosely-guarded secret.
He didn't want to influence the election. /snark
So I guess it is true then?
So I guess it is true then? What a jerk.
My comments came after the
My comments came after the question about last night's city council meeting. That's what I was responding to. I have no knowledge of and was not commenting on his behavior at the STEM press conference.
I commented on both
I commented on both incidents, but primarily on last night's COuncil meeting.
Becker made Ron Peabody sit down (he kept standing at the mike when no one had called on him). He was polite but firm - the right call.
He responded to Della Volpe's comments that seemed to imply that it was too bad the mean old courts were making KUB spend $$ on the sewer system by saying he thought spending $$ to keep sewage out of people's yards was worth it. I see nothing wrong with that.
He did mention that he was "mad" that he didn't get a second on a motion that only impacted his district, but he didn't act mad or say anything impolite about it.
Mostly he was just trying to keep order over a body that seems increasingly contentious and confused - which bothers me a whole lot more than anything one person said or did.
And I didn't see the City
And I didn't see the City Council meeting and don't know what happened there. I was at the Lady Vols' opening game. I'm predicting Pat Summitt's going to be cutting down nets in April.
Bean, I'm glad you got to see
Bean, I'm glad you got to see the Lady Vols. Always a nice diversion. But I would encourage you to take a look at that City Council meeting. It was a mess. It took them nearly two hours to do nothing. And Becker was simply doing everything that he could to keep them in line and moving.
Someone on TV said during the discussion of the election that the city's going to be a bit unsettled until after the mayoral election. I'd say that we're just getting a few hints of that right now. Lots of power plays. Lots of stupid attempts to do things that shouldn't be done. There's no leadership right now, and there desperately needs to be.
And then there was Peabody being unreasonable by trying to insert himself into the deliberations of the elected body. He's not been elected to anything by anyone. It was completely out of place. Becker was firm but polite. Peabody was recognized at an appropriate point. But it was clear from his behavior and his comments that he has no concept of the political process.
I'm not exactly clear on how
I'm not exactly clear on how the city will be "unsettled" during the transition. Haslam hasn't been mayor for a couple of years. He's been running for governor instead. What's different now?
Nobody we know, would be my
Nobody we know, would be my guess. Except maybe McIntyre.
What's different now? Does
What's different now?
Does Larry Martin stay or go (and if he goes, does he go home or to Nashville, not that it matters much in terms of who's runing the City)? How about Bill Lyons?
Who will be interim mayor? Will they just be a placeholder or will they bring an agenda of their own?
Who will replace Becker as vice-mayor, which has a big effect on how Council operates?
Who will fill Becker's vacant 5th district seat?
Will Council splinter into factors arguing about the interim mayor and vice mayor jobs or will they try to build consensus (frankly this Council seems much less interested in consensus than this last one)?
These are not small changes we're talking about here. Any one of them might be, but all of them at once could leave us in a real mess.
For the last two years,
For the last two years, Haslam has been on the road, but he's still been in charge. His staff has kept him informed and, ultimately, the buck has stopped with him. We find out Thursday morning when he plans to leave and when Becker leaves. The leadership is gone. And some of the staff is probably leaving with Haslam. What does that mean about how the city is going to operate. Everything is going to be up in the air. Hell, it's already up in the air.
And everybody is wanting to be in charge. And if they don't want to be in charge, they have opinions about who should and shouldn't be in charge.
It's insane.
And then there's the whole, there's an election coming up.
Factions, not factors.
Factions, not factors. Fingers faster than brain.
Saying the F word to a female
Saying the F word to a female is unacceptable. It doesn't matter if someone was supposed to keep that a secret or not. If he wanted to keep it a real secret, he should have kept it to himself and his family.
As vice-mayor he should be completely ashamed of himself.
For what it's worth, females
For what it's worth, females are no different than males. We don't deserve special treatment. Get over that little bit of sexism.
Either way it seems like what
Either way it seems like what he was saying was unacceptable and I'm surprised at this kind of language in that environment.
For what it's worth Pam,
For what it's worth Pam, perhaps you should stop being sexist. My name might be Elliott, but last I checked, I am very much a female.
I didn't call you a male in
I didn't call you a male in my post. I simply said, get over being sexist by treating females differently just because they are female. That applies whether you are male or female.
I'm against it. you never
I'm against it. you never know. we might NEED that train station all too soon.
sorry. wrong post
sorry. wrong post
I know Bob Becker well, and
I know Bob Becker well, and have tremendous respect for him. Running a Council meeting lately is like herding cats, and I think he's doing just fine. I would probably throw the gavel at some of them.
No harm done
Folks, I'm certainly not mad at Vice Mayor Becker ... was simply trying to confirm a rumor and caught him off-guard.
On a lighter note, he caught me off-guard as well by asking where I heard the rumor. Momentarily brain-dead, I told the truth: Betty Bean.
Afterwards, Jake Mabe said, "Threw Bean under the bus, huh? A Shopper tradition since 1971."
Sandra - thanks for providing
Sandra - thanks for providing a light note to this thread - it could use one.
I doubt if anybody, including Bob, was surprised that you heard it from Bean. The real question is, of course, who told Bean. She certainly won't reveal her source (nor should she).
But it certainly makes for interesting speculation not only about who but why.
You wouldn't need to know
You wouldn't need to know Betty to have heard about Becker leaving. There's been rumors for quite some time.
Rumors that he might leave,
Rumors that he might leave, yes. Not info on exactly when.
I just watched the meeting on
I just watched the meeting on CTV, and I don't see that Becker did anything offensive.
Thanks, Bean. I'm glad that
Thanks, Bean. I'm glad that it wasn't just me and Rachel who saw it that way. He was just running a meeting that was like herding cats.
City Council
If/when an existing council person is appointed as mayor, will their current position be filled by appointment also? Does that mean we will have a new mayor and 2 new council members?
I saw that CTV was repeating the City Council meeting tomorrow from noon to 4 pm and have it to record. It was not listed on Comcast for today.
Nope. Whoever is appointed
Nope. Whoever is appointed interim mayor will keep his/her council seat and serve in both positions.
Come on you guys
I spent much of the day today following this story. IN FACT, I think this story should have its own post because it is a very very BIG deal.
With that said, I honestly do not think there is another person currently on Council, with Vice-Mayor Bob Becker leaving, besides Nick Pavlis that should/could do the job. Duane Grieve would be my preference for Vice-Mayor.
People throwing the names of Dan Brown, (my district councilperson) Brenda Palmer (I honestly do not think anyone out there believes she will get this except her), or Marilyn Roddy (she is running for the seat people) are nuts in my opinion.
Poor Dan is just a nice good ol' guy like me, but him and Mrs Palmer bring NOTHING to council at all. If you have watched the council meetings regularly, you would HAVE to agree with me.
PLEASE, have some damn sense people.This is a big deal.
This is the truth behind
This is the truth behind those who think Bob Becker was being rude the other night. He was schooling their boys.
Della Volpe was every bit the arrogant lawyer full of book smarts and devoid sense, and Grieve embarrassed himself trying to claim that MPC dodged the assignment Council had given them in April. Both are too arrogant to tell when they are wrong. Becker was the voice of reason, and the backers of the loudmouths did not like it.
FWIW, I don't think Duane was
FWIW, I don't think Duane was arrogant, just confused, although it was disheartening to see MPC attacked for not doing something they weren't asked to do.
I have the copy of the Council resolution sent to MPC in April on my desk. It does NOT say what Duane said it did. It says exactly what Mark Donaldson said it did, and MPC did exactly what was asked.
If you have watched the
If you have watched the council meetings regularly, you would HAVE to agree with me.
Well, no I don't HAVE to agree with you. I don't agree with you 100% and I have watched almost every Council meeting for at least the last nine years.
My first two choices for the job would have been Bob Becker and Marilyn Roddy. So much for my first two choices. (I do think you are right in that Council won't appoint someone who is running for Mayor.)
So now I'm thinking that the most important thing is to get someone who a) understands, basically supports, and will allow the direction of the current administration to continue (which means, among other things, they should have been on Council for longer than one year during this administration) and b) can work with people in the administration like Bill Lyons and Larry Martin. Because if folks like Bill and Larry jump ship, we are really in deep doo doo.
In a nutshell, I'm looking for someone who will first "do no harm." I feel weird writing that, but in my mind that's pretty much what it comes down to at this point.
Ok
You pretty much answered all of that like a politician. I do agree with your analysis of what the person should bring to the table as mayor. Since you have watched almost every Council meeting for the last 9 years, you should really be educated on who you would want as mayor.
So, with Becker and Roddy off the table, who would YOU pick for Mayor and Vice-Mayor, by process of elimination (according to what you typed above) that would only leave Woodhull and Bailey. You know that Bailey guy who recently did an interview saying that the Flenniken area in South Knoxville has a bunch of prostitution and drug issues, remember that?
If by politician you meant
If by politician you meant someone who doesn't want to name names on a public discussion group, you're right. There was a time when I'd go ahead; the time isn't now.
Also, the choice won't be made for two months. Maybe I'll learn stuff in the meantime that wil change my mind.
And yes, I heard what Joe Bailey said and I didn't like it at all.
Fair enough
I read your posts and you know your stuff. Doesn't mean we always have to agree, but I respect your opinion. That's why I asked.
Thank you very much; I
Thank you very much; I appreciate you saying so. I would like to say a lot more, but I am working on discretion these days. :)
variance of topic
Regardless of who was or wasn't a poopyhead at the Council meeting, Bob Becker had a great line. Della Volpe was trying to craft a perfectly worded zoning ordinance for parks and was climbing way up into arcane corners. Becker wondered whether poring over such details was really necessary and said, "We’ve largely ignored the zoning code for the past thirty years."