Sun
Sep 3 2006
03:20 pm
V for Vendetta: Knox County Edition
By: R. Neal

Did a local public official's personal vendetta against a prominent local businessman spill over into the recent County Commission meeting?

BONUS: Scroll on down for the third and final installment of the Halls Shopper's County Confidential series. In this episode, hell hath no fury like a self-styled "political hitman" scorned. Even Brian "Naked HTML" Hornback is in the crosshairs.

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Justin's picture

Why dont some of the victims

Submitted by Justin on Sun, 2006/09/03 - 5:12pm.

Why dont some of the victims of der Führer Ragsdale file a lawsuit against his ass for slander and or libel? Where is Herb Moncier when you need him...

Anonymous's picture

Is this

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2006/09/03 - 5:38pm.

Part III?

R. Neal's picture

Don't think so. I think

Submitted by R. Neal on Sun, 2006/09/03 - 6:05pm.

Don't think so. I think there is some sort of website snafu. Part 3 should be forthcoming, I think.

UPDATE: Scroll down, Part 3 is after the Chesapeake-gate.

Jeanne's picture

hungry jurors

Submitted by Jeanne (not verified) on Sun, 2006/09/03 - 6:50pm.

When I served on the grand jury a few years ago, two trips to Calhoun's for lunch in one week would cost the county around $1,000 and it was not uncommon to see several large groups of jurors dining there every day. There are two grand juries convened at any given time, in addition to the usual trial juries, and they all go out for lunches paid for with court fees. If these are included in this prohibition, Ragsdale is costing Calhoun's a fortune.

Number9's picture

Again Knox County awaits an answer

Submitted by Number9 on Sun, 2006/09/03 - 8:35pm.

CBT,

When will you come clean about what happened?

Later that day, Harber said he was summoned to Ragsdale’s office with his envelope full of e-mails.

“He gets out a highlighter and starts highlighting passages that really (anger him). He has me make copies and he sits there steaming. One thing that really makes him mad is a conversation between Chad and two other people who were saying things like ‘Chad, why don’t you run for county mayor’ … That sent him over the top. He was already mad about Chad withholding the list.

“Chad was a well developed enemy, so he picked up the phone and calls Chad and says ‘Chad, we’ve got your e-mails. I’ve seen everything you’ve written. We’re not helping you. You’ve made yourself an enemy.’ He had similar conversations with two other people and then he pats me on the back, tells me I did a good job, and that was it.

“If Ragsdale hadn’t flown off the handle and made those calls, there would have been no police investigation, and we would have kept on with business as usual.”

Bbeanster's picture

Let's be fair to Chad-- I

Submitted by Bbeanster on Sun, 2006/09/03 - 9:01pm.

Let's be fair to Chad--
I think he told me pretty much what happened, and what he said certainly corroborates what Tyler Harber said about Ragsdale's conduct:

Tyler said he was sitting in Ragsdale's office watching the mayor getting madder and madder as he marked up the hard copies of the emails and made three phonecalls to individuals who'd pissed him off.

Chad says he gets a call from one of those people warning him that Ragsdale had his emails. He also says when he got back to his office, he had a message to call MR.

On-the-record confirmation has been impossible, and even corroboration very hard to get for this story. Chad was very straight-up with his information.

One thing that I didn't have room for (this story was already a boa constrictor), but Chad said he was told that all Tyler could be prosecuted for is a misdemeanor, and that just didn't seem worth doing.

Bbeanster's picture

Another thing that got lost

Submitted by Bbeanster on Sun, 2006/09/03 - 10:06pm.

Another thing that got lost on the cutting room floor:

Members of the Ragsdale administration were droppmg hints all over the place about a hepatitis "outbreak" at Chesapeakes at the same time that public health professionals working with the Chesapeakes management were asking them to keep quiet about the employee's illness

This seems to be protocol in such situations, and it makes sense to avoid public panic when there is no threat to public welfare. This was not an O'Charley's scenario.

Claudia's picture

another audio clip needed

Submitted by Claudia (not verified) on Sun, 2006/09/03 - 10:13pm.

The audio clip of Taxdale and Werner on the Shopper's web site said a great deal.

Now there just needs to be put up another audio clip on the status of Taxdale's hopes for governor. The Wicked Witch of the West's "I'm melting, I'm melting!!!" comes to mind.

redmondkr's picture

I think we all owe a tip of

Submitted by redmondkr on Sun, 2006/09/03 - 8:57pm.

I think we all owe a tip of the hat to the Beanster for having the courage to publish this exposé.  By doing so she has placed herself directly in the middle of this "enemies list".

vitolane's picture

Mike Arms guilty as well.

Submitted by vitolane (not verified) on Sun, 2006/09/03 - 11:28pm.

In fact, it seems that throughout Harber's tell-all, that Mike Arms was just as guilty as Ragsdale. He knew everything that was going on, and even initiated some attacks (see memo barring county employees from Mike Chase's restaurants).

Furthermore, if those closest to Ragsdale were betrayed, then how can taxpayer trust him.

Mike Ragsdale = Nixonian political failure outed by a kid who apparently would have even killed for his master who was ultimately betrayed for doing his job.

Tiny Tim's picture

Ragsdale Is Just As Petty As Victor Ashe, Perhaps Worse

Submitted by Tiny Tim (not verified) on Mon, 2006/09/04 - 12:39am.

Because out in the county, everybody is elected and Ragsdale cannot stand sharing the spotlight with anybody, particularly other politicians who are elected county wide.

Victor ran ruffshode over people until the federal judge smashed him in the firefighters lawsuit, which cost the city taxpayers in excess of $250,000 in the firefighters legal fees. Nice resume item for the abassador to Poland. Had he not been convicted of violating civil employees civil rights, he could have been ambassador to Spain or England, nice countries with a lot more to do that what goes in Warsaw.

I get the impression that judge jarvis has had it with the county shennanigans, term limits, no term limits thing and would welcome some well reasoned civil rights complaints against the county.

Old Hickory's picture

Is Werner Going Back to Work for Holrob?

Submitted by Old Hickory (not verified) on Mon, 2006/09/04 - 1:34am.

Any truth to the rumor that Money Boy John Werner was going back to work for HolRob as of October 1, 2006?

bill young's picture

if 6 were 9

Submitted by bill young (not verified) on Mon, 2006/09/04 - 6:47pm.

After reading reading Betty's story I wondered..what's the difference between a fellow like me...who grew up in the 60's & became active in politics in the 70's...& folks who grew up in the 90's & became active in politics in the first decade of the 21st century?Back in the day,we saw ..JFK,RFK,Dr.King murdered.. children dead in a church bombing..Watts & Detroit burning...Chicago & Kent State... Vietnam..Wallace's race baiting..Maddox's axe handles...Nixon's Watergate...then along came two very different men with one thing in common... politics is about building not destroying...Jimmy Carter pledged a "government as good as the American people"...Ronald Reagan proclaimed"it was morning in America"...I don't "believe in yesterday"..but I do believe politics became toxic during the impeachment hearings..then,the Democrats,after 2000,vented our anger with bile on the blogs...the Republicans response was swift boating..in this environment it's no wonder that young partisan political operatives believe that the loyal opposition is an enemy to be defeated by any means necessary.....One must understand...that when you spend your time on the paranoid politics of the enemy...you have no time for talking about what you want to do for the future.

R. Neal's picture

Bill Young, very well and

Submitted by R. Neal on Mon, 2006/09/04 - 8:24pm.

Bill Young, very well and eloquently put. You've pretty much nailed it.

The only exception I might have is that the Republican Party has had unprecedented control (at least in my lifetime) over the U.S. Government for the past several years, and the results are as disastrous as in any time in my life (which apparently tracks with yours) other than the Kennedy/Johnson Vietnam fiasco.

The major difference now is that there isn't a draft. If there were, it would be 1968 all over again.

Maybe So's picture

Kudos to B Bean for a well

Submitted by Maybe So (not verified) on Mon, 2006/09/04 - 9:54pm.

Kudos to B Bean for a well informed story. I'm sure it's not her first time on someone's "enemies list," and if she keeps up the good work, not the last.

Also, kudos to Harber for coming clean. Nice to hear whats going on in Knox county. Who knows if any of this would have come to light with out Harber's input?

Anonymous's picture

Corruption Valley - Time for an Investigation

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 2006/09/04 - 4:53pm.

Corruption is habit forming. I agree it is time for an investigation or as in the piece about Corruption Valley, where's the Knoxville News reporters and editors now?

(link...)

NB

Sandra Clark's picture

Confession

Submitted by Sandra Clark on Tue, 2006/09/05 - 9:31am.

The Shopper-News team is extremely proud of Bean's work on this story, and we hope it has helped a "troubled young man" get his life re-tracked. After all, confession is good for the soul.

Tiny Tim's picture

Ragsdale Is Troubled Person, Arms and Werner are Insecure

Submitted by Tiny Tim (not verified) on Tue, 2006/09/05 - 2:30pm.

In the end, Ragsdale is the troubled soul and has engaged in dirty tricks in an office in which he had no opponent and defeated a protest candidate in 2006 by 2,500 votes with little or no campaigning. The media has already lost a lot of confidence in Ragsdale and when they start looking closer at many of these inside deals, more "negative pr" is going to start flowing again.

Werner and Arms are just as insecure, perhaps the need a role in life that is not defined by their employment or lack thereof.

Wonder if there is a psycologist over at the County Health Department that could help them along.

Number9's picture

The phrase that is heard

Submitted by Number9 on Wed, 2006/09/06 - 12:42pm.

The phrase that is heard over and over again is, "I thought Mike Ragsdale was my friend". Sad but yet troubling.

Maybe So's picture

Illusion of Friendship

Submitted by Maybe So (not verified) on Thu, 2006/09/07 - 10:49am.

Apparently, that's how MR works- seems like he's helping you and being a supportive friend. While he's shaking your head, he has people like Harber pulling the chair out from under you.

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