The Knox County Commission called for candidates interested in filling term limit vacancies to submit a letter and a resume. They put up a website listing the candidates, including some without any letter or resume. This was apparently their idea of an open process.

Three candidates were appointed who were not on the list. Following is a snapshot of the names on the website yesterday and the appointments:

4th COMMISSION DISTRICT CANDIDATES: Scott Davis, Joan Wagner, Lisa Bogaty, William H. Daniels, Robert A. (Archie) Ellis, Jr., James Smelcher, Jr., John Deatherage, Craig Fischer, Debbie Barton, Mike Alford, Richard T. Cate, Ed Shouse, Elaine Davis.

4th DISTRICT APPOINTMENTS: Lee Tramel (not on list), Richard Cate.

5th COMMISSION DISTRICT CANDIDATES: Tom Salter, Marilyn S. Cobble, Pamela Treacy, Teresa Shupp, Gregory Harrison, Kyle H. Phillips, John R. Schoonmaker, Ken Gross.

5th DISTRICT APPOINTMENT: Frank Leuthold (not on list, father of Commissioner Craig Leuthold).

9th COMMISSION DISTRICT CANDIDATES: Josh Lowe, Bob Norton, Rob Huddleston, Matthew Myers.

9th DISTRICT APPOINTMENT: Tim Greene (not on list).

Charles Bolus was on the list for 2nd District, but did not submit a letter or resume.

There were plenty of qualified people who expressed interest. In at least one case (Tramel) and possibly another (Greene), there were more qualified candidates. In other cases there was an opportunity to bring in new, qualified people with fresh perspectives. Clearly that wasn't the plan.

Commissioners Craig Leuthold and Mike Hammond had a "forum" in the 5th District. The News Sentinel [1] reported: "Saturday's crowd burst into applause after Hammond made comments about the process. 'I would much prefer the people make these decisions,' he said." Yeah, right. Note the 5th District appointment above. People who showed up for that forum wasted their time and ended up being insulted by the whole charade.

Mark Harmon was the only Commissioner who at least attempted to have an open process with public input from his district. Some have criticized how it was handled (i.e. not announcing there would be a straw poll that some candidates knew about but others didn't) and some have also questioned why he didn't throw his support to Wimmer when it was clear his recommendation (Amy Broyles, the "people's choice" as he put it) didn't have the votes (the first vote had 6 for Bolus and 6 for Wimmer). But at least he tried to represent his district and seek public input and carry their message to the Commission.

What happened to the pledge to "respect" commissioner's recommendations for their district? Or the plan to replace Democrats with Democrats and Republicans with Republicans?

And what about giving Tindell the bum's rush after the vote for county clerk? The outcome would likely have been quite different had he been able to remain in his seat for the rest of the proceeding. I'm sure that had nothing to do with the surprise parliamentary maneuvering to remove him.