There's been a fair amount of discussion on this forum about the Knoxville-Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission. So I thought folks would be interested to hear there is currently a "city" vacancy on Commission (the Knoxville Mayor appoints 7 members; the County Mayor appoints 8). These appts do not require City Council approval, so the Mayor's decision is pretty much his to make.

During his first campaign, Mayor Haslam promised "balance" in MPC appointments. However, over the last few years, MPC has become more unbalanced, not less. It is now pretty much dominated by folks with development or real estate backgrounds.

I very much want to see the Mayor appoint someone this time with a strong neighborhood background. I'm not talking about a NIMBYite knee-jerk anti-development type, but someone who understands the POV and concerns of neighborhoods. It would be nice if that person also understand the functions and workings of MPC so that they can "hit the ground running."

It's not that hard to come up with names that fit this bill. If you're interested in moving MPC in the right direction, you might want to take a few minutes to contact Mayor Haslam about it. His email address is mayor@cityofknoxville.org.