Folks may want to get reserved seating for the upcoming Blount County Ethics Commission meeting. Our show will include three TN AG opinions, one CTAS opinion and a letter explaining said CTAS opinion, one pep rally and a partridge in a pear tree...

The entire concept of "ethics" does not exist in Sevier County so the, so called "ethics commitee" is little more than a sad joke. To date, 14 ethics complaints have been filed and every single one of them have been dismissed without any discussion. Did I mention that the county mayor, Larry Waters is listed in many of the 14 complaints and he also appointed every one of the ethic committee members. The ethics committee said last night that it was OK for the mayor to award no bid county contracts to his wife's printing company because he DISCLOSED that conflict previously. The mayors wife's company printed all the Christmas cards for the courthouse and the county offices this year. Happy Holidays! The ethics committee also said it was OK for the county road crews to pave private driveways. Then, since these public meetings are so inconvienient for them, they voted to meet quarterly from now on instead of monthly. The meeting time change wasn't on the agenda so no one knew to address that issue during the 5 minute public comment period. When they brought it up, it was too late to comment and no questions were allowed. Immediately after the meeting the goons started to clear the room saying we had to leave. I was talking to my commissioner (in the commission room) and was told we had to leave now. What a sham. My written complaint yesterday to the state ethics committee was returned saying that the state ethics committee has no jurisdiction over local ethics committees. I just wish the citizens of Sevier County had their own deputies available to act on our behalf at such public meetings.

Another issue reported in the Mountain Press was that the Mayor of Sevierville was allowing campaign signs on city right of ways. Some citizens wanted to know who gave the Mayor the authority to disregard the law. The signs are now being removed.

What is the breakdown of the 'goons' (aka "elected officials") involved with respect to political party?

Take Care, Be Good and don't play in the street!

SteveMule

Everything in Sevier County is run by Republicans - there hasn't been a Democrat with a voice in a long time. They have the wagons circled very tight.

So far, the Ethics (or lack thereof) Committee hasn't investigated a single complaint. During the last meeting, everyone but one person had to recuse themselves for conflict of interests so that there wasn't a quorum on an issue about mis-handling of money at the sheriffs dept.

It's ok for a person representing a developer to chair the Zoning Appeals Board.

A formal request for a nepotism policy won't be discussed. The requestor has not received any formal notification of thier decision and probably won't.

Too many items on the "docket"? Move to hold fewer meetings without any discussion from citizens about this item which was not on the agenda.

And the most appalling of all items about the ethics panel is: They dismiss complaints about the county mayor (without discussion) who personally selected each of them! An inherent conflict of interest!

It is shameful that they work for the citizens of Sevier County but, do not fairly represent those they should serve.

Foxes guarding the henhouse........Inmates running the asylum!

I am John A. Meyers and I approved this post!

When three members of the ethics committee recuse themselves from a vote because they have a "conflict of interest" in the matter before them, then a fourth simply says that we don't have a quoroum so we have to dismiss this - what does that tell you about the make-up of the so called "ethics committee?" This happened at the last meeting.

What I find interesting is that the story that is being reported is that citizens were outraged by the behavior of the ethics panel.

The story should be that:

1. The Mayor hand selected every panel member and the panel has not addressed or made a decision on any of many complaints.

2. County crews paved a driveway owned by a private citizen.

3. A convicted embezzler is making purchases for items at the jail that obviously are not for inmates.

4. The conflict of interest posed by a developer sitting on a zoning board was dismissed because the developer wasn't appointed by the mayor. The fact that the conflict of interest exists was not addressed at all.

4. The panel received many complaints so, they decided to hold fewer meetings.

5. The mayor paid his wife to print the County Christmas cards and other printing jobs without seeking competitive bids.

6. The ethics panel could recommend policies that could help Sevier County avoid the political circus that has become Knox County government (nepotism, spending oversight, etc.) but they have and will not. All of this under the guise of "not being required by the state" to do so.

It's time for some real investigative reporting and some good old fashioned fact seeking.

It's also time for people to stand up and demand that those charged with serving the public actually do so.

Yes, that's been discussed and SevierViews.com is still in the tentative works.

I committed to someone that I'd do it after October. Then there was some drama related to BlountViews that made me start to rethink the whole *Views concept, but I got over that and then there was the TennViews launch, and the holidays, and some personal stuff, so I have been distracted from my assigned tasks.

Anyway, stay tuned.