Commission Debating Charter Amendments (round 1)

Submitted by reform4 on Mon, 2008/02/25 - 9:40pm.

Live blogging:

(Link....)

A personal observation: How awful would it be to plan to delay some of these items to the 2010 ballot, to take effect in 2014? We could salvage anti-nepotism, conflict of interest policies (I want to see a stronger proposal here!), returning the petition to earlier rules, Board of Education alignment, and even getting an Inspector General. Likely the 2008 petition drive for the others would fail, but we'd get a break-out vote of the most urgent reforms.

I am trying to update, but city county bldg network keeps hijjacking my browser to city of knoxville page!!



tweedle dee tweedle dum

Why can't they just vote to put the darned amendments on the ballot???

Why can't they just vote to

Why can't they just vote to put the darned amendments on the ballot???

Because they're afraid some of them will pass.

Because they don't trust the voters.

Because they are too stupid to have heard the message of Feb. 5.

Take your pick.

So who on commission is

So who on commission is resisting putting the nine amendments on the ballot?

Unclear, but...

From what I read from the comments, resistance from Leuthold, Lambert, Davis, Pinkston. Maybe resistance from Briggs. You can make some other assumptions from others who haven't spoken. And I'm just guessing on the comments, anyone could speak against it and still vote to put it in the hands of the voters.

Don't forget Scoobie. He

Don't forget Scoobie. He started out by trying to defer the entire discussion until next month.

well, yeah...

I was just being polite & not try to make assumptions about people who didn't speak.
-----------------------------------------
Fighting for Reform and Representation, Fourth District
Steve Drevik, Commission Seat 4-B
Link...

I thought Davis wanted the

I thought Davis wanted the citizens to be able to change the amendments in the workshops.

absolutely correct

yes, sorry for the brevity. Smith just came out against the overall process ('you guys haven't done your homework').

Briggs seems to be siding with hammond.

No need for this...

They're making tonight's meeting harder than it needs to be. Knox Charter Petition has indicated that we will be glad to conduct a workshop for commissioners prior to their vote on second reading.

Commissioners are perfectly able to voice their proposed amendments on second reading--that is, if they don't think the voters have sense enought to reject any unsound amendments at the polls, after the nine district forums for the public, which we have also offered to conduct.

major changes between first...

... and second reading means first reading would have to be redone. Doesn't that throw the schedule off?
----------------------------------------
Fighting for Reform and Representation, Fourth District
Steve Drevik, Commission Seat 4-B
Link...

I was surprised Defreese

I was surprised Defreese voted 'no.'

Don't know much about south

Don't know much about south Knox County, do you? She was a huge buddy of former Commissioner Larry Clark.

Prediction: DeFreese will

Prediction:
DeFreese will vote like Pinkston 90-plus percent of the time.

DeFreese will vote like

DeFreese will vote like Pinkston 90-plus percent of the time.

Yup.

Well that is disturbing.

Well that is disturbing.

Lisa Starbuck's picture
Sector Plans

Victoria DeFreese has told me that she will support the sector plans, so I don't know if she will follow Commissioner Pinkston on that.

finally, Mike Hammond is making sense

But will the rest of CC recognise it????

I didn't sense much

I didn't sense much resistance from Briggs. He suggested that the forums be in the evening. Other that I didn't sense any other resistance.

SteveMule's picture
Browser Hijacking

Steve,
Next time you're in the CCB do this:
1.) Open your web browser
2.) Allow your browser to be hijacked
3.) While holding down the Ctrl key push the N key (the one that normally types the letter n. This will open a second web browser window. It will open to what the first was open to.
4.) Use the second web browser window to do your surfing/posting whatever, while totally ignoring the first web browser window - in fact, minimize it to the toolbar and forget it.

Since the first window has been hijacked to the Knoxville page and you haven't changed it - it will remain as it is while not bothering the second one.
I've used this trick several times in many places where the host wireless system plays the "look at me game."

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

SteveMule

Oh no, now a citizen is clogging up the works

He's jumped right past putting the amendments on the ballot and is opposing the inspector general amendment... why can't he just vote no... They are hopelessly bogged down now...

hammon'd threat

Hammond: They're going to put this on petition, so you put yourself in political peril if you don't vote to put all 9 on.

-----------------------------------------
Fighting for Reform and Representation, Fourth District
Steve Drevik, Commission Seat 4-B
Link...

Steve, you have a great point.

Triage, that's what we need. Just pick the amendments that are not threatening and put them on the ballot.

One down - eight to go

The amendment that would lower signature requirements for petitions back to pre-wheel tax levels passed its first reading unanimously.

In other news, the Commission has nearly exhausted 7 1/2 hours of DV tape and have just about talked a 2 GB data recorder to death.

Three down, five to go

So far, all have passed. The second one, the one that would reduce the size of the commission, passed by a hair - 13-6.

Who were the six?Also, I've

Who were the six?

Also, I've got to go to bed because I have to do hospital duty with my dad early tomorrow. The KNS will report which amendments passed/failed, but not the vote count for each.

Can someone keep track here of who votes how on what?

Many thanks.

Knox County History 101

Heh. Scoobie will continue to vote "no" on all amendments, because they seek to overturn our county "constitution" that's been in effect for 200 years.

Frank Leuthold did chair that initial charter committee in 1808, didn't he???

who's the "they" and

who's the "our"??? Moore, Smith, and Leuthold are way too tedious...

That's up there with Lambert

That's up there with Lambert voting for something with the insightful justification of 'things change.'

Fourth fails

The consistency amendment failed, 12-7.

I'm keeping track of the votes, but I won't be able to post them until later. The ol' brain's on standby, so I'm relying on recording everything just so I can keep awake.

Fifth fails

The amendment that would have had the mayor appoint the fee offices if enacted by the voters failed, 11-7-1.

votes

NOs: Strickland, I Harmon, Davis, Lambert, Moore, Defreese, Pinkston

see the link above

...for specific votes.

Link...

R Larry is really getting on my nerves...

Does the R stand for Republican?

God love 'em (the citizen advocates, that is)

It's 12:40 am, and Don Parnell just graciously thanked commission for their time and bade them goodnight(morning???).

The two amendments to appoint the fee offices and to "clean up" inconsistent charter provisions failed. The remaining seven amendments passed on first reading.

(It's definite--four commissioners will just never get it.)

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