Hi, my name is Stacey Diamond and I'm running as a write-in for county commission Distrist 1 Seat A.

I am the ward chair for the Democratic Party in Fort Sanders (10) N. I've been active in the local party for 6 years. I've grown up in Knoxville and have a degree in journalism from UT. I decided this was an unprecedented opportunity where people without special interest connections were jumping in and I took it.

As far as issues in my neighborhood, I see nice and not so nice things in Fort Sanders that get overlooked. People have the misconception that its just for students or a dangerous place, which isn't true. Its an easy walk from downtown and one of the few places in Knoxville that you can walk to almost all your needs, such as restaurants, work, school, libraries, the post office etc.

On the other hand, since many residents are students and aren't politically active, many property owners keep their properties just barely up to code and charge a high price and many have no respect for history. I've seen one hundred year old houses and trees flattened in one afternoon just to make way for something bigger and newer but with less character. This happens on the UT campus as well.

I also see a stagnation in wages in Knoxville, while we don't have that many minimum wage jobs, we have too many 7$ an hour jobs, where a single person can barely get by and for a family its impossible.