What I want to know is:  how can a county commission illegally constituted under an invalid charter approve a new charter commission?  Seems like we could chase our own illegitmate tails into eternity here.

Good for Jarvis, I say.  If we can get the TSC to wrap this thing up sooner rather than later, I'm all for it.

looks to me like those county commissioners want to reek havock on the county in order to get metro goverment rolling and screw us all!

The August election is not the issue. Not having a Charter is the issue. I understand there has to be a referendum even for a very minor change to the Charter.

In the event that the Charter has to be amended the great concern is that the filing deadline for a referendum in the November Election will be missed.

Is this as complex as some have said? No, it is actually very simple.

Weaver ruled the Charter had two key deficiencies. Constitutional Offices were not defined and the Secretary of State did not receive the Charter.

Weaver's deficiencies are minor. I do not think his ruling is valid. But for the sake of argument let's stipulate it is. Let's look at what Weaver could have done and what Weaver should have done for the welfare of the people.

Weaver did not have to invalidate the Charter. He could have issued an instruction to County Commission. Put in the one sentence that fixes the Constitutional Offices definition issue. Send the Charter to the Secretary of State and file to have a referendum in November.

The Charter Commission should do as little as possible to the Charter. Don't monkey with with is not broken.

But Noooo, this is a chance to be progressive. Very progressive. Is this the chance to implement Metro Government? If I were going to try to con the people with Metro Government here is how I would do it. I would put a supposed "firewall" in place to assure the people of Knox County that the debt of the City of Knoxville could not come to them.

Then I would use the old "Urban Services fee" con game to assure the people of Knox County that their property taxes would not go up. The idea of the Urban Services fee is that the services provided by the City of Knoxville like garbage collection and Police Services and whatever else the City of Knoxville does has a value and is provided only in the City limits. The area covered by the Urban Services fee.

I would have a lot of grey haired grandmothers on television talk about how it would be easier to have everything in one place; how one government would reduce duplication and increase efficiency. I would make sure they were from Halls, Karns, and Farragut. I would have young hip people wearing hip clothes talking about the future and parks and stuff. It's the new Knox County. They would all have very white teeth and smile a lot.

Your thinking, that sounds great where do I apply? It changes nothing but reduces duplication and increases efficiency.

Haaaaaaa. Then you are so screwed. If you are poor or a minority or live in a rural area you just lost your representation. If you live in the County every crazy idea to rebuild downtown Knoxville or the South Knox Waterfront or to build the new transit station, library, planetarium, solar electrical plant, tourist destination is now funded by every sucker in Knox County.

Because just like the Charter someone will find a way to tear down the "firewall" and increase the "Urban Services fee" area until every single fool in Knox County pays for it.

Sweeet.

There's something about the wheel tax for just about everyone to hate.

As for me, I don't like the fact that every car in the parking lot here at work is taxed exactly the same.  No matter how big of a gas guzzle or fuel efficient, no matter how expensive or cheap, no matter how new or old... same tax.