Tue
Aug 21 2007
02:37 pm
By: Mark Siegel
Who thinks the results of a Knox County re-do will be a lot more satisfying than the last do?
Me, neither.
My recommendation to the Knox County Law Department, the Knox County Commission, the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Chancellor Fansler, and anyone who cares is:
Let's have an election.
I'll bet Mark Harmon even has the resolution on his word processor.
As was established last time, we cannot have a binding special election, because there is no provision for one under Tennessee law.
Nothing, however, prevents County Commission from directing the Knox County Election Commission to have a non-binding election for the offices which were occupied by a term-limited incumbent, and then have its re-do following the election. Let's see which Commissioners vote for anyone other than the winner of the non-binding election.
It's the only way I see, as Commissioner Hammond said, "to restore some integrity as far as the public is concerned."
|
Topics:
|
|
Discussing:
- Are our deployed military going hungry? (1 reply)
- Tennessee passes bill to restrict college students' protests (1 reply)
- Inflation up, gas up, food up, consumer sentiment lowest ever (1 reply)
- Some AI uses are "outside the bounds of safe/reliable technology" (2 replies)
- A Letter to the U.S. Congress (1 reply)
- President: we can't take care of daycare, Medicare, Medicaid (1 reply)
- U.S. House Democratic Leadership says to Stop the Madness (1 reply)
- Am I missing something? (1 reply)
- Lady Vols Basketball down to one player? (1 reply)
- Kerbela Shriners Site Development Proposal Meetings Announced (6 replies)
- Is Blount Memorial Hospital in trouble again? (5 replies)
- Gas prices on the rise (3 replies)
TN Progressive
- Maryville Arts Walk - 3rd Thursday - today thru Oct. 15 (BlountViews)
- Candidate for U.S. Rep., against Burchett campaigns Saturday, 4/18/2026, Blount County (BlountViews)
- PRISMA/Blount Memorial Hospital laying off 85 employees (BlountViews)
- Alcoa working to bring Costco to town (BlountViews)
- WATCH THIS SPACE. (Left Wing Cracker)
- America As It Is Right Now (RoaneViews)
- A friend sent this: From Captain McElwee's Tall Tales of Roane County (RoaneViews)
- The Meidas Touch (RoaneViews)
- Massive Security Breach Analysis (RoaneViews)
- (Whitescreek Journal)
- My choices in the August election (Left Wing Cracker)
- July 4, 2024 - aka The Twilight Zone (Joe Powell)
TN Politics
- National Guard ‘follows the Constitution,’ general says of troops possibly deployed to polls (TN Lookout)
- State lawmakers restore funding for child summer food program rejected by Gov. Bill Lee (TN Lookout)
- U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles’ campaign has less $100k heading into potential competitive election (TN Lookout)
- Stockard on the Stump: Democratic rep blasts Nashville mayor for lapse on tourism board (TN Lookout)
- With GOP defections, US House passes bill extending legal status for 350,000 Haitians (TN Lookout)
- ‘Shirtless in a hot tub with Kid Rock’: Democrats in Congress question RFK Jr. priorities (TN Lookout)
Knox TN Today
- Lady Vol fans watch for Smokey, count orange emojis (Knox TN Today)
- Dishing It Out: Strawberry Cake (Knox TN Today)
- Camporee at Melton Hill + BioBlitz in Blount + New Harvest Market ++ (Knox TN Today)
- Tex, a Zoo Knoxville favorite, passes away (Knox TN Today)
- Dining Duo makes a surprisingly easy choice (Knox TN Today)
- Hiking with Harrington on Baxter Creek Trail (Knox TN Today)
- Close to Home, Far from Ordinary: Norris Dam State Park, where the road gets quiet (Knox TN Today)
- Barks & Bourbon: Raising spirits and saving lives (Knox TN Today)
- Project Help receives $41K from Food City customers (Knox TN Today)
- 4/17 HEADLINES: News and events from the World, the USA, Tennessee, Knox & Historic Notes (Knox TN Today)
- Eco-Friendly Smokies retreat adds Solar + Energy Storage (Knox TN Today)
- RoJo the Rooster (Knox TN Today)
Local TV News
- Knoxville Police: Motorcyclist dead after 'serious crash' on Clinton Highway (WATE)
- University of Tennessee opens new forensic anthropology laboratory (WATE)
- 'Died doing what he loved' Two men remembered following New Market plane crash (WATE)
- Construction milestone reached on new Haslam College of Business building (WATE)
- Next-generation ‘salt-cooled’ nuclear plant breaks ground in Oak Ridge (WATE)
- When do splash pads in Knox County open for 2026 season (WATE)
News Sentinel
State News
- Chattanooga Tourism Co. seeks $14M from city, county in budget request - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
- Wamp: Hamilton County planning to incorporate incubator into downtown tech education center - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
- ‘Backstabbing’: Chattanooga City Council leadership elections spark tension - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
- Cottrell stepping down as Chattanooga Christian School girls’ basketball coach - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
Wire Reports
- Trump signs order fast tracking review of psychedelics for mental health disorders - NPR (US News)
- Iran fully closes Strait of Hormuz over US blockade and fires on ships - AP News (US News)
- 2 soldiers attacked by bear during training at Army base in Alaska - CBS News (US News)
- Scoop: Trump convenes Iran situation room meeting amid renewed Hormuz crisis - Axios (US News)
- Trump, When Asked About White House Meeting with Anthropic’s Dario Amodei: ‘Who?’ - Gizmodo (Business)
- Pope says 'tyrants' speech was not aimed at Trump - BBC (US News)
- Powerful winds and reported tornadoes rip through the Midwest, leaving heavy damage but no deaths - NBC News (US News)
- ‘Turning Point Was Charlie Kirk’: Why This Student Group Moved On - The New York Times (US News)
- Exclusive | Justice Department Rebuffs French on X Probe, Musk Interview - WSJ (Business)
- Airline industry faces a shake-up as jet fuel hits hard - Axios (Business)
- The AI Doomers Who Are Playing With Fire - Gizmodo (Business)
- 'It's just scale': Local mom-and-pop car dealerships are growing or dying amid industry consolidation, rise of mega-retailers - CNBC (Business)
- Judge Halts Nexstar-Tegna TV Station Merger - WSJ (Business)
- Tired of waiting for your EV to charge up? One Chinese company has a novel solution - NPR (Business)
- Poll: Trump’s immigration message changed. Voters' opinions have not. - Politico (US News)
Local Media
Lost Medicaid Funding
To date, the failure to expand Medicaid/TennCare has cost the State of Tennessee ? in lost federal funding. (Source)
Search and Archives
TN Progressive
Nearby:
- Blount Dems
- Herston TN Family Law
- Inside of Knoxville
- Instapundit
- Jack Lail
- Jim Stovall
- Knox Dems
- MoxCarm Blue Streak
- Outdoor Knoxville
- Pittman Properties
- Reality Me
- Stop Alcoa Parkway
Beyond:
- Nashville Scene
- Nashville Post
- Smart City Memphis
- TN Dems
- TN Journal
- TN Lookout
- Bob Stepno
- Facing South
!
What an excellent idea, Mark! If a resolution were adopted soon enough, could this non-binding election "piggyback" with upcoming city elections to trim costs?
Grasping at straws
You guy are grasping at straws... give it a rest...
The only thing that will satisfy everyone is a binding legal election in which the citizens spoke by casting their vote at the ballot box... and this is going to happen in February...
Nothing short of the citizens voting is going to satisfy everyone (then the results will probably be contested by someone)
Let's focus our efforts on the ballot box in February and quit grasping at straws...
The February election is
The February election is only a primary. No new county office holders will be elected until next August, to be sworn in on Sept. 1, 2008.
Doesn't the commission have the power under home rule to amend the charter? They could create the missing provision allowing for a binding special election.
Gemerally speaking, the
Gemerally speaking, the commission has the power to amend the charter (as do we citizens, by petition), but I thought all election law originated with the state constitution and its election code?
I'm looking at Article VIII, Section II in the constitution, if you've gotta TN Blue Book lying around...
Doesn't the commission have
Doesn't the commission have the power under home rule to amend the charter? They could create the missing provision allowing for a binding special election.
Yes, County Commission can propose changes to the Charter, but they don't become effective until ratified by the citizens in an election. By the time you could make THAT happen, we'll be in the 2008 electoral cycle anyway, so while such a change might be useful for future situations, it's not a viable prospect for solving the current problem.
You guy are grasping at
You guy are grasping at straws... give it a rest...
The only thing that will satisfy everyone is a binding legal election in which the citizens spoke by casting their vote at the ballot box... and this is going to happen in February...
Nothing short of the citizens voting is going to satisfy everyone (then the results will probably be contested by someone)
Actually, there's a big problem here that needs to be solved.
The News-Sentinel and Moncier have the Sunshine Act goods. However, all they can get is a "do over", which probably satisfies no one.
At least some of the commissioners are apparently tired of being used as a punching bag, and realize that a trial is only going to make it worse.
The only way to resolve this fairly and openly, with results no one can really complain about is with an election.
What is the big significance of whether it is technically legally binding, if the results are going to be accepted?
NEED AN ELECTION
Agreed. How could we possibly trust the intentions of those who have no integrity? (with the exception of a few who, unfortunately, are wrongly included due to the old adage 'one bad apple...')
What Do You Think This is a Democracy???
Special elections in Knox County??? What are you people smoking? That's not the way it's done under the new world order in Knox!
Scoobie, Lumpy and Bulldawg Tramel would have to consult their master Dictator Hutch and ask him what he thinks...and he'll say he's happy with the makeup of the commission exactly as it is.
Then they'll go back to commission and relay the "no go election" message (sunshine law be danged) to their stooges - Paul Pinkie, Ivan Hardball, Chuck Bogus, "Stationery" Cawood, Dick Cate, Craig "Loot"hold, Frank "Loop"hold and "Junkie" Jordan and argue that an election would be too expensive, unnecessary and the need for sore losers to move on.
The few good guys: Mike Hammond, Tony Norman and Mark Harmon will throw up their hands in total frustration while the indecisive middle guys Ballard, Greene, Huddleston, "Tank" & Smith will agree with both sides so they can be on the winning side no matter what.
Sad isn't it? :-)
The sad reality is....
It ultimately doesn't matter. Everyone who gets into politics becomes corrupted after a time. Show me one politician who is actually interested in serving the people and i will call you a liar. They ALL look out for themselves.
He must increase but I must decrease.
John 3:30