Sat
Sep 9 2006
07:21 am

It has now been 60 days (-1) since I first brought up this topic on July 10. Per an agreement between Knox County and a developer, a gazebo is to be built at Maloney Road Park. Here is what the developers have completed as of Friday, September 8. Not any different from what was done as of Saturday, July 29. In comparing the pictures, the only real difference is the tall weeds.

In a KNS article no longer available on-line, Pinkston said, "I'm not concerned whatsoever about Mr. Weaver coming through with the gazebo. He's a local boy and a man of his word." Of course, Knox County will build the gazebo and bill the developer if it doesn't get built in 90 days. But, if the developer doesn't build the gazebo, how do we know the developer will pay the bill? That will be a little hard to track.

The deadline is in thirteen days, ten working days. Nothing like waiting until the last minute to meet our obligations to the community.

Factchecker's picture

Why don't you call up Paul

Why don't you call up Paul and discuss your concerns?  We've been doing that regarding a problem our neighborhood is having with Court South.  He's easily reached and has worked pretty hard to resolve our issue (though Court South still refuses to fix their problem!). 

Pinkston may be a GOB, but he's not a bad guy.  I was impressed enough even to vote to re-elect him!  His phone number is easily found, though I can hunt it up if you like.

bizgrrl's picture

Why should I call him? This

Why should I call him? This isn't a "neighborhood problem". This is where Knox County and a developer had a contract. The developer has yet to fulfill this contract. There is no need to try and resolve a problem with a company, there is a contract. If this problem doesn't get resolved, Knox County is responsible. If Knox County doesn't meet their obligations then I will have a problem.

I am pretty confident Pinkston lives in the neighborhood where Maloney Park is located and could easily drive by it every day if he was concerned. But as he, Pinkston said, "I'm not concerned whatsoever about Mr. Weaver coming through with the gazebo. He's a local boy and a man of his word."

What is your neighborhood problem that Pinkston is helping you with but not fixing? Noise?

Yeah, Pinkston's a nice guy. The Pinkston family have always been known to be nice.

Brian A.'s picture

Nice weeds

Perhaps you are underestimating the effort that went into growing those. 

Brian A.
I'd rather be cycling.

Factchecker's picture

What is your neighborhood

What is your neighborhood problem that Pinkston is helping you with but not fixing? Noise?

Noise is the biggest problem our heighborhood is having w/ Court South, but I don't see it is Pinkston's job to fix.  The noise statutes are weak and the enforcement mechanisms have "issues" beyond the jurisdiction of county commission.  One is that the previous owner of CS had a customized state law snuck in by our state legislators to give only his swimming pool the right to generate more noise than any home or other business!

It was for a while frustrating to me too that our commissioners can't fire silver bullets to fix these things, but it's a long legacy that our region is very business friendly and low on regulation.  These characteristics, especially the latter, appeal to many residents (the GOP small governance BS), until they're in the position you and I are in.

Perhaps this system of governance is largely a product of a lot of "nice" GOBs like Pinkston and the state legislators who did the dirty work of CS's previous owner, but on some larger level they were only put there by the sheeple of East Tenn.  I would argue that politicians like Jimmy Duncan are every bit as responsible for the sorry governance that we have, just at the federal level.  He's very "nice" too, but why has he ignored so many problems like our sorry "edjucashun" system, TVA's pollution, and the Smoky Mountains funding backlogs for so many years?

In our case, I'd love to detail our neighborhood's frustrations w/ Court South (it would be a LONG post), but it's still an unresolved issue that we're going to have to deal with again before next pool season, so I don't want to jeopardize our negotiating position.  But we had to oppose Court South throughout much of this summer in front of two commission boards.  Pinkston sided with our neighborhood, had the support of most of the commission with him/us, and he tried to force Court South to negotiate with us to our satisfaction right in the midst of one of the board meetings.  But CS chose to punt by withdrawing their request, which was for a beer permit at their pool.  So our problem was just Court South.  They weren't willing to compromise in any way.

If Pinkston went out on a limb for this contract, his credibility should be on the line and that ought to be his incentive to help you.  We found he is accessible and if you state your concerns, maybe he would tell you something that you could hold him to, or he should refer to you to someone who will address the contract.  There are other county offices you could call and raise some cane (cordially, of course).  It seems like you might just have to go down the list and find whose feet need to be held to the fire.  Have you tried Office of Parks and Recreation, Office of Neighborhoods, or the Law Director?

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