Mon
Oct 26 2020
11:26 am

I thought I might share this.

I am asking our Knox County leaders to answer the following questions before tonight’s meeting. It would be a tremendous public service if they could do so when they vote.

FREEDOM
• Who is protecting the freedoms of those who must work and interface with the public to support themselves and their families from needless, careless exposure to the virus?

LEADERSHIP
• If it is not the role of our political leaders to lead in this crisis, who should we be looking to for leadership?

THE GOVERNMENT
• If it is not the government’s role to help protect the health of its citizens, whose role is it? What IS the proper role of government, in your opinion?

FREEDOM & RESPONSIBILITY
• In a society where we all seek to live together in “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” where do your rights end and mine begin?

FACTUAL INFORMATION
• What sources do you, as a community leader, use to provide factual information to guide your decision making? How do you research conflicting information to determine the most reliable sources?

BEHAVIOR AND ACCOUNTABILITY
• Why are citizens and other leaders in our community be subjected to such childish bullying tactics? Why the rudeness and disrespect? What is accomplished by this behavior?

• Why is our County Mayor communicating on hidden social media forums and making incendiary videos demonizing local citizens that weren’t supposed to be public? Why is there a need to operate under cover (behind a mask, one might say)? Who is he communicating with? Should we know more about those who are influencing him? Is he beholden to someone? Shouldn’t we know who? What is there to hide and why?

Yours,

Ashley Capps

jmcnair's picture

+1

+1

jcgrim's picture

Bravo Ashley C.

I appreciate a real community leader like AC asking questions to hold our elected officials accountable.

bizgrrl's picture

Thanks! I hope some of the

Thanks! I hope some of the non-mask wearers, including the County Mayor, take these questions seriously.

bizgrrl's picture

Jacobs is following the herd

Jacobs is following the herd immunity path. He obviously doesn't care about those getting sick or dying. As AC said, we all need to care about the freedoms of those who must work and interface with the public to support themselves and their families from needless, careless exposure to the virus

Happy's picture

Question I always want to ask...

When faced with one of the people who claim that "the high risk folks should just stay home and let the rest of us live a normal life", a good question is "since you don't want them to go to work, how do you propose to support the high-risk diabetic, or the cancer patient working to keep health insurance going, or the people taking immunosuppressant drugs, or the 65+ folks who are still working because they need the money. Are you going to pay their rent and grocery bills?" So far I've never heard one of them have a good answer...

fischbobber's picture

There is no herd immunity.

When a disease cycles through its antibody cycle every four months, herd immunity is impossible. The cycle simply repeats itself in perpetuity. Jacobs is advocating rule by chaos, a situation whereby a cult or mod rules by fear and terror in the present and offers only more of the same for the foreseeable future. It’s a form of rule by terror via a minority group which has no qualms killing.

Thank you AC for confirming what many of us suspected, that Glenn Jacobs is a contributing member of one of the secret Facebook groups sharing tactics and strategies for the spread of Covid. I grew up in a time when government officials got elected to protect and defend the community from those that would attack and kill us. Now we put cult leaders in charge of our own destruction. None of this makes a whole lot of sense to me. It seems we have lost our cotton-picking minds.

Greg Mackay's picture

Ashley

Well said, my man.

Rachel's picture

Good job, Ashley! Get any

Good job, Ashley! Get any answers?

AC's picture

I received four responses.

I received four responses. Three appreciative ones from Commissioners Jay, Durrett, and Lundy. A neutral acknowledgment of receipt from Commissioner Schoonmaker.
In all fairness, I didn't send it until yesterday morning, so it may have been a bit late.
Those meetings are a very curious spectacle.

fischbobber's picture

Did you speak?

They are a spectacle indeed. I admire the bravery of all those that spoke in favor of the health department and stood up to our warlord wannabes, but it was a mighty risky proposition to do so.

Our case counts and spread patterns are such that it won't be long before city and county government will be affected (see KCS problems).

I want to thank you for standing up as a community leader for standing up and doing the right thing.

Rachel's picture

Pretty much what I would have

Pretty much what I would have expected.

michael kaplan's picture

On the rare occasions I've

On the rare occasions I've emailed the mayor and city council reps, the most I'll get is a polite Thank You. I guess a detailed response is above their pay grade.

AC's picture

I find the response level

I find the response level much stronger with the City Mayor and City Council. And I have for years, through multiple administrations in both City and County.

fischbobber's picture

At what time point was Ashley's speech?

It's hard to catch every single minute of five hour meetings. I missed it. Of course, they haven't archived last week's meeting.

A consumer action in response to County Commission's and Mayor Jacobs actions will be announced shortly. Perhaps things should be as economically unsound for their supporters as they claim they are. Where you spend your disposable income is a choice. Sometimes it can be a choice with a meaning.

I'm pretty tired of being lied to every time I ask at a grocery store about why they don't enforce mask posted mask policy in their own store. It's not because there's nothing you can do. It's because you manager is too gutless to take a stand. If you're ignoring the mask mandate, post it. Don't get me into your posted safe store and explain why you were lying. It's one thing to stand in line. It's another to get there after walking out of six stores and wasting six hours to get there because store managers are too gutless to tell the truth and think lying is their solution.

AC's picture

I was unable to attend last

I was unable to attend last night. No speech. Just an email.

fischbobber's picture

Thank you.

Both for the update and your thoughtful response to this crisis.

ann viera's picture

Sent to Carson Dailey and Tommy Smith

I sent the note below to my County Commissioner and City Councilman on Oct. 8th

Tommy Smith replied as of 10/29/2020.

Reflecting on the County Commission Board of Health meeting from earlier in October:

Please make it so for all future commission and council meetings:

1/ If you can't follow the rules you can't speak or enter the building.

1/a If you can't state your full address, you can't speak.

1/b If you can't wear a mask in a city building that has a mask mandate, you can't enter the building.

Thank you

ann viera's picture

suggestion Public Health 101 proficiency for candidates

All citizens running for public office should be required to complete a Public Health 101 course and show proof of passing.

There is a ready to go Public Health 101 course ready to go (link...)

A second area of study with proof of proficiency suggestion: health disparities (link...)

Wearing a mask isn't hard. It isn't about taking away something. It is about protecting other people. I've been in Kroger, Big Lots, and Ace in S. Knox at off peak hours over the last week. In each store there was at least one person w/no mask. Do the people who work at these stores have access to affordable care? Several are in their 50s and 60s. They may have health challenges that increase their risk of complications. The virus is better known to health providers, but there is still a lot of unknowns.

What is it about the huge benefits of 3 simple actions-- mask wearing, hand washing, physical distancing --to business prosperity (and ability to socialize) is so hard to understand??

This virus is pretty easy to stop. The next one might not be.

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