Have y'all taken the terms terrorist and Nazi off the banned list yet?

and indifferent to what the people want. Partnership's undying support for the Pellissippi Parkway Extension fits right in here. Nobody elected the Partnership and the Chamber of Commerce and residents of Blount County do not want to become West Knoxville or Pigeon Forge.

Letter to the Editor, Maryville Daily Times, today, February 19, 2025:

"I wanted to state for the record that I have been sharing Tennessee Senate Bill 0965 and House Bill 0980 with the members of the FB page, Townsend Preservation Society. The membership of this page is comprised of both citizens and interested tourists. I have been urging them to contact their state representatives and urging them to vote NO on these deannexation bills. The authors of these bills, Sen. Tom Hatcher and Rep. Tom Stinnett have both indicated that they introduced these bills under lobbyist pressure from Blount County Partnership. Rep. Stinnett was extremely specific in his answer about the Partnership’s unhappiness with the Townsend leadership and their “changed approach” to the festival center.

Townsend BZA member

More from WATE,

[Townsend Vice Mayor Kelsey] Satterfield said this would curb their process to coordinate events through their special event permits.

“That ordinance was put in place so that the city has a heads up on what’s going to be going on in our town,” she said. “That’s not just for the Townsend Visitor Center, that’s for any other place in town, any other type of venue that wants to hold an event or a festival or something of that nature.”

While they are hoping to preserve the nature of the area, [Blount Partnership Director Jeff] Muir said holding large events will give visitors a reason to choose Townsend.

If the events are so great, why don't they hold them in the current County area? Or, in Maryville or Alcoa? Why do they need to bully Townsend, the Peaceful side of the Smokies?

It would appear that Blount County, The Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority (which owns and operates the Townsend Event Center), Blount Partnership (Chamber of Commerce) are all for forcing Townsend to change and not be the peaceful side of the Smokies.

Despite being a city of 550 residents, the Townsend region produced the third highest amount of hotel taxes in the county in 2024. Hotels in Townsend generated $874,309.86 in hotel tax revenue in 2024. That’s just over 16% of the total contributions for the county and more than three times the amount collected by Maryville. The city’s busiest month was October, which yielded over $141,000 in hotel tax payments.

The Blount Partnership has voiced public support for a bill that could allow the group to remove its event center from Townsend’s city limits

to most of its self-identified challenges.

Thus, the Pellissippi Parkway Extension is supposed to get more people to Townsend, where those people will overwhelm the people who had thegood sense to live there in the first place.

As long as growth is not challenged as the fix for governments, this is what we will get.

A collection of protesters gathered outside the Townsend Event Center on Saturday along Lamar Alexander Parkway. Organizers said their goal was to preserve the city’s oversight of festivals.

The protest stems from recent developments in the Tennessee General Assembly, where state legislators filed a bill that would allow tourism development authorities to remove their property from city boundaries without needing permission from the city government.

We've come across some of the bullying that occurs in good ol boy Blount County. It's frustrating. They basically manipulate the data to push their agenda. They have something wonderful in Townsend. They should be trying to preserve the good instead of bringing in things that don't fit.

...
The protest preceded a special-called meting by the city of Townsend Board of Commissioners for the purpose of allowing public input on the deannexation bill.

Go Townsend! The state pushing its priorities is what got us the gun manufacturer and would like to get the Pellissippi Parkway extension. Don't let them! Have you seen I-40 near exit 407? And now they're bulldozing a new road to get to Pigeon Forge from Newport. Keep tourists there, not the peaceful side (name stolen for a business!)

In a unanimous vote, Townsend’s government has passed a resolution formally opposing the state bill that would allow the Blount Partnership to remove its Townsend Event Center from the city limits.
...
It calls on the partnership to work with the city through an in-progress land use guide that officials expect to have done by the end of the summer. It also says the city commits to being a “good listener and a thoughtful partner.”

"The city of Townsend has listened to the thoughts and desires of our residents, our neighbors and visitors through public meetings and community surveys reaffirming the values and attributes that contribute to a high quality of life and visitor experience,” the document reads, listing “Small town charm, peaceful aesthetic, proximity to outdoor beauty and recreation and celebration of our cultural heritage."

Good for the city of Townsend. We'll back them when we can.