The South Grove annexation disharmony
By now most people have learned of the disharmony between the City of Knoxville and Knox County government over the South Grove Shopping Center. Harmony is very important in Knox County. It appears that it is even more important than either ethics or the law.
The disharmony is over an allegedly illegal “One Man One Vote special election” which allowed a finger annexation of Knox County property into the City of Knoxville. There are many problems with the procedure and qualifications of this “special election”. Knox County Law Director John Owings thought it was so irregular he immediately filed a law suit.
Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale asked county Law Director John Owings to dismiss a law suit challenging the annexation. Mayor Ragsdale said he thinks fighting the annexation is a bad use of tax money. Mayor Ragsdale was quoted in the Knoxville News Sentinel, “Spending tens of thousands of dollars in a lawsuit to contest a voluntary annexation would be a complete waste of taxpayer dollars. It would also be a huge step backward in city and county relations, which are better now than they’ve ever been.”
You can see Mayor Ragsdale explain his ideas here:
City of Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam wrote a commentary this past Sunday in the Knoxville News Sentinel entitled, “South Grove annexation: Much ado about a good thing”. Mayor Haslam requested the special commentary from News Sentinel editor Jack McElroy stating that a prior commentary by John Emison, the President of Citizens for Home Rule, was “misleading in many respects”. Ironically Mayor Haslam then made charges which are verifiably wrong on Jack McElroy’s blog “The Upfront Page”. Mayor Haslam charged that John Emison was a paid by Citizens for Home Rule, a charge which is not true. Mayor Haslam wrote, “Emison’s assertion that the referendum for the South Grove area violated the boundary and thus the agreement is simply incorrect.”
The City Mayor now owns those words.
The most surprising development is this convoluted revolting matter is the dramatic acting done by Mayor Mike Ragsdale in the December 18th Knox County Commissioners meeting. As you can see in the Part Three YouTube clip Mayor Ragsdale pleads with the Knox County Commission not to ask the State Attorney General to investigate the “One Man One Vote special election”. Yet Ragsdale’s top Lieutenant John Griess sponsored the resolution asking for the State Attorney General to investigate the special election. So are we to think that Mayor Ragsdale and John Griess disagree? Or is the more logical conclusion simply that the County Mayor wanted to have plausible deniability to maintain the illusion of harmony? Apparently if you want to be the next Governor of Tennessee you must maintain the harmony, whether that harmony is real or just an illusion doesn’t matter.
Both of these Mayor’s reportedly will seek higher office. Can you choose which one is the most ethical?
YouTube clips of the December 18th meeting in Knox County Commission:
Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, and Part Six
