“Keep it down, down, voices carry…”
This refrain from the once popular song, “Voices Carry” by ‘til Tuesday, has been playing in my head a lot lately. The message that I should be quiet, quit asking questions, and get back in my place, came loud and clear at last week’s Blount County Commission Meeting.
If you read my previous post, you’ll know that I brought up in July a relevant, timely and important question about one of County Mayor Jerry Cunningham’s committee appointments. My question, as I think my post on August 15 shows, had nothing to do with the person being appointed, but with the process, the legalities, around the appointment itself.
If this had been personal in some way, if I had reservations about the specific commissioner involved, I would have questioned his appointment to the Purchasing AND Budget committees, but I did not. In fact, I was proud of the way fellow Commissioner Mike Lewis took it upon himself to look into the Purchasing Law of 1957 on his own, taking it all the way to Nashville to make sure he was doing the right thing.
However, in what came as a total surprise to me, Commissioner Tonya Burchfield began last Thursday’s meeting by reading a long, prepared statement stating that she was highly upset at what she termed a “personal attack” on Mr. Lewis at the last meeting. Though we do not always agree on various issues, I generally enjoy and appreciate Tonya’s service on the commission. We have in common the fact that we both work with troubled young people professionally, and, as far as I know, we’ve always gotten along well. If she was uncomfortable with anything I’d ever said or done, I never knew it.
At the end of the meeting, Commissioner Scott Helton of District 6 read another prepared statement (interesting, how that worked).
According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Mr. Helton “said he contacted Blount County attorney Rob Goddard and was advised that (fellow Democratic Commissioner and health care provider Dr. Bob Proffitt and I) are violating the county’s conflict-of-interest regulations. And he noted that (I am) a member of the County Commission’s newly selected Ethics Committee.”
It would never have occurred to me to go to the county mayor's attorney directly, as did Mr. Helton. I would assume that had I done so, he would have billed the county for any time involved. That's why I brought my concern to the full commission, and accepted their choice on the matter.
Mr. Helton was apparently referring to the fact that I accept insurance payments in my private practice through the Highlands Health Partnership PPO, which in turn contracts with the county and various other businesses (Mastercraft) and governments (Alcoa, Maryville City Schools, etc.) in the region.
I knew almost immediately where he was going-- because this has been tried before. Former Commissioner Otto Slater once voted to cut the County Commission’s monthly pay. The very next month, he, too, was criticized for contracting with Highlands. Remember that? If not, click here.
Now, what is particularly interesting about all of this is the following:
Both Commissioners Helton and Burchfield, along with nine others, voted AGAINST my request to ask for an attorney's opinion on a potential conflict of interest in July that involved the management or potential influence of $30+ million in county funds. Yet Mr. Helton then turned right around and, per his report, went straight to Mr. Cunningham's attorney to ask about what insurance Dr. Proffitt and I may or may not accept in our small private practices.
Why was that?
Until next time,
~Wendy
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5 comments:
"an accounting mistake that freed up the money, which will be spent on textbooks..."
Gee, I guess it's a good thing that accounting mistake turned up. Times must be awfully tough if we are relying on one-time accounting goofs to fund textbooks. Where did the property tax increase go - more (missing) police cars?
Their choreographed scheme makes perfectly good sense, Wendy. The thing that Helton and Burchfield have in common is that they both have the Sheriff's department as the source of their income. The Sheriff reports that American Fidelity Bank is a source of HIS income. (Look here for the disclosure: http://www.state.tn.us/sos/tec/disclosure/LocalsReport.pdf). You were questioning Mike Lewis' relationship to the same bank their "boss" collects income from! Obviously, this would unnerve SOMEBODY. It is possible that Burchfield and Helton were just following orders.
And while he was at it, Helton should have mentioned that he and Burchfield both "serve" on the Planning Commission, and that the Sheriff is evidently involved with Harmony Properties who is developing the top of Chilhowee Mountain for the rich people of Florida and that maybe, just maybe, they ought to recuse themselves from voting on any planning regulations just in case anything they vote on might benefit the Sheriff.
So you needn't feel that EVERY one was attacking you. Just those with financial interest in the matter you were questioning.
Maybe next time you can ask if the Sheriff's department funds are also kept in Am Fidelity bank and if that is kosher. (Kidding.)
Dear readers,
Because of curious land acquisitions http://www.blounttn.net/smoky.htm, I became interested in all the channels through which our Blount County tax dollars flow. I came to know that the lions share of our General fund, approximately $37 million, was being held in the Green Bank (formerly American Fidelity).
When the ethics committee was formed, I approached Commissioner Reeves with the following hypothetical on June 14, 2007 via e-mail;
Commissioner X is a bank executive. In their executive role, they have the responsibility of increasing profits. The counties general fund is deposited into Commissioner X's bank. In order for a bank to profit, it must have money to loan. The more money they have to loan, the more potential profit. When the general fund is increased so would be the potential to make more loans, thus more profit. Would this be considered a conflict?
I have asked and have not been able to determine whether or not a bank is allowed to give loans against the general fund or if it's in a protected account. This should be established before proposing the hypothetical.
I refrained from using Commissioner Lewis' name then for the same reason I hate to use it now. Mr. Lewis gets high praise from those who know him, and he has headed some impressive civic drives. As the position on the purchasing committee is an appointment by the Mayor, to a certain extent I find Mr. Lewis to be a victim of a situation not of his own creation. But as Commissioner Pitts Reeves has pointed out this is not about the person, it's about the procedures, policies and law. It's not only her duty to attend to these matters as the chairwoman of the ethics committee, but also her duty to follow up on the concerns of a constituent.
While I'm sure there are many checks and balances during Blount's monetary transactions, at the end of the day, I believe the people responsible for taking the deposits should not be the ones writing the checks.
On another note, I hope some elected officials remember that you were appointed by us - not anointed by us. Some of the races won last year were won by a very tight margin. There are people who are going to disagree with you - it's part of the job. It's up to you whether you want those disagreements to be civil or not.
I also hope the good folks of Blount County will watch the commission meeting tonight. If you don't have time to what the entire meeting tune into Channel 5 on Charter at 8:22pm to see Commissioner Burchfield read a statement and 9:14 to watch the specific exchange discussed here and in the press. I think most will find it interesting to see how some in the county are handling our business.
Best Regards,
Kenny Anderson
District 4 constituent
I need to ask a question regarding your prior blog entry on this topic.
What in the world was Bennett doing answering any questions regarding conflicts of interest? He is not an elected offical.
He is not a member of the commission.
He is not a lawyer.
He may wear many hats in Blount County but none that fit his being in the postion to answer ethics questions.
Banking question, yes, those he should answer. But ethics, NO!
As a former resident looking to return to the area, I have been very interested in reading this blog. It seems to me that if you question certain people, or certain actions, you are either removed from the position or you are personally attacked. Where do ALL the Commissioners work, their spouses also? I understand that Mrs. Burchfield's husband works for the Sheriff; she has never mentioned this. Is it true? If so, then she is in direct conflict and should have NO vote on any agenda item that comes before the Commission if it concerns the Sheriff. She should excuse herself from the vote. And Mr. Helton, where does he get his paycheck?
It is a FEDERAL law that you can't just look at information about someone's medical records--without permission. My spouse can't even do that with my giving permission. Federal law always trumps local and state so be very careful. Should someone be talking to their attorney? I think a very large can of worms has been opened.
If you don't know who to vote for, attend one of the Commission meetings. If I am in town on that special night, I do attend, even though I don't live there---yet. Listen to how they talk, their tone, their arrogance, their rudness, their irritation when someone dares to question ANYTHING they have said. Some of them want only "yes" men there, to be dictated to, not thinking and trying to do a good honest job. Believe me, if you want to know where your money is going, just attend these meetings.
And don't rely on your local newspaper. It acts more like a community newsletter than a real honest to goodness news agency. They seem to filter what they report. Do they have an agenda? You know freedom of speech is also threatened when a newspaper decides what to publish, not because it is true but because they don't agree with what is said. It is just another way of repressing the truth.
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