Recently-elected County Commissioner David L. Bolling is a young man on the move: just a week after being sworn in to his first full term on County Commission (he served the remaining few months of his father’s term last year), the Oak Ridger reports that he has been named the new City Manager of Oliver Springs.

Public service experience in County government, financial expertise, a degree in management, plus experience as a city manager… looks like a good candidate for higher office at some point. Like maybe County Mayor?

Yes, I do know him, and think quite highly of him. Oliver Springs is getting a good deal.

The forum on the Oak Ridger’s website is often entertaining, sometimes frustrating, but usually thought provoking; reading comments from the past couple of days on the “Have you been schooled” thread reminded me that the most common cause of citizen frustration with local government stems from not knowing where to go for information or action.

Knowledge is power; an informed constituency is the most powerful force for good government.

** Preface: The following information begins that the beginning. I recognize that many in this community could jury a dissertation on this subject, and if you are one, please do not take offense at the simplified format.
Lesson 1.1: Be courteous. The people you contact, whether elected officials, city or school system administrators or employees, are subject to the same emotions as anyone else (although we learn to hold it in check most of the time), so you’re much more likely to get productive results if you do not initiate the conversation with an insult or accusation.

Lesson 1.2: Understand the roles and responsibilities of elected officials and staff. The role of the School Board is to set policy and allocate resources in accordance through adopting the budget; similarly, the role of the City Council is to set policy for the City, adopt a budget allocating resources in support of its policies. Included in the City Council’s policy responsibilities are things like adopting local ordinances (laws), appointing citizens to various boards like the Planning Commission, and so forth.

It is the job of the City Manager, Jim O’Connor, to implement the budget and policies adopted by Council, which includes managing the departments and personnel. Likewise, the Director of Schools (also known as Superintendent), Tom Bailey, implements the policies and budget adopted by the School Board, and is accountable for all the schools and staff.

Both City Council and the School board have only one employee each: the City Manager, and the Director of Schools, respectively. The School Board does not hire (or fire) teachers, principals, coaches, or custodians; the City Council does not hire (or fire) department heads (fire chief, police chief, etc.) nor employees in any city department.

Both the City Manager and the Director of Schools have a great deal of authority over personnel, primarily through the respective department heads.

1.2(a): Finance. The school system receives approximately one-fourth of its general purpose education funding from the City of Oak Ridge. The School Board has no taxing authority, and must rely on the will of City Council to fund our local school system (above State and County funding levels) according to the justification of needs presented by the Board in the budget. In turn, City Council cannot dictate how that money will be used, as appropriating funds within the school system is the job of the School Board.

City Council must balance the needs of the school system with needs of other city departments and services. If necessary, they have the authority to increase the property tax rate to meet the combined needs.

Lesson 1.3: Follow the chain of command first – it usually works much better and faster.
Generally, speak first to the individual with whom you have a problem or disagreement. If the situation cannot be resolved or the person is unresponsive to reasonable efforts to contact them, go next to that person’s immediate supervisor.

• School system chain of command and contact info (quick reference)
• City government chain of command and contact info (coming soon)

I attended the swearing-in ceremonies for the new county officials this morning, and it was interesting to watch.  Even more interesting waiting for the festivities to begin, listening to the courthouse whispers.

Immediately after the ceremony, I moved over to an adjacent courtroom to listen to the first hearing in David Stuart’s suit to void the August election for General Sessions Judge, on the basis that election law was clearly and deliberately violated.  Statutory time limits for voting were deliberately not enforced, voter identification was not checked in at least two polling places, and paper ballots were improperly issued in one precinct, but were not used in others where it might have mitigated the delay that caused some to not be able to wait and vote.
While Judge Blackwood agreed that “certain statutory provisions were violated, and that those violations were deliberate,” he also held that “to void an election, it must also be shown that the violations were in an attempt to affect the outcome.”

The complaint was that the election was procedurally flawed, but not that the election commission had done so in an attempt to commit election fraud.  As a result, Blackwood upheld the defendants’ motion to dismiss.   It’s over, and Don Layton will be General Sessions Judge for eight more years.

* * *

Just a few days ago I wrote about ex-Judge Thomas Austin, now convict Austin awaiting sentencing on corruption charges.  In the courtroom this morning, someone grabbed me and out of the blue asked, “Did you know?  How did you know?”  I was thoroughly confused, and had to ask what they were talking about.

It was the Austin post on this blog that spurred the question, and it seems that this person knew that Judge Layton and Alan Beauchamp had helped Austin figure out how to set up the driving school and probation department, from which he was receiving kickbacks.  Layton had bragged about helping Austin set it up, and the person who approached me had heard it firsthand.

No, I didn’t know.  It just struck me, as I was reading the newspaper last Saturday, that there were some creepy similarities between the fee-for-service offices set up by the court and the potential for malfesance.   It’s just hearsay at this point and does not necessarily mean that there are kickbacks and corruption in our own county, but watch for someone to be looking closely for evidence of wrongdoing.

The corruption saga of Roane County’s Judge Thomas Alva Austin continues this morning in two News-Sentinel pieces: one paints a tragic picture of a man distraught by his wife’s extramarital lesbian affair; the second reveals a coarse and corrupt parasite, extorting financial and personal gains from the public he was paid to serve.

The defense, led by Greg Isaacs, is pleading for leniency based upon the personal hardship he faced, which they claim drove him to reckless ruin.

The prosecution, led by US Attorney Charles Atchley, is pushing for a heftier sentence:

“This case represents an almost incomprehensible breach of the public trust”
“He is corrupt to his core”

Audio recordings of Austin’s own words support the US Attorney’s contention that a tougher sentence is warranted.

Austin on sexual harassment:

“See, back when I first started, you didn’t have to worry about that. They didn’t have no court judiciary and all that (expletive). I’ve granted girls divorces in the morning and (expletive) them that afternoon.”

Austin on financial kickbacks:

“Well, you need two books. What you don’t report, you don’t need to put in the bank.”

The two men who ultimately reported Austin to the FBI were a juvenile court employee tapped by Austin to head a driving school for motor vehicle offenders, and the probation chief. The video and audio recordings are damning.

The whole situation does illuminate the potential for corruption within law enforcement and the judicial system. Where a judge has the power to require persons before his court to participate in “fee for service” activities — whether driving school, parenting classes, or probation — there exists the necessity to keep a close eye on the money trail. Especially when the people in charge of those fee-for-service activities are handpicked by the judge who refers “customers.”

Properly conducted, these services provide value to the public… except when the goal is personal and/or financial gratification at the public’s expense. It’s worth thinking about the details of this particular corruption scheme, now exposed, and looking for similarities that may exist closer to home.

The first hearing in the contested August election for General Sessions Judge will be on September 1, according to the Oak Ridger. It’s just a touch of irony that Layton, the disputed winner, will be sworn in only an hour earlier.

Whatever you may think about the new e-Slate voting machines, one advantage is that much more data can be gleaned than under the previous system. Information like how long each voter took to cast his or her ballot, which is central to the premise of the suit.

With the Probation Department being disbanded, does it still matter?

Actually, yes. Eliminating the Probation Department, or more specifically, removing Alan Beauchamp from the position where there were serious, formal allegations of wrongdoing, is only one part of the problem. And, Beauchamp is still a County employee, so it’s not like Anderson County has cleaned up its act.

There remains the complaint that persons appearing before the General Sessions Court in Clinton are often treated rudely, including police officers. Also remaining is the question about the propriety of having persons with business before the court referred to programs only available in Anderson County, such as the 9-hour parenting class (State law requires only 8).

Contesting an August election is risky business, as the logical recourse is to hold a new election in November, concurrent with State and Federal races. Given that many more people will vote in November than voted in August (at least that’s the pattern), how many even know anything about this race? How many will still care?

Any thoughts on whether the suit will prevail, and if so, whether the new result will differ from the first one?

The podcast for David Stuart‘s appearance on WYSH this morning hasn’t been posted yet, but you’ll find it here when or if they get around to it. The topic of discussion was his challenge of the election results, based upon a little-known law that was apparently ignored.

You can agree or disagree with the law, but it is what it is. Although I missed the first 20 minutes or so, most callers seemed unhappy with the problems on election day, but supportive of Stuart’s action.

The Oak Ridger’s “breaking news” from Friday afternoon confirms that challenges have been filed in three County races following the Aug. 3 election: General Sessions Judge candidate David Stuart, along with County Commission candidates Joe Lee (Dist. 7) and Harold Whited (Dist. 3).

David Stuart will be on WYSH‘s “Ask Your Neighbor” program tomorrow — Monday, Aug. 14 — from 10-11 a.m. The radio broadcast (AM 1380) is hard to pick up in some parts of Oak Ridge, but they also broadcast over the internet from their website, and simulcast on Comcast Channel 12. The call-in number is 457-1380.

I’m usually not a proponent of challenging election results, but there were problems in this election. Given the closeness of some of the races, the results are questionable. If nothing else, hopefully the court challenge will cause changes to eliminate the excessively long lines that kept a large number of people from voting.

In 2002, 19,750 people voted. There was a US Senate primary (Lamar Alexander v. Ed Bryant), but not nearly as heated as this year’s Corker-Bryant-Hilleary battle. The County General had four contests in the countywide races: County Executive (Lynch v. Rick Meredith); Sheriff (Bill White v. David Beams); County Clerk (Jeff Cole v. Jack Copeland); and Register of Deeds (Tim Shelton v. Anita Vines).

This year, there were more contested local races, as well as a US Senate primary that was even higher profile than four years ago. One would have expected the voter turnout to be equal, if not greater. Yet, it was only 15,232, a decline of 4,518 voters.

It’s impossible to know exactly how many people left because of the long lines, but 4,518 additional voters could have made a huge difference in the outcome.

In Highland View, approximately 225 people voted on election day… but anecdotal reports are that half the people who showed up left without voting.

In Fairview, the number voting on election day was only nominally more than the number who had voted early… a very surprising statistic, given that election day turnout should be 60-65% of the total following normal patterns.

There’s no way I can see to discern whether these missing or disenfranchised voters would have voted for the candidates who came up a few votes short, or whether their votes would have mirrored the rest of the returns… but it is the reason we have legal recourse when there is doubt.

I do not know how the judge will rule; if there is a re-vote, I do not know who will win. But I’ll be listening on Monday to hear what David Stuart — an acknowledged expert on civil liberties etc. — has to say about it.

WYSH broke the news yesterday, and the Knoxville News-Sentinel carries a longer story this morning. The Anderson County Probation Department will be dissolved by year’s end, with duties likely transferred to a private company.

County Mayor Lynch’s explanation rings hollow to me, though. While he cites his reasoning (in the KNS article) as the scandal that has plagued the department and it’s director, Alan Beauchamp,

there’s so much negative feedback, it gets to the point that it’s not worth it,” he said.

Rumors and lingering reports of scandal have dogged the department and its high-profile director, Alan Beauchamp, for the past few years.

he also maintains “no evidence” of wrongdoing:

“Everybody has accused these people, but nobody has come forward with evidence,” Lynch said. “It’s best to get it (the probation department) back in the private sector’s hands.”

Somehow, this looks like an opportunity for Beauchamp and his employees to form a private company and do the same thing with less oversight. And, that would remove County officeholders by one step from Beauchamp’s outside activities, like his other two existing businesses — the e-zine and tv show, “Inside Anderson County,” as well as his political consulting business, Energy Media.

Stay tuned. I can’t imagine this saga is finished.