The Cumberland County Mayor's race in the Republican primary was an interesting race with little controversy. Foster's strong showing for his time on the Board of Education and the County Commission do not put him in the Courthouse office until after the August County General Election when he will face Independent Candidate Sandra Davis.
All vote counts are unofficial until approved by the Election Commission.
Foster has been in the lead since the first results were released followed by Tim Claflin in second place and Danny Wyatt in Third. Foster took 45 Percent of the ballots with Claflin taking 16 percent and Wyatt at 13 percent.
The closest race was the race for Road Superintendent with incumbent Scott Blaylock beating out challenger Stanley Hall by 46 percent to 44 percent.
Scott Blaylock
The race for Circuit Court Clerk was something of a blow out with Jessica Burgess taking the race with 80 percent of the votes to Nick Neal's 19 percent.
Jessica Burgess
Races decided before the first votes were cast include Incumbents Casey Cox for Sheriff, Jule Bryson for County Clerk, Judy Graham Swallows for Register of Deeds and Kim Tollet Wyatt for County Trustee.
The agenda item that had the potential
to create the biggest controversy during last week's special called
Crossville city council meeting was pulled quickly by proponent,
councilman Jesse Kerley.
Councilman Jesse Kerley requested the item seeking action by the DA
but pulled the item without any discussion.
In addition, one item discussed at some
length during the regular council meeting and one of the reasons
given for having the special called meeting, the hiring of a city
comptroller, was not even on the agenda.
When the final item on the agenda,
listed as “Request for action by the district attorney's office,”
was called Councilman Jesse Kerley who requested the item to be
placed on the agenda said he was pulling that item. He then quickly
moved to adjourn the meeting.
The item was reportedly concerning
allegations of extortion against councilman Pete Souza over
derogatory items that had been in interim city manager Steve Hill's
personnel file but have since removed from his file by Mr. Hill.
Interim city manager Steve Hill's term has been controversial
District
Attorney Bryant Dunaway confirmed that the issue had been discussed
at a meeting with him, Mr. Kerley, Mr. Hill and then police chief
Rod Shoap. Dunaway said that the information and complaint that he
received on the matter did not come to a level that warranted any
charges.
The
item concerning the hiring of a city comptroller was pulled from the
agenda by councilman Danny Wyatt who said he did not have support for
his proposal.
Before
the meeting was adjourned Mr. Hill asked the council about the
deadline on city manager applications. The recently set deadline was
October 15. That date falls on a Saturday and Hill asked the council
if they wanted to cut off applications the Friday before or the
Monday after. A quick poll put the deadline at Monday October 17.
Immediately following the council meeting, Mr. Kerley's and Mr. Wyatt's vehicles were spotted together at the Beef and Barrel restaurant.
Mr. Kerley's vehicle on the left and Mr. Wyatt's pickup truck are parked nose to nose following Friday's noon called council meeting. If the two councilmen discussed any city business, they were potentially in violation of the Tennessee sunshine law.
A majority of the Crossville city
council approved with moving forward to hire a new city manager
without waiting until after the November council election as
previously approved.
The agenda item on the special called meeting Friday July 22 was proposed by mayor
pro-tem Pamala Harris and she said she had a comment to make at the
start of the agenda item.
Council members Danny Wyatt, Mayor James Mayberry, Pamala Harris and Jesse Kerley
Said Harris, “It has come to my
attention that there are rumors floating around regarding this agenda
item. I will caution you not to listen to rumors. There are some
people who thrive on rumors and conspiracy theories and who frankly
have harmed our city by spreading misinformation and making
accusations against this council and other citizens that are
unfounded. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm tired of this
nonsense. So I'm going to ask everyone to join me in rejecting the
rumors and gossip. Let's get on with the business of this city and
make Crossville an even better place than we know it is today.”
Harris did not specify who and what the
rumor was she was discussing, but in one email that circulated prior
to the meeting, councilman Pete Souza wrote in an email Monday July
18 that there was a rumor that J. H. Graham was going to apply.
Wrote Souza, “That would truly be a coincidence. I look forward to
see how this is going to play out, especially the reaction from our
constituents.
While Mr. Souza advised the council
that he would be unable to attend a called meeting scheduled for the
week, the meeting was scheduled and Mr. Souza was absent.
Ms. Harris moved on with her item
saying, “The hiring of a city manger is incredibly important. I
personally would like to take my time when reviewing resumes and
vetting candidates to ensure that who ever we hire is qualified, is a
leader, and desires to work well with the full council, and I stress
full council, and wants to become a part of our community.”
Harris moved to rescind the previous
action of April 14, 2016 to wait until after the election to recruit
and hire a new city manager. Harris' motion received a second from
councilman Jesse Kerley.
Mayor James Mayberry asked city
attorney Will Ridely on the necessary vote count to rescind a
previous motion and Ridley told him because the item was properly
listed on the agenda only a simple majority was necessary but under
Robert's rules, if it was not listed on the agenda it would require a
2/3 majority.
Ms. Harris said that she did not know
if the city could hire a manager before the election, but she wanted
to start the process. Councilman Wyatt said that at least three
members of the current council would still be on the council after
November so he didn't see it as an issue.
Mr. Kerley said the only reason he
supported a delay in looking for a manager was to see where the
recall effort went. Said Kerley, “Since it failed miserably, I
think it's time to move on.”
The motion passed with all members
present voting in favor.
Harris then moved to move forward with
contacting the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) for
assistance with recruiting a city manager, and accepting resumes over
the next 60 days, and to direct the city attorney to review and edit
the current job description, and the council is to be given copies of
the resumes as they are received.
Councilman Danny Wyatt gave the second
on the motion and asked about using MTAS and Mayor Mayberry read from
information provided by MTAS about the services they provide. Those
services are listed below.
Motion was approved with all four
council members present voting in favor.
Video of the city manager discussion during the called meeting held July 22, 2016
SERVICES MTAS CAN PROVIDE TO THE CITY:
Advertisements
Offering suggestions on where to advertise
Placing notices on the MTAS website
Requesting other state’s city management associations to post job notices
Using MTAS consultants to help recruit former colleagues and current and past clients
for positions
Applications
Accepting applications
Handling application correspondence
Ranking applications
Supplying a ranking system of applications for the elected officials to use based on the
advertisement and/or qualities the board desires to have in an administrator
Interviews
Facilitating discussions with the governing body on narrowing the list of applicants to
invite for an interview
Scheduling interviews with candidates
Writing interview questions specifically tailored for the town that address current issues,
criteria specified in the advertisement, and core competencies
Supplying a ranking system for interviews
Conducting and ranking interviews with a senior staff member to assist the governing
body in making its decision on who to bring back for a second interview
Supplying a list of generic interview questions for the governing body to select from
Proctoring interviews
Providing cost estimates of hosting interviews
Developing and proctoring assessment centers
Employment
Providing sample employment contracts for the governing body to consider
Providing comparable salary and benefit information
For several months, councilman Pete Souza has put an item on the agenda to try and reverse changes to the standing rules that would reinstate regular monthly work session and public comments during discussion of an agenda item.
It did not go as planned.Wyatt moved to change the standing rules so as not to allow an item to be on the council's agenda for 90 days after an item fails to pass. Before receiving a second, the motion was cleared with city attorney Will Ridley who said it would be legal for the council to put on itself.
Councilman Jesse Kerley seconded the motion.
Mr. Souza said, "I want to bring to the council's attention that this has far reaching effects, not just for what I've brought here today, If this motion is just to censor Pete Souza, it has far reaching effects on every member of this council."
Mayor Mayberry said he recalled the first motion to come back to the council during his term was on the sponsorship of a golf tournament.
The motion passed with council members Wyatt, Kerley and Pam Harris voting in favor. Mr. Souza and Mayor Mayberry were opposed.
One recent example of bringing an item back to council after being voted down was the Community Development Block Grant for $500,000 that the council voted down on a Thursday and called a special meeting the next Monday to reconsider and approve after reconsidering the action.
The Crossville city council approved
the funding of the $40,000 that they promised the Chamber of Commerce
last year with some caveats and oversight.
The chamber had brought the proposal to
both the city and the county seeking $40,000 each from both
governments contingent upon the raising of $120,000 of donations by
the chamber as match funds to create a $200,000 fund for economic
development following the release of the Horizon Initiative plan.
City council discusses and takes action on funding deal
Crossville mayor James Mayberry moved
to release the economic development funds following a report by
chamber president and CEO Brad Allamong that they had cash receipts
and commitments totaling $132,000. Councilman Pete Souza seconded
the motion.
Councilman Danny Wyatt commented that
he felt there should be an oversight committee appointed by private
donors and the city and county and he would not support it without
such a committee. Brad Allamong told the council that the chamber's
finance committee was made up of representatives including city
finance director Fred Houston as well as county finance director
Nathan Brock. In addition, Allamong explained that the donors would
be involved in selecting the consultants used for the studies
proposed as well.
Councilman Jesse Kerley added that
while the chamber says they have commitments for the full amount of
funds adding, “in my mind if this money's not in the bank, it's not
been raised yet.”
Councilwoman Pam Harris asked Allamong
when he thought the funds would be collected? Allamong said the
chamber had received $12,000 in checks that day and another large
contribution of $10,000 they are expecting as well as a few smaller
checks. “We've had 100 percent collections,” added Allamong.
Ms. Harris suggested that the motion be
amended to add an oversight committee and collection of the full
$120,000 to the original motion.
Mr. Souza said the council could make
the adjustments to the motion but said he felt it came down to, “Do
we want to support this program or do we not want to support it? I
think that what it boils down to.
Ms. Harris stressed, “I want to
support this program. My motion would be a compromise that might be
more agreeable to the full council. After some discussion, Ms.
Harris moved to amend the motion with the addition of the
contingencies of collecting the required $120,000 in the bank and
formation of an oversight committee. The motion to amend was
seconded by Mr. Souza.
The amendment was approved with 4 yes
votes. Mr Wyatt voted no saying “because it wasn't stipulated who
would appoint the oversight committee.” The vote to approve the
motion as amended was the same with 4 ayes and Mr. Wyatt opposed.
Brad Allamong of the Chamber reports to the council prior to the funding discussion.
Just before the action on the funding
release request, Mr. Allamong talked to the council about where the
Horizon Initiative stands and what the total $200,000 plus will be
used for. The plan includes a targeted industry analysis and
workforce strategies totaling $120,000, workforce development
programs at a cost of $10,000, funding for a basic economic
development office that includes a support person and and necessary
resources at $48,000 and a feasibility study for a multi-year
campaign at a cost of $25,000.
Allamong continued, “The campaign was
for some very specific things. We wanted a targeted industry
analysis that will give us a professional consultant's look at the
resources of Cumberland County, the land, the utilities, the
workforce, etc. What are those companies that are in the expansion
mode that we could attract and it's in their best interest to be
here.”
“Workforce development strategy was
another thing we want to do,” said Allamong. “Before we go out
and do a bunch of programs, which may well cure some of our workforce
ills. Tell us what the strategy is and then the programs follow.
The targeted industry with the workforce strategy will tell you that
you need to work on bringing these companies here.
In the morning before the council met, the chamber held a media announcement to talk about the Horizon program and funding as well as what they hoped to accomplish.
Chamber's full press conference on the Horizon fundraising program and
The Crossville city council spent an hour Friday June 24 reviewing the 2016-17 fiscal year budget in preparation of approving the final reading Monday June 27 at noon.
The budget stands at $1.2 million in the red with final adjustments made by finance director Fred Houston. Those adjustments include projects carrying over from one year to the next. Link to PDF file of the full 2016-17 budget document.
The budget includes funds for the city to join the county's radio system and a new detective position for the police department. Councilman Jesse Kerley questioned the need for the new detective position at a cost of $50,000 to $70,000 a year. He felt the funds would be better used for new sidewalks.
Police chief Rod Shoap told the council he offered the additional positions as one of several options to improve service to city residents. Shoap said that the council makes the decision and with out the new position his department would do at least as well as last year and possibly better.
"It's my job to give you the best information and you make the best decision," Shoap told the council.
Crossville Mayor James Mayberry, right, makes a point on the discussion of the 2016-17 budget while council members Pamala Harris, second from right and Pete Souza third from right listen.
The city's water and sewer budget includes a 2 percent increase in water rates and 5 percent increase in sewer rates. Those increases have been directed by the state comptroller's office after reviewing the budget numbers for the department.
Council discussed the changes in funding from the E-911 and additional money is budgeted for the operation as the E-911 board has lost some funding and will not be paying one third of the operational costs as in previous years. The state law only requires that the E-911 use its funds to maintain the equipment.
At the very end of the meeting, councilman Pete Souza suggested that the council be polled to determine if any changes should be made to the budget that had been discussed of the budget as presented put on the agenda for third and final reading at the special called meeting on Monday June 27 at noon.
Mayor James Mayberry said he wanted the budget as presented and Mr. Souza agreed. Council member Pamala Harris said she felt the detective could be left in the budget but wait a few months before the position is filled until things can be ironed out.
After learning that the recall petition has been withdrawn to have myself and Council Member Harris removed from the Council, I believe the people have spoken - again. I was elected to the City Council to serve the people to the best of my ability and that is what I have tried to do. I believe in our City and its people. We have much work to do and I think we can do it if we join together for the common cause of progress for our town. It has not been easy with the problems the Council has been subjected to over the years, but that does not mean we can simply throw in the towel. I will continue to serve the people through all adversity to make certain our city grows and provides the best services to the taxpayers. I will not address the ones who wish to cause turmoil and disarray for the council. They have their reasons and causes but they are outweighed by the greater objective of tending to the business at hand - making Crossville the best place possible to live, work and play. I want to thank the voters who put me in this position and will continue to diligently serve your best interest.
A press release issued by Howard Burnette of Crossville, the man behind recent recall efforts, says he is no longer perusing the recalls against Danny Wyatt and Pamala Harris.
The letter gives a number of reasons and outlines issues with city councilman Jesse Kerley including incidents previously reported on social media that he Danny Wyatt had confronted Burnette at the Crossville flea market a few weeks ago.
Burnette's letter says that he believe ending the the campaign "is in the best interest of the safety of me and my family." The timing of the letter is interesting considering the group had only four more days (June 24) to come up with the necessary 2225 signatures needed to put the recall on the ballot for November 8 election.
Burnette's letter alleges "threats and actions by council member Kerley." Burnette also wrote that he had witnessed what he called, "the assault on council member Souza" and described alleged vandalism incidents at the Mockingbird Drive home of J. R. Blankenship. None of the items brought up in the letter have resulted in any known charges.
We attempted to reach Burnette hoping to find out how many signatures the group had actually collected, but when he returned the call, he said he had told all his supporters to stop collecting signatures. Burnette said he did not know how many signatures they had. There has been much speculation that the group was still short of the necessary number of signatures.
Councilman Danny Wyatt, one targets of the recall efforts, commented on the end of the recall efforts, "There's no hard feelings. I'd like to thank Howard and his supporters, They exercised their first amendment rights and did what they thought was right. I'd especially like to thank the people of Crossville that supported me and didn't support the recall. I think we need to dust off and try to continue to make Crossville be the best place that its been for years."
Here is a video of Howard Burnette speaking before the Crossville city council at the April regular meeting stating that he wanted a completely new city council.
Are they political or are they not? That is the
question about the signs put up in support of the recall effort
against city council members Danny Wyatt and Pamala Harris.
Do these qualify as political signs or not?
The city of Crossville's sign ordinance
has an exclusion that allows political signs while outlawing other
similar temporary signs that are not political. But even political
signs can not be put up as to block views and create hazards for
drivers.
Councilman Souza working on recall sign
Thursday evening before the city
council's meeting, city officials including city manager Steve Hill, city attorney Will Ridley and codes department director Jeff Kerley met with councilman Pete Souza who
has been seen putting up and working on some of the Crossville recall
group's signs. According to the discussion, it appears that the
current signs may not be political based on the opinion of Cumberland
County Administrator of Elections Jill Davis.
Councilman Souza said that if it was
clear that the signs did not qualify as political messages, he would
have them taken them down. Souza said that the city has removed
signs before that have been a hazard and usually those signs are
collected and the city tries to contact the person they belong to and
will hold them for a few days so they can be picked up.
City codes director Jeff Kerley said
that he felt the ordinance on signs needed to be fixed, adding that
it had many holes in it. He added that all signs need to be treated
the same way. Councilman Souza also agreed that for the enforcement
to be fair it had to treat all signs the same.
While the matter of signs did not come
up during the city council agenda, during the meeting a pickup truck
was parked in the parking lot in front of city hall with another sign
in the back. The same truck was at last month's meeting with a
different sign and appears to be brought to city hall by J. R.
Blankenship who reportedly has put up the signs on Mockingbird Drive
that mention councilman Jesse Kerley.
Parking lot political sign
The signs around town were brought up
during a public comment at the end of the meeting. Citizen Bill
Harwell complained about the political signs as well as the signs on
Mockingbird Drive. Mr. Harwell started by reading some of the 101st
Psalm and followed up with a discussion of the signs.
Public comments by Bill Harwell
Harwell said that county election
coordinator had told him that it was not political season yet and the
signs did not qualify as political signs. He said the signs were in
violation of federal voting codes. He also felt the sings on
Mockingbird land should be brought down or at least brought to
someone's attention.
Crossville mayor James Mayberry asked
if Harwell's comments were in reference to the earlier meeting and
Harwell responded that they were. Mayberry said he was sure those
involved in the meeting would looking into this.
While admitting that the Crossville
city council had no “dog in the hunt” over the proposed wind farm
project near Crab Orchard, city councilman Danny Wyatt proposed that
the city not support the project and encourage the county to do the
same.
Reasons given by Mr. Wyatt for his
motion include, “the effect on our natural beauty and tourism.”
Wyatt also claimed that the project had “a large amount of tax
subsidy tied to it.” Wyatt's motion was supported by councilman
Jesse Kerley and after lengthy discussion was approved.
Mayor James Mayberry stated that there
were people in favor of the project and people opposed. Mayberry
added that he personally had business in that area and he would
abstain when it was time for a vote.
Councilman Pete Souza sought the floor
and spoke in support of the project saying he was disappointed by
Sen. Alexander's letter. He added, “I have some reservations
about information that was provided by government mail outs.” He
said there were tousits destinations like Pebble Beach and Palm
Springs that had wind mills and they did not seem to bother them any.
Council members discuss the proposed wind farm near Crab Orchard. L-R are Pete Souza, Danny Wyatt, Mayor James Mayberry, Jesse Kerley and city clerk Sally Oglesby
Souza said you can drive all over the
US and see them, especially out west, “I was out underneath one
three weeks ago and I didn't hear any noises. Souza continued saying
comments were made that the power was not needed and he reminded the
audience that when there was a drought that electric customers had
been asked to turn their air conditioner's off during the day. He
explained that the power gird in the US and Canada are all tied
together and power generated at Hoover Dam or Oxbow were all tied to
lines here.
“People are worried about nuclear
waste, continued Souza, “Some people worry about the safety.
People don't want to dam up anymore rivers and stop the fish, no more
hydroelectricity. They don't want solar panels because it obstructs
the travel of tortoises. They don't want wind farms because it may
kill birds or make noise or whatever.”
“Somebody's got to start thinking,
because since I lived in this county, I've seen the county grow. So,
are we going to use renewable power?” Souza said he had close
friends that were opposed to the project.
Souza summed up, “I believe this is
not going to hurt the county. I think that that's misinformation.”
He added that the use of grant money depends on which side of the
argument you want to stand on. He added, “We use it all the time.
I'm not going to support this.”
Councilman Wyatt responded saying he
didn't want to take a chance of us losing our appeal of our
community. “That's how we got to where were at.” Wyatt ticked
off elected officials that opposed the project including state
representative Cameron Sexton, US Representative Diane Black, state
senator Paul Bailey and US senator Lamar Alexander.
Said Wyatt, “I'd like someone to tell
me one positive point to this. It's not going to have any local jobs
to speak of.”
Mayor Mayberry responded saying
“property tax.” He added that the tax on the windmills was
estimated to provide $364,000 in property tax per year, the
equivalent to a 2 cent tax increase according to Mayberry.
Souza spoke again and said more
positive was that the works who would build the project would be
staying here and spending money here and it would take a long time to
build the project. He said that spending would also generate tax
revenue though he couldn't say how much that would be. The third
thing Souza mentioned was power and the nationwide need for it.
Councilman Jesse Kerley thanked Mr.
Wyatt for putting the item on the agenda as it is a subject he's been
discussing with other people. Kerley added, “There's a lot of
unhappy folks out there and I don't think I've run into a one besides
Mr. Souza here who actually supports this.”
The vote recorded with two votes in
favor was approved. Mr. Souza was opposed and Mr. Mayberry
abstained. Council member Pamala Harris was absent from the meeting.
At the public comment time at the end
of the council meeting, citizen Randall Kidwell also spoke in
opposition to the wind farm project.
The Crossville city council has their
regular June meeting scheduled for Thursday June 9 and agenda items
include the council's standing rules once again, public comment and
first amendment rights as well as a discussion on the Apex wind farm
proposed for Crab Orchard.
In addition, a public hearing is
scheduled for 5:30 pm prior to the regular meeting as well as the
second readings of the budget and tax rate ordinances leaving one
final reading for final approval expected to come later in the month.
The schedule for the evening includes
5:00 pm Audit committee meeting
5:30 pm Public hearing on proposed
2016-17 city budget.
5:50 pm Public hearing on annexation of
103 Meadowview Ln.
6:00 pm Regular Council meeting
The consent agenda includes the
readings of the budget and tax rate unless a council member requests
that they be pulled out for either discussion or separate vote. A
long list of annual bids on supplies purchased for the upcoming year
is expected to be a consent list as well and bids on several items
including the infrared FLIR camera for the police department's drone
are on the agenda.
For the third month in a row,
councilman Pete Souza is asking the council to consider rescinding
the council standing rules adopted March 10 this year that abolished
the monthly work sessions and public comment except at the end of the
council's meetings. The previous two times have been unsuccessful.
Another item requested for the agenda
by Mr. Souza is titled “Discussion and possible action on failure
to comply with the standard rules and Robert's Rules during the May
12, 2016 regular scheduled meeting, and violation of first amendment
rights." When asked about the item, Mr. Souza said it was about “the
right for people to speak without being interrupted and the right of
an individual to criticize public officials without abusive behavior.
To be told that they couldn't say anything derogatory about elected
officials is incorrect.” Souza continued by saying, “The council
does not have the right to just blurt in and take over the council
chambers without being recognized.”
Councilman Danny Wyatt has requested to
discuss the impact of the Apex wind farm on Crossville. Wyatt also
wants to discuss the proposed Crossville Memorial Airport Aviation
Hall of Fame and recognizing former councilman, the late Boyd Wyatt,
Sr. for his service and support of the airport.
Other agenda items include a presentation by Hospice, the city manager and city attorney reports, the marketing report and the final reading to approve the budget amendment to pay the severance package to former city manager David Rutherford.
Letters promoting the recall of council members Danny Wyatt and Pamala Harris are being mailed to registered Crossville city voters along with copies of the two petitions that need 2225 registered Crossville city voter's signatures by June 24 in order to get the recall question on the November ballot.
The letters are signed as "Crossville Citizens for Good Government, Howard Burnette, Jr. Treasurer and include a self addressed stamped envelope for them to be returned.
The letters include statements saying that Wyatt and Harris "took away Crossville citizen's rights to make public comments or ask questions until after the council has already voted on any issue or resolution."
The letter talks about scheduling called meeting during the day and on short notice and doing away with the monthly work sessions. The letter concludes by claiming that because the work sessions have been eliminated, that "the city's business gets discussed in secret conversations and in violation of the states open meeting laws."
The letter asks the recipient to sign the petitions and get their friends and neighbors to sign as well and return them in the envelope provided. An image of the full letter is below.
The recall proponents have not responded to questions concerning how many signatures they have collected so far. If petitions are turned in to the election commission they do become a public record.
A potential change in the design of the
downtown Crossville sidewalk project will either remove the
intersection of 127-N and Lantana Road at the bottom of Watertank
Hill or potentially increase the cost of the project by about
$293,000.
Another alternative discussed by
Council members Danny Wyatt and Jesse Kerley would delay the sidewalk
improvement project over 2 to 3 years allowing it to be done by city
employees was discussed but there are several issues with that
change. No decision was made on the project and a work session is
expected to discuss the project in June.
The problem is with the height of the
mounts for the traffic signal at the bottom of water tank hill and an
easy fix has not be allowed by TDOT. According to city engineer Tim
Begley, that leaves the alternatives of either not completing the
sidewalks at that intersection or replacing the traffic signal at
that intersection. The cost of the new signal and the addition of
conduits to tie the traffic signals together from Lantana Road to
First Street and Fourth Street is estimated at $293,000 including
engineering fees.
Begley said that he feels the estimate
is a bit high. He added that with the sidewalk project and the
replacement of street lights, the traffic signal conduit can use the
same trench as the power for the new traffic lights.
Councilman Danny Wyatt asked Begley if
it was possible for the city to redo the sidewalks piecemeal over a
period of 2 to 3 years with city staff doing the work.
Begley said, “We've put the state off
for two years on paving Main Street and I think they are going to
pave it next year regardless. I think they're going to have to.”
Mayor James Mayberry asked if the
project had already been approved by the council and Begley responded
that it had been. Mayberry continued his questions asking if the
project hadn't been under discussion for some 8 years and over $4.5
million in grants returned. Mayberry asked, “Why do you want to
back up now and start talking about patches?”
Wyatt responded, “I'm just asking
questions mayor.”
Councilman Jesse Kerley asked, “Why
was that project never put on a referendum? It's only went through 5
elections.” Kerley then answered his own questions, “I can tell
you why, because it wouldn't pass.”
Street department supervisor Kevin
Music told the council that he would do whatever they wanted but it
would take a longer time based on the other projects his department
is working on.
Councilman Wyatt said he'd like to know
the cost numbers if the sidewalks were done in house with city crews.
Wyatt said he though all the intersections had ADA ramps installed.
Mr. Music repsonded and said not all the intersections had ramps and
when the state comes in they will mill 4 inches of asphalt off and
only put 2 inches back so the current ramps would no longer be even
with the pavement.
Begley pointed out that the ADA was not
just at the corners, but also where the entrances to the Main Street
businesses are.
Wyatt responded saying there were many
businesses and residences in the city that had no sidewalks. “If we
could do this for $300 instead of $3 million. You're the engineer
and I'd like to know if it is possible to do that,” added Mr.
Wyatt.
Mayor Mayberry asked if TDOT would fix
the corners when they paved the road. Mr. Begley said they would fix
what they could but there were several corners they could not bring
up to standards.
Mr. Wyatt asked the city engineer if he
could get some numbers together by the next meeting along with the
time frame. Begley said he thought they could do that in 4 weeks.
Mr. Kerley commented that he felt a work session might be better
suited to discuss such a big project and such a work session is
expected to be arranged sometime in June.
An item on the agenda of the May Crossville city council meeting requested by councilman Jesse Kerley was to question Howard Burnette, the man that leads the group behind the recall efforts against council members Danny Wyatt and Pam Harris.
Kerley said there was information he had read on the site that he questioned but had since been changed. Also, Howard Burnette was not present at the meeting so Kerley made brief comments and the council meeting moved on until the end of the meeting and the time of public comment.
One man got up to speak on behalf of the recall website and gave an explanation of the website and at one point it appeared he might be removed from the meeting by police. The man refused to identify him self but had spoken previously at another council meeting and is car salesman Jeff Dahlberg.
Dahlberg tried to tell the council that Howard Burnette had nothing to do with the website crossvillerecall.org but at the bottom of that site's home page it states that the page is "copyright 2016 by Crossville Citizens for Good Government" The paperwork filed with the local election office shows that the only name on those filings lists Howard Burnette as the groups treasurer.
Another notice indicates that artwork is copyrighted by Advantamax with a link to that businesse's website that says it is still under construction. Checking sources, it appears that Advantamax was once registered as a corporation with the state of Tennessee at an address in Goodlestville but has been administratively dissolved since 2002 for failing to file paperwork.
While he is not a target of the current recall drive as he is already up for reelection in November, councilman Jesse Kerley put an item on the May Crossville city council meeting concerning information on the website promoting the recall. Operated by the organization known as "Crossville Citizens for Good Government," the webpage has information criticizing actions of council members Danny Wyatt and Pam Harris the group is hoping to remove from office. Kerley's agenda item seeks permission from the council to question Howard Burnette about information on his website. The council has no way to force any response from Mr. Burnette.
A list of questions pulled from the recall website included the following:
"1.
Do you agree with Harris and Wyatt’s vote to silence the taxpayer’s
comments prior to ALL council votes?
2.
Do you support the vote by Harris and Wyatt to eliminate work session
meetings which were a forum to discuss the issues in detail and for
you, the voter, to hear ALL the facts prior to
a council's final vote?
3.
Danny Wyatt not once but twice stated citizens who have concerns
about illegal drugs in Crossville might want to move somewhere else.
Do these statements reflect your views?
4.
Did you agree with Pamala Harris and Danny Wyatt to give away
annually $90K of city taxpayer money to golfing events held outside
of the city limits?
5.
Do you support Harris' and Wyatt’s decisions to block a vote to
audit Crossville’s multi-million dollar airport?
6.
Do you agree with Harris' and Wyatt's refusal to provide evidence or
conduct an audit to determine the guilt or innocence of the city
manager prior to termination of employment?
7.
Do you agree with Harris' and Wyatt’s abuse of special
called/emergency meetings during normal work hours for the purpose of
avoiding voters' availability? (These meetings are to be reserved in
severe cases where the welfare of the community demands it, in order
that the public has full access, per the city charter.)
8.
Would you have preferred council member Pamala Harris have disclosed
in her initial campaign her close relationship with, city marketing
department head, Billy Loggins? Would it bother you to know, Harris’
fraternization with her boyfriend, Billy Loggins, was brought to
the attention of the public when she was forced to divulge her close
personal relationship during a vote to make him City Manager?
9.
Do you support Harris' and Wyatt’s decision to hire an interim city
manager without going through proper human resource recruitment
processes as would be required of any other city employee? (For
example; an employment and background check.)This decision was made
in less than one hour without any voter input or professional
vetting.
10.
Would you support Harris and Wyatt if they wanted to oust from office
both Mayor James Mayberry and block the efforts of law enforcement, who have
both stepped up efforts to stamp out drugs on the Plateau?
11.
Did you know Harris and Wyatt have meet in secret away from the view
of the public in violation of the Open Meetings Law? Do you support
this form of corruption and backroom dealings?
12.
Do you support Harris' and Wyatt's decision to pay a small vendor
over $1M to manage his own business, in
addition to his normal contract agreement,
while voting against ALL first responders and other city employees
receiving a meager 5% pay raise? How will this affect the moral of
highly skilled professionals you depend on?"
Late this afternoon, Crossville city councilman Danny Wyatt issued the following press release in response to the recall efforts that he describes as "a handful of over-zealous and uninformed people." Wyatt responds to some of the accusations and accuses the recall effort of being instigated by councilman Pete Souza.
PRESS RELEASE FROM CROSSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER DANNY
WYATT
As some may know, a small group of
people who are displaying ignorance of facts has begun a campaign of
sorts with the intent of recalling myself and Pamela Harris from
the Crossville City Council. The issues brought by the
group simply are not accurate.
I cannot speak for Council member
Harris, but I sure can speak for myself and I have an important
message for those who would try to slow down progress of our city:
Your actions, no doubt instigated by Council Member Pete Souza,
is achieving nothing but hurting Crossville and will
continue to cast a shadow over our town for some time to come.
For the life of me, I have never understood Mr. Souza's motive
for doing everything in his power to disrupt the progress
of Crossville with continuous investigations and
allegations of wrongdoing by our public servants and citizens
(32 so far by my count) and yet none, not one allegation, has ever
proved to have any merit. His ranting and raving has only
proved to be a colossal waste of time. Time that
could have been spent on Crossville projecting a positive
and lucrative image for new industry and businesses looking
at Crossville for locating and employing our citizens.
We have some very good things
happening in Crossville and as a representative of city
taxpayers, I will continue to look after the best interest of the
City. If that means voting against a program that I feel is
wasteful or ineffective, that's what I'll do. Where the Horizon
Initiative was concerned, it simply is not what it started out as
and, as time went on, it became clear to me that the changes taking
place were not using taxpayers money wisely and effectively. Period.
If spending $90,000 on Golf Tournament promotion continues to bring
in millions of dollars in tax revenue for our City and schools as it
has done over the years, then I'll vote yes every time. Also, in my
opinion if a City Manager is not exercising sound, conservative
monetary policy, he or she needs to go. And remember, the vote
to dismiss our City Manager was 4 to 1 in favor.
It greatly disturbs me that a
handful of over-zealous and uninformed people would spend the time
and energy to put our City in a negative light. As far as the
recall is concerned, I'm doing my job with a clear conscience that my
actions reflect the best interest of Crossville's citizens
- if they get the votes needed for a recall and it passes on a ballot
- then yes, I need to go home. Otherwise, I'll be right here
working for the betterment of Crossville and its people.
Signs have been put up by the political group that calls itself Crossville Citizens for Good Government asking people to sign the recall petitions as they try to collect 2225 registered city voter's signatures on each petition to get the questions included on the November ballot. The deadline for the group is June 24.
This sign pictured above is located at the entrance to Crossville's Walmart and a different sign is located at the intersection of 127-N and Industrial Boulevard.
The group's website asks a series of questions and makes several accusations but presents no evidence of the allegations they make.
