Sandra Clark
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Qualfying deadline nears for county offices
Folks who want to run for public office have until
noon Thursday, Feb. 18, to return a signed petition to the Election
Commission to get on the ballot for the May 4 primaries.
The headliner is Tim Burchett vs. Tim Hutchison for
county mayor. The primary winner will face independent Lewis Cosby in
August.
John Duncan III is challenging Trustee Fred Sisk in
what promises to be a barn-burner.
County
Commission races will be
tough as incumbents and wannabes are squeezed into one seat per
district. The 7th District race includes incumbents R. Larry Smith and
Michele Carringer along with well-funded challenger Lillian Williams. We
call her well-funded because Lillian says she’s spending her kids’
inheritance while refusing to take donations from anyone “in the
development community.”
Incumbents Sam McKenzie, Amy Broyles, Tony Norman,
Finbarr Saunders, Richard Briggs, Brad Anders and Dave Wright look
secure at this point, although challengers are emerging. Mike Brown will
face a fight with Chuck “I want to buy your house” Ward in District 9.
Two at-large seats will round out the new 11-member
Commission. Mike Hammond is cruising toward one seat, while Bud
Armstrong and Ed Shouse will slug it out for the other.
We’ll try to keep political news (and propaganda)
confined to the Shopper Page 4, with expanded coverage planned for April
26 and July 19.
Sepesi to run
Kim Sepesi, a Powell resident who has shown
leadership in various civic activities, is running for the open school
board seat in District 7. She talks of better communications, openness
and accountability.
“We must make sure parents understand the new student
performance measures,” she said. Kim and husband, John Sepesi Jr., have
sons Connor, 12, who attends
Powell
Middle School, and
Garrett, 10, a student at Brickey-McCloud.
Kim is a graduate of UT and a member of First Baptist
Church of Powell.
While she was an officer in the Powell Business and
Professional Association, the group raised funds for the Teen Driver
program at
Powell High School. The program promoted safety
and helped students make good choices behind the wheel. The state of Tennessee provided a
grant to produce a DVD of the Powell program to use statewide.
Cosby goes ‘indie’
Lewis Cosby, 59, who rose to political fame while
challenging misspending in the office of Mayor Mike Ragsdale, is asking
voters for one term to straighten things out in the mayor’s office.
An inactive CPA, Cosby graduated from UT and spent
many years as an auditor. He previously owned and operated three
television stations and currently owns Panera Bread stores in Florida.
If elected, Cosby would eliminate redundant positions
in the mayor’s office and have senior directors report directly to him.
He would reduce take-home cars and stop the use of fund balance
(savings) for day-to-day operations.
His independent investigations of P-card purchases
and conflicts of interests in Ragsdale’s office led to tightened
controls and Ragsdale’s censure by
County
Commission. Ragsdale was
caught on tape calling Cosby a “showboat,” even though he denied the
act.
Farragut term limits
bill moves ahead
State Rep. Ryan Haynes expects his bill to enable
term limits for officials in the town of
Farragut
to pass during the current legislative session. The bill, also sponsored
by Sen. Tim Burchett, would enable town voters to enact term limits for
mayor and aldermen.
The current Board of Mayor and Aldermen unanimously
requested the legislation.
In an interview from
Nashville
last Thursday, Haynes said several bills to restrict red light cameras
are pending including one he’s sponsoring to ban tickets for rolling
right turns on red. He said Captain Ben Harkins reports that most of the
offenses caught on tape in Farragut are for right turns when motorists
do not come to a complete stop.
Haynes said industry reps and some municipalities are
lobbying against reform, but “I’ll support any bill to put more
restrictions on (the cameras).” He predicts the bill most likely to move
through committees is one to require graduated fines, lower for the
first offense.
“If last year was the year of the gun, this year may
be the year of the red light camera,” he said.
Haynes also expects legislation to allow the sale of
wine in grocery stores to be presented again this year. Thirty-three
states and the District of Columbia
allow wine in retail stores, he said.
Notes
n
John Duncan III will kick off his campaign for Trustee with a free
reception (donations appreciated) from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, at The
Foundry. Performance by Wendel Werner. Info: 684-1974.
n
Lillian Williams got snowed out and had to reschedule her “meet and
greet” at the Sterchi Mansion.
The event is set for 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. Sterchi Mansion
is located on Dry Gap Pike. Even if you don’t want to meet Lillian,
seeing the house is worth the trip.
n
Commissioners will interview candidates for the appointment to the
school board from District 8 and for two openings on the board of zoning
appeals starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16, in the large assembly room,
City
County
Building. Deadline for applicants is Feb.
11. Info: 215-2038.
n
Charles Louis Kincannon (father of school board chair Indya
Kincannon) will lecture on “The Politics and Policy Implications of the
2010 Census” at lunch Monday, Feb. 22, at UT’s Baker
Center. Lunch is $15. RSVP to 974-0931 by
Feb. 15. Kincannon retired as director of the U.S. Census Bureau in
2008. He joined the Census Bureau in 1963 after graduating from the
University of Texas at
Austin.
n
Dan Murphy tried to explain why school is called because of snow
when roads in some parts of town are clear. “Our difficulty is we have
city snow removal, which is quite good, and county snow removal, which
is quite natural.”