Letters -- Feb. 26

McClung Warehouses fire

  This letter is in response to your article written in the Halls Shopper Monday the 19th titled the Ear is here. Several of the comments are my opinion but most are facts.

  This article is packed full of false statements. First let me say the following comments are solely and strictly my own views and opinions.

  Although, if you surveyed our fire dept. I believe you would find that a large majority would agree with me. This being said, I want our citizens to know the facts. The fact is, we are pleased with the new Chief. Our morale went through the roof with his appointment. As for the comments about Chief Hansord, it makes me sick at my stomach to see the low life cowards constantly mentioning his illness. I have worked under Chief Hansord many times even though I am on a different shift than him. To this day he has been able to perform his duties as assistant chief. This is a man of great character, honest, fair and very enjoyable to work for. I was on the McClung fire scene so let me set the false statements straight. Never did Chief Hansord send one of our men into the burning buildings. They were strictly defensive from the start.

  I also know that Chief Hansord was relieved and not on the scene when things got crazy that morning. The events that happened that morning were not a fault of the leaders on the scene.

  Sometimes things happen in our business that are not preventable. Let me take a second to change the subject and thank God for protecting our firefighters that escaped the building that morning. These guys were not instructed to go into a burning building. They had been in and out of this building many times throughout the morning making sure the fire had not spread. After locating and extinguishing a fire in the top part of the elevator shaft they were attempting to leave this building when the fire suddenly and rapidly took the third floor for reasons still unknown.

  This fire, from the start, was unlike most had ever seen. Had it not been for the professional and experienced judgment of Chief Hansord, as well as the efforts of our firefighters from the start, our whole city could have burnt down. As for our safety officer, this man has always had the safety of our people his first priority. I will take experience over your state certifications any day. As for the politics in our department, that is something that will never totally disappear.

  I am not sure we would want it to, but it is better than it has been in my seventeen years.

  Most of us know where these false statements come from and this group is very small. We have worked hard to gain the respect of our citizens and we hope that this small group of cowards, who have yet to put their names on their remarks, will not compromise our relationship. Our fire halls are open to the public if you want to know how our firefighters really feel just visit a station and they will let you know the truth.  
-- Thanks, Dennis Noe


Sandra,
I would like to thank the Halls Shopper, especially Betty Bean, for writing and printing the truth about the Knoxville Fire Department. The good old boy system is still alive and well in Knoxville politics, and eventually, it will cost one of our firefighters their lives. I fought City Hall for 5 years when my husband's civil rights were violated. It's a dangerous job when people are "QUALIFIED" to run the department, but that is not the case with KFD. Qualifications of a firefighter(Deputy Chief, Assistant Chief,Chief)are who you know, not what you know.  I hope the wives of these firefighters stay mad, stand up to the MAYOR, and the KFD ADMINISTRATION until the safety of their men and equipment become ''TOP PRIORITY". There are OSHA and STATE standards that need to be followed, and I know Betty will continue seeking the truth.

Keep Up the Good Work and Thanks,
-- Sheila A. Crisp
 

HPUD rate increase

  The Hallsdale-Powell Utility District has asked for feedback regarding  a proposed 24% rate increase.- I'd like to give them some.

  First , by their own words, this is  "the largest in the district's history" (now isn't that something to be proud of).  But don't worry, they can justify it (I think).

1.  They claim "we are still lower  than KUB on sewer rates"-  Wonderful, they are benchmarking themselves to a company 100x their size and coverage and who just recently went through the first stage of a  scheduled  50% rate increase. (I guess using them as a smoke screen is suppose to make our bitter pill go down better.)  Does this mean everytime KUB announces a rate increase we can expect HPUD to use it as an excuse to raise their rates?

2.  They claim "For many years Hallsdale-Powell customers enjoyed remarkably low rates. Rates were kept low by not spending much money on maintenance and routine line replacement".  I'll vouch for that.  During the past 20 years living in Powell I don't think I've seen a utility crew out working on the lines more than 1 time.  My question is- what the heck did you do with all the money you were collecting in the meantime (and don't fool yourself- your rates were not 'that' low.)

North Knox County, the area served by Hallsdale-Powell Utility, has experienced tremendous growth within the past 10 years.  Yes, this has resulted in a greater demand for water, but it has always been a pay- as-you-go for homeowners who have been charged for their connections or any extra services they required. If anything, this growth has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars of extra revenue for the utility district- what have they done with it?  By their own admissions, they have not put it back in the system.

Marvin Hammond, president, said they have" launched an aggressive program aimed at putting these problems behind us".  My question is-  Does this program have to be so aggressive at this time seeing you obviously don't have the money to pay for it?  What's with the 'everything or nothing' now attitude after admittedly doing little up until this time?

I believe it was not too long ago that I read HPUD  announced plans for a $1,000,000+ castle to be built next to their existing site to serve as their new offices.  Rather gutsy seeing they are claiming they don't have enough money to pay the bills and now want to stick their customers with a 24% increase ("the largest in the district's history").  I noticed that  announcement came well before their claim of destitution.  Timing is everything, isn't it?  But speaking of timing, it's never too late to correct things.  Maybe that palace should be put off until the HPUD gets a little better control of its' finances.

Speaking of finances, one of my greatest concerns is the qualifications of the individuals (commissioners) proposing and, unfortunately, voting on this rate increase.  I know of at least one of them who has filed for bankruptcy in the past,  which might explain this 'ah, let's just build it/spend it and bill them' attitude.  Spending other people's money is easy isn't it.

  Especially when they don't have much of a say.  Yeh, they say they have postponed the vote pending public comment.  But don't fool yourself- this rate increase is a done deal.

Can you say Butchers?
  -- Larry Sawyer


Have there been many comments about the HPUD rate increase? It seemed to be hidden in the article in this week’s paper. I read the information about improving the infrastructure, but how much can the customers absorb in such a short period of time? I haven’t seen a 24% raise (wasn’t that last years increase) or an 18% raise in our income in either of the last two years. I guess we have no choice, but things seem out of hand. This should be discussed further. Between the school board, county commission, the fire dept and water dept, I’m beginning to wonder if any of our leaders has any common sense. At the same time my water bill went up last year, KUB adjusted my utility bill. The result was almost $150 per month in additional billing. How is a working family supposed to absorb that at one time? 
-- Anonymous  

Knox County Commission

 

I do want it known I did not submit this 'new" name but feel that it is very appropriate after him calling the Mayor a four year old.

Greg "HUMPTY DUMPTY" Lambert

That is what he looks like sitting up there behind the commission table, & acts like it too!