Last year, we tried something and miserably failed. Realizing that many people can’t attend County Commission meetings (and don’t have time to watch the replay on YouTube), we decided to take action.
We wanted to make County Commission meetings available to everybody. We considered posting the transcript provided by the county. But that isn’t available until 60 days after the original meeting.
Our own attempts at transcribing the full meetings — and later just the key sections — also failed. At that point, we stopped. I’m not sure that we will ever provide a detailed account of every commission meeting. It just takes too much of the very limited volunteer time we have.
We’ll Share the Highlights, But It’s Better Being There
But we can share the more important information from the meetings. Some things that happen are too important not to share. Last night’s meeting (April 27) reminded me why I believe it is so important for voters to attend at least a couple of County Commission meetings. I know it takes precious free time, but you’ll be amazed at how much you learn.
And actually, they only meet once a month, so a three- or four-hour commitment once a month isn’t really that huge. I would encourage you to attend in person. But if that isn’t possible, you can watch them as they happen by going to commission.knoxcountytn.gov and clicking on watch meetings. If you’d rather watch at a faster speed, you can watch the recordings on YouTube at Knox Community Media.
What’s a Normal County Commission Meeting Like?
Let me be totally transparent with you. On average, a normal county commission meeting can be rather boring. You’ve got honorary resolutions, grant applications, notary applications, drives and roads, and line-item transfers – all guaranteed to send your head nodding after a long day’s work. At first, you may be totally lost. You won’t understand what the acronyms they use stand for. That’s where Google comes in. At some point, you’ll think there’s no reason to waste your Monday night this way.
But then, in the middle of all the minutiae, something comes up that makes you understand…wow, this is how government works. That’s what happened last night. So, in case you missed last night’s County Commission meeting, here’s my take on what happened.
Bridge to Safety vs Family Justice Center
This quickly caught my attention because I realize Domestic Abuse is a prevalent problem throughout our country. However, I never thought about how victims of domestic abuse received services in Knox County. Like most people, I just assumed it happened. But last night’s County Commission discussion showed me that it’s not that simple.
As I saw it, the core issue was Criminal Court Clerk Mike Hammond’s request to divert Victims Assistance Assessment funding to the ‘Bridge to Safety Program’ rather than continuing to send it to the Knoxville Family Justice Center, a nonprofit that has supported survivors of domestic violence for the past twenty years.
This request was backed up with claims by Hammond and other Bridge to Safety supporters that the Family Justice Center was not adequately serving domestic violence victims. The Family Justice Center then vehemently denied those claims.
This resulted in a back-and-forth question and answer period, which led more than one county commissioner to comment that they felt like kids caught in an argument between mom and dad. It soon became apparent that this was a case of “he said, she said” situation, and it wasn’t a problem that was going to be resolved quickly.
After over 90 minutes of discussion, commissioners finally voted to postpone a vote on the funding for 60 days in the hopes the Family Justice Center and Bridge to Safety could resolve their conflict and potentially work together.
Believe It or Not, County Commissioners Can Actually Work Together
This 90-minute marathon was followed by several Ordinances that gave me hope that this commission could actually work together. After some discussion and some compromise on the parts of commissioners, an amendment to the original Receipt and Disbursement of County Funds and Budget Procedures for defined Service Contracts passed. And then the ordinance entitled Recognition of Right to Self-Defense on Knox County Owned Property passed.
The Public Forum: Your Opportunity to Speak
County Commission concluded with what I consider the most important part of the meeting: the Public Forum. While there is a public forum for agenda items earlier in the meeting, this final forum is an open topic forum. This is your opportunity as a Knox County citizen to address the commissioners on any topic you choose. You can read more about this and fill out a form requesting to speak by clicking here.
The majority of comments made during the forum were regarding Commissioner Courtney Durrett’s admission on Facebook to voting in the Republican Primary and encouraging others to do the same.
All in all, it was a very interesting meeting with some in the public forum raising the interesting question of possible penalties for Commissioner Durrett. We will have to attend subsequent meetings to see what transpires along those lines.
While I can give you the condensed version of what happened last night, you don’t get the entire picture without being there. So, let me encourage you to attend or watch county commission meetings every month. As you continue to do so, I think you’ll be surprised how quickly you learn how Knox County government works.