Sullivan's Spinning On Market Square
It was with disappointment but not surprise that I read Joe Sullivan's piece "Swords Into Plowshares" [Insights, May 17]. The article is filled with more misinformation on complex matters than can be explained in a Letter to the Editor. But it is always the complex, important matters that are the prey of the spin doctors. And in this instance, it appears that Joe Sullivan's well-known desire for The Next Big Thing to settle in downtown Knoxville has transformed him from a journalist to spin doctor.
Joe Sullivan contends that "The biggest difference between Elkington's plans and the (Historic Market Square Association) association's is that Elkington has a list of prospective tenants." This simply is not true. There are profound differences between the plans, especially Elkington's one developer/control concept versus the HMSA's multi-owner diverse development concept.
Mr. Sullivan mentioned my name in several places in the column.
Unfortunately, the things he writes about me, time and again, are misinformed and inaccurate.
For example: He said that I have somehow been transformed. He wrote "A year ago, Key seemed bent on opposing concerted commercial development around the square, especially entertainment venues, to the point of sounding at times as though she wanted to make it into a residential enclave. But of late she's become more proactive." My position is the same as it ever was. I have not changed.
What has changed? Mr. Sullivan's perception of me. Simply put, Mr. Sullivan has in the last few months taken the time to speak directly with me. As a result, he has come to realize that I am not what he has been told I am—told, probably, in whispered conversations with the money men who live in the remoteness of the suburbs, invest none of their money downtown, but who still somehow believe they know something about downtown.
Mr. Sullivan appears to put great faith in such sources. He seems to view them as the "experts." They are his Gods of Commerce and Business. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that, even now, when he has learned that his previous information about me is inaccurate, he is apparently unable or unwilling to believe that these favored sources of his were wrong, to the degree that he must instead cling to the idea that I have been "transformed."
Adding to the misinformation in Mr. Sullivan's piece are the statements regarding Sarah Woodworth of ZHA, Inc. I repeatedly told Mr. Sullivan that I had not spoken with Ms. Woodworth; rather, Tracy Kramer, a Knoxville resident with a background in marketing volunteered her time to serve as the contact person for HMSA with ZHA. I e-mailed him Kramer's notes on her conversation with Woodworth. Yet he wrote "Woodworth says she's not familiar with Key or any other member of the association...."
Sadly, Mr. Sullivan found that statement sufficiently noteworthy to include in the piece—but not worthy of discussion with me for the purpose of clarification and reconciliation of the facts. Mr. Sullivan has spoken with me regularly in the last few weeks. He could have cleared up this simple point at any time.
Instead, the obvious implication from what he has written is that the HMSA simply used the name of a consulting firm without any knowledge of or contact with the firm. As it is written, this makes it appear that Mr. Sullivan desires to undermine the credibility of the HMSA through selective reporting and distortion. Again, sadly, I must assume that that is exactly what he meant to do.
My husband and I have lived in downtown Knoxville for 12 years. I own a business and a Market Square building where I live and work. I have loved my building, but at some point I must recognize that the city's failure to reach adulthood will not change anytime soon, if ever. Mr. Sullivan and others like him appear to share the city's stunted maturation. Their confusion is like that of a child who stands on a box and thinks he has grown. His perspective may have changed, but he has not matured. Despite all he has seen and heard, Mr. Sullivan still fervently holds to his misguided hope for The Next Big Thing to come and save downtown. His confusion is that a theme park is a real city. It is not, and will never be.
Susan Key
Knoxville
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