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Seven Days

Thursday, Nov. 15
A Knoxville man is sentenced to prison for bilking members of his church congregation out of thousands of dollars in an investment scam they exposed to authorities. Whatever happened to that time-honored advice to the faithful to "turn the other check?"

Friday, Nov. 16
City Council candidate Joe Bailey lets the deadline for a recount pass and concedes his 33-vote loss to Barbara Pelot. Ever gracious in defeat, he refers to Councilwoman-elect Pelot as "Jean Teague's Revenge."
Knoxvillians flock to movie houses to see the first Harry Potter film. Theater personnel caution those standing in line for tickets that the picture is not about a NASCAR hero, as was rumored locally.

Saturday, Nov. 17
UT's nationally ranked football Vols go to Kentucky and return with a 38-35 comeback victory over a Wildcat team that had defeated only two unranked opponents (including Vanderbilt). Signs go up along I-40 West: "The Commodores are coming. Be ready."

Monday, Nov. 19
Knox County Commissioners vote 10-7 to post a version of the Ten Commandments in the City County Building in the unlikely event that federal courts rule such a religious display in a public building constitutional. The vote follows a near-perfect IQ curve from yeas up to nays.

Tuesday, Nov. 20
A smattering of early morning rainfall wets down East Tennessee forests just enough to dampen a fire hazard that has resulted in the burning of thousands of acres in the Great Smokies and their foothills. Charred timber should be used to build stocks to hold arsonists responsible for some of the fires out for public viewing and a different sort of wetting down.

Knoxville Found

(Click photo for larger image)

What is this? Every week in "Knoxville Found," we'll print the photo of a local curiosity. If you're the first person to correctly identify this oddity, you'll win a special prize plucked from the desk of the editor (keep in mind that the editor hasn't cleaned his desk in five years). E-mail your guesses, or send 'em to "Knoxville Found" c/o Metro Pulse, 505 Market St., Suite 300, Knoxville, TN 37902.

Last Week's Photo:
Even a broken clock is right twice a day. And that's the case with this longtime North Knoxville fixture, which has read ten 'til two for the better part of two decades. It stands along North Broadway in front of Vinyard Floor Covering and Carpet, an island of stability in an uncertain world. Many respondents identified it, which is no surprise considering the daily commuting traffic that passes by. But the first right answer came from a man with a reason to be observant in that neighborhood—lawyer and 4th and Gill resident Rob Frost, who also happens to be City Councilman-elect for the 4th District. Now that's the kind of gumption and attentiveness we expect from our elected representatives. To show our appreciation for Rob (who also played second base and batted clean-up for the Metro Pulse softball team this summer), we're happy to send him off to City Council with a brand-new Metro Pulse T-shirt. Wear it wisely, Rob. And don't let Victor see it. He'll want one too.

Meet Your City
A calendar of upcoming public meetings you should attend

CITY COUNCIL
Tuesday, Nov. 27
7 p.m.
City County Building, Main Assembly Room
400 Main Ave.
Regular meeting.

A New Voice

Jennifer Martella's MPC appointment raises cheers all around

One thing you don't often see on Knoxville's most active online political community, "k2k," is unfettered praise for Mayor Victor Ashe.

In the past week, however, k2k—perhaps best known as the birthplace of the highly-publicized "KnoxRecall" effort against Ashe and City Council members last year—has seen a number of posts from a wide variety of its nearly-800 members enthusiastically lauding Ashe for his selection of local architect Jennifer Martella as the newest member of the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC).

The MPC operates as a joint agency of both Knoxville and Knox County governments to implement comprehensive county-wide planning and administration of zoning and land subdivision. MPC has 15 members; seven members appointed by the mayor of Knoxville and eight members appointed by the Knox County executive, as well as a sizable support staff. After appointment by Knoxville's mayor or the Knox County executive, prospective MPC commissioners must be confirmed by the Local Government Planning Committee of the Tennessee State Planning Office. Commissioners serve four-year staggered terms, without compensation.

The mayor himself—an active k2k participant—posted a short press release to the email forum Nov. 14 announcing his selection of Martella to replace Sara Fortune Rose, an executive at Bush Brothers and an MPC commissioner since 1998. According to MPC spokeswoman Jill Draper, Rose offered her resignation to Ashe in a recent letter, explaining her plans to relocate to Blount County as the reason for her departure.

Jennifer Martella is the founder and principal of Martella Associates, a well-known Knoxville architectural firm located downtown, just off Market Square. Martella, who in 1990 became the first female president of the American Institute of Architects, is a 1975 graduate of the College of Architecture at the University of Tennessee, as well as Ecole D'Arts Americaines in France. She currently serves on the boards of the Clarence Brown Theatre, the City Ballet, Knoxville Opera Company, East Tennessee Community Design Center, Knox Heritage, and East Tennessee Alzheimer's Association. However, Martella is arguably best known as the architect behind the tidy and brightly-colored neo-Victorian Hope VI homes that now stand where acres of dilapidated public housing once occupied the landscape surrounding historic Mechanicsville.

According to Martella, her designs for the Hope VI homes represent her favorite work to date. "In my 26 years as an architect, that project was the most satisfying work I have done...," she said in an email interview. "In designing the houses, I wanted the rental housing to look identical to the market rate housing. Too often, public housing is readily identified by its bland appearance. I believe that everyone, no matter their income level, wants their house to have personality, and I think our designs reflect the wonderful variety of housing found in historic Mechanicsville."

Martella's designs have won several awards, as well as accolades from traditional neighborhood design experts around the country. According to Ashe, Martella's expertise with urban infill planning and design, as well as her long-standing interest in downtown redevelopment, make her a fitting choice for an MPC that will likely soon face a variety of urban development initiatives now in the planning stages.

"I hope to use my expertise in architecture, particularly housing, to offer perspective on issues that affect our built environment and open spaces," says Martella. "I'll be especially interested in issues pertaining to historic preservation, economic development, environment and land use."

Martella says she was completely surprised by Ashe's phone call of Nov. 8 asking her to serve on MPC, since she wasn't even aware that Commissioner Rose had tendered her resignation. Martella acknowledges that she has received a great deal of positive feedback on her nomination from "activist" Knoxvillians, including those involved with k2k, since Ashe made his announcement.

"Perhaps activists have reacted to the fact that I may be the first design professional to be nominated. Architects are trained to listen, be problem solvers, look at the big picture first and then find the best solution to the problem. I'm looking forward to meeting that challenge."

—Katie Allison Granju

Name in Vain

Knox County Commission endorses the word of Yahweh

Ignoring pleas from a Baptist preacher and warnings that they may be acting in violation of the letter and spirit of both the Constitution of the United States of America and the Tennessee State Constitution, a bare majority of Knox County Commissioners on Monday voted to approve the public posting of sections of ancient Hebraic law that some Judeo-Christian denominations believe was dictated by an omnipotent, omniscient deity thousands of years ago to the adopted Jewish son of an Egyptian monarch.

They did so only after voting down resolutions that, in accordance with centuries of American law and cultural tradition, would have recognized all Knox County citizens' rights to worship when, who and how they see fit.

Knox County Commissioner Mark Cawood, who proposed the resolution to approve the posting of the "Ten Commandments" on Knox County public buildings, seemed unmoved by the fact that of the half-dozen members of the public who rose to speak to the issue—several of whom identified themselves as Christians—only one endorsed the resolution.

"A lot of people here today have made us feel like we're doing the wrong thing," Cawood said, sounding hurt. "But believe me, I'm doing it for the right reason."

And with that bit of jurisprudential reasoning, Cawood managed to hold together a coalition of 10 commissioners to pass his resolution. However, neither Cawood nor anyone else expects to see the Middle Eastern monotheistic creed posted any time soon. The resolution won't take effect unless and until the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules that a similar Kentucky law is constitutional (and maybe not even then, since such a decision would almost certainly be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court). Plus, the resolution mandates that any costs associated with either posting the Commandments or resulting legal action be paid directly by the county commissioners who voted for it.

Cawood, like the rest of Commission, is up for re-election next year. He represents the 6th District, which includes Powell and Karns and many large evangelical Christian churches. He has long made a habit of voting against county beer permit applications, on moral grounds (regardless of the facts of the situations). He also made headlines a few years ago by trying to censure community television programming on cable Channel 12 because he was offended by a locally produced nightlife series that at one point featured women in bikinis playing with hot dogs.

Commissioner John Griess offered the first of two compromise resolutions on Monday, a brief statement of appreciation for the role of religion in Knox Countians' lives that encouraged people "to exercise their freedom of religion that is guaranteed them by the Constitution of the United States of America regardless of their faith or belief."

Cawood was outraged. "This is most watered-down thing I've seen lately," he said. "We might as well say Noah's flood lasted for 500 years." (The somewhat oblique reference is to another section of the ancient Hebrew text, which describes a worldwide flood in which one man constructed a giant boat and saved two members of each species for the future repopulation of the earth. While many Christians see the story as a parable, some sects believe it to be literally true.)

Griess' substitute motion, essentially an endorsement of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, failed on a 7-10 vote. Another substitute offered by Commissioner John Schmid fared nearly as poorly, failing on an 8-10 vote. Schmid's motion reiterated much of Griess', but mentioned the words "Christian" and "Judeo-Christian" and "10 Commandments" more explicitly. It wasn't enough for Cawood, who voted against it without comment.

Earlier in the meeting, a member of the public who described himself as a "brother in Christ" urged commissioners to vote against Cawood's resolution. "Do we really think," he asked, "that because our Christian religion is the majority that we can put up our Ten Commandments that have nothing to do with these other folks' religions?"

Commissioners did not identify which version of the Ten Commandments they would favor. There are many different translations. They also did not say if their endorsement of Mosaic law extends to other sections of the deity's code, which include complex rules for the offering of animal sacrifices, the treatment of "a swelling or an eruption or a spot" on the skin, and the proper means of cleansing a woman following her menstrual cycle (involving the sacrifice of "two turtledoves or two young pigeons"). Not to mention mandatory execution of adulterers and wizards.

Observer Michael Haynes noted that Knox County Commission apparently did not issue a request for proposals (RFP) before selecting the Ten Commandments, leading some to wonder if other Commandments may have been obtained at a competitive price.

The Judeo-Christian deity did not answer repeated prayers for comment.

—Jesse Fox Mayshark