Unopposed for county executive, Mike Ragsdale sets the agenda that most Commission candidates tend to follow
by Barry Henderson
Knox County's May 7 primary election is shaping up. The shape of it is neither a dull blob of complacent incumbency nor a rousing volcano of turn-them-all-out fever. There's a lot to be said for the fact that a number of new faces are appearing on the ballot, with four of the 19 incumbent County Commission members taking their leave, and candidates emerging to challenge seven others. But eight commissioners will return to their posts without opposition.
The toughest of the administrative officers' races pit a disenchanted ex-deputy sheriff against his embattled former boss and a disgruntled ex-clerk of civil courts and one-time wielder of heavy Republican clout against the upstart who defeated her in the Republican primary and won the clerkship four years ago. But again, there are four incumbents in constitutional offices with no opponents, and, almost unconscionably, the chief administrative office, that of county executive, will go to the only candidate with the gumption to reach for it. Former Commissioner Mike Ragsdale, a Republican, is being handed the job without a fight from Democrats, despite the fact that Tommy Schumpert, who is retiring from the office, held it two terms as a Democrat.
The County Commission races themselves are a struggle between a set of stand-pat incumbents who are running either unopposed or on their records and a group of challengers who are mostly echoing each other's campaign rhetoric. That rhetoric is, not altogether coincidentally, largely based on the agenda set by Ragsdale.
Ragsdale got out there early, raising a progressive flag and enough money and backing from both old-line establishment figures and politically ambitious young turks to scare off everyone else.
He says he's both surprised and grateful for the confidence that has been placed in him. And, having had opposition when he ran for Commission, defeating incumbent Hassel Evans in 1990 and winning reelection in 1994, he's gracious about what he calls "a different experience" now. He'll skate through both the primary and the Aug. 1 general election. "I'll continue to work hard, even though I have no opposition," Ragsdale says.
What he's working on is the fleshing out of a platform that he says rests on four main points:
1) Gaining new, better jobs for county citizens;
2) Making every school a great school;
3) Developing quality programs for seniors;
4) Making government better every day
Those are tall orders. And Ragsdale is still short on details, but he says he believes he can produce results in each of those areas because, "I want to do it right, and I believe I can get people working together to do that.
"If I come forward with good, solid programs, the Commission will support them," he says.
Executive vice president for administration with the Barber & McMurry architectural firm the last 15 years, Ragsdale holds a doctorate in education from UT and was formerly director of admissions and records, then dean of administrative affairs, at Pellissippi State Community College. He hails from Cleveland, Tenn., but has lived here, counting UT undergraduate days, for more than 25 of his 48 years. His list of involvement in civic affairs is lengthy, and he's currently chairman of the Knox County Tourist Commission.
Tourism, he says, is great, but he wants Knoxville to become a relocation destination as well as a tourist destination. That's why recruiting and retaining industrial and commercial enterprises—and growing local businesses from the area's strong technological base—that provide quality job opportunities tops his agenda.
"I think we're looking at a county that's not living up to its potential in terms of economic growth," Ragsdale says. He says his first priority will be getting better cooperation among city and county agencies, other bodies responsible for economic development and the Chamber Partnership to smooth the path for new or growth industries countywide. He says he does not believe the present structure need be altered to succeed in that area if attitudes can be focused on cooperative efforts.
Likewise, it is cooperation that Ragsdale says he seeks to foster between the County Commission and the Board of Education to promote his "great schools" concept. "I feel there's been too little time spent locally lately focusing on the needs of the 50,000 students in our school system. For instance, I haven't found anyone, not anyone, who thinks a lawsuit between the school board and County Commission was a good idea."
The need for more and better programs for senior citizens, which grows with the aging of the Baby-Boomer generation, can be addressed, Ragsdale says, by supporting the Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee's Office on Aging and by stimulating volunteerism throughout the community.
Making government better every day, which has become a campaign catchphrase, involves use of the county executive office to make administrative services more "user friendly," getting county employees to be more responsive and flexible, "more dynamic," in their dealings with the public and public services, he says. "There'll be no 'status quo' under my administration." Whew, that's a big order in county government.
Among those who think Ragsdale will have a positive impact on county government is John Griess, who is unopposed for reelection to Commission from the 5th District, which he shared with Ragsdale from 1994 to 1998.
"We had an exceptional relationship, respecting each other's opinions, including differing opinions," Griess says.
"Mike brings the background of a business person, with experience in government and experience in education administration—a good template—and I expect it will go well," Griess says. He says the executive position "has no real power, except in preparing a budget, which others vote on, and as a bully pulpit. I hope he uses the bully pulpit in a constructive way."
Tommy Schumpert, who is leaving the office to Ragsdale, says knowledge picked up on Commission should give him a good start. "Of course he has to make the transition from legislative to executive, but he knows the issues and the departments and the politics, internal and external, and I think he'll do well," Schumpert says.
To questions about the reputation he gained early in his tenure on County Commission for being a moralizer, Ragsdale offers no direct apologies. He was an outspoken advocate of a 1993 Commission resolution urging Congress not to add sexual orientation to the prohibited discrimination clause of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; so much so, in fact, that he was branded anti-gay and accused (in the News-Sentinel, no less) of acting as a "cheerleader" for anti-gays who were disruptive in the course of Commission debate.
"I don't ask other people to compromise their faith-based beliefs, and I don't expect them to ask me to compromise mine," he says, but adds, "If I said anything at the time that was disrespectful of or offensive to anyone, then I erred...I think every American should have the same civil rights and civil liberties and protections."
On school prayer, which he also advocated at the time, Ragsdale says, "I'm not opposed to prayer anywhere, including the schools. I just think the best type of prayer is silent prayer."
And on the more recent, controversial issue of posting the Ten Commandments in the City County Building, Ragsdale says he wasn't there when the issue came up and could not have voted one way or another, but he tacks on: "I'm an advocate of having the Ten Commandments in your heart."
How Ragsdale's platform leads the Republican ticket and is characteristic of the campaigns of some Democrats as well is demonstrated in discussions with candidates for Commission.
March 28, 2002 * Vol. 12, No. 13
© 2002 Metro Pulse
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