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Seven Days

Wednesday, May 15
Chris Whittle, former chairman of Whittle Communications, a Knoxville-based company that failed a few years back, insists that his Edison Schools, Inc. isn't failing. This, despite the company's stock falling from $38.75 per share a year ago to $2.94 last Tuesday. Yo, Chris: "fail: vb 1a: to lose strength: WEAKEN...vt 1a: to disappoint the expectations or trust of." Maybe Chris should go back to one of his not-failing schools.

Thursday, May 16
The Associated Press reports that President Bush had warnings of potential hijackings before September 11. As Democrats began the old game of "What did the president know and when did he know it," Republicans, for once, were only too happy to insist that President Bush never knew anything useful.

Friday, May 17
Among many other revelations in the alleged UT student-athlete academic fraud case comes the discovery that the frequency of grade changes for student-athletes was six times higher than that for non-athletes. Yes! Another area in which UT athletics excels!

Saturday, May 18
Ten Commandments-Tennessee, a group that lobbied Hamilton County Commissioners to go to court to keep the commandments posted in court buildings, has reneged on a promise to help the commission defray its legal costs, claiming the group didn't like the choice of lawyers the commission made. Well, hey, there's nothing in the commandments that says you can't welsh on a promise, right? P.S. The commission lost the case.

Monday, May 20
UT's Center for Criminology and Criminal Justice issues a report entitled "Mapping Misery and Mayhem: A Study of the 95 Counties of Tennessee." The findings? Teenesseans are probably overweight, or smokers, or a high-school dropouts, or all of those combined, and work in a dead-end jobs, then go home at night, get drunk and abuse their spouses and children. But are they Baptists, or what?

Tuesday, May 14
It's revealed that city officials are struggling to find a way to cover a $2.2 million accounting mistake. Pikers. If they ever want to make it to state-level politics, they'll have to struggle to find ways to fill much larger budget holes than that.

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:
T'nell Stair, this week's Knoxville Found winner, explains that she knew the "1914 Model Laundry 1926" was on Knoxville Bolt and Screw's building because "they are my good neighbors. I do their yard every two weeks." We hope Bolt and Screw appreciates their good neighbor T'nell, and maybe out of good-neighborliness could explain what the sign means. Because, loathe as we are to admit it, not even Jack Neely, whom we thought knew everything, could tell us the origin of it. In the meantime, T'nell receives a copy of The Last American Man, a critically acclaimed true story of a teenager who left suburbia twenty-odd years ago to live in the Appalachian Mountains, "making fire with sticks, wearing skins from animals he trapped." Which is actually a prerequisite for working at Metro Pulse.

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

KNOX COUNTY COMMISSION
Thursday May 23
11 a.m.
Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge
The County Executive will present the county budget for fiscal year 2003.

KNOX COUNTY COMMISSION
Monday May 24
2-7 p.m.
City County Bldg.
Main Assembly Room
400 Main Ave.
Regular monthly meeting.

KNOXVILLE CITY COUNCIL
Tuesday May 28
7 p.m.
City County Bldg.
Main Assembly Room
400 Main Ave.
Regular meeting.

Flash Point
Whistleblower case raises questions about UT-Battelle

In one of the first whistleblower cases since UT-Battelle took over operation of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory two years ago, a federal officer has ruled that a nuclear safety engineer laid off in 2000 was targeted because of repeated complaints about safety violations.

George B. Breznay, director of the Department of Energy's Office of Hearings and Appeals, reversed an earlier ruling and wrote that former UT-Battelle employee Janet Westbrook is entitled to apply for "reinstatement, back pay, costs and attorney's fees."

Moreover, independent investigations launched as a result of Westbrook's complaints identified serious concerns about UT-Battelle's management approach at the DOE lab.

Westbrook, who had worked at ORNL for 12 years before being laid off, says she is "very pleased" by the ruling. But she doesn't expect it to lead to serious changes at UT-Battelle.

"If DOE's serious about safety, they're going to have to look at the details [of safety violations]," she says. "And they have consistently declined to do that."

Knoxville attorney Margaret Held, who represents Westbrook, says, "The thing that struck me about this case when I took it is that she's a safety engineer, and she got fired for doing her job. And the more conscientiously she tried to do her job, the harder UT-Battelle tried to get rid of her."

Held is still calculating damages, but she estimates the total figure will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. UT-Battelle officials have not decided whether to appeal the decision to the Secretary of Energy.

"We really can't comment or get into a discussion about personnel issues or litigation," UT-Battelle communications director Billy Stair says. In legal proceedings, UT-Battelle officials argued Westbrook had a long history of being "difficult to work with" and was part of a plant-wide lay-off.

Reckless and Ruthless?

Westbrook, who has an M.S. in physics and nuclear engineering from Purdue University, worked for a nuclear engineering firm before joining ORNL in 1989. At the lab, she worked for the Office of Radiation Protection, which was responsible for supervising safety procedures (it has since been reorganized as the Occupational Safety Services Division). Westbrook was in what was known as the ALARA group; the acronym stands for "As Low As Reasonably Achievable," the professional standard for limiting radiation exposure in any given situation.

In essence, her job was to observe workplace procedures dealing with radioactive material and make sure they met safety guidelines. Any given violation is likely to be small, but Westbrook says even small doses of radiation can add up. "If [employees] get significant doses over time, although they are lower than the statistical annual limits, there is an increased risk of cancer," she says.

Westbrook worked for both Lockheed Martin and Martin Marietta, the two companies that operated ORNL before UT-Battelle got the contract. She says emphasis on safety ebbed and flowed over the years depending on directives from DOE, which were in turn shaped by budget concerns in Washington, D.C. But Westbrook says she saw a "sea change" when UT-Battelle took over. The non-profit partnership set aggressive goals (or "milestones") for productivity and customer service.

"I have said UT-Battelle was reckless, and they seem to be rather ruthless," Westbrook says. "They were dictating things to people who had been at the lab for 20 or 30 years, high managers who knew the lab in their own right.

"The bottom line is getting things done, showing results to DOE and on and on in that vein. And no matter what they say, safety takes a back seat."

In the case of safety engineers, the "customer service" concept seems to have created a conundrum. The "customers" of the safety division were the managers and employees whom they were overseeing and sometimes reporting for safety violations. (Held likens it to saying a driver who gets pulled over for speeding is a "customer" of the Tennessee Highway Patrol.)

UT-Battelle took over management of ORNL in April 2000. A few months later, in early June, Westbrook requested a meeting with Carol Scott, the new head of the Occupational Safety Services Division. In their meeting, according to testimony, Westbrook outlined a series of safety concerns dating back to 1999. They included the granting of inappropriate waivers for the handling of radioactive materials, the raising of "trigger levels" (the amount of radiation exposure that would lead to a safety review), and the practice of allowing unqualified technicians rather than safety engineers to perform ALARA reviews.

Westbrook also raised concerns about Scott's intention to change safety reviews from a plant-wide function paid for with general ORNL funds to a "charge-out" service paid for by contracts with various lab divisions. Westbrook said making the safety department financially dependent on the divisions it was monitoring could jeopardize its independence.

Shortly after the meeting, Westbrook was due for an annual performance review. In a hearing about Westbrook's dismissal, her immediate supervisor, Dr. Gloria Mei, testified that she initially proposed giving Westbrook a rating of 6 out of 7. But Mei was told by her boss, Dr. Ron Mlekodaj, to lower the rating to a 3. Mei testified that she didn't know where the pressure to lower the rating came from. The rating was eventually changed to a 4.

Mlekodaj reported to Dr. Steve Sims, who in turn reported to Scott. In a memo handwritten by Sims in August 2000, Sims notes that Scott told him he would have to lay off two ALARA employees as part of a "reduction in force," and named Westbrook and another employee.

A 'Chilled Environment'

In any event, Westbrook was laid off along with 67 other ORNL employees in November 2000. She promptly filed a complaint that she had been singled out in retaliation for her repeated safety concerns. She also filed a separate "concerned employee" report with DOE about the safety violations themselves.

The latter complaint prompted an independent investigation by National Inspection and Consultants Inc. (NIC), a Florida-based contractor DOE often hires to look into employee concerns. NIC investigators visited ORNL in May 2001. In a report released last August that received no mention in the local media, the investigators said they had identified "three potential program weaknesses" at UT-Battelle: "These weakness areas include procedure guidance and application, UT-Battelle management's focus on satisfying the customer, and the creation of a chilled environment."

They noted that throughout their interviews with ORNL employees, UT-Battelle lawyer Jeff Guilford insisted on sitting in. They wrote, "Throughout the many years NIC has been involved in conducting Employee Concern investigations, independent investigations, and program assessments, this is the only instance of a management/legal representative being present." The report says the investigators told Guilford he would have a "chilling effect" on employees' candor, but Guilford refused to leave.

While the investigators did not uphold all of Westbrook's concerns, they did find UT-Battelle's emphasis on "satisfying the customer" potentially troubling. They wrote that "management has created a situation where the perception of satisfying the customer is their number one priority. This perception can, and may already have had a very negative impact on the [radiation protection] organization. Gone unchecked, staff personnel could relax standards to keep their jobs, and unscrupulous customers could simply have [radiation personnel] removed who did not bend to their wishes."

And referring back to Guilford's presence at the interviews, they concluded, "In addition, the belief in a need to have a management/legal representative present conveys to the outside assessor a sense, whether accurate or not, that UT-Battelle may, in fact, have things to hide."

Meanwhile, Westbrook's retaliation complaint led to a hearing late last summer. DOE hearing officer Roger Klurfeld ruled against her. Klurfeld said the overriding question was whether Westbrook would have been included in the plant-wide lay-off even if she hadn't raised safety concerns, and he concluded that she would have been.

Westbrook appealed, and Klurfeld's decision was overturned by this month's ruling. DOE hearings director Breznay wrote that Klurfeld's determination was "clearly erroneous" and that Westbrook had proven she was retaliated against. Among other findings, he wrote, "as the record stands, Westbrook's low performance rating for the year 2000 appears to have been dictated by high-level Company management. The unexplained lowered rating detracts from Battelle's position that the [reduction in force] was not used to terminate Westbrook improperly."

Westbrook says she has asked for reinstatement, but she and Held will probably try to negotiate a settlement with UT-Battelle. She says she would only want to return to work if she believed the management philosophy had changed, which she thinks is unlikely.

"UT-Battelle has actually said that the [radiation safety] people are not the police anymore," Westbrook says. "And when I was there, I asked over and over, well, if we're not, then who are the police? [They said], 'Oh well, we don't know yet, it's going to be set up'... They don't want to give authority to the safety people, because that means they'll have some leverage over the operations people, over meeting the 'milestones.'"

Westbrook, who is currently working in a lower-salaried position for UT-Knoxville (in a division unrelated to UT-Battelle), is writing a book, which she says she'll publish for free online and circulate to other nuclear safety engineers.

"It will be about my experiences and what I think safety philosophy should be," she says. "That's about the best I can do. I'm not one of these great crusaders mobilizing thousands of people."

—Jesse Fox Mayshark

Moving Forward on Market Square
Entrepeneurs aren't waiting

The big Kinsey Probasco plan for Market Square is still on the drawing board, but activity on the Square is already gathering steam.

"We're just trying to find a way to make it happen," says KCDC Chairman Bill Lyons, referring to an agreement between Kinsey Probasco and the city of Knoxville for work to proceed. Lyons describes himself as "cautiously optimistic" that things will move forward, and a design charrette to gather ideas for the development of the Square's public space will be held sometime in June.

David Dewhirst, one of the local developers associated with Kinsey Probasco and currently owner of the largest number of properties on the Square, shares Lyons' optimism. "I have received a number of phone calls from several different businesses, companies and restaurants that are interested in coming down here. It looks very encouraging." Asked about plans for the Square itself, Dewhirst says, "We haven't designed the public space for Market Square; that is truly going to happen during the charrette headed up by Stroud Watson, hopefully sometime in June. It's going to be a very public process." Dewhirst says that once the charrette is completed, Kinsey Probasco expects to "deliver design parameters for a public infrastructure space, for not only Market Square but Krutch Park, in 150 days."

Meanwhile, plenty of other business and property owners on the Square are forging ahead with plans of their own.

Scott and Bernadette West, proprietors of Earth to Old City, may now be the largest private property owners on the Square after Dewhirst, having acquired Market Square addresses 16, 18, 20, 22, 28 and most recently 36. Scott West is practically bubbling over with ideas about uses their properties may be put to. In addition to moving Earth to Old City to the Square, the Wests hope to open a bar called the Preservation Pub there. According to West, all profits from the pub would go to fund the Square's ongoing preservation. "This would be the charitable arm of what we're doing," he says.

As he reels off descriptions of the buildings and potential uses for them, West tempers his enthusiasm slightly, noting that it was necessary to tape off the walkway in front of number 36 because of safety concerns over the facade, which is bulging outward. "It's been that way for 15 or 20 years, but we agreed that it needed to be taped off. And of course we're going to take care of that."

West displays equal caution in answering questions about time frames. "Everybody wants to know how long it's going to take. If you don't relax and take your time, you can end up making an amateur mistake, and we don't want that. So we're going to take our time, take a lot of bids, and make sure we do it right." Still, he hopes to begin taking bids for contractors on number 28 (where the Preservation Pub will be located) within a few weeks.

Another business recently arrived on the square is glad for the change. Nanci Solomon moved her hip used clothing shop Reruns there some months ago, from just down the street. Asked about the success of new location, Solomon answers firmly, "Much better. We're getting lots of new clientele. The difference between here and when we were on Union [Avenue] is amazing. Everybody's excited about what's going on. There're lots more people coming by. And do you know about the coffee shop opening next door?"

Jay Nevans and Randy Toms are proprietors of said coffee shop, Brazo ("brew" in Spanish). Along with Amanda Tullos, manager of the newly christened business, the partners chat excitedly about their venture. "We're still aiming for a May 30 opening," says Nevans. Their goal for the weekly morning trade of the "Euro-style" shop is speedy, efficient service based around an uncomplicated menu and pricing rounded to the nearest quarter (including tax). Explains Nevans, "We want to serve customers quickly, in no more than three or four minutes. We want to keep things simple, so we'll just have bagels, croissants, fresh fruits, coffees, cappucinos, things like that."

Brazo will also be open Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, "with good wines, good beers, good cheeses, ice creams" among other, similar light fare. Plans also include offering gourmet brunches with made-to-order omelets from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends, including theme brunches tied to international sporting events, wiring the cafe for Internet access, and renting the top floors as apartments, which are almost ready for occupancy. Tullos who will be the first tenant, will be moving in soon. "It's great," she says, "I'm going to be right in the middle of everything."

Perhaps the most unique business set to open on Market Square is the Village Marketplace, part of the Ten Thousand Villages organization, which is a member of the International Federation of Alternative Trade (IFAT) and the Fair Trade Federation. Ten Thousand Villages was started by the Mennonite Central Committee as a nonprofit program, and has grown to include more than 180 stores in North America. The concept behind the organization is to market crafts produced by artisans in Third-World countries and provide them a fair price for their goods.

Thea Yoder, co-owner of Village Marketplace (with her husband Daniel and their friends Jeff and Ruthie Gencay), explains that they can't immediately operate as a not-for-profit enterprise because "we have to pay off the loan first." Still, the intent is that the store will eventually become a not-for-profit, with volunteer staffing. "Profit really isn't the point," says Yoder. "It's about linking people to people, linking people around the world."

Village Marketplace is slated to open at 32B Market Square in the next few weeks ("with hope" adds Yoder wryly).

One property owner who is definite about her personal schedule is Andie Ray, who received her Certification of Occupancy for number 27 Market Square last Thursday. "I plan to move in this Thursday," she says. Finding a tenant for the downstairs space may take a little longer. Although she's had no shortage of interested inquirers, she avers, "There are business decisions, and there are life decisions." Noting that the two are somewhat intertwined in this case, she concludes, "You don't want to agree to something that will be hard to live with."

Similarly, John and Mandy Clark, owners of number 14, are focusing on their upstairs living space. Says John Clark, "We started construction Feb. 15. We're shooting for moving in around Labor Day, but I'll be happy to be in by Christmas." The downstairs portion, he says, "will just be a shell," which the couple will rent to a tenant to finish. As for finding an occupant for the downstairs themselves or working through Kinsey Probasco, Clark says, "We'll let that evolve, we'll just see what happens. If we happen to find a great tenant, fine, if they come up with a great tenant and a great leasing arrangement, fine. We're totally willing to cooperate."

One other business, the Other Spot, has a beer board review of its application for a beer license on May 28, but no further information was available about it at press time.

—Scott McNutt