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It was a year that came in like a lion and went out more lamblike. If it seemed that everything under Knoxville's sun was embroiled in controversy when 2002 dawned, by the year's sunset things had calmed down on most of its political and governmental fronts.

County bounty

Elections dominated the political scene. The biggest plum went to Mike Ragsdale, the Republican who ran for the county executive's office without opposition in either the primary or general elections.

The County Commission was reconfigured only slightly, but the shift was enough to hand the Commission chair to David Collins, leaving the Old Guard in a minority position and giving Ragsdale a green light for any progressive proposals he might have. Voter turnout for the county elections was higher than usual.

High Sheriff Tim Hutchison fended off a spirited challenge from Democrats, bolstered by some unhappy Republicans, to gain his fourth term. Embattled almost constantly since the collapse of his personal downtown Justice Center and Sheriff's Empire plans, Hutchison had to contend with an imbroglio that arose over his six helicopters and an airstrip leased from an accused drug dealer. Then, his attempts to secure more jail cells were derailed again, this time by a federal judge. The judge ended up admonishing the sheriff to work out his differences with other law enforcement officials and to help in producing accurate jail population figures and a legitimate jail expansion plan to meet the county's future needs. Ah, Tim, we knew ye too well.

The wrath of a Victor scorned

Beware of derailing politicians' pet projects. That's the lesson Mayor Ashe seems to be thrashing into some freshman City Council members this year. Despite having had Council's concurrence on a number of issues (notably funding the initial stage of the Market Square Redevelopment project and rejecting Cherokee Country Club's bid for approval to tear down the Smith-Coughlin house), hizzoner appears to be in grudge mode these days. One possible cause is Council's 6-3 decision to rescind the previous Council's approval of Ashe's long-sought-after referendum on changing the city election cycle to coincide with state and national elections.

Since then, the mayor has taken to calling special Council meetings at the last moment and publicly rebuking those Council members who can't or won't attend (usually, the ones who voted against the referendum). Ashe apparently has a special place in his heart for new Councilman Joe Hultquist. At one point, Hulquist complained that Ashe didn't tell him about a plan to develop a new park in South Knoxville (Hultquist's district). Ashe said that, in his opinion, Hulquist hadn't contributed anything much to city business so far.

None of this is particularly new for Ashe, of course, who's known to nurse grudges for years. Rather, the difference is Council's flashes of independence, after years of almost always voting, predictably, 7-2 (sometimes 6-3) in favor of most anything Ashe proposed. The difference can be credited to newcomers Hultquist, Mark Brown, Steve Hall, Barbara Pelot, and Rob Frost. With Ashe a lame duck mayor in the last year of his last term, expect the friction to intensify in 2003.

Statewide joyride

In a stunning development, Democrat Phil Bredesen, the former Nashville mayor, was elected governor by virtue of East Tennessee's uncommonly lukewarm reaction to Republican Van Hilleary. Bredesen even carried Knox County, a rare occurrence for a Democratic candidate for governor. At the end of the year, there was widespread speculation that there would be a few East Tennesseans in the new Bredesen administration.

Lamar "don't count me out 'til I'm dead and buried" Alexander countered for Republicans by retaining for the GOP the U.S. Senate seat that Big Fred Thompson decided early this year to give up. Alexander crushed Democrat Bobby Clement, carrying that metaphor to a new high with a handshake that brought a disgruntled Clement supporter to his knees just before the election.

What the radio talk-show jocks didn't accomplish by inciting income tax foes to riot on Legislative Plaza last year, the two gubernatorial candidates concluded this season. They each pledged opposition to an income tax and vowed to "manage" the state out of its fiscal crisis (see next year's Year in Review issue for how well that worked). Meaningful tax reform was finished off for the foreseeable future in the campaign process.

What the taxpayers got, instead, was a referendum vote to enable a state lottery with an ill-defined mission to support education. The details were left, like the details of tax reform, to a Legislature demonstrably ill-equipped to deal with any issues of importance, let alone their details. Go get 'em, Phil.

Infighting and incest

Mike Edwards was promoted to president of the Knox Area Chamber Partnership after Tom Ingram left unceremoniously. The resignation of Ingram, who had been marginally effective as head of the Chamber Partnership, came after months of clashing with Mayor Ashe. Edwards, the former chief of the Public Building Authority, was also placed in a position of authority over the Development Corp. of Knox County, whose long-time land baroness, Melissa Ziegler, departed under fire.

Even before that little co-CEO caper was put in place, the Knoxville Convention and Visitors Bureau was merged with the Sports Corp., whose guru, Gloria Dei...er..Gloria Ray, was put in charge of the combined operation.

Mike Ragsdale—with his chief of staff and County Commissioner Mike Arms, his information chief and flak for all seasons Mike Cohen, and his development protege, Mike Edwards—put all this together. Don't be shy Mike; step up to the mike, Mike, whichever one you are. How'd a Gloria get involved, anyway?

That's not all Mike Ragsdale accomplished. No sooner was he in office than he began to take credit for a bunch of positive-sounding events outside his control to make it appear that he was following through on his campaign promises. The promises were vague enough to make that exercise simple, especially with Cohen involved.

Ragsdale's shtick early in his regime, however, has been to broker resolution of costly disputes between the County Commission and the school board, the sheriff and the attorney general, the sheriff and the chief of police, and the library board and the Friends of the Library. They aren't settled yet, but he's brokering like mad, and progress was being made at year-end.

Ragsdale got the library board to agree to conduct a national search for a new library director instead of playing tiddlywinks and installing in office its former chairman, thick-skinned school librarian Charlie Davenport, who is serving as interim director amid waves of staff grumbling.

The county exec also has the school board and Commission nearing agreement on most of the issues that led to litigation between the two bodies. And, with the help of the U.S. District Court, he has made headway toward solving the problem of jail overcrowding by running interference between the law enforcement entities who've been pitted against one another over the causes and effects.

One has to admit, Ragsdale is not put off by daunting challenges.

Inner-city work

The effects of the devastating urban renewal programs of the '50s, '60s and '70s lingered, but politicians and activists looked for new solutions. In Mechanicsville, Knoxville's Community Development Corp. continued a new approach to public housing complexes, building the Hope VI project on the site of College Homes. Although some still criticize the way the project has been undertaken, it's hard to argue that it isn't a more humane approach, at least from an architectural standpoint. People have been trying to revitalize Five Points in East Knoxville for about three decades, but this year they seemed to take a significant step. Spearheaded by freshman Councilman Mark Brown, the city gave $600,000 to acquire property and plan a retail plaza. The Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership pitched in by funding a feasibility study for a grocery store—the consultant concluded that a small store could indeed work on a vacant parcel on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. Brown hopes for a start of construction on something in 2003.

In another famously blighted section of town, Broadway and Fifth Avenues, change was also stirring, although it's too early to tell what will become of it. The Knox Area Rescue Mission built a new center down the street on Broadway, leaving its old building vacant. The Volunteer Ministry Center, now on Gay Street, is eyeing the old building for a new home. But residents in nearby neighborhoods complained that they're being asked to shoulder an unfair number of services for the homeless. Their complaints got some people pointing fingers at the notorious Fifth Ave. Motel. A codes inspection found serious violations, and the building was condemned. Now, historic preservationists are worried the apartment building will be razed and are trying to find a developer to take it over.

Odds 'n' ends

A business organization called East Tennessee Citizens for Airfare Competition initiated a private effort to raise $3 to $5 million to lure a low-fare air carrier such as AirTran or Frontier into the Knoxville market to reduce travel costs. At year's end, we were still flying at high-dollar rates.

For the first time since the 1980s, a comprehensive downtown planning process was set in motion. Under the aegis of Nine Counties/ One Vision, a Portland-based firm, Crandall Arambula, was engaged to guide it and come up with a final product by mid-2003.

A proposal for a James Agee Park at the corner of Laurel Avenue and James Agee (formerly 15th) Street has brought the city on board with UT (no mean feat in itself). Singer R.B. Morris was the initiator of the park idea, to commemorate the Knoxville-born author, and money is being raised to carry it out.

December 18, 2002 * Vol. 12, No. 51
© 2002 Metro Pulse