Metro Pulse/Citybeat

Comment
on this story

Seven Days

Wednesday, March 26
The Knoxville chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police announces that it's conducting a survey of Knoxville police officers, essentially to prove that there's a morale problem in the department. The FOP is in for a big surprise. Police officers, sort of like soldiers, never complain about anything.

Thursday, March 27
Bobby Clement says he's going to start a consulting business. He must be planning to advise clients how best to give up a secure, nearly lifetime seat in the House of Representatives to run vainly against a virtually unbeatable opponent in the Senate.

Friday, March 28
The board of regents starts contemplating the effects of raising tuition at state colleges and universities by 10 percent or more this fall, following similar increases in each of the past two years under the continuing budget crunch. The governor promises to reverse the trend once state schools' tuition surpasses the average for private colleges and universities.

Saturday, March 29
The Ku Klux Klan stages a "white power" rally in Greeneville. The 30 Klansters are met by about 100 law enforcement officers and about 200 protesting opponents. The 101st Airborne Division was busy in Iraq; otherwise it, too, might have brought its Blackhawk helicopters to taunt the Klan, which is campaigning to change the nickname to Whitehawks.

Monday, March 31
The Lady Vols win their 44th straight home game in NCAA tournament play, leading Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma to suggest that UT open next year's tournament in Baghdad.

Tuesday, April 1
Clayton Homes is sold to wheeler-dealer Warren Buffett, who appears to be buying up manufactured housing companies. Industry insiders say Buffett secretly wants to restore the term "trailers" to all mobile homes.

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:
Last week's Knoxville Found photo only had a few responses, all of them correct. Harold J's Barber of the 'Ville shop is located on University Avenue in Mechanicsville, right along with the Hope VI project. The first correct respondent was Leah Richardson of Knoxville. We'd like to present Leah something barber- or at least hair-related for her achievement, but the truth of the matter is, we don't have anything like that. Not a thing, darn it. What we do have—in prodigious quantities—are a variety of self-help books. Consequently, as this week's Knoxville Found winner, Leah receives a copy of Chicken Soup for the Sister's Soul: Inspirational Stories about Sisters and Their Changing Relationships, by...well, by a committee of former Chicken Soul Soup authors and two guys who "have dedicated their lives to enhancing the personal and professional lives of others." To which we say, geez, get a life.

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

METROPLITAN PLANNING COMMISSION
Thursday, April 10
1:30 p.m.
City County Building
Main Assembly Room
400 Main St.
Knoxville-Knox County General Use plan and the Hill Avenue Historic Overlay district are both on the agenda.

MAYOR'S NIGHT OUT
Thursday, April 10
5 p.m.
City County Building
Mayor's Office, 6th floor
400 Main St.
The public is invited to attend.

Library Drama: Final Act
For director, who's on first?

In recent weeks, the persistent question of control of the Knox County Library System has been taking detours that are puzzling to some and alarming to others.

The race for library director is at the center of the turmoil. Interim Director Charles Davenport's appointment last year was controversial in part because of his lack of certain credentials common to metropolitan library directors, especially some years of administrative experience. Many veteran librarians suspected that Davenport used his friends on the library board as well as manipulative search strategies—including limiting the job announcement to the News Sentinel, and instituting a brief window of opportunity for applications—to get an unfair shot at the library's high-paying top post, which puts him in charge of an $8 million budget and about 240 employees. Davenport had been chairman of the library board, but has spent most of his professional career as a part-time school librarian with few supervisory duties.

To bring the mess to a conclusion, last fall County Executive Mike Ragsdale called for a new search, which attracted 27 applicants from across the country. Two-thirds of the applicants are from out of state: Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey, Michigan, Wisconsin, New York, Connecticut; several are currently directors of smaller public-library systems.

The 27 applicants represent a wide array of mostly professional librarians, including prominent local public-library veterans like Branch Services Manager Myretta Black and Reference Manager Janet Drumheller, both of whom applied for the job when it was first announced last year. A new local contender is longtime director of the library system's regionally known Calvin McClung Historical Collection, Steve Cotham, who also serves as Knox County's official historian. And also in the pot, as many expected, was the name of Charles Davenport.

In October, Phyllis Severance, the county human resources department's then-manager, had assured Metro Pulse that they'd trim the list down to only those candidates who meet the position's basic qualifications and submit, at most, only the seven most-qualified candidates. Severance said the search committee would not even have the opportunity of considering candidates who weren't considered qualified by standards of administrative experience. (The job posting calls for eight years of administrative experience.) Since Davenport did not seem to qualify, her statement was a relief to some critics concerned about cronyism, because it meant that any Davenport allies on the seven-member search committee wouldn't even get the opportunity to try to boost him into the role.

Now, it seems, they technically would have that opportunity. Frances Fogerson, current chief of the county's human-resources department, told us Monday that she'd pass along all 27 candidates to the committee ranked by standards of qualification, "1 through 27," in time for their April 8 meeting. Fogerson says she did not see any advantage to narrowing the list in her office.

Ragsdale spokesman Mike Cohen supported the alteration. "When all the applications came in, and we realized we'd give it all to the media, we thought, 'Shouldn't we make sure the people on the committee see all the applicants, too?'" Cohen also expressed faith that there's no biased majority on the search committee.

The shift was alarming to some librarians and was a surprise even to Steve Roberts, library board member and chairman of the search committee. "It was clearly my understanding that the human resources people would screen the applicants," he said Monday. "There are some of those 27 who don't, I'm certain, meet the minimum qualifications. I would hope they would remove those."

After conferences on Tuesday, though, there was a slight change; the human-resources office will convey a "short list" of seven recommendations, but also pass along the other 20 applicants. The choice will be up to the search committee. Cohen concedes that the search committee could theoretically choose someone other than human resource's recommended candidates.

However, after discussions with Fogerson and others on Tuesday, Roberts is comfortable with the short-list-within-a-long-list idea. While he says it's possible the committee could still pick a candidate not on the short list, he says, "I cannot imagine that happening." He says he's gotten no pressure to guide the committee one way or another.

"I've heard all the conspiracy theories, and that's just not happening," he says. He expects his search committee to make a recommendation of one by their meeting in late May.

Then, there's Tennessee Senate Bill 859, sponsored by Knox County Sen. Ben Atchley in February. It calls for a new system of control over the public library in "any county with a population not less than 382,000 nor more than 383,000 according to the 2000 federal decennial census." (They may as well have mentioned counties that start with a silent K and rhyme with ox.) In this theoretical county, the library system, subject to a two-thirds majority on County Commission, would be controlled not by the traditional library board, which governs most public libraries in Tennessee and other states, but by the county executive himself. The library board would remain, but only to "serve in an advisory capacity to the county executive."

Mike Cohen, representative of County Executive Mike Ragsdale, favors the bill, which was originally proposed by County Commissioner Craig Leuthold. He says the motive for the bill is economic, not political. "We think we can do a better job of managing the resources," especially considering the county's "economy of scale." Also, he says, the library represents "the only large chunk of money the government spends in which the people spending it do not answer to the voters." He cites historical inefficiencies; the library, he says, hires contractors to handle things from information technology to lawnmowing that the county could provide.

Though some librarians and library supporters were initially happy to hear about the proposed legislation because it would remove the widely distrusted library board from direct authority, the bill would not affect the current library-director search. And some, uncertain about any given county executive's expertise on library issues, have begun to wonder whether it's a frying-pan-or- fire choice.

Library experts on the statewide level are skeptical of the bill, fearing the infringement of politics on the direction of a public library.

Last month, Tennessee State Librarian Edwin Gleaves in Nashville wrote a letter to his representative stating that he had "concerns" about making an exception to a state law "that has served us well for over 50 years" to keep library administration from becoming politicized. "I know enough of the events in Knoxville to understand the frustration with the current arrangement," he wrote, "but to change the law for one county could well invite other counties to do the same, which, in my judgement, would be injurious to our public libraries in the long term."

The bill passed the state House unanimously last week, and is awaiting approval in the state Senate. At that time, Knox County Sen. Tim Burchett will vote on the bill to strip power from the library board of which his father, Charlie Burchett, is now chairman.

—Jack Neely

Magnolia in Bloom
Pellissippi State's newest campus thrives

Despite the potential effects of the state's budgetary woes, officials of Pellissippi State Technical Community College have reason to be pleased. The Magnolia Avenue campus, which opened with 50 students in the spring of 2000, has grown to enroll several times that number. Says Julia Wood, director of community relations for Pellissippi State, "We have 450 students enrolled for spring of 2003. And spring usually has a smaller enrollment. Fall 2002's enrollment was 529."

Dr. Allen G. Edwards, president of the college, says, "We're thrilled with the progress it's made."

Wood points with particular pride to the Heart of Knoxville Career and Resource Center. "We're very pleased with what we have there." Described as a "comprehensive, one-stop career satellite to serve Empowerment Zone residents," the center offers adult education services, skills assessments, job listings and referrals, online applications and resume posting, and unemployment assistance, plus the use of facilities and equipment such as computers and fax machines, among many other services.

"It's done a really good job of meeting an educational need in the community," says Edwards.

The Magnolia campus is host to other centers as well. The Educational Resources Center provides everything students need for coursework: computers, textbooks, a reference library, periodicals, and educational videotapes. Its Learning and Testing Center provides free tutoring in subjects like math, science, writing, and foreign languages. It offers basic skills, placement, and admissions exams to help students determine whether they have the requisite skills for college-level courses, as well as GED exams. Online help in English and math is also available. The Adult Education Center on the Magnolia campus helps adults prepare for college entrance and GED exams, and teaches computer and workplace skills, too. And there is Project Success, a mentoring program aimed at matching African-American students with African-American professional staff.

Regarding the effect the state budget cuts might have on the Magnolia location, Wood says no decisions have been made yet. "We're looking at what the eight to 14 percent tuition increase that the Tennessee Board of Regents' plan calls for will do for us." Whatever happens, Wood says, "Magnolia would be affected the same as the rest of the campuses." She does, however, note that summer courses are being offered at the Magnolia location rather than the Division Street campus "as part of a budget decision."

The Magnolia Avenue campus will host a Spring Career Expo, Thursday, April 17 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

—Scott McNutt