Metro Pulse/Ear to the Ground

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Air Wars

The blitz of '03 is on, with Bill Haslam's first TV ad hitting the airwaves this week in a sweep of traditional imagery and uplifting music featuring Haslam's good-looking family, impressive record of community service and philanthropy and the story of his climb from service station bathroom-scrubber to president of Pilot Oil. The handsome spot is airing on local network affiliates, where time sells for top dollar, and will be seen all the way to Barbourville, Ky. (as compared to the deals available on Cable TV, which primarily targets Knox County). Haslam's radio ads—a series of endorsements by a variety of the citizenry including County Mayor Mike Ragsdale, former NFL star Leroy Thompson and a Fulton High School Project Grad participant—started a week earlier, and also bespeak a frontrunner's campaign.

Of more interest to seasoned politicos, however, are the mysterious media plans of Haslam opponent Madeline Rogero, whose mantra is "doing more with less"—a good thing, since she has only a fraction of the campaign war chest enjoyed by her opponent. A key reason her plans are being taken so seriously is because the Rogero arsenal has what many consider a Weapon of Mass Destruction in the person of writer/producer/director Tom Jester, whose resume includes some of the most memorable campaign ads ever aired here. Jester was the creator of the 1992 commercial featuring a Cadillac spinning its wheels in the mud and being rescued by a towtruck-driving Tommy Schumpert. Most pundits credited Schumpert's narrow victory over incumbent County Executive Dwight Kessel to the Jester spot. Last year, state Sen. Tim Burchett got national attention with the nice-guy ad that showed him stopping his pickup truck on the way to Nashville to rescue a turtle from the middle of the road—also a Jester production. So when can we expect Rogero's TV campaign?

"Sept. 2," says Jester, who is working for free and just got the Rogero spots finished. He generally gets top dollar for his services, and says he had "a meeting" with Haslam and his campaign manager Bill Lyons, but felt committed to work for Rogero. "The Haslams couldn't afford me," he jokes. "Madeline is uncommonly gifted, is a friend of mine, and I feel we have a chance to make some history here." He is tight-lipped about the ads, but predicts they "will cause some talk."

Let's Work Together Again

Not that he cares, but lame duck Mayor Victor Ashe raised a bunch of county hackles this week when he tried to get City Council to pass a resolution opposing the closing of the Sequoyah Hills library. The county types are steamed because there is no such plan. Some speculate that since Sequoyah is one of the smallest, least used branches, Ashe may have gotten the idea it is on the endangered list from a recently-released Knox County efficiency survey that recommended closing some branch libraries.

County Commissioner John Schmid showed up at the special called meeting and engaged Ashe in a heated conversation. He was overheard telling the mayor "Victor, you've got too much time on your hands."

Others were even more ticked because the library gambit came on the heels of another called meeting, this one to announce improvements to the Jacob Building in Chilhowee Park. According to one county official, "Knox County put $100,000 into it, with maybe more to come, but we were not invited to the meeting, nor acknowledged. You'd think they could say a freaking thank you."