Metro Pulse/Citybeat

Comment
on this story

Seven Days

Wednesday, August 27
Sevier County school officials briefly consider evacuating a closing an elementary school in Gatlinburg because of a "gaseous odor" emanating from a boys' restroom. Is this a fart joke? Was Phil Williams involved?

Thursday, August 28
The UT Social Science Research Institute's public opinion survey, as published in the News-Sentinel, claims county residents, as well as city residents, support government consolidation locally. Well, there goes the whole poll's credibility.

A nuclear reactor at Sequoyah Nuclear Plant is shut down in a safety "alert," the second TVA reactor to be idled in a week. The first was at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Monday. The timing was great. Hot weather, and TVA is campaigning to convince us all that nuclear is the "safe, reliable option" in electric power generation.

Friday, August 29
The Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership comes out with a plan to purchase the second floor of the former Watson's Building on Market Square for its offices. Never thought of the chamber's prez and CEO Mike Edwards as a "second-story man," but we live and learn.

Saturday, August 30
The UT Vols open their 2003 home football season by throttling Fresno State 24-6. They do it by playing defense. What a concept!

Monday, September 1
It's Boomsday.
Boom. You heard it here last!

Tuesday, September 2
City Council barely votes down an ordinance that would have put the convention center hotel issue here to a referendum. We think it might be a better idea to put highway issues here to a referendum, but what do we know?

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:
Summer's almost over, and we all know what that means. Back to school. Waking up early, going to class, taking exams, and unnnh, homework. But it's not all bad. We also get to catch up with our friends, go to parties, and show some school spirit.

While their neighbors at the University of Tennessee have the "rock" at Frat Row, upon which various sentiments are expressed almost daily, the students at Knoxville College use a lovely row of trees near Davis Hall as their campus bulletin boards. Fraternity and sorority tags are prevalent on the trees, but other student organizations are represented as well. Sonya Moreland was the first to correctly recognize the trees, and for her efforts she will receive a copy of the original motion picture soundtrack for Party Monster.

Restoring the Bijou
The theater isn't in great financial shape, but it isn't going under

Just after Jim Crabtree resigned his post as executive director of the Bijou Theatre Center in July, Chuck Morris, the chairman of its board of trustees, sent a letter to all on the Bijou's mailing list. In addition to thanking supporters for their past donations and memberships, Morris' letter included the line, "We truly need your help." The letter's sincere and almost desperate tone might have fueled rumors that foreclosure on the Bijou was imminent, that their problems in paying the bills had finally caught up with them. Morris insists those rumors are untrue. "U.S. Mortgage is not foreclosing," he says.

With a mortgage of $594,000 and additional past-due debt of $100,000, the Bijou faces a monthly payment of $6,700 on the mortgage and $3,500 to KUB for a backlog of utility bills. "We are looking at roughly $10 grand just to keep the doors open before we even put anything on stage," Morris says. "And that's also excluding payroll."

Part of the Bijou's uphill battle with debt, incurred during the theater's extensive renovation four years ago, stems from a higher interest rate that occurred when the original bank, Bank of America, sold the Bijou's loan to U.S. Mortgage in Oregon. Morris says the bank didn't notify them of the sale. The new interest rate is 10.5 percent, which Morris says is four points higher than the current going rate on commercial loans.

"Our problem is that, understandably, local banks have not wanted to assume the risk of bringing the loan back home because of the Bijou's checkered financial past," Morris says.

The maturity date on the mortgage was Aug. 15, but the Bijou has refinanced the note with a maturity date of 2005.

Lar'Juanette Williams, who's been standing in as interim executive director, explains that the theater's 2003-2004 season will continue the Bijou's reputation for major musical productions while scaling back the budget. The season begins Sept. 12 with Ain't Misbehavin', a one-set musical review based on the songs of Fats Waller, and continues with Little Shop of Horrors, Susannah (a collaboration with the University of Tennessee Opera Department), perennial favorite The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, plus another holiday production that combines the thrill of a cabaret with the poignancy of Truman Capote's short story "A Christmas Memory."

Williams wants to keep the casts and shows "small and concise," she says, in order to make a bigger dent in the debt.

"Right now, to be honest, I'm walking on eggshells," she says. "We didn't have a good summer." Williams speculates it was because the theater produced the 10th anniversary of Smoke on the Mountain, which is popular but possibly played out to the East Tennessee audience; The Foreigner, a repeat from last season; and the Jim Crabtree creation of Brand New Beat, which fit the musical theme but didn't draw much of an audience. Annie, however, was a hit and showed Williams "what our potential could be."

Williams says since she started at the Bijou in 2001, she's been "doing triage" to keep the debt from getting worse. The current approach to fundraising focuses on ticket sales, private donations, grants, and corporate sponsorship of specific shows. Morris hopes to receive $2 million from Knox County in 2004. He is also in talks with people who may guarantee or underwrite a loan from a local bank.

The board's personnel and administration committee is currently considering how to best replace Crabtree. Williams feels prepared to make her interim position permanent. "She has been and is doing an excellent job. She is an excellent candidate, and to date, is our only candidate," Morris says.

Williams and Morris are both optimistic about the Bijou's short- and long-term future. In his letter to patrons, Morris emphasizes the theater's role in the future of downtown Knoxville and the rest of East Tennessee. Williams foresees a time when more people know about the Bijou and its special contributions to the community. "Once we make this place known, we will have the support," she says. "That's my task."

—Paige M. Travis

Brought To You By...
Campaign contributions tell interesting stories

An examination of the campaign contributions to the mayor's race shows that Bill Haslam is running with heavy support from the wealthy of West Knoxville, the city's political elite, and a number of developers and contractors.

Madeline Rogero, who has raised much less money, has relied more on smaller donors. She finds support from labor, a few lawyers, and North Knoxville.

To date, Haslam has raised more than $558,000, and Rogero has attracted $82,800, based on figures posted on the candidates' websites. (Haslam's website includes more recent filings than Rogero's.)

The average contribution to Haslam was $251.96, while Rogero's contributors gave an average $120.08.

A similar analysis was originally done by the anonymous Internet blogger, South Knox Bubba. Although Metro Pulse did not contact him for this story, our team of neo-experts found similar results.

It's not news that Haslam has the big money in the race. The scion of the Pilot Oil family, Haslam is well connected politically. But his support comes overwhelmingly from the wealthy.

Haslam got half of his money from the 12 percent of his 2,218 contributors who each gave $1,000 or more. Nearly two-thirds of his money came from the less than a quarter of his donors who gave $500 or more.

Of those donating $500 or more, 44 percent live in the 37919 zip code, which encompasses Sequoyah Hills, Bearden, Lyons View, and Deane Hill. Ten percent live in the 37922 zip code, which includes Farragut, Concord and Bluegrass. Most of that 37922 area is outside the city limits, but it's unknown how many of those donors can vote in city elections.

A number of large donors owned or worked in construction or development companies, including some who have done multi-million dollar projects with the city or county. Those include George Akins Jr. of Renfro Construction; James Blalock and Sons, Sevierville-based road builders; Dorman Blaine, president of Blaine Construction, a major contractor of city projects; James S. Bush of Johnson & Galyon Construction; Brian Conley (owner of Metro Pulse) of Cardinal Construction, which is doing the construction in Market Square; realtor Kerry Sprouse, original developer of Turkey Creek; Sam Furrow of Archer Furrow and Associates; Raja Jubran of Denark Construction, which built the new Knoxville Convention Center; Harry Stowers, president of Stowers Machinery, which rents construction equipment; Jon Kinsey of the Kinsey/Probasco development firm, which is overseeing Market Square redevelopment, who is also former mayor of Chattanooga; Randy Massey, owner of Massey Electric; and Rodney Lawler and Pat Wood, of the Lawler-Wood development firm.

Other notable contributors include: Mike Chase, owner of the Cooper Cellar; James Clayton, former CEO of Clayton Homes; Michael Edwards, CEO of the Chamber Partnership; Tom McAdams, lawyer for PBA; the Keller family, owners of Kelsan janitorial supply; and Holiday Inn Downtown. A complete list of reported donors can be downloaded from the City's website at www.cityofknoxville.org.

Haslam family members are frequent and generous political donors themselves. Since the 2000 election cycle, the Haslam family has given almost $500,000 to candidates for federal and state offices and to lobbying groups, according to OpenSecrets.com. The money has gone almost exclusively to Republicans, including Lamar Alexander, George W. Bush, Rudolph Giuliani, Van Hilleary, John J. Duncan Jr., Fred Thompson, and Arlen Specter. The family has also donated heavily to the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers, the National Association of Truck Stop Operators, the Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Tennessee.

There are no records for Rogero donating to any candidates on Open Secrets.

She relies more on smaller contributors. Only 19 people, or 3 percent, of her 691 contributors gave $1,000 or more—making up 22 percent of her war chest. Six percent gave $500 or more, accounting for 40 percent of her money.

Few of Rogero's $1,000-contributors registered on OpenSecrets, suggesting they haven't donated to many political campaigns. A few of the big donors are attorneys, including Sidney Gilreath, Ed Owens, Mike Whalen, and Scott Carpenter. Other notable big donors include former TV personality Bob Deck; and retired printer James Ullrich. The Teamster's Drive Committee gave $2,000 and the national labor group, UNITE, gave $500. A number of K2K posters also donated, including financial planner Robert Loest and DeRoyal executive Bill Pittman.

Among the donors who gave $500 or more, 22 percent lived in the 37919 West Knoxville zip code; 17 percent came from 37917, which consists of the North and East Knoxville neighborhoods of 4th and Gill, Old North, Parkridge, North Hills and Whittle Springs; 10 percent came from the far West Knoxville 37922.

(Metro Pulse owner Brian Conley gave $1,000 to Haslam, and MP contributor Betty Bean gave $250 to Rogero. Former owner and current editor Joe Sullivan, who endorsed Haslam in this election, did not donate money to either candidate, although his wife gave $200 to Rogero.)

—Joe Tarr