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Seven Days

Wednesday, October 8
The law license of a Knox County Sheriff's legal adviser is suspended over his failure to pay a registration fee. Yeah, you know how the sheriff's lawyers always take that mock Federalista posture. "We don't need no stinking..." whatever. Ask Herbert Moncier.

Thursday, October 9
The colorful new $20 bill featuring President Andrew Jackson, is introduced in Nashville. Picture makes it look kinda like Old Hickory's wearing rouge. Think there wouldn't be a duel over that if the crusty old Tennessean were still around?

Friday, October 10
Health officials say the outbreak of Hepatitis A here and in other parts of the South is likely attributable to a shipment of little green onions. Lots of people call them little green onions, but they're actually scallions. When in doubt, blame the scallions, we always say.

Saturday, October 11
The Georgia Bulldog football team came to....Oh, never mind.

Sunday, October 12
The Salvation Army thrift store on Broadway is gutted by fire. Yow. Now where will we get our winter wardrobes?

Monday, October 13
The Associated Press reports on a state attorney general opinion that Tennessee's law requiring recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance is constitutional because students or teachers can decide not to participate. Not much of a requirement is it? But if you have to require it, what good is it anyway?

Tuesday, October 14
Tennessee residents would be reluctant to impose tolls on its roads, TDOT concludes. In a state whose view of revenooers was what it was in its moonshining heyday, that should surprise no one.

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:
The historic Parkridge community has been undergoing a renaissance of late. In addition to the beautiful restorations of several historic homes, the neighborhood has also seen the groundbreaking for a new YMCA facility and major improvements to Caswell Park. All of this has created quite a buzz around town.
And every great neighborhood needs a great bar, right? Well, Parkridge has that too. Hollywood, on Washington Avenue near Sixth, offers plenty of cold suds and lively conversation.
Bill Pittman of Knoxville was first to identify the mural on the side of Hollywood's building and he will be receiving a copy of Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer & Trower; Their Lives and Music, by Dan Muise. Bill also included a cautionary note that the bar is currently sitting in the path of another proposed TDOT folly and may eventually be slated for demolition. Rise up friends of Hollywood! Speak out, citizens of Parkridge! Raise hell, Fourth and Gill-ians! Hasn't TDOT screwed up your lives enough already? Call your senator, write your representative and let them know that enough is enough.

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

Emissions: Possible
County may adopt tests for vehicles

A mandatory local inspection and maintenance (I&M) program for vehicle emissions standards is a very real possibility now that Knox County stands on the verge of so-called federal "non-attainment status" due to poor air quality. One of the chief concerns here is the overabundance of ground-level ozone, a highly reactive gas that can cause lung inflammation, asthma, and permanent lung-tissue damage, and which is a byproduct of certain automotive pollutants.

The Environmental Protection Agency tags counties with "non-attainment" status whenever they fail to meet air quality standards for a particular pollutant three years running. Among other things, non-attainment status cuts off the flow of federal highway funds and creates extra regulatory hurdles for industry. "Non-attainment is sort of like the scarlet letter as far as industries are concerned," says Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

The Knoxville region has failed to meet federal standards for nitrogen oxide (one of the main precursors to ozone) the last three years. And unless local officials can submit an Early Action Compact—a four-year plan for bringing air quality up to standards—non-attainment status will be forthcoming in April 2004.

"There is no single magic bullet [for solving the problem of nitrogen oxide]," Smith says. "In the Early Action Compact, we're going to have to string together a series of measures that will give us 3 or 4 percent improvement here, another 5 or 6 percent over there."

The county mayor's chief of staff Mike Arms says the county has identified seven ways to decrease nitrogen oxide and other ozone-related pollutants, most of them involving vehicle-related regulatory measures, steps such as requiring certain additives in diesel fuel, and effecting new leakage standards for gas caps.

But one of the most effective steps would be to enact an inspection and maintenance program for measuring vehicle emissions. Nashville's Davidson County has had such a policy for 10 years, a program whereby motorists must go to contracted testing centers before every tag renewal. The emissions testing is simple, and costs only a few dollars. But all Davidson County drivers must achieve a passing grade before they can renew their tags.

"When we look at the options for reducing ozone, I&M is one that is very likely," Arms says. "The experts tell us that it would give us more bang for the buck than most other measures."

According to Smith, a stringent I&M routine (testing every vehicle in the county) could reduce nitrogen oxide by 3.6 percent and reduce the presence of VOCs (volatile organic chemicals) by another 6.8 percent. VOCs are also precursors to ozone.

Arms says local officials have already reviewed Nashville's I&M contract, in anticipation of adopting a similar one here as a component of the Early Action Compact. The Compact must be submitted to and approved by the EPA by March 2004 to avoid non-attainment.

"Vehicle inspections are not something that anybody is too excited about," Arms says. "But I think people are coming to understand the negative economic impact non-attainment status would have."

—Mike Gibson

Should They Build It?
A decision on I-40 is down to the wire

The Tennessee Department of Transportation says it will decide by the end of the year whether to move ahead with the current plans for rebuilding Interstate 40 through the heart of downtown.

Edward Cole, chief of environment and planning for TDOT, pledged at a City Council workshop this week that his agency would work with residents to make the project as painless as possible.

Then he was showered with comments from residents about why they're against it and what they'd like to see done instead.

The project has been in the works for more than 20 years. The current $150 million plans break the project into two portions. In the first phase, a five-lane connector road called Hall of Fame Drive would be build, connecting Summit Hill Drive with Fifth Avenue and Broadway. In the second phase, I-40 would be widened to six lanes, with ramp improvements for James White Parkway and Cherry Street interchanges. Sections of Magnolia and Fourth Avenue will be realigned.

Most residents who spoke at the three-hour meeting were against the project as it's currently designed and urged TDOT to redesign it or consider other options, including more funding for mass transportation and diverting some of the traffic onto Interstate 640.

Jeff Talman, a Fourth and Gill resident, said the expansion project would further separate downtown from its surrounding neighborhoods, encouraging blight. But he said the project is a wonderful opportunity to correct many of the problems created by the highway in the first place.

"It's an opportunity to restitch the social fabric in the city," Talman said. "We run the risk of missing an opportunity to liberate ourselves from the concrete noose that has stifled the city's potential."

Some residents complained that TDOT wasn't dealing with the immediate safety issue. Downtown resident Art Carmichael III said the safety issues won't be met by TDOT for seven to 10 years, when the project is completed. He suggested the state take immediate measures—such as closing the James White Parkway interchange, reducing traffic to one lane, using rumble strips, and reducing the speed limit. "Once you deal with the safety issues, then the immediate need for the project goes away, and you can step back and take another look," he said.

He urged the state to take an overall look at the region's transportation needs instead of looking at each project.

Others agreed. "This is a roads program," said a Mechanicsville resident. "I think we need to be talking about transportation, not roads. This is a temporary solution that's not going to save lives.... This plan is about maintaining a mainline interstate through the middle of the city. And that's not good for the city."

David Orr of the local Sierra Club said the department never followed the proper planning procedures and got far too little public comment for it.

One resident, Clark Hamilton, did speak in favor of the project, saying it's been in the works far too long to put off any longer. "I don't think we're going to relocate this interstate system," he said. "It's obvious this particular section needs to be rebuilt."

TDOT officials said they are considering all the input but need to make a decision soon. "The pressing issue now is do we go forward with the alternative proposed," Cole said after the meeting.

If the answer is "no," it would start a whole new planning process, he says. If the answer is "yes," he promised TDOT would work with residents on all other aspects of it.

—Joe Tarr

Pension Predicament
A Council candidate would lose hers

When 28-year City Council incumbent Jean Teague was term-limited out of office two Decembers ago, her consolation prize was a hefty, but little-publicized, pension allotment. In January 2002, Teague started collecting a $931.27 monthly check.

She is the first beneficiary of a City Charter amendment that allows Council members—who were all considered part-time city employees—to cut themselves in on city employees' pension benefits.

For years, Teague and the other members of Council were not eligible to participate in the city's pension plan, which until 1996 was available only to full-time city employees.

The change came after Teague and six other Council members voted for an ordinance amending the City Charter to allow Council members to become eligible to receive the same pension benefits as full-time city employees. The charter amendment, which was placed on the ballot in January 1997, also allowed Council members to "buy back" the years of service for which they had not been covered—paying zero interest. No other city pensioner was eligible for the interest-free sweetheart deal.

The referendum question appeared on the ballot as one of those blocks of boilerplate that almost nobody reads and few understand. It passed with little public discussion. Media coverage of the issue was slight. When Teague left office four years later, she was the first member of Council to benefit from the new pension deal, which doesn't kick in until the recipient is 62. Teague's fellow retirees Ivan Harmon and Gary Underwood were too young to cash in, although Harmon has since been elected to County Commission and has also become a full-time, non-civil service city employee, giving him a shot at achieving the coveted status of triple-dipper if he is kept on as a political appointee by the new city administration.

Sixth District Council member Raleigh Wynn, who had been appointed to serve out the last few months of the late Danny Mayfield's term, was not eligible because he had not served the requisite five years. Carlene Malone, who also retired that year, and Nick Pavlis, who steps down this year, voted no, refused to participate and did not sign up to receive pension benefits.

Malone, in fact, not only voted against the Charter change (along with Pavlis), but attempted to "divide the question," (i.e. separate the City Council pension issue from other matters dealing with city pensions which were on the ballot). She lost the first vote 6-2; the second vote 7-1. Former Council member Bill Powell was not present for the vote, which was held at Sam E. Hill Elementary School and was not covered by live television, as would have been the case if the meeting had been held at the City County Building.

Members of Council elected after 1997 are automatically eligible and do not have the option to opt out.

To become eligible for pension benefits, Teague made a $4,969, interest-free, one-time payment to "buy back" the 24 years before the vote to change the Charter so Council members could be covered by the pension fund. She recouped that investment within six months. Her present benefit amount is $958.93 per month. Jack Sharp, who will be term limited out of office this December, is the only current incumbent who is old enough to collect a pension. He "bought back" his time for $4,893, and although his benefit amount has not yet been calculated by the city pension office, it will be similar to the Teague take.

If Teague is elected to the at-large seat she is seeking, her pension will go into "suspended" status, and will resume when she again leaves office.

—Betty Bean