Metro Pulse/Ear to the Ground

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Les' Goes Wes'

Leslie Henderson, Victor Ashe's last director of development, is filling the role of the Roane [County] Alliance, taking the office vacated by Michael Smith (whose untimely death this past fall is alleged to be linked to the West Knox O'Charley's hepatitis outbreak).

Henderson, a former newspaper reporter originally from Chicago, had been cooling her heels in the Rockford-area treeshaded hillside chateau she shares with her husband, Barry, since the poignant last days of the Ashe administration. In her new role of boosting commerce in Knox County's western neighbor, we expect her to remind us all what Kingston Pike is named for.

And yes, we're obliged to mention, in the interest of full disclosure, that Leslie Henderson's husband is the same Barry Henderson who is editor of Metro Pulse. The Hendersons are looking forward to a move to Kingston. For that fidgety pair, it's not so far away. In the last decade or so, they've lived and worked in China and the Czech Republic, always returning, for reasons obscure.

Barry, who's accustomed to long commutes, will remain editor of Metro Pulse. To prevent the inevitable suspicions of conflicts of interest, he vows to keep his hands off all Metro Pulse stories that deal with economic development in Roane County. For him, avoiding stories about his wife's decisions may be an easier task than it used to be.

Tracking Tyler

One name a lot of local politicos are tracking is that of Tyler Harber, an employee of County Mayor Mike Ragsdale who does a little political consulting on the side. Harber's name on a campaign disclosure is seen by many as a marker signaling Ragsdale's support, although Harber and Ragsdale spokesman Mike Cohen both say this is not the case. Harber has helped fuel the rumors with his current side job of working for County Commission candidate Mike Hammond and school board candidate Jeff Byrd, both of whom enjoy the support of many Ragsdale allies. Last fall, he did direct mail for City Council candidate Tim Wheeler, who enjoyed Ragsdale's endorsement. Harber, a 22-year-old UT junior, says he is under contract to a consulting firm called National Public Strategies. His day job is with the county probation office, where he is working on electronic tracking bracelets to be used for keeping up with criminal offenders who are running loose, which is probably pretty good training for a young fellow with political aspirations.

Double Crust, Heavy Cheese

A week or so ago, a group of Knoxville City Council members including Marilyn Roddy, Joe Bailey, Steve Hall, Joe Hultquist, Bob Becker and Chris Woodhull took a trip down I-75 to Chattanooga to see how their counterparts in that much-envied river city get things done. One practice that seems to work well for the Chattanoogans is a dinner get-together—open to the press, of course—before every council meeting. Wasting no time getting started, 5th District Council member Becker made a generous offer to buy the first round of pizza. Seems like a fine thing to do, although Becker might want to rethink the breezy style of the invitation he e-mailed to his colleagues Monday.

"We are set for Rm 453 at 6:00. I'll order pizza. So far I have heard no strong preferences for toppings so I'll just wing it. I invited [City Council staffers].... We also sent an email to Joe Sullivan (of Metro Pulse) and Hayes Hickman (of the News Sentinel). My sense is that we should invite them. They might get weird if we did not. If we keep these up they may well be less interested over time (Maybe we can all be really boring so they won't want to come back). Should we invite Bill Haslam?"