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The Law Counterattacks
Sheriff Tim Hutchison is responding to the News-Sentinel’s recent probing of his business, professional and personal connections by insulting the newspaper on his office’s website. The sheriff’s affairs have been questioned in the past by the Sentinel, by us at Metro Pulse, and by practically every other media member and law enforcement agency that has had contact with the high sheriff and his public-private fiefdom over his years in office. The daily recently formally requested documents on the sheriff’s vehicle seizures, the dispositions of those vehicles and the proceeds from any seized vehicle sales, along with the names of personnel who have gas charge cards from Pilot Corp., which is the mayor’s family business, and a list of all reserve officers and any other people who have arrest powers conferred by the sheriff.
Part of what Hutch has had posted as a reply on the Internet under his grinning photo is worth repeating here: “The sheriff’s office is a public service agency and, as such, is fully committed to complying with the Tennessee Open Records Act. We fully support the principles of freedom of information and believe the public should be informed about the activities of their government. However, we do believe it is unfortunate when a newspaper or other organization abuses the law, particularly at the public’s expense. The sheriff’s office will monitor the man-hours and staff costs associated with complying with the News Sentinel’s demands, We will inform the public after the Sentinel completes its review of the records and we return to our full attention to protecting the public.”
Good luck to the daily in getting the information from the sheriff by April 9, as it asked. We at Metro Pulse are still awaiting the return of a phone call placed to the sheriff’s public information office by the editor in early February, and we haven’t had another such call for information returned to us in months, years even, such is the sheriff’s dedication to the free flow of information. He calls it “media relations,” and to him, there seems to be no such thing.
Haney out of His Hair
The downtown Holiday Inn Select’s hustling general manager, Walter Wojnar, has moved on to become general manager of the Hampton Inn North at I-75 and Merchants Road. He won’t miss working for the Holiday Inn’s owner, Franklin Haney, he says. “I’ve been waiting for a long time for my contract to be up....I’d gotten tired of being labeled as Haney’s henchman,” Wojnar says. His successor downtown at the Chattanooga wheeler-dealer’s Holiday Inn is Candace Parkerson. She may have a labeling problem of her own, but a more appealing one. Her name closely resembles that of the Lady Vols’ slam-dunking basketball recruit, Candace Parker of Naperville, Ill.
We Got Your Fool
Early last Thursday morning, April 1...April Fools’ Day, Hallerin Hilton Hill was talking on WNOX, NewsTalk Radio, about the overnight photos and images from Iraq of the grotesquely burned and mutilated bodies of American security contractors being shown in news media across the world, and in particular on the front page of the local daily paper. He was wondering how anyone could support showing these photos, especially on the cover of the daily. The context was that no American would want to see the photos published.
At that point Jeff Jacoby, a frequent voice on Hal’s show, responded that he was sure that supporters of John Kerry supported publishing the photos, and even used the word “enjoy” seeing these photos, because the exposure fans the anti-war and anti-Bush flames, and helps to further Sen. John Kerry’s cause to defeat President Bush in November. We waited for Triple-H to say something like “Come on, Jeff, nobody really would want to see that,” but there was no voice of disagreement from anyone on the air at the Citadel Communications tower of conservatism, where to be opposed to the war or the president is apparently un-American. Sick joke, Jeff.
Defying the CW
Conventional wisdom that UT’s presidential search wouldn’t turn up any stellar candidates was debunked by the imposing list of applicants. So was a widespread belief that former ORNL chief Bill Madia had an inside track for the job, with backing from shaker-and-mover types.
In selecting 12 finalists for the post, UT’s Search Advisory Council spurned Madia, for lack of academic experience, and opted instead for candidates with strong higher-ed credentials or backgrounds. The list includes the presidents of three second-tier universities and the second in command at three flagship state universities. Most impressive of all on paper is Thomas Meredith, who presides over the entire, 34-campus State University of Georgia system.
Some of the credit goes to the headhunting firm, Baker-Parker, which had to dispel the street talk that “no outsiders need apply” in the wake of UT’s horrific experience with the last two it brought in: Wade Gilley and John Shumaker. But it’s still an open question whether an outsider will win out over a candidate with Tennessee roots, such as highly regarded law school dean Tom Galligan or former UT provost John Peters, who is now the president of Northern Illinois University. Two weeks from today we’ll know the answer.
April 8, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 15
© 2004 Metro Pulse
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