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Haslam’s Minneapolis Bent
Mayor Bill Haslam has a seeming affinity for consultants from Minneapolis. Two months ago he engaged the Minneapolis-based firm Conventions, Sports & Leisure to assess whether a new convention headquarters hotel could make a major difference in bookings at the languishing Knoxville Convention Center. Its report is due next week, in advance of balloting in the Aug. 5 election on a proposition that would prohibit any city financial backing, direct or indirect, of a new convention hotel.
On Monday, Haslam and his director of finance and accountability Chris Kinney met with Peter Hutchinson, a Minneapolis-based consultant on outcomes and performance-based budgeting. Hutchinson is co-author of the recent book The Price of Government, which is very much in vogue. He came to Knoxville at Haslam’s invitation for a day of pro bono brain picking, but it could lead to an engagement.
People You Meet at the Brewpub, Part 1
Last week, a thin, dark-haired young man with a French accent arrived in town on his Trek 520. Elusive about his identity, he called himself Alain, and said he rode his bicycle here from Montreal. That in itself would be interesting enough, but he says he’s on his way to Tierra del Fuego.
He earned the nickname Loco i Bici, which he says means “crazy guy on a bike.” He doesn’t wear a helmet because he finds them annoying, and when he can get away with it, he rides on the Interstate.
Knoxville isn’t necessarily along the shortest line from Montreal to Argentina; Alain said he came this way because he wanted to see the Blue Ridge Parkway, which he says has been the best part of the trip. He was also pleased to meet an American archetype he’d heard only rumors about in Quebec, one Joe Six Pack. He said he encountered Mr. Six Pack in New Jersey.
Alain slept in an Old North backyard and stayed in Knoxville longer than he expected to. He attended the Vandermark 5 show Tuesday night and, when last seen, was contemplating hanging around for the final Sundown in the City.
People You Meet at the Brewpub, Part 2
A few weeks ago, a short, jovial Italian gentleman was making his way around town. His name was Marco D’Eramo, and he writes for Il Manifesto, which he says is the only Communist daily left in Europe. He was in town researching a story about TVA.
As it turns out, he finished two features, one about TVA, the other about the region—”Tennessee orientale,” he calls it—in two different issues of the paper. We have copies and hope someday to be able to find out what he said about us. All that’s clear so far is that he chose to open one piece on Market Square, which he describes as a “unica piazza,” and the Hawaiian luau that celebrated the opening of the WesTrent apartment development, which he attended.
Hemingway said you could learn Italian in two weeks. We’ll get back to you with a report.
July 1, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 27
© 2004 Metro Pulse
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