Comment on this story Correction and Clarification The Insights column on qualifications for elective office that appeared in last week’s Metro Pulse was published in that issue by mistake. The Insights column in this issue was supposed to run July 8. The substitution occurred because of a mistake in communication with our printer. In the column as published last week, it was assumed erroneously that candidates filing for office must represent that they meet residency requirements, as they should. The Legislature would have to act to effect such a change in the filing requirement – The Editor.

by Joe Sullivan

There are only two local posts being contested in the August 5 election for which early voting starts on July 16. Amid several Republican primary contests for state Legislature seats, voters in South Knox will be filling a vacancy on County Commission and voters in North Knoxville will be selecting a new school board member.

The County Commission vacancy in South Knox (District 9) was created by the death of longtime Commissioner Howard Pinkston. Commission appointed his brother Paul to fill the seat on an interim basis, and a Republican party caucus picked him as its nominee in the Aug. 5 general election. Paul Pinkston’s principal opponent is Pam Maroney Trainor, who is running as a Democrat but had no real party affiliation before deciding to seek the post. Martin Pleasant is also running as an independent.

The North Knoxville (District 2) school board race is a run-off between the top two finishers in a non-partisan primary, Patsy Vittetoe and Indya Kincannon. Neither of them got a majority of the votes cast in February’s four-way primary to succeed Paul Kelley who is retiring after 14 years of distinguished service on the board.

My observations and endorsements in these two important elections are as follows:

Maroney Trainor for County Commission

Pam Maroney Trainor will bring a refreshing change to the stale, clubhouse politics of the Pinkstons. Maroney Trainor is a newcomer to politics but not to community service in South Knoxville where she has lived for all of her 41 years. As the parent of a 12-year old daughter and a 10-year old son, she is president of parent-teacher organizations at both Dogwood Elementary School and South Doyle Middle School. She also serves on the board of Project Grad, the inner city school enrichment program that is chaired by Mayor Bill Haslam.

Maroney Trainor will be a much-needed champion of schools on a body that has tended to neglect them. But she is not a single-issue candidate. She’s also concerned about the safety and integrity of neighborhoods. And as a partner with her husband Brian in the catering business they have run for 17 years, she can relate to the needs of South Knox businesses.

Paul Pinkston and his late brother Howard were also partners for many years in Pinkston Motors, whose offices on Chapman Highway also served as a de facto Republican party club house. Howard Pinkston’s staunchly conservative views were usually expressed cordially, but Paul Pinkston is reputedly hot headed. In his most significant commission vote to date, he was one of three on that 19-member body who opposed County Mayor Mike Ragsdale’s recommended increase in the county wheel tax. But then he turned around and voted for Ragsdale’s budget that was dependent on the wheel tax for its funding. So he can be classed as the “don’t tax but spend candidate.”

Kincannon for School Board

Both Indya Kincannon and Patsy Vittetoe are outstanding candidates, and I wish there were a place on the school board for both, because they complement each other.

The two finished in a virtual dead heat in last February’s non-partisan primary in which a crowded field of other candidates prevented either from coming close to getting the majority needed win the race. Hence, the August run-off for this one seat, whereas other school board contests were decided in February.

Vittetoe is a retired educator, having served as a teacher, principal and director of elementary education in the former Knoxville city school system. Since her retirement in 1993, Vittetoe, now 64, has remained active in the community and has served for the past few years as a member of the Metropolitan Planning Commission. This gives her a perspective on population growth patterns that the school board has seemed to lack in planning for their impact.

Kincannon, 32, is a super bright young woman who would bring a totally fresh perspective to the board. She has a master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton University and has worked as a budget analyst for the Arizona state Legislature—in a state that’s in the forefront of performance-based budgeting. Kincannon moved to Knoxville with her husband, who is a UT law school professor, and is the mother of two young children. Along the way she also taught high school Spanish.

While both candidates have a lot to offer, I believe that Kincannon’s skills are more valuable at this time. Budgetary constraints are the school system’s biggest single problem, and Kincannon will bring outside-the-box thinking to bear in dealing with them. This, in turn, should help remove suspicions on the part of County Commission about how well the school board oversees its funding.

For the State Legislature

With the retirement of state Sen. Ben Atchley and state Reps. H.E. Bittle and Steve Buttry, there’s an unusual amount of competition for Knox County seats in the state Legislature this year.

The fact that nearly all of it is taking place in the Republican primary Aug. 5 says a lot about the county’s conservative orientation. The fact that in most of the races at least one of the candidates is campaigning for tax reduction is a disturbing sign of rightward drift.

The last thing Tennessee needs is to cut into the revenues that may finally be freed up next year for long overdue increases in education funding. That all depends on Gov. Phil Bredesen’s ability to contain the escalation of TennCare spending that’s been consuming the bulk of the state’s revenue growth. Our legislative candidates are trying to outdo their opponents in calling for TennCare curtailment, and all are predictably opposed to a state income tax. But there are differences of emphasis among them when it comes to their priorities, and in some cases there are also important differences in style.

My observations and endorsements in the Republican primaries for the state Senate and three contested House seats are as follows:

Stokes for state senator

Jamie Hagood has to be ranked as the favorite to gain the Senate seat that Atchley has filled with distinction for the past 24 years. I’ve been harsh, unduly harsh, on Hagood during her prior campaigns. While her staunchly conservative views are far to the right of mine, Hagood has proven to be an able legislator who has also worked effectively with the Bredesen administration on matters such as getting TDOT to defer closing the Henley Street Bridge for repair until after I-40 reconstruction through downtown is completed.

When the campaign started, though, I expected to support her primary opponent, Billy Stokes. He’s a Knoxville lawyer who served as the state’s commissioner of employment security under former Gov. Don Sundquist and has espoused a much more moderate brand of Republicanism than Hagood. Of late, however, he’s seemingly been trying to run to her right. He has attacked her 2002 support of a sales tax increase that, however regressive it may have been, was the only viable alternative to a fiscal debacle at that time. And now he’s calling for sales tax reduction while opposing a state income tax, which, in my view, is fiscally irresponsible.

His campaign rhetoric notwithstanding, if Stokes is elected I believe he will prove to be more progressive than Hagood over time and more receptive to much needed tax reform. So he gets my endorsement.

Bletner for state representative (District 17)

Both Jim Bletner and Ed Shouse are good candidates for the House seat being vacated by Hagood. Either would be preferable to the third serious candidate in this race, windy former Rep. Frank Niceley of Strawberry Plains, in a district that encompasses parts of West, South and East Knox as well as most of Jefferson County.

Bletner is director of concessions at the UT Athletic Department and has also gotten a lot accomplished as president of Kingston Pike-Sequoyah Hills Homeowners Association. He considers education to be the state’s top priority, with increased funding needed for everything from pre-school to higher education. He’s also very concerned about air pollution and has a number of ideas for dealing with it. Indeed he comes across as someone with a lot of good ideas about a lot of things.

While Bletner is seeking elective office for the first time, Shouse is a political veteran. He served for 20 years as a go-along-to-get-along city councilman before being term-limited out of office last year. As vice-president of Gulf and Ohio Railways, he claims to be more attuned to business interests and puts tort reform at the top of his list of state legislative issues. My endorsement goes to Bletner.

Wright for state representative (District 18)

Both candidates in this race to succeed Buttry are highly conservative. But while there may not be a difference in their views, there are important differences in their styles.

David Wright is the genial proprietor of Wright’s Cafeteria, which, as just about everyone in the district knows, is a landmark West Knoxville eatery. Wright inherited the business from his parents and, after running it successfully for 32 years, he’s in the process of turning over management to his daughter. While Wright has hobnobbed with politicians of all stripes for all that while, he’s probably never had a cross word with any of them.

Stacey Campfield is a doctrinaire conservative who has gained notoriety in the past for brashness. Two years ago he was evicted from a barbecue hosted by U.S. Rep. Jimmy Duncan for heckling Bredesen, then a candidate for governor. In a recent meeting, Campfield came across as much more temperate than I had previously supposed. Nonetheless, my endorsement goes to Wright.

Jablonski for state representative (District 14)

In this deep West Knox district from which Bittle is retiring, his successor will be chosen in a Republican primary between Parkey Strader and Diane Jablonski.

Strader served ably for 28 years as Knox County property assessor and, after retiring for a time, has ended up working for his successor, John Whitehead. He’s a very engaging man who would relate well to his fellow legislators. But he’s for downsizing state government and reducing taxes while steering more education funding toward charter schools and school vouchers.

Jablonski is a former school board member who remains a fervent champion of public schools. While she can be contentious, she will press hard to get more state funding for education at all levels. So I’ve got to endorse Jablonski.

Joe Sullivan has contributed to the campaign of Pam Maroney Trainor and also hosted a neighborhood reception for her at his home —The Editor.

July 15, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 29 © 2004 Metro Pulse