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by Frank Cagle

‘Dirty money’ allegation about contributions was a low blow

I think it was really brave for state Rep. Randy Rinks and state Sen. Joe Haynes to accuse Gov. Phil Bredesen of taking “dirty money” in campaign contributions. It isn’t often you see two Democratic legislative leaders attacking a Democratic governor and forcing him to return a $5,000 campaign contribution. I don’t think it was very nice, however, to accuse the governor of being a slimy politician taking money from drug sales.

The Gregory family in Kingsport sold their pharmaceutical company and have been spending some of the proceeds helping Republican candidates run for the Legislature. This has caused widespread panic among Democratic legislators, as they traditionally have a lock on most of the special-interest money from lobbyists—since they have controlled the Legislature for 100 years.

Rinks and Haynes evidently forgot that Bredesen had a fund-raiser at King Pharmaceuticals’ headquarters that netted him $30,000; including $5,000 from a family member and two $1,000 contributions from employees.

Bredesen and Republican legislative candidates should hold their heads high. The Gregory family has as much right to contribute money to politicians as road builders, trial lawyers or the shylocks in the check-cashing industry.

It’s unfortunate that these two Democrats felt it necessary to slur the governor just because they are experiencing flop sweat at the prospect of Republicans gaining control of the Legislature.

• County Mayor Mike Ragsdale has hit a rocky patch recently with the controversy over the wheel tax, the upcoming referendum and a rebellion on County Commission. With the departure of Mike Cohen from his staff, Ragsdale has had an opportunity to re-tool his administration going forward. If there was one guy in the communications biz in Knoxville that he really needed, it was the guy he hired: Dwight Van de Vate.

Van de Vate has been the spokesman for Sheriff Tim Hutchison for several terms and has been a chief deputy since 1997. What Van de Vate brings to Ragsdale, one hopes, is a well-grounded understanding of all of Knox County. Ragsdale and Chief of Staff Mike Arms have a West Knox County perspective. Both have been West Knox commissioners. In fact, Ragsdale is the first county executive to hail from west of Bearden. In representing the sheriff and helping run his many successful political campaigns, Van De Vate certainly understands the West Knox County vote. But he also is very plugged in out in Powell, Halls, Corryton, Mascot and South Knoxville. It is unlikely, had he been there, the administration would have been ambushed with resentment about the wheel tax.

Van de Vate also has a good relationship with County Commission and has worked for years as the sheriff’s liaison with that body. He can be helpful in selling Ragsdale’s program to Commission. Van de Vate should be handy in Ragsdale’s looming re-election campaign. Otherwise, Van de Vate has jumped from a secure position with a long-term Knox County officeholder to a job that lasts two years.

• Curtis Investments owns the building in West Knoxville that houses the Immigration Customs Enforcement agency. If you surf the web you find that the Texas-based company is involved in building a Social Security office here, a U.S. Attorney’s office there as well as the ICE facilities in Knoxville and Chattanooga.

It is a developer’s dream: you build the office for the General Accounting Office, you get a secure and stable lease agreement that pays off the building and gives you a profit. When the lease is up, you own an office building in an upscale neighborhood. That may explain why their developments tend to be in the most expensive neighborhoods.

My column last week on the ICE office in West Knoxville, based on the information I could find, prompted a few more details and denials from the agency. Gary Slaybaugh, the agent in charge, took exception to my implication that the Department of Homeland Security is out spending money like drunken sailors in upscale neighborhoods. He said his agency has limited resources and that INS had always planned to have its own office in Knoxville; indeed the money was appropriated back in 1999. It is only within the past year that the agency got around to having its building built and leasing its new space. The allegation that the agency has a Brentwood location, which came up during the Chattanooga controversy, is false, says Slaybaugh.

Frank Cagle is a political analyst and the host of Sound Off on WIVK FM107.7, WNOX AM990, FM99.1 and FM99.3 each Sunday 8-9:30 a.m. The program is pre-empted this week by Sports Soundoff, coverage of the Vols versus Ole Miss football game.

October 14, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 42 © 2004 Metro Pulse