No WhiteWash!

There is a petition that has been started by a local Kingsport citizen to protest the City of Kingsport spending $450,000 on ‘wayfinding’ signs.

Read the following article and the comments for more information on the out of control spending proposed by our elected leaders.  Kingsport to spend about $450,000 on ‘wayfinding’ signs

If the City of Kingsport has extra money to spend that comes from the hotel tax, then how about using it to pay for the money losing convention center and golf course at Meadowview.

Maybe it is the BMA that is lost and can’t find their way to make good sound decisions.  Maybe we should have a petition to recall the current BMA members?

Kingsport, TN’s Signs

---

View Current Signatures

---

To:  Kingsport TN Board of Mayor and Alderman

Kingsport has recently decided that we need more signs showing how to get to random places around Kingsport. I believe we need to work on fixing the roads that we travel on to get to these places. They are trying to spend $450,000 on these signs. The money is going to a Michigan based company, at that. If you have ever got a headache from the pot holes in Kingsport or waited in traffic downtown due to the lack of turn lanes, sign the dotted line and tell our BMA we don’t need their signs!

Sincerely,

 

The Undersigned

 

Click Here to Sign Petition

---

Comments are welcome

This blog was started in February 2007 with the title of “Kingsport, TN Government”.  The name was later changed to “No WhiteWash!”, a name less focused on one local government.  We are still focused on Kingsport, TN Government and have expanded into issues that affect Sullivan County, North East Tennessee area, and the State as they are in a lot of case interrelated.

The direction of this blog for the future will be for the average citizen and not the elites who choose to run things for their own self-interest.  There will be no favoritism toward a political party in this blog.  WARNING:  If you are a elected official or running for office and make statements that you can’t back up or not exactly telling the full story, then this blog will expose them.  If you are running for office or an elected official who wants to use this blog for political advantage, then I would suggest you go elsewhere to peddle your story.  This blog is for the people!!

This little blog now has readership that is around 1,000 visits per day and that number could be much higher because other blogs re-publish this blog posts to their blogs.  There have been over 1,700 posts written in this blog since inception and the posts are not forgotten as they slide down the page as newer post take their place on the first page.  The search traffic coming to this blog is very large because this blog posts are indexed on all of the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, etc).  All of the posts go into a RSS news feed where readers can read the posts without having to visit the blog.  The folks using the RSS feed amounts to many hundred per day.

Over the last few years I have seen more local people become more vocal about expressing their views concerning how the local governments operate.  They express their views in the comments areas in the local newspapers, blogs, social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc)  There have been many local blogs that have been started in the North East Tennessee area in the last few years and I think we will see more of it.

Blogs do get a lot of readership.  The Tea Party protests got their start from blogs and with very little help from local media.

The Show blog is another local blog that has come online and also has it own local talk radio show on Monday and Thursday from 6-8pm on WMCH AM1260.  Local issues are discussed in this radio talk show and in many cases the posts from this blog are discussed and the radio talk show does allow callers to phone in and express their views. 

I have learned much about the City of Kingsport government on how they operate.  The research that I have done has me very concerned about how the “elites” control the city and do things that are in their self-interests.  I do have a concern about their lack to fully understand the problems the area has such as low median wages, declining population, high unemployment, lack of good paying jobs, and young adults leaving the area to find work, etc.

I also have a concern how the mayor selects political appointees to serve on different committees so he can be assured that he get what he wants.  The reporting in the Kingsport Times-News is almost always, in my view, protecting the city officials.  One has to understand that if they reported anything negative about the city, then it would reflect on the upper management at the Kingsport Times-News.  This is because there are many of the top management at the Times-News that are Mayor Dennis Phillips’ political appointees.

We could go on about how certain people decide who should run for political office and then campaign for them and put up the money for them to get elected.

We could talk about the Ridgefield County Club elites or look at the details of the spending of city money by the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce, but these could be posts for another day.

There have been many that have sent this blog information concerning the operation of our local governments and I want to say thank you.  Please continue reporting as you have in the past.

If you have anything to report concerning the below areas, feel free to use the email icon below to report it. The source of the information will be kept confidential.

• City of Kingsport, TN
• City of Bristol, TN
• Sullivan County, TN
• North East, TN
• Tennessee Government

Issues such as wasteful spending, local elections, annexation, ethics, crime, conflicts of interest, backroom deals, open government, abuse of taxpayer money, etc., are examples to report, but not limited to those listed.

Below is a comment submitted by former Kingsport Alderman Pat Shull.  He raises some good points and I agree with his concerns about the two year contract at $35,000 per year and the pick-up truck gift.

I would also like to add that Mayor Phillips appointed his friends, Pal Barger , Dr, Bill Locke, and former Alderman Mike O’Neil to be on an oversight board for the Kingsport Convention and Visitors Bureau.  I think I am seeing a pattern of cronyism here.

The act of the BMA approving a $35,000 consulting contract for Dr. Bill Locke is clearly a conflict of interest.  During the deliberations regarding the City building the KCHE and RCHP it was absolutely crucial that the BMA receive assurance from the Dr. Locke, as Northeast State President, that NE State would fund the operating costs of these two centers IF the city would pay for construction of the buildings.  Also, there was no discussion for any need for a consultant to perform the services described in the Times-News article.  In my opinion, the city staff and elected officials are capable of performing the tasks cited.  Hiring Dr. Locke to fix problems that he should have anticipated and briefed the BMA about during the higher education discussions is simply absurd.

Several weeks ago Dr. Locke received a gift of a brand new pickup truck.  This donation effort was organized by the Mayor, Dennis Phillips.  The gift coupled with the consulting contract have the strong appearance of a political pay-off to Dr Locke for his cooperation during the BMA deliberations about higher education support.  Further, it is well known that Dr. Locke is good friends with the Mayor AND the publisher of the Times-News newspaper. Again, hiring Dr. Locke for various services appears to be the granting of a favor to a friend rather than a responsible, necessary action by the city.  Further, why would the current President of NE State (charged with administering the two centers) want her predecessor involved in her business?  This is a bad management precedent.

I am familiar with Federal regulations regarding "conflicts of interest".  Simply put, the above described acts would never be permitted at Federal level, and it is a disgrace that our BMA is so ethically blind that they would approve it at municipal level.  

Patrick W. Shull, COL USA (Ret). 

It seems that newspapers are are losing their value for selling real estate.

Sometimes a picture tells the story:

Obviously newspapers are nearly useless to real estate agents now. The investment that was made in advertising in the papers should be moved to the internet, either through websites or tools to get maximum exposure for the agents listings.

Read more via 1 in 3 Buyers Now Come From The Internet : The Real Estate Bloggers.

Kingsport citizens might not appreciate the Kingsport Times-News Sunday editorial for suggesting for whom to vote in the Kingsport elections.  The Kingsport Times-News must think that the citizens are not perceptive enough to make up their own minds for whom to vote.

One needs to ask, what is role of the Kingsport Times-News with Mayor Phillips.  I think you can assume that the very top management at the Times-News and Mayor Phillips are pals, fishing buddies, etc.  Because of this relationship, this blog has reported on many subjects that the Times-News did not cover.  One needs also to look at the role of the top management at the Times-News in positions appointed by the mayor as whether they can be objective in their reporting.

The Times-News is fighting for its own survival as are other newspapers across the United States.  If the Times-News had to put up their own money to support the spending habits of the current BMA gang of five, then it might be a different story.

The way I see this election is the elites will come out in droves to elect those who will benefit them.  There are the special interest groups that put up the big bucks to fund the mayor’s campaign or other alderman candidates.

You as a voter are smart enough to make your own decision for whom to vote.  I will not suggest that you vote for a certain candidate, but consider all of facts and make your own informed decision.

But I do request one thing and that is to please vote.  Get your friends and neighbors to vote also.  How about you Tea Party folks, do you want to have your vote counted in this election? If you don’t vote……then your complaints about the elected officials have no voice.

Whatever the outcome of this election, this blog will continue to report on the Kingsport Government for the citizens.

May 19, 2009, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.  Voting locations are below.

• Kingsport Civic Auditorium:  Precinct 11S
• Traders Village, 2745 E. Stone Drive,  Precinct 11T
• Kingsport Public Library: Precinct 11W
• Clouds Bend United Methodist Church (in Ridgefields neighborhood): Precinct 12CB
• Ketron Memorial Methodist Church, 301 Virgil Avenue,  Precinct 12K
• Sullivan South High School:  Precinct 13P
• National Guard/Army Reserve Armory (Hawkins County across from Allandale)

Over the last few weeks, the newspaper industry has entered a new period of decline. The parent of the papers in Philadelphia declared bankruptcy as did the Journal Register chain. The Rocky Mountain News closed and the Seattle Post Intelligencer, owned by Hearst, will almost certainly close or only publish online. Hearst has said it will also close The San Francisco Chronicle if it cannot make massive cuts at the paper. The most recent rumor is that the company will fire half of the editorial staff. That action still may not be enough to make the property profitable.

24/7 Wall St. has created its list of the ten major daily papers that are most likely to fold or shut their print operations and only publish online.

Read more via The Ten Major Newspapers That Will Fold Or Go Digital Next – 247 Wall Street.

Newspapers readership is on the decline and it amazes me how the Kingsport Times-News continues to show their personal agenda in their reporting.

Take for example, the January 16, 2009 editorial titled, “Lawyers the only winners in annexation lawsuits” which appears to attack the folks that had lawsuits with the city.

Citizens for Home Rule has won annexation lawsuits in the past and in my view, the citizens have a right to sue the city.  I have to admire the Citizens for Home Rule attorney for being upfront with the folks who filed the lawsuits what they were up against and the costs.

The editorial seems to know what the outcome of the trial would have been and does not even consider that there could be a chance that the people may have prevailed.

My point here is, there is a pattern with the Kingsport Times-News defending the City of Kingsport.  Writing an article with the city’s viewpoint is fine, but why not do an article from the people viewpoint who are affected by annexation.  The newspaper just might find that they might retain more customers.

Attacking or ridiculing the readers is a sure way to lose business!  Is this editorial part of the City of Kingsport celebration because the lawsuits have been dropped?  See link: “Annexation lawsuits dropped in East Tennessee city”

Newspapers need to understand the fast changing world of news coverage. The 24/7 news coverage from TV, the internet, and blogs are just a sampling of what are affecting the newspapers.

Newspaper print is dying. I am sure that many employees of Eastman Kodak Co, would have never thought that traditional picture taking would be taken over by digital photography. Now, what used to be a company that had 125,000 employees has now dwindled down to 27,000 employees.

Newspapers also need to understand that sometimes their personal agenda for news coverage may be a factor in driving customers away from print media.

USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Baltimore Sun, The San Jose Mercury News and The Kansas City Star have something in common, aside from some of the biggest names in an endangered industry. Read more on Editors and Publishers in a Revolving Door.

Will the Kingsport Times-News provide ample coverage for the upcoming City of Kingsport election.  There are four seats on the Board of Mayor and Alderman that are available for candidates to campaign for?

The local newspaper in my view has shown in the past, that it can be biased when it comes to political office coverage.

The top management at the Kingsport Time-News needs to report unbiased coverage concerning the candidates and should not reflect the top management views.

The newspaper needs to avoid being labeled as part of the “good old boys” club.  There are members of top management that have received political appointments by the current embattled mayor.

Do the right thing and report fairly to the readers that buy your product.

Kingsport, it’s seems likes to talk about all the success that it is experiencing, but one needs to ask the question, if Kingsport is doing all that well, then why don’t they use some of that money from that success and pay for projects instead of borrowing money.

It appears that this ramped up spinning started the day that Eastman Chemical announced the $100 million cost reduction.  Part of this cost reduction was that no Eastman Chemical employee would get wage/salary increases in 2009.

There has been many newspaper articles about this success lately and the Kingsport Times-News has announced that there will be many more to come.  Some of the newspaper articles are poorly researched and it is very clear to this blogger, that the author of the newspaper is not doing investigative reporting.  It appears that the newspaper is taking the City of Kingsport word as the gospel.

An example of spinning data was reported by Jeff Fleming, Kingsport Assistant City Manager, that the Kingsport area (Sullivan County) had the 3rd best unemployment rate in Tennessee.  What Jeff Fleming conveniently failed to do is mention that the City of Kingsport rate was 7.2 percent.  You can check it out yourself by going to the link: Kingsport Area = 3rd Lowest Unemployment in Tennessee.  The first part of the post that Jeff Fleming is the press release from the State of Tennessee.  The percentages posted at the bottom are from Jeff Fleming’s selected extraction of data from the Tennessee numbers.  Also, see previous post on a citizen reaction to City of Kingsport claims and Tennessee – November 2008 Unemployment rate for Tri-Cities area.

There may be a concern in the City of Kingsport about the public perception of the Tax, Borrow, and Spend label that has been given to city leaders.  It is quite possible that the “spin” the city has been doing lately is to justify all the spending.

Also, it is an election year where four Board of Mayor and Alderman positions are up for grabs.

The Kingsport Times-News is a willing participant in the spin on how great things are going.  But, one needs to look at the role of the top two management positions at the newspaper.  Keith Wilson who is the publisher and Ted Como as editor are not exactly innocent and unbiased bystanders.

These two newspaper people are deeply involved with the City of Kingsport and economic development in the region.  You could do a goggle search on Keith Wilson and Ted Como to see for yourself their involvement in local government affairs.

It is difficult if not impossible to find a politician, whether early in their career or a political office veteran, who has not given in to political pressure, special interest groups, lobbyists, or the good-old-boy-network practice of you-help-my-cause-and-I’ll-help-yours

There is nothing wrong about talking about success, but please cut out the spinning of data.