No WhiteWash!

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). 

MeadowView had its grand opening on August 18, 2009 for the expanded hotel that is adjacent to the City of Kingsport Convention Center.  There has been some confusing statements made in the Kingsport Times-News articles below.

There are conflicting statements as how much Meadowview has brought to the area. The Times-News editorial below states property values have increase to $83 million and the August 18 Times-News article below states two different property values ($60 million to over $80 million) and also two different property tax numbers ($1.16 million and $650,000).

Linking the MeadowView Hotel and the Convention Center with other building investments in the MeadowView area is wrong.  It is more of a case that the land was available to build on and developers took advantage of that.

When I visit my doctor in the Meadowview area, I do not stay at the MeadowView Resort and Convention Center at prices that start at $159.00 per night.  In addition, if I wanted to go to Eastman Credit Union, get my hearing checked, get a cup of coffee, get my teeth worked on, have plastic surgery, go to the Social Security office, etc., I don’t have a need for the MeadowView Resort and Convention Center.

It is apparent that the city leaders are attempting to ride on the coattails of the surrounding businesses to justify the MeadowView Convention Center Expansion.

I am sure that the surrounding businesses do not need to ride on the coattails of MeadowView Resort and Convention Center.  They would do just fine if there were no MeadowView Resort and Convention Center.

Meadowview Conference Center does not make money and the taxpayers are the ones that are keeping it afloat. $1.3 million is what is needed each year from the taxpayers to keep it operational and it is very clear that the City of Kingsport is not capable of managing the convention center to make a profit. It would be in the best interest of the taxpayers to give the convention center to private enterprise or to tear it down.

The city plans to expand the convention center at a cost of around $15 million, which would make the taxpayers investment in Meadowview about $41 million   This $41 million includes the golf course, current convention center and the new expanded convention center.

Kingsport Times-News Editorial – August 17, 2009

Three years before MeadowView opened its doors in 1996, appraised property values in the MeadowView Gateway area were $2.7 million. By last year, property values had increased more than thirty-fold to $83 million.

Renovated, expanded MeadowView Marriott marks grand opening – August 18, 2009

it has generated more than $60 million in new private-sector investments in that portion of town. Those investments in turn have generated more than $1.16 million in new property taxes each year.

….This is truly a partnership,” said Mayor Dennis Phillips. “It’s a win-win for the city.”

He said before MeadowView was built, the property was assessed at $2.5 million. Today, the value has jumped to more than $80 million.

“That’s an additional $650,000 a year to city coffers,” Phillips said. “This community owes you (MeadowView) a great debt of gratitude.”

See the following link for more information on MeadowView

King College, a denominational college located in Bristol, Tennessee, has been in discussions with Kingsport, Bristol, and Sullivan County officials to build a medical school in Kingsport and Bristol.

The cost for the medical school would be about $150 million.  King is looking for $50 million to come from the cities of Kingsport ($40 million) and Bristol ($10 million), $50 million from the State of Tennessee, and the remaining $50 million from private donations.

At the July 7, 2009, Kingsport, Tennessee Board of Mayor and Alderman, a resolution was passed on first reading to endorse the King College Medical School Initiative, and pledged its commitment to work with Bristol, Sullivan County, and King College to advance the project.

While it does sound like a good project for the area, there will be a major impact on the taxpayers if this is funded via a property tax increase.

Mayor Dennis Phillips has stated that if Kingsport were to fund $40 million for the project, property taxes would have to be raised 25 cents.

Below are tax rates that have been extracted from the Tennessee Property Tax Rates that show the top 20 cities that have the highest tax rates in Tennessee from 406 different tax rates for the different cities and counties.

I have added 25 cents to the tax rates for the two Kingsport line items (Kingsport-Sullivan and Kingsport-Hawkins) in the table below.  Kingsport, with the 25 cents added, would have a rank of 10 and 12 as having the most expensive tax rates in the state.  Bristol has a rank of 14 and I have no knowledge if they would increase property taxes.

Top 20 Cities with the most expensive property tax rates

* The current city and county combined tax rate for Kingsport-Sullivan County is $4.86 and Kingsport-Hawkins County is $4.86.  Twenty-five cents has been added to each of the Kingsport tax rates in the above table.

The household median income for Kingsport is $34,391 and the Kingsport majority of Kingsport property owners would pay over 5.5 percent of household income ($150k home) for property taxes if  the 25 cents is added to the Kingsport tax rate.  The Kingsport rank is 6 and 7 and Bristol comes in at a rank of 8 in the table below for the largest percent of household income needed to pay property taxes.

A taxpayer funded medical school would reduce the already low Kingsport household income and would reduce the standard of living for the majority of Kingsport citizens so the city could reap the benefits of increased revenue to spend on other pet projects.

Top 20 Cities that take the highest percentage of income for property taxes

* The current city and county combined tax rate for Kingsport-Sullivan County is $4.86 and Kingsport-Hawkins County is $4.86.  Twenty-five cents has been added to each of the Kingsport tax rates in the above table.

The above cities that have a college appear not to have increased the standard of living and have a low household median income.

Below is the household income distribution for Kingsport and the household median income for Kingsport is $34,391.  In the graph below there are 2,636 people who earn less than $10,000  classifying them as living in poverty.

I challenge the elected officials to venture outside of their social and political groups and try to understand the plight of the majority of wage earners in the Kingsport area.  The medical school would bring jobs, but some of these jobs will be imported jobs and the common folks would not have the background or training for these jobs.  Ask what you can do to raise the standard of living (higher income) for Kingsport citizens without imposing a property tax burden.

I feel that the taxpayers should not be taking the risk of funding a medical school when there already is a state funded one in Johnson City.  The need for doctors in this area is questionable since the population is declining in Sullivan County.  If they area has trouble attracting doctors or keeping doctors, then take a hard look at the reason.

Quality of Life issues are important, but a good Standard of Living for local folks just might make the area prosper by increased spending by the majority of citizens.

The bottom line is that the area needs good paying jobs without the additional burden on the taxpayers.

I need to point out that no funding has been voted on so far, but projects such as this grows legs very fast and then its then to late to react.  The intent of this post is to make you aware of the issues so you can make your views know.  Update:  Many elected officials have expressed their support of this project including Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey who may make it a part of his campaign for governor.  Again, I must point out that I am not against the project but am very concerned about it being funded by taxpayers.

Please contact your elected officials and tell them NO to a taxpayer funded denominational medical school.  Click on the email links below and add your comments in your own email program.

It will interesting to see what pet projects, the Kingsport Board of Mayor and Alderman will fund in the upcoming 2009-2010 budget.

There has been discussions concerning the funding of the Summer Concert.  The Chamber of Commerce has requested $94,000 because corporate donations are down.  The city appears that they would be willing to give $70,000 which is what they gave last year.

It appears that the citizens of Kingsport in these tough economic times, will have to fund the Summer Concerts that for the most part benefit the downtown businesses.  I think you would hear downtown businesses get very vocal if the Summer Concerts were held somewhere else besides downtown.  If they want the Summer Concerts, then they should fund it.

One also needs to look at how the KNETIC organization was able to get the concessions and beer sales for the Summer Concerts.  In the past years, it was handled by the Chamber of Commerce who subcontracted to the Downtown Kingsport Association.  On the KNETIC website, they state their members ages ranges from 20 somethings to 40 somethings and they boast that they have 2 Alderman as members.  There are only two Alderman’s ages that fit that age range and only one of the two is running for re-election as an Alderman.  Also, one needs to ask are there any family members of Mayor Dennis Phillips that are connected to KNETIC.

Alderman Pat Shull has stated that the funding of the concerts is a very narrow interest type thing and the $70,000 could be spent elsewhere like fixing streets.

Below are some items that were in the 2008-2009 budget.

• Kingsport Ballet $5,000
• Summer Concert  $70,000
• Kingsport Theatre Guild  $5,000
• Kingsport Art Guild  $2,000
• Symphony of the Mountains  $5,000
• Art Council of Greater Kingsport  $7,000
• Kingsport Housing Redevelopment Authority  – Lincoln Street property  $200,000
• Kingsport Housing Redevelopment Authority – redevelopment program  $63,000
• Kingsport Chamber Foundation  $110,000
• Kingsport Tomorrow Inc community program  $23,000
• Networks  $225,000
• Downtown Kingsport Association  $40,000
• Children Advocacy Center of Sullivan County $5,900
• First Tennessee Development District  $3,200
• Sullivan County Humane Society  $36,000
• First Tennessee Resource Agency  $10,900
• Kingsport Chamber of Commerce – Move to Kingsport $45,000.  Plus Kingsport will pay another $45,000 matching funds
• Holston Business Group  $50,000.  Plus a percentage of the city annual budget.
• Kingsport Chamber of Commerce gets a large percentage of the hotel tax
• City Manager got a 4% pay raise on July 1, 2008 plus his performance increase

As we know these notices for public debate do not make the front page, except for here.

From the TimesNews

KINGSPORT — King College on Tuesday laid out its vision of creating a $150 million school of medicine in Kingsport and Bristol by 2012 — with officials saying the economic impact of the endeavor would be transformational for the region.

Read more via East TN Conservative

Listen to the May 8 WJCW radio interview with Dennis Phillips who is seeking re-election as Mayor for Kingsport,  Tennessee

Click here for interview

In the radio interview, Dennis Phillips appears to attack the two Alderman (Shull and Marsh) and portray them as non-progressive.  Labeling Shull and Marsh by Dennis Phillips as non-progressive in my view cannot be backed up by Mr. Phillips if you check Shull’s and Marsh’s voting record.   You will hear him talk about how there are 5 votes for progression and 2 votes against.

Mayor Phillips is running unopposed in this election and it is clear to me that he wants Alderman Shull to be defeated.  Dennis Phillips does manage to get what he wants with the current BMA members that always vote with him (Munsey, Mallicote, Joh, and Shupe).  What he wants is more of a majority and have no opposing votes or views.  This would give the mayor free rein to do as he pleases.  To me this would be very unhealthy for Kingsport citizens.

He mentions that the two Alderman voted against the major employer in Kingsport (Eastman).  There was only one Alderman that voted against giving Eastman a tax break of $28 million and his reason is explained here.  I would like to add that at the time of this vote, Eastman was having a great year as far for sales and profits.

Dennis Phillips mentions Food City that the gang of five voted to give a tax break and the sales tax that was generated.  Take a look at the following link to see how well Dennis Phillips has done in the last four years as mayor   Kingsport Facts

Voting for Dennis Phillips will give him an endorsement that you agree with his “out of control” spending.

U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK

The Outstanding Public Debt as of 09 May 2009 at 10:09:02 AM GMT is:

The estimated population of the United States is 306,148,997
so each citizen’s share of this debt is $36,786.13.

The current debt of Kingsport is around $190,000,000.  There are plans on the drawing board to spend over $90 million more, which would make a total debt of $280 million This would make the Kingsport debt per citizen, $6,301 or $13,988 per Kingsport household.** For a small city, Kingsport debt seems very high as compared to the national debt.  Kingsport has not bailed out the auto industry, banks, or fought any wars, etc.

Is this debt what you want for your children and grandkids?  If you agree with Dennis Phillips Tax, Borrow and Spend tactics, then vote for him and his chosen BMA members that vote with him.  You can also not choose to vote for him or do a write-in vote.

**  U.S. Census data used.  2000 census – people per household was 2.22

It is election time in Kingsport and the controversial Aquatic Center has been delayed until the election is over.

It has been voted on that the pool will be in the MeadowView area. However, the mayor has run into some difficulty after finding out that the citizens objected to the location and the spending of taxpayers money for the Aquatic Center.

Since the city has run into difficulty getting citizens buy in on the MeadowView location, they will be undertaking a massive public relations effort to change citizens minds about the Aquatic Center and the MeadowView location.  See the Times-News article below.

Also, note that there is to be information on the city website concerning  the Aquatic Center.  Why is the web site not available for pubic input?  I do believe John Campbell stated that construction could begin in August on the Aquatic Center.

Alderwoman Valerie Joh who is running for re-election has stated that this is her “pet project” and the MeadowView location is is the center of the population for all kids in Kingsport. Simply put, Valerie Joh wants the Aquatic Center located at Meadowview!!

One also needs to understand that Valerie Joh owns Blue Ridge Properties, a real estate firm with many office locations in the Kingsport area.  The MeadowView location would make it more accessible for tourists and the City of Kingsport has made it known that they want to go after the tourist business.

Colette George, who is Valerie Joh’s daughter is chairman of the Executive Committee for Kingsport Convention and Visitors Bureau and also is connected with Blue Ridge properties.  Colette George is also on the Kingsport Planning Commission.  Colette George husband, Ron George is also a member on the Kingsport Board of Education.  Also, Alderman Larry Munsey is the BMA Liaison to the Kingsport Convention and Visitors Bureau.

My point to the above Valerie Joh connections is a lot of the decisions and planning are hard-wired before it even gets to the public.

Kingsport Times-News

Kingsport does plan to keep Legion Pool open for a year or two after the aquatic center opens to gauge usage at the old facility.

Chris McCartt, assistant to the city manager, gave a project update to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Monday. The BMA is slated to vote Tuesday night to employ the engineering and planning firms and allocate $360,000 for phase one of the project.

Phase one of the project will take about five months to complete and consist of programming (the types of features found at the facility), schematic design and design development, McCartt said.

“We know we want an indoor lap pool, some kind of indoor recreation component, and some form of therapeutic/warm water pool. Outside we want to have water park features,” McCartt said. “What that consists of, the design team, aquatics specialists and the public will come in and offer their suggestions.

“The elements are somewhat set in stone. What’s comprised of those elements are what we’re going to be working on over the next five months.”

McCartt said the city is not replicating Legion Pool at the new site. The new facility will have multiple pools for multiple uses, along with numerous features for families and children.

Kingsport plans to solicit input from the public through the city’s Web site, Channel 16 and public meetings. The Web site will also be updated periodically with updates and notices of meetings.

“Folks will be able to come to the public meetings and look at the possibilities and what the indoor and outdoor components are going to be,” McCartt said. “We take all that stuff, cook it down and find what will work for Kingsport.”

Mayor insults citizens

February 15th, 2009

It is an election year in Kingsport, Tennessee for members of the Board of Mayor and Alderman.  Mayor Dennis Phillips is running for re-election and has managed to insult the voters in his bull-headed attempt to put the aquatic center in an area where he wants it, but the citizens do not.

The mayor recently made the statement below as reported by the Kingsport Times-News.

“We have got to do a better job of getting this whole thing down to the eighth-grade level to where we can all understand it. I think that we need to get the word out of who we’re building the pool for,” Phillips said.

The above statement by the mayor should tell the citizens what the mayor thinks about their intelligence.  Clearly, this is an insult..

Mayor Phillips is attempting to resell the concept of putting the aquatic center in the Meadowview area.  He has managed to get very strong vocal opposition to it being placed in the Meadowview area and opposition to it being built in this economy.

This issue has been hard wired from the very beginning.  First, it was the committee appointed by the mayor to make recommendations where to place the pool.  It came out in the February 3, 2009 BMA meeting that the findings of the committee were flawed because of the very narrow marching orders given to the committee.  Also, who do you think made presentations to the committee?  Apparently, the committee believed the data presented by the city and we have seen in the past that the city is capable of not telling the full story sometimes.

The demographic analysis stated that the Meadowview area was the “closest proximity to home owners” is also flawed.  I guess the city thought the citizens would believe that statement when in fact there is no way it can be true.  I have reported many times concerning the city twisting the truth to get the effect they wanted.

The mayor states. “At the same time, we will maintain some type of city water feature at Legion Pool for the foreseeable future. We’re not going to abandon those children.”  The city talks about keeping the Legion Pool open for one to two years after the aquatic center opens.  Well, Mr. Mayor, when you close the Legion Pool after one or two years, then you are in fact abandoning the children.

Phillips said the city would somehow make the aquatic center available to people who can’t afford the fees and find a way to help some people get to the new facility.  Nothing has been said about the fees that would be charged.  Mayor Phillips statement makes be believe that the fees will be higher than the Legion Pool.

“This aquatic center is an investment in our city, and you have to invest in your city to get people to come,” Phillips said.  Apparently the mayor is willing to invest money to get tourists to come to Kingsport, but not willing to invest to help lower the high unemployment rate in Kingsport.

Clearly, the mayor and city manager are on a public relations blitz to keep this project going.

I encourage you to read the entire Kingsport Times-News article (including comments) and also see post,   Kingsport’s aquatic center in deep water

Comments are welcome.

Kingsport aquatic center aims to make a big splash » Comments

Joh seeks re-election to Kingsport BMA » Comments

BMA approves contract for aquatic center » Comments

Kingsport set to pick planner, engineer for aquatic center » Comments

Below is the Bristol Herald Courier perspective on the Kingsport BMA meeting with King College.  We thank you for your reporting this event from an unbiased viewpoint.

Click on the link below for the full article.

KINGSPORT, Tenn. – A proposed medical school and research center got a warm reception but no financial commitments from city leaders Tuesday.

The city’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen spent nearly two hours digesting a presentation from officials at King College. The Bristol, Tenn., -based private school wants to establish a new medical school to train physicians and promote health research in the Tri-Cities.

The plan, first unveiled in November, has expanded to become a two-campus model. Working in connection with Wellmont Health System, one center would be built near Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport and the other near Bristol Regional Medical Center in Bristol, Tenn., college President Greg Jordan said.

Read more via Bristol Herald Courier

King College laid out their plans for a $150 million school of medicine to be located in Kingsport and Bristol.

They stated that they were looking for $50 million from Kingsport, Bristol, and Sullivan County, $50 million coming from the state of Tennessee and $50 million in private donations.

Mayor Dennis Phillips stated if Kingsport were to fund $40 million for the project, property taxes would have to be raised 25 cents.  He also said that if this project isn’t really sold to the citizens, there won’t be a board member here two years from now.

Could it be that Mayor Phillips out of control spending is getting himself in a tight spot over funding.  What is Mayor Phillips willing to give up or does he want to the fund the college and all of the other planned pet projects that are on the drawing board in the future.

Is Mayor Phillips willing to give up on the MeadowView Convention Center Expansion that will cost about $15 million?  What about the Aquatic Center, is the Mayor and his gang willing to give up on the new tourist pool?  Is the Mayor willing to give up on the expansion of the library and the Justice building?

Mayor Phillips, what about the $34.7 million in new bonds that you recently got funding for?   A little old $34.7 million didn’t stop you then for projects that would not have any or very little return in profits.

The solution to the above money dilemma is very simple!  Let the voters decide on future spending projects by the city.  I am sure that there are many voters that would like to re-visit the MeadowView expansion and stop pouring more money into something that does not make money.

Read the Kingsport Times-News article

Read the Comments for the Kingsport Times-News article

Famous Quotes from the Kingsport Board of Mayor and Aldermen

Mayor Dennis Phillips – ‘We need MeadowView to keep from reducing fire, police protection, and reducing trash pick-up to every two weeks.” October 21, 2008

Mayor Dennis Phillips –“We need to annex so we don’t have to raise taxes”  February 5, 2008

Alderman Munsey – “We need to do the MeadowView expansion to keep from raising taxes” September 15, 2008

Alderman Munsey – Debt is neither good or bad,”   June 3, 2008

Vice Mayor Mallicote – “I do not believe all of the doom and gloom about the economy”.  June 3, 2008

Mayor Dennis Phillips – “If the taxpayers wanted the city to cut the spending, then we could collect garbage every other week”  June 3, 2008

Mayor Dennis Phillips – “If there were no money to spend, then you would not need politicians”  October, 2007

I must admit that the decision of the Kingsport BMA to spend over $15 million for an expansion of the MeadowView Convention Center has really raised my blood pressure.

I have written many posts concerning this issue and feel that politics is playing a big part in the decision to expand the convention center.  Good common business sense seems to be absent for the five BMA members (Phillips, Mallicote, Joh, Shupe, Munsey) who voted to expand the convention center.  It appears that there is an incestuous relationship with special interest groups

Alderman Marsh implored the mayor to get public input before the vote, but the mayor railroaded the convention center expansion to a vote.  Alderman Marsh and Shull voted to give back to the city property owners the 1/4 percent regional sales tax that was used to pay off the current convention center, but the gang of five prevailed.

The taxpayers have invested $25.7 million in the current MeadowView Convention Center and Cattails golf course.  The convention center has never made money and the golf course barely breaks even.

The City of Kingsport is spending another $15 million to expand the convention center into an executive conference center.

One needs to ask, what is the real cost to the taxpayers for Kingsport’s part of MeadowView? The combined cost of the current convention center, golf course and the new expansion would be about $41 million.

To get the true cost, the interest expense for the bonds must be added to the cost.  In the table below you will see the actual cost after applying the different interest rates.  The bond life used is 20 years.

I would like to ask, are there any citizens in Kingsport that would invest $57 – $59.6 million in a project that did not make money for them?

It is up to you as voters to decide your future.  Mallicote, Joh, and Phillips who are running for re-election voted to spend more money on the money-losing convention center.

Alderman Shull who is also running for re-election voted against the convention center expansion and instead voted to give the regional sales tax back to city property owners.

I must warn you to beware of the spin that the city officials have been putting out concerning MeadowView.  If MeadowView has been that great for Kingsport, then why do we have a declining population, negative retail growth after inflation, and the highest unemployment rate in the Tri-Cities area.  You decide…see data