It helps if folks know when, where, and how to participate. To that end, County Commissioners Wendy Pitts Reeves and Joe McCulley are sponsoring a resolution at tomorrow night's County Commission meeting to make all public notice announcements available on the county's website, including vacancies on boards, committees, and commissions.

The agenda for tomorrow's meeting is here, the full text of the resolution follows after the jump...

Rep. Joe McCord Won't Seek Re-Election to House

UPDATE: Former Sen. Bill Clabough Eyes Run for McCord House Seat

Where the Dems at?

Check this out. (I know it looks complicated, but just stare at it for a while like I did...)

Nov. 2008 election results by county commission district and party (based on Obama v. McCain*):

Aug. 2006 county commission vote by district, seat, and party:

So what does this tell us? Beats me. Except that Republicans dominate Blount County. But we already knew that.

But what I do see is that a) turnout is pathetic in off-year elections (when we elect most of our local county government), b) Democrats need to run more opposition candidates , and c) in 2006 Wendy Pitts Reeves and Dr. Bob Proffitt turned out more than half the number of 2008 Democratic presidential election voters in their districts (although it's most likely that not all their votes were from Democrats).

That last one is interesting, considering that turnout was about 22% in the 2006 county general election v. 76% in the 2008 national election.

It should also be noted that Democrats won two of the three County Commission seats where they ran candidates. Maybe that's the takeaway.

Anyway, these charts clearly show there are enough Democrats (and I count a 2008 Blount Co. vote for Obama as a hard core, yellow dog Democrat vote) to elect Democrats in almost every County Commission district if Democrats turn out the vote.

But this isn't really about R v. D. It's about good government, and not just being a rubber stamp for the County Mayor, Sheriff, and developers.

(*Note: The by-precinct numbers are slightly but insignificantly higher and don't add up to the unofficial election totals posted by the Blount Co. Election Commission on their website. I've double and triple checked, so you'll have to ask them why that is. Probably my bad, if someone can figure out why I'll be glad to make corrections.)

We were fortunate to have lunch with Democratic gubernatorial primary candidate Kim McMillan and Blount Co. Commissioner Wendy Pitts Reeves today. Our full report, with photos...

UPDATE: Maryville Daily Times on McMillan visit...

The Blount County Election office says they are finalizing certification of petitions received as of yesterday's deadline and hope to have it completed this afternoon.

It appears that ten elections are already decided with candidates running unopposed (all Republicans). Five more elections will be decided in the Republican primary, with the winners running unopposed in the general.

In the remaining six competitive races, three Republican primary winners will face independent candidates in the general. Although independents do not traditionally do well, Howard Kerr could be the spoiler in the County Mayor's race.

Democrats put up a respectable roster of candidates for County Commission, including three incumbents. All are unopposed in the primary and will advance to the general.

It appears Republicans are not happy with some of the incumbents. County Mayor Jerry Cunningham drew a primary challenger, as did County Commissioners Mark Hasty, Scott Helton, Gary Farmer, Steve Hargis, Holden Lail, and Mike Walker.

Here's how it stands at the moment:

ELECTIONS DECIDED:

Incumbent Mike Lewis (R) is running unopposed for County Commission seat 2B.

Incumbent Ron French (R) is running unopposed for County Commission seat 9A.

Incumbent Monika Murrell is running unopposed for County Commission seat 9B.

Incumbent Kenneth Melton (R) is running unopposed for County Commission seat 10B.

Incumbent Tom Hatcher (R) is running unopposed for Circuit Court Clerk.

Incumbent Robert Headrick (R) is running unopposed for Genera Sessions Judge Div. 4.

Phyllis Crisp (R) is running unopposed for Register of Deeds and will replace Penny Whaley who is retiring at the end of her term.

Incumbent Bill Dunlap (R) is running unopposed for Road Superintendent.

Incumbent Scott Graves (R) is running unopposed for Trustee.

Incumbent Jim Berrong (R) is running unopposed for Sheriff.

ELECTIONS DECIDED IN PRIMARY:

Mike Caylor and Jimmy Melton will compete in the Republican primary for County Commission 3B and the winner will run unopposed in the general.

Incumbent Mark Hasty and challenger Kimberly Russell will compete in the Republican primary for County Commission 4B and the winner will run unopposed in the general.

Incumbent Scott Helton and challenger Homer Sauls will compete in the Republican primary for County Commission 6B and the winner will run unopposed in the general.

Incumbent Steve Hargis and challenger Jim Folts will compete in the Republican primary for County Commission 7A and the winner will run unopposed in the general.

Roy Gamble, James Taylor, and John Templeton will compete in the Republican primary for County Commission 8A and the winner will run unopposed in the general.

PRIMARIES DECIDED:

Incumbent Tonya Burchfield (R) and challenger Brandon Cook (D) will advance to the general for County Commission 1A.

Incumbent David Ballard (D) and challenger Shawn Carter (R) will advance to the general for County Commission 1B.

Incumbent Brad Harrison (R) will face independent challenger Everett Hoy in the general for County Commission 2A.

Incumbent Steve Samples (R) will face independent challenger Richard Hutchens in the general for County Commission 3A.

Incumbent Peggy Lambert (R) will face independent challenger Izaak Stanridge in the general for County Commission 5A.

Incumbent Bob Proffitt (D) and challenger Richard Carver (R) will advance to the general for County Commission 5B.

Independent challenger William Hill will face the Republican primary winner for County Commission 4A.

Incumbent Wendy Pitts Reeves (D) will face the Republican primary winner for County Commission 4C.

Gary Wynn (D) will face the Republican primary winner for County Commission 6A.

Linda Jo Dees (D) will face the Republican primary winner for County Commission 7B.

Independent challenger John Polk will face the Republican primary winner for County Commission 8B.

Tony Webb (D) will face the Republican primary winner for County Commission 10A.

Independent challenger Howard Kerr will face the Republican primary winner for County Mayor.

COMPETITIVE PRIMARIES:

Incumbent Jerry Cunningham will face challenger Ed Mitchell in the Republican primary for County Mayor. The winner will face independent Howard Kerr in the general.

Incumbent Gary Farmer will face challenger Jerry Harvey in the Republican primary for County Commission 4A. The winner will face independent William Hill in the general.

Jerome Moon and Billy Gribble will compete in the Republican primary for County Commission 4C. The winner will face incumbent Wendy Pitts Reeves (D) in the general.

Incumbent Holden Lail will compete with challengers Steve Hicks and Sheri Turner in the Republican primary for County Commission 6A. The winner will face challenger Gary Wynn (D) in the general.

Tom Greene and Tom Cole will compete in the Republican primary for County Commission 7B. The winner will face Linda Jo Dees (D) in the general.

Incumbent Mike Walker will face challenger Gordon Wright in the primary for County Commission 8B. The winner will face independent John Polk in the general.

Joe Hultquist will be the featured guest speaker at the 2010 Annual Meeting of CAPPE (Citizens Against the Pellissippi Parkway Extension, Inc.). The meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 22, from 6:30-8:30pm in the Sharon Lawson Room at the Blount County Library.

"For several years we have designed our Annual Meeting as a community education event, featuring speakers who are knowledgeable about transportation issues relevant to our region," said Nina Gregg of CAPPE's Board of Directors. "We saw a need for education and civil discussion about transportation issues and decided to devote a portion of each year's Annual Meeting to fulfilling this need."

"This year we are pleased to welcome Joe Hultquist, Interim Executive Director of East Tennessee Quality Growth (ETQG) as our featured speaker," Gregg said.

Mr. Hultquist, who was born and raised in Blount County, will be speaking about the future of transit in the greater Knoxville area, including the upcoming Regional Corridor and Opportunity Area Study; options for transit between the airport and Knoxville; the role of independent advocacy groups; and ETQG's perspective on transit as a component of quality growth in the region.

Mr. Hultquist is currently serving as Interim Executive Director of East Tennessee Quality Growth, a new organization with representation from 16 counties of middle East Tennessee. ETQG's mission is to "create a vision for quality growth through dialogue, research, and education," and to "promote and facilitate implementation of this vision through regional cooperation and local action."

Previous speakers at CAPPE Annual Meetings have included Rees Shearer from RailSolution, Cindy McGinnis from Knox Area Transit (KAT), Jeff Welch from the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) and Bill Dunlap from the Blount County Highway Department.

The public is invited to come hear Mr. Hultquist's presentation, which will begin at 7pm. Refreshments will be served at 6:30pm. CAPPE's annual business meeting will follow the speaker.

For more information, call Nina Gregg, CAPPE Communication Committee Chair at 977 7399.

We are excited! It's happening.

The City of Alcoa held the groundbreaking ceremony today to start the Alcoa Highway pedestrian bridge. It should be complete in September, 2010 (eight months)!

Yeah! Kudos to the City of Alcoa for continuing the legacy of parks, greenways, greenbelts, and walkability!

The City of Alcoa offers electronics recycling for City of Alcoa residents.

Residential electronic scrap items such as computers, monitors, TVs, printers, keyboards and mice, scanners, fax machines, VCRs and other small consumer electronics can be dropped off at:

City of Alcoa Service Center (new building near Springbrook)
725 Universal Street, Alcoa, TN

Alcoa/Maryville/Blount County Landfill
240 Long Powers Road, Maryville, TN

Contact the City of Alcoa Public Works Department (865-380-4800) with any questions or for additional information,

There is a Health Coverage Tax Credit program that will pay 80% of health insurance premiums for workers that are receiving Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) benefits or receiving pension payments from Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) and over the age of 55.

The IRS is holding an education session to assist eligible individuals through the process.

Crowne Plaza
401 W. Summit Hill Drive
Knoxville, TN
9 AM to 3 PM

Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) is a benefit for individuals who have lost their jobs because of trade with foreign countries. Employers and unions file a petition with the Department of Labor (DOL) to have their employees TAA certified.

Area companies that are Trade Adjustment Assistance certified include:
Alcoa, Inc., Alcoa, TN
Newell Rubbermaid, Maryville, TN
Ceramaspeed, Inc., Maryville, TN
Key Safety Restraint Systems, Knoxville, TN
Panasonic Electronic Devices Corp. of America, Knoxville, TN
DeRoyal Industries, Inc., Powell, TN
La-Z-Boy, Dayton, TN
Bos Automotive, Morristown, TN
Berkline/BenchCraft, LLC, Morristown, TN
The Mazer Corporation, Johnson City, TN

Use the US Dept. of Labor web-site to search for TAA certified companies.

According to the Maryville Daily Times,

A Health Care Reform discussion forum will be held at the Blount County Library on January 26th at 6:30PM.

The event is sponsored by the Center for Strong Communities at Maryville College, the Blount County Ecumenical Action Council and the nonpartisan Tennessee Health Care Campaign.

The groups "advocate for health care reform as a moral imperative regardless of the current national political debate."

Previous events by the groups were held in September, 2009, and January 3, 2010.

Once again there is discussion of building an "Alcoa Parkway" to allow drivers to avoid a 3 1/2 mile section of Alcoa Highway. The 2007 estimated cost for this "parkway" is over $64 million, whereas the redesign of this section of Alcoa Highway with better turn lanes and traffic signals is approximately 1/2 million dollars.

Do we really need to pave Alcoa? Do we really need a 5 mile 6 lane interstate through Alcoa? Oh, my bad, it is a "parkway". Doesn't that sound pleasant?

There is no need to make Alcoa a parking lot so commuters can go 3 1/2 miles very quickly only to be stopped by the traffic light managed Hall Road (35 mph) or Alcoa Hwy bypass (US 129/State Road 133).

I'm pretty sure travelers can find the new "Downtown Alcoa" without this 6 lane albatross. Wouldn't it be nice if the section of Alcoa Highway from Singleton Station Road to Hunt Road/Hall Road was made a well managed boulevard? How long does it now take to get from Singleton Station Road to Hunt Road/Hall Road? 2-3 minutes? Okay, so there have been frequent accidents on Alcoa Highway, wouldn't it be more beneficial to redesign the existing road (better managed access) than to pave Alcoa to avoid this minor stretch of road?

Have you seen the section of Alcoa they are planning to pave? Lots of green space, including a golf course. The new "parkway" will be on the edge of the most historical neighborhood and park in the City of Alcoa, Springbrook. Won't that be pleasant? Just what those hard working, middle-class citizens need, more traffic noise and pollution. How about it if we encourage planned development with continued greenspace requirements and managed roads without an interstate through Alcoa.

Let's think about this people. Are you with me? We do not need the "Alcoa Parkway".

What are your thoughts?

The Maryville Daily Times reports, and has a rundown on the other races and all the Republicans (and a few Democrats) running.

Cunningham has been a political and public relations embarrassment for Blount County. But we're not bankrupt yet and the schools are still open and the roads mostly passable and nobody has been rounded up and sent to detention camps (that we know of) and all the big development and road projects are good to go so that's good enough for the Republicans who run Blount County. They will reelect him in a landslide so there's no point wasting any time or money trying to have an opposition party or run any candidates or anything.

Left to right: Brandon Cook, Dave Finch (former Blount Co. Democratic Party Chair), and Joe Gallagher (Louisville Alderman and local political activist)

Supporters gathered at the Blount Co. Library this evening for the launch of Brandon Cook's campaign for County Commission representing the 1st District. The crowd of almost 60 included a "who's who" of Blount County Democrats and quite a number of fresh new faces.

Regarding his early entry into the race, Brandon said there is a lot of work to be done and it's never too soon to get started. He says he has a lot to talk about with voters between now and the April 14th start of early voting for the May 4th primary. He also says he won't be afraid to tell them he's a Democrat.

In his refreshingly short announcement speech, Mr. Cook said the reason he is running is simple: he cares about Blount County and Tennessee.

He said his campaign will focus on four things. First, we need to make investments in our local economy, and second, the best investment we can make is education. Third is bringing us back together as a community. Despite the perception that we are divided, Mr. Cook said there is a lot that unites us. He said the only promise he will make is that we won't always agree, but that this is healthy and we must work through the issues, lock arms, and march forward together to make our community better. Fourth, he said his campaign will be about "you, the citizens of Blount County." He wants to hear from you about your concerns and where you think the county's priorities should be.

Judging from some of the rumors and speculation among attendees, there will be a lot of interest and maybe a few surprises in the next round of Blount County elections. Lest there be any doubt about that, both local papers were there to cover Brandon's announcement.

Brandon Cook is a fifth-generation Blount County native who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes over the past several years for a more progressive Blount County. We are happy to see him take on the challenge of public office. He's sharp, well spoken, and knows what he's doing. We need more young people like Brandon in public service.

If you'd like to help out Brandon's campaign, you can visit his website and volunteer or make a donation:

Brandon D. Cook for County Commission

The City of Maryville unemployment rate dropped from 19.6% in July, 2009 to 9.8% in August, 2009. It all happened with smoke and mirrors.

The county mayor's attorney has interpreted the law, no need for Blount County Commission to take a vote. By default, Blount County opts out of allowing guns in parks because the cities of Alcoa and Maryville have already voted to opt-out.