In The Name Of The Father: NewsChannel5’s Jennifer Kraus Speaks Out At Oak Hill Forum

By Kleinheider Posted on August 13, 2008 at 7:36 pm

Oak Hill residents hoping for a reprise of the shouting matches at the last Board of Commissioners meeting at last night’s Mayoral Forum may have come away slightly disappointed.

The meeting, called by Mayor Tommy Alsup to address the concerns of Oak Hill residents in the wake of the disputed resignation of Bill Kraus and accusations of a “shadow government” by one of Oak Hill’s Commissioners, was a much needed political maneuver on the part of the embattled mayor.

In a methodical, bullet by bullet, PowerPoint presentation, Alsup addressed many of the allegations leveled against him. Alsup defended the infrequent, yet controversial practice of issuing checks from the City of Oak Hill bearing only one signature, his. Alsup projected onto two screens in the Woodland Hills Church Of Christ auditorium checks, also bearing only one signature, checks signed by Bill Kraus as well as some by former Mayor and current Commissioner Chip Throckmorton. Both are Alsup detractors.

Alsup also defended his hiring as a consultant, lobbyist Rob Ikard, to repair relationships with state officials outside of Oak Hill which had been damaged by Oak Hill’s prominent opposition to the so-called Bredesen Bunker.

However, the highlight of the evening’s festivities was the appearance of NewsChannel5 Anchor and Investigative Journalist Jennifer Kraus, daughter of former City Manager Bill Kraus. Kraus the Father was not at the forum on the advice of counsel, John Herbison, who has reportedly sent a letter requesting that Kraus be reinstated as City Manager.

Despite the absence of both him and his attorney, his side of the story was not without representation.

While Mayor Alsup repeatedly demurred from answering questions from the audience about the retirement of the City Manager citing the advice of counsel, Kraus the Daughter seemed less restrained.

Appearing at the forum as a “private citizen and resident of Oak Hill”, Kraus expressed “deep appreciation and gratitude” for the support of her father by many in the community and said that her father would “strongly disagree” with much of the defense Mayor Alsup had laid out.

Kraus took issue, in fact, with the very nature of the gathering. She told the assembled Oak Hill citizens, in a cautionary tone, that this forum was not a “public meeting” on the record like other Board of Commissioner meetings and as such nothing being said or done was either official or binding.

Kraus asserted that Mayor Alsup was in the wrong when, she says, he took unilateral action in a meeting with her father about his resignation leaving the other two commissioners out of loop. Kraus contended that the law is not in any way clear on whether a City Manager can endorse and contribute to a candidate for Commissioner.

Kraus the Father’s signature on a post card supporting incumbent Tommy Jacobs, as well as his financial donation, was the stick Alsup is allegedly to have held over his head when he resigned.

The law seems to be ambiguous as to whether Kraus’s action was or was not permissible. The oft-cited part of the state code T.C.A § 6-21-106 would seem to support the assumption that the Kraus was in the wrong in supporting Jacobs. A competing code, T.C.A § 7-51-1501 would seem to say the opposite. And the code on what to do when the codes contradict each other, um, I don’t even what to talk about.

Adding to the intrigue is the fact that, while the Oak Hill Charter reads exactly as T.C.A. § 6-21-106 does, the commission passed a ordinance in 1998 (similar in language to the wording at this link) which seems more in line with T.C.A. § 7-51-1501.

Regardless of the legality of the action, Kraus the Daughter argued that there was never a board vote either firing or officially accepting her father’s resignation so that, having rescinded his retirement, her father is still the City Manager of Oak Hill.

Alsup repeated what he has maintained all along, that Kraus was not forced to retire and that other Commissioners were kept apprised of his actions. However, Alsup stopped short of a full point-by-point rebuttal of Kraus, again, citing advice of counsel.

“I’ve already ventured too far,” Alsup explained to the crowd in his response to Ms. Kraus.

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Tags: Bill Kraus, Bredesen Bunker, Jennifer Kraus, Mayoral Forum, Oak Hill, Rob Ikard, Tommy Alsup  

Did The Bredesen Bunker Serve Small Government Conservatism?

By Kleinheider Posted on May 20, 2008 at 11:16 am

Steve Gill this morning was talking with his listeners (or at them) and raised an interesting beef about the Bredesen administration’s proposed buyout of state employees.

Gill predicted that not only would the buyout end up costing more than projected he also believes that the buyout will not save as much money as is predicted. The buyout, he seemed to be saying, was ill-advised.

Gill also questioned whether the so-called Bredesen Bunker should have been built as the money used for the renovation on the Governor’s Executive residence could have been used for these employee buyouts.

Some points here that conservatives should consider. This buyout is purported to be for non-essential employees. These employees, that will be voluntarily dismissed from service from the state, are, in fact, the very kind of government job conservatives always rail against. What Bredesen is doing here is purchasing a reduction of the state bureaucracy. He is reducing not only the government’s size here, but also its scope.

Conservatives often complain that once big government moves in, once it is entrenched, it is impossible to unroot. The power of inertia, they believe, keeps big government going.

What will happen with this buyout is the opposite. Once these non-essential jobs have been emblazened with the non-essential tag they are unlikely to be filled again, even in fat times. These workers and their salaries, this reoccurring government expense, will be gone forever.

If you are a conservative, is not this one-time buyout of big government, a step in the right direction — no matter what the cost ?

On the flipside, the Bredesen bunker is, in fact, a one time expense.  It is a capital expenditure as opposed to a reoccurring expense. It is not bureaucracy.

Furthermore, the conservative must consider this: What if the Bredesen Bunker had not been built? What if that money had not been outlayed?

Well, the Steve Gill’s of the world might say, we would not be in this budget crisis. We would have been saved from this “catastrophe.”

But if we were saved from this budget shortfall then Bredesen would have been saved from having to make these tough choices.

The thing is, if you want to say that bunker is responsible for the budget mess, what you must also admit is that if it wasn’t for the bunker this buyout would not have been necessary, these nonessential jobs would continue to be filled and the leviathan would continue to drift along.

So following conservative logic and conservative principles was the Bredesen Bunker a good thing or a bad thing?

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Tags: big government, Bredesen Bunker, leviathan, state employee buyout, Steve Gill  

Tennessee First Lady Andre Conte Slams “Partisan Hacks” In Uncovered Bunker Era Memorandum

By Kleinheider Posted on May 7, 2008 at 3:48 pm

Matt Pulle, with an assist from GQ Drew and Big T, uncovers some interesting correspondence from our First Lady during the height of the Bredesen Bunker era:

“I know Mr. Johnson has some interesting conspiracy theories, but I think this time he’s really grasping at straws,” says Bredesen spokeswoman Dana Coleman. “The reality is that his request was a fairly sweeping one that involved searching for files held in three different places.”

That may be true—the center is known for its rather cumbersome requests—but surely the administration wanted to keep at least one email under wraps for as long as possible. In December, Conte, who has been the public face of the project, sent a note to state architect Mike Fitts. Here Conte—who is referred to as “FL,” for first lady, in many administration emails—comes off as part Cruella de Vil, part Christian motivational speaker as she encourages Fitts to continue touting the project in the face of bitter criticism.

“You are doing a magnificent job of deflecting hits and correcting erroneous information regarding Conservation Hall,” the FL writes. “This is an innovative design and a long time coming—what a shame partisan political hacks have targeted the project out of meanness of spirit and selfishness.”

Conte concludes her note with a hearty dose of good cheer.

“Keep a song in your heart and a smile on your face” the FL assures Fitts. “We will prevail.”

SEE ALSO: Bill Hobbs

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Tags: Andre Conte, Bredesen Bunker, Drew Johnson, GQ Drew, Phil Bredsen, The Tennessee Center For Policy Research, Trent Seibert