SOUTH KNOX VOL. 32 NO. 21 1
BUZZ Officially yours The polar vortex surely won’t be an issue this time. The South Knoxville Community Forum with SoKno’s elected officials originally planned for Feb. 26 has been rescheduled. Vice Mayor and City Council member Nick Pavlis, County Commissioner Mike Brown and Board of Education member Amber Rountree will meet with and update SoKno residents on issues and answer questions. The forum will take place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 4, at Ijams Nature Center. It is open to all residents of South Knoxville/South Knox County.
South High Choir returns Since reuniting three years ago to honor former choir director Harold Mays, alumni members of the South High School choir have continued to perform at various events. Now, at the request of Mays, they’re putting on another show. They will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 28, at SouthDoyle Middle School.
Neighborhood grant winners Two SoKno neighborhoods have been chosen to receive grants from the city of Knoxville’s Neighborhood Small Grants Program. The grants are for neighborhood-improvement projects that also build community and strengthen the organizations that serve them. In all, 12 groups were selected to receive a total of $22,900, contingent upon a City Council vote May 26 (after the Shopper press deadline). Lindbergh Forest Neighborhood Association will receive $400 to defray expenses related to the startup costs of the newly formed group. To page 3
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Go climb a Crag By Betsy Pickle The newest feature of Ijams Nature Center is officially open to the public. Dignitaries and climbing enthusiasts joined to celebrate the ribbon cutting, which turned out to be a bit different from the norm. Rope took the place of ribbon as a couple of climbers rappelled down the rock face to do the honors late Friday afternoon. The outdoor climbing area in a remote part of Mead’s Quarry offers a variety of climbing routes, ranging from easy to difficult. Benjy Darnell, Kelly Brown, Robbie Blackwell, Sam Adams and Charley Van Anda have led the endeavor to create Ijams Crag and are still working on some routes. Support has come from Rivers Sports Outfitters, Patagonia, Lowe’s and the city of Knoxville.
More pictures on page 3
Beware of seasonal scams, says KPD By Wendy Smith Last month, West Hills Community Association president Ashley Williams was alerted to the regular presence of a man selling security systems door-todoor. The man was taking pictures of houses and asking residents who already had security systems which doors and windows were monitored. He would then ask to put a sign in the yard. At least one neighbor had a break-in a few days after speaking with the man. Williams approached the salesperson on the street and asked to see his license. He presented an application rather than an actual license. Williams then contacted the company, and was passed to an attorney. After Williams spoke to law enforcement, the attorney said the company would no longer work in the neighborhood. But Williams
has visited the company’s West Knox office, and salespeople, primarily driving cars with Utah license plates, are still working in the area, he says. He hopes other neighborhoods can benefit from what his neighbors have learned. “A legal solicitor’s permit should be notarized and should have a permit number on it. If they don’t have it, say you’re not interested and call the police dispatch number. You have the right to say ‘Get off my property.’ Don’t feel obligated to listen to a pitch.” Darrell DeBusk, public information officer for the Knoxville Police Department, says late spring and early summer are prime time for a variety of doorto-door scams. That’s when scammers who spend the winter in the south head north. Many are selling services like driveway paving, painting and
roofing, and they appeal to homeowners hoping to save money. But DeBusk warns against using service providers who shows up on your doorstep. Instead, homeowners should contact local providers who are licensed and bonded and have a good rating with the Better Business Bureau. A request for payment up front should be a red flag, he says. A common scam is linoleum sales. Accomplices enter the home while homeowners are looking at samples. Those selling magazine subscriptions may be legitimate, but salespeople often have criminal records, he says. Neighborhoods, as a whole, cannot prohibit solicitors if they have public roads. But individual property owners can prohibit solicitors on their property with a clearly visible sign, says Ron Mills of the city law department. Gated neighborhoods or those with pri-
vate roads can prohibit solicitors. Knox County requires a license to sell goods and services door-todoor. Knox County Commissioner John Schoonmaker says his neighbors in Tan Rara subdivision typically ask to see a solicitor’s license. If none is presented, they give the solicitor five minutes to leave the neighborhood before calling the sheriff’s office’s non-emergency number. “I have seen solicitors being escorted out of our neighborhood in the back seat of the sheriff’s cruiser. The word gets around to other solicitors that our neighborhood doesn’t like solicitors,” he says. In April, county commission approved an ordinance that gives the Knox County Clerk the authority to withhold a solicitor license from someone who has an outstanding warrant or has been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude in the last 10 years.
No meeting of the minds at budget talks By Betty Bean
City Council secretary Susan Wilson plans to pass on her rubber band ball when she retires later this year.
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Read Wendy Smith on page 4
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The only clear consensus reached at the joint school board/ county commission meeting last week came when district members of each body promised to get together with their counterparts and talk about school needs before the county budget comes up for a vote next month. This came at the conclusion of a dinner and discussion get-together at the East Tennessee History Center. The board members, commissioners and Dr. James McIntyre were seated around a horseshoe-shaped table in the middle of the room to facilitate conversation. The most powerful player in the budget discussions, Mayor Tim Burchett, who has veto power over any commission vote (it would take eight votes to override him) was seated in the audience and was not asked for
his opinion, perhaps because his views are well known. He’s not going to go for anything that requires raising taxes. Things went the way they usually do this time of the year, with most (but not all) school board members pleading for increased funding and most (but not all) commissioners advising them to shut up and live within their means. There was majority agreement on an issue Knox County Schools has been pushing this year – the balanced calendar commonly (but not quite accurately) called yearround school: It’s too expensive to talk about at a time when the county is struggling to find a way to pay for long-overdue teachers’ raises and communities are clamoring for new school buildings. Commission chair Brad Anders repeated his warning that the county has been living off the pro-
ceeds of a 1999 property tax increase and has no more fat to cut. School board member Terry Hill, who represents the Hardin Valley area, which is hoping for a new middle school, implored members of County Commission to think about doing something to raise money to build new schools. “More people than you might think would be willing to pay their fair share,” she said. Commissioner Ed Brantley said his hands are tied because of his no-new-taxes campaign promise, but he recommended that his colleagues consider approving a referendum vote on a half-cent sales tax increase. He objected to the superintendent’s recommendation to build a new north-central elementary school: “Do you have to build three schools? This elementary school showed up on the list out of no-
where.” McIntyre corrected Brantley and said the elementary school had been in the system’s 2012 plan. Commissioner Charles Busler won the most jaw-dropping statement of the night when he said he went 43 years on his job without a raise and chided the schools for not returning good results for the county’s investment. McIntyre challenged him to compare and contrast recent student outcomes and graduation rates with those of the past. Board member Karen Carson said the county needs to give teachers a minimum of a four percent raise. “It’s a slap in the face to say every other (county) employee gets a 3 percent and tell the schools to find the money for teachers to get one.”
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