Somebody Needs to Reel the Property Assessor’s Office In

This website has revealed a lot about the lame duck Property Assessor throwing around our tax dollars un checked. Here are a few more tid bits.

One. sources indicate that a couple staffers are planning an August Surprise (oops not a surprise now) going away party for the lame duck Assessor, the lame duck Chief Deputy and Asssessor employee Linda Turner. What is unknown at this time is if county tax dollars will be used. If the party is during work hours, in the Assessor’s office. Then the taxpayers are on the hook for the lost wages of Assessor employees NOT working and the taxpayers building being used for a party.

Over the last 8 years, when the lame duck Assessor would terminate employees, the HR guy aka post hole toby’s boy would be called along with the Knox Co Sheriffs Office to have the terminated employees observed as they pack up their personal belongings and then escorted out of the building. In my opinion, Ballard, Weaver and Turner should go out the same way.

Two. The lame duck Assessor is rumored to be having gps devices placed on all Assessor employee vehicles this summer without input from the only candidate for Property Assessor candidate on the August 4 General Election ballot. Has the gps devices and installation been competitively bid? Is there a crony relationship with the vendor and the lame duck Assessor or his Chief Deputy? Has Knox County Commission approved this purchase and installation? If not, will they seek John R Whitehead’s input?

Three. With the 300 hours or 7.5 weeks vacation that was awarded to the Chief Deputy on April 25, 2016, according to Knox County Finance documents obtained through an open records request. the 300 hours were for the year, since there is a going away party planned for Weaver in August, clearly he will not be there in September, October, November and December, so 4 months of those 300 hours should be rescinded and taken away from Weaver, in this authors opinion.