The Use of Intermediaries

UPDATE July 28, 2008 6:15 P.M. The County Commission first failed to vote to deny and extend a 120 day extension to the NRR contract. The County Commission then failed to approve the mediation settlement. Commissioner Mark Harmon and another Commissioner then made a motion to reconsider the denial. A substitute motion was made to approve the mediation settlement. All 9 votes remained, Commissioner William Daniels who had first passed on the approval and then on first vote to approve he changed to a NO. He then flipped on the second approval motion and voted Yes. With 10 votes effectively approving the mediation settlement. Commissioner Ivan Harmon changed to 11 votes.

The good news is that Knoxville Attorney Don Bosch did not get what he passionately asked the Commission to do. It appears that several Commissioners after having read Brian’s Blog this morning realized that the use on intermediaries cast a long shadow on this settlement and NRR’s mediation settlement was approved and Bosch was ineffective for his client, Knox AG.

Original Post July 27, 2008 6:22 a.m. Do you remember from the “sunshine lawsuit” when there were talks of using intermediaries? Well, it appears that some of the politically/media connected are being used as intermediaries. First, there is a connection between the News Sentinel and WBIR. News Sentinel Editor Jack McElroy appears with WBIR News Anchor John Becker on the Sunday television show Inside Tennessee. On the same program as panelist with McElroy are lawyer Don Bosch and PR guru and former TVA Director Susan Richardson Williams.

So if you were wanting a Knox County contract. Would it be a wise choice to hire Bosch and Williams? Knox Ag, a company seeking a county contract for the green waste recycling facility apparently thought so. Williams disclosed last week on The Voice, a daily talk radio show that she is involved with Knox Ag. Bosch has been retained as the attorney for Knox Ag, according to at least one newspaper story.

Although according to sources close to the County Commission, Randy Greaves of Knox Ag has sent a letter to several County Commissioners apologizing for selecting Bosch. He supposedly has acknowledged to the Commissioners that he was unaware that Bosch has made some outlandish comments about the Commissioners on Inside Tennessee and in other public venues.

While there are some serious questions about the current contractor NRRT. It appears that the contract for Knox Ag creates questions as well.

Here is a story that names Don Bosch as an attorney for Knox Ag, Inc. Here is a story used in the research of this story. Here is a story that details the past and the possible agreement on the mulch facility. Here is News Sentinel’s Editor’s recent opinion on the mulch contract. Here is a story requesting a probe of the contract. Here is a story concerning some probable health issues near the mulch facility. Here is another story concerning the contracts. Here is a story from January 2008 about the facility.