Yesterday the Knox County Commission had their work session. Commissioner Larsen Jay brought the four Ordinances to revamp, reconstitute the Merit System for Knox County Sheriff’s Employees.
Knox County Commission Work Session 6/21/2021
Both Commissioner Cortney Durrett and Richie Beeler who served on a special committee with Jay did not seem thrilled with the proposals. Durrett more vocal than Beeler, but none the less.
Commissioner Randy Smith first attempted a recommendation to pass them on first reading, have a two hour meeting to discuss them before a final second vote. Jay voiced support for that. Then Commissioner Justin Biggs opined it made little sense to vote on first reading before an in-depth discussion, so he made a substitute motion to defer until the July meeting after an in-depth review and discussion. That substitute motion passed 10-1 with Jay voting NO. Then the other three ordinances were deferred until the July meeting as well.
The meeting to dissect the four ordinances will be July 15 at 5 pm, likely in the Small Assembly Room of the City County Building.
Most interesting to me was the attempt by Jay to say he has heard from officers that say they would never file a grievance because of the way the Merit System is structured. Jay basically tried to paint it as a crony club. What Jay has missed is you must first appeal to the Sheriff and he must give you the go ahead to file with Merit System. So you must have the Sheriff’s blessing to advance to a Merit grievance.
Now, if you wanna talk about a system of good ole cronyism. How about a Sheriff that gets so agitated that he makes it known that if he finds out who is talking to the media, there will be hell to pay.
