In the campaign for Knox County Law Director Richard “Bud” Armstrong said and his campaign supporters including Knoxville lawyer Keith Burroughs said that Armstrong was homegrown and Tennessee educated in Tennessee law. His campaign boasted about 3 decades of experience in Charter form of Government law. But now that Law Director Joe Jarret has opted to resign by the end of the month in order to allow Armstrong to exercise his wealth of Tennessee law education in the Charter Review Process.
Armstrong has this to say to the Knoxville News Sentinel, “I was looking forward to some transition time,” he said. “It’s hard to evaluate an organization and improve that organization from the start when you don’t have that evaluation.” Here is the link to the News Sentinel story. Joe Jarret obviously was the smartest man in the “Deathstar”. Either way the Charter Review Committee went Armstrong would have had the opportunity to blame Jarret when Armstrong took office September 1, 2012. But now no one will have Joe to kick around anymore. Nice chess match move. Now either way Armstrong has to step up or appear not ready for prime time.
Maybe a nice guy, Armstrong, but he's a product of TVA's bureaucracy.
And we know how “well” that is run.
Just ask people around Kingston.
In my opinion, I wouldn't want a surgeon three years out of medical school performing surgery on me.
I wouldn't want a sipping whiskey that was 3 years out of the barrel.
In m opinion, you certainly wouldn't want a lawyer 3 years out of law school, with minimal experience serving as the law director for the state's third largest county. Politicians have a hard way of presenting facts and evidence to persuade judges to see things their way.
Knox County Charter Commission will have a field day with the law director's position, writing new requirements all over the place while we spend millions on outside counsel and are the laughing stock of the State of Tennessee, yet again.
What were the voters thinking? Were they being led like sheep to the slaughter by articles of support in a free paper? After reading articles in the Sentinel and the free paper, it was obvious Armstrong was not the candidate of choice. I have reached the conclusion that any candidate being supported by the free paper- I like to call it The Gag and Puke- is one I will never vote for. Perhaps that is the one service the free paper can do for voters – because of their endorsements, it clearly let's the voters know who NOT to vote for.