As we have blogged here, here, here, here, here, and here before the Trustee John Duncan taking and giving he and his cronies unearned bonuses issue is not going away. Today, Mike Donila over at the Big Metal Shed on the Hill has this story. It seems that Mr. Donila has been talking to everyone and Trustee Duncan’s story keeps changing.
Now, the County Commissioners are going to get involved and Trustee Duncan and his cronies are going to have to come clean. Because you can not blame it on CTAS and their computer problems when CTAS will also be at the meeting.
If Trustee Duncan wants this story to go away, he needs to stand up and say I messed up, here are the checks for the 2010 and 2011 unearned bonuses for all employees that did not have the certification at the time they received the bonuses.
As for this quote from Trustee Duncan in Donila’s story “the results of our office speak for themselves”…”Our revenues are at an all-time high and expenses are down and we’ve been getting great results from the staff we have and it has been a benefit to the taxpayers,” I call BS on that mentality. That is what Trustee Duncan “promised” that he would do when when he campaigned for the job. That is what his and his cronies salary pays for. This job is not a private sector job at BankEast. Bonuses using our tax payer money are not acceptable. If the cronies of Trustee Duncan want bonuses for doing their job. Then they should go find a private sector job that will do that. In this economy, Good Luck!
Back in 2010, Trustee Duncan used the campaign motto “putting trust back in Trustee”. If giving himself and his cronies unearned bonuses is “protecting every tax dollar” as he pledged in this campaign television commercial is what he meant. I do not believe that is what the voters believed is what he meant.
Brian—Your multiple post on this issue probably keep the News-Sentinel engaged. NS reporter Donela has been frustrated with the fact that Trustee Duncan has changed his story so many times and has wanted to blame CTAS for his own poor judgement. CTAS is part of UT and it would be interesting to see if any of the numerous County Officials in the other 98 Counties in Tennessee had issues with CTAS' computer. I think this is not the first time Duncan has pointed his finger at a computer after one of his blunders.Perhaps he should hire a computer expert instead of a PR hack like Larry Van Gilder (the hire he made last week from the Halls-Shopper)….Thank goodness some County Commissioners have the backbone to look into these bogus bonuses. These bonuses have created a major morale issue in the City/County Building since Knox County employees have gone several years without raises in this tightened economy and suddenly Duncan is cutting $3000 checks without justification. As Trustee he is the “FIRST” person to receive the taxpayers money…so the Commissioner better take a long, hard look at this action. Also let's not forget Duncan gave himself this bonus without attending any classes….in fact rarely is he even at work more than 5 hours a day. Fred Sisk the last Trustee worked 9 hour days and attended numerous CTAS classes to obtain his Certified Public Administrator status. It looks like the voters in Knox County judged a book by its cover in the last Countywide election…that is the “Duncan” cover. They will not make the same mistake next time. Unfortunately the saying “like father like son” is certainly not the cast with Duncan the Third.
The LVG hire was a bust. LVG did not deflect the story one bit. Wonder if LVG was the one who came up with the “computer ate my homework” dodge? Sounds like the drivel he used to slop at the Slopper News. Speaking of the Slopper News. What happen to the real estate ads? Why is the Slopper News so thin these days?
I absolutley agree with you here and I don't usually. I emailed Duncan about how pissed I was about the bonus. I got a standard “press release” just like you mentioned. It made me even more mad. How do you give yourself a $3k bonus when you make over $100 year? I am still mad that the County charges a $3 fee for a bank draft to pay my taxes online. Use that money to offset that.
Anonymous–You hit the nail on the head with Van Gilder. For yers he worked for a paper were all reporting was “attack dog” journalism. The Halls-Shopper even had a section called 'Lies and Rumors”…..Van Gilder is clueless when it comes to a defensive press release……Through this review by County Commission and follow-up reporting by KNS I hope Chad Tindell is asked about his legal opinion of the bogus bonuses….one of which he received for simply completing his attorney required “Continuos Education Units”
If Chad's job description states he must maintain his law license, why are taxpayers responsible for the fees/costs associated with getting the required Continuing Ed Units? Seems to me he should be responsible for keeping his license current to keep his damned job!
Anonymous – Is that $3 bank draft fee for monthly payments?
$3 fee is a one time fee for the paying your taxes online. It's the principle of having to pay extra, to pay my taxes.
Thanks for the info on the extra fee.
Duncan says they'll give the money back, but somebody needs to look for copies of the checks where the funds have been repaid, I don't trust Duncan to actually make these people disgorge their plunder and update a new W-2 for these cats.
The Sentinel is pissed that they got boofed by listening to all the Duncan leaks about the grand jury investigation of the old administration as a deflection while he dealt with all of his personal issues out at the Tin Roof.
Duncan hasn't done anything except gin up the payroll with his cronies adn tried to distinguish himself with a bunch of drivel and jibberish that nobody wants to hear.