Last week, when I first read about the Commissioner Jeff Ownby “slush fund” accusation from the County Commission work session. I thought this is the first time Ownby has really taken on an issue in a couple of years since the incident that led to a brief detainment in the county jail. But, figured it was just me.
Yesterday, watching WATE’s Tennessee This Week Courtney Piper was a bit more blunt and direct and said she believed that Ownby was using the issue to cause folks to forget about his arrest a couple years ago.
Last night reading today’s Shopper News online, it seemed to me that County Commission reporter Jake Mabe was thinking the same line of thought. Here is Mabe’s column.
Interesting is that Mabe made reference to the multiple definitions of the term that the Superintendent used in describing the Commissioners action. Several online dictionaries has the definition, vocabulary.com probably has the most BrianHornback.Com family friendly definition of salacious.
Something salacious is full of juicy details — but they’re the kind of raunchy, lusty, dirty details you probably don’t want to hear.
Implying a certain kind of moral looseness, salacious is often used to describe nasty gossip, obscene reports and steamy tales. Salacious things are usually not fit for general public consumption and probably need some kind of parental guidance warning. Think of the tawdry accounts of some politician’s affair with a staffer, or a particularly sex-filled reality show on TV.
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Who really cares about the definition of the word. What is more interesting is that first the Superintendent denied that he knew about the requests and now stated that he knew about the requests, which Mike Donila confirmed with the emails that the Superintendent were cc’d on. The accusation isn’t just about a piano and speakers, but a possible serious ethics violation and misuse of public tax dollars on behalf of several individuals at KCS. We can attack the integrity of Ownby, but it still doesn’t take away from the fact the Jimmy lied, and we’re not talking about Carter. Mr. Hornback you were a former School Board Member, What say you about the audit?
I always find it amazing how people respond to the revelations of government waste…ALWAYS the first defense is to accuse the accuser of having an agenda, whether political or personal. WHO CARES? If the waste is happening why does the accuser’s motives matter? If we wait for the people in government to reveal waste just because it is their job….well …let’s face it…it will never happen! People get motivated to blow the whistle for a variety of reasons…all or none of which matter! Piper and Mabe need to focus on the issue! Not the finger pointer…just because someone is pissed off about something doesn’t mean they are wrong! I don’t care what Ownby did last year or what he has on his agenda this year….all I care about is the validity of his claim!
This fund management issue is a real problem…using an account to AVOID returning funds to the general fund is a fundamental conflict with good business practices.In private business if a branch of a business found a way to hide unused budgeted funds for use in a later period, for whatever reasons…someone would be fired! Who ever is in on doing this with tax dollars should be fired as well!
McIntyre still hates Ownby. Ownby was the swing vote that stopped the $35 million dollar a YEAR tax increase we would have gotten soaked with. I don’t get Jake Mabe. He works for a paper that has defended the felon McIntyre for years. When will they learn?
Courtney Piper, you can see the strings that McIntyre puppets you with. He moves your mouth and speaks your words. Have you no shame?
The other part of the Superintendents comments I found interesting was he stated that out of “professional courtesy he should’ve just called him.” See that is AKA, I do not want any record of this conversation and no documentation. Ownby played his cards right, took the appropriate steps, and now caught the Superintendent in a lie.
Piper and Mabe; two tools for the education establishment.
I have known Mabe for over 15 years, he AIN’T NO BODY’S puppet. I don’t always agree with Piper, but her comment wasn’t mean spirited in the way she said it. If I recall correctly Korda agreed with her and Craig Griffitts did not disagree with her. Which is agreement without descent