Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett is complaining in this News Sentinel (Big Metal Shed on the Hill) story (subscription required) about bureaucracies and state red tape. Now hold on just a DadGum minute. Until September 1, 2010 he had spent many years in Nashville creating that red tape that he so wants to complain about today. Clearly, he is unaware that he is as Mayor in Knox County he is the bureaucracy. This latest complaint sure sounds like Timmy is crying and whining, this is too hard, it is too confusing.
While on the lack of leadership that is Timmy Floyd Burchett. Let’s set up a hypothetical, let’s say you are an employee of a county department and you are informed that in six months your position is no longer needed. Let’s say you go on a social media site (maybe Facebook) and share the news that in six months your job is non essential and eliminated. Let’s say in frustration you post another post about how the County Mayor brags about having an open door but he ignores your calls. Then the next day you post Thank you Mayor, I knew you were a good guy, I am optimistic it’s all gonna be alright.
That is an example of a Mayor that operates from fear of being criticized or exposed as a fraud. Promising one thing but doing something different. He isn’t reducing government, his growing government through keeping folks in place that are non essential or simply moving chairs on the Titanic.
The question, is all this hypothetical or 50/50 hypothetical? Did he promise to keep the person or help them find another position in or out of the county? Will he follow through on whatever assurances he gave to the person or is it just another TFB story to diffuse the situation at the time? I wouldn’t spend all the extra savings on Christmas this year, if it were me.
