Arp to school board: Budget?

Hey Mayor....don't you know that the school board can't vote on a budget that Mr Honeycutt hasn't even presented yet to them? It is the superintendent's job to propose a budget and he has yet to submit a "balanced" budget.

Obersturmführer Arp gets a bit testy when he doesn't get his way. Kinda like J.J. Duncan dismissing his constituents as kooks and extremists because they're not doing / saying / thinking what he wants them to.

One wonders what they feed these East Tennessee republicans that produces this curious blend of dishonesty, irritability, and arrogance ...

jrwebb wrote:

Obersturmführer Arp gets a bit testy when he doesn't get his way. Kinda like J.J. Duncan dismissing his constituents as kooks and extremists because they're not doing / saying / thinking what he wants them to.
One wonders what they feed these East Tennessee republicans that produces this curious blend of dishonesty, irritability, and arrogance ...

Don't know what they are feeding them, but I know what they are trying to "feed" to us.

Arp knows the drill, he's the head of the budget committee. He knows that its the director's responsibility to prepare the budget and present it to the school board for approval.

How many department heads did Arp meet with that didn't present him with a balanced budget? Last year, he had no problem blaming old Ed Headlee when the school budget wasn't balanced, did he?

Arp was just covering for his buddy Honeycutt's rear-end by blaming the school board.

John wrote:

Arp was just covering for his buddy Honeycutt's rear-end by blaming the school board.

It's a little more complicated than that. Arp has plenty of friends on the school board.

the idea behind taking the school board to task is to undercut support Van Shaver might have consolidated through his position on the school board. Arp isn't blaming the board, he's blaming Shaver, trying to make it seem that the reason the board is in "chaos" is because of Shaver.

Of course, the insinuation that Shaver is causing chaos couldn't be further from the truth, but by impuning the board he sets the stage for his upcoming attack against Shaver in the mayoral election.

Arp is crooked but he isnt stupid. he didn't get to be county mayor by kissing babies and making friends, he got where he is by making deals and delivering jobs for county employees. It will be very hard for an honest man to beat him.

Arp why do you need to watch your wife, do you think she may need to do a cash for junker...

old man arp has a hot little wife,she can't be happy with that old fart,he has a bad heart you know

Uncle Homer..you are exactly right! I could not have said it any better. Thank you!

The newspaper said that the budget committee voted on the school budget but how could that be? Arp and Park have kin that work for the schools. Doesn't Meers have a wife that's employed by the school or did she retire? What about Harold Duff, isn't he a county employee? If commission votes to raise our property taxes can this vote be challenged in court? Does anyone know a good lawyer??

Perry wrote:

The newspaper said that the budget committee voted on the school budget but how could that be? Arp and Park have kin that work for the schools. Doesn't Meers have a wife that's employed by the school or did she retire? What about Harold Duff, isn't he a county employee? If commission votes to raise our property taxes can this vote be challenged in court? Does anyone know a good lawyer??

Yes, they all have family within the system, so they are supposed to declare that they have a conflict of interest, then read the prepared statement, which says something like they are voting their conscience...blah, blah, blah. Doesn't mean much and if you attend the CC meeting, you might even hear some of them read this declaration....then proceed with the task at hand.

Good news, we are going into an election year and they have NO intention of raising taxes, especially in this economy, if they want to be re-elected, so while I would never say never, it is very unlikely that there will be a tax increase.

Should you need a good attorney, I hear Scott McCluen is pretty reputable.

Perry wrote:

The newspaper said that the budget committee voted on the school budget but how could that be? Arp and Park have kin that work for the schools. Doesn't Meers have a wife that's employed by the school or did she retire? What about Harold Duff, isn't he a county employee? If commission votes to raise our property taxes can this vote be challenged in court? Does anyone know a good lawyer??

Are you suprised? Arp's move to control the 911 Center is just another powerplay to get his son Rick a job. Arp gave away tens of thousands of dollars in tax revenue to his friend Mike Ross in order to get Rick a job at Rarity Bay. Or maybe it's just a coincidence that Rick is interviewing at the 911 Center at the same time that Arp is making a move to put the 911 Center under county control.

Just curious ...

Anyone besides me think that having a family member work for the county or school board should disqualify a person from holding office in the body that has oversight or funding responsibility for that agency?

The potential for conflict of interest is both obvious, and directly injurious to the people's confidence in their government.

It seems interesting to me that we already recognize this principle in other dimensions of law in our State. For example, a Judge would not hear a case where his spouse or other family member was a party.

Yet, on our badly troubled county school board, you've got Proaps casting a vote for a budget that includes compensation for his wife (someone please correct me if I'm wrong about that - if so I'll retract and apologize), quite literally voting to put taxpayer dollars directly into his own account.

Whether the Arp's son situation has any merit or not, the very appearance of a conflict of interest should disqualify either Mr. Arp, or his son. The people are entitled to have confidence that their interests are the first in line to be served by the employees they pay.

Let me see if I understand whats being said
- So Doyle Arp now wants the E-911 to be under his thumb and his sonny boy just happens to be interviewing for a job with E-911.

So he uses his position as the budget chairman to leverage his boy a job, is that how it works in Loudon County?

I can't think of any one politician who seems to use his position to feather his nest and that of his kin and cronies. Unbelievable!!

Curious Tom wrote:

Let me see if I understand whats being said
- So Doyle Arp now wants the E-911 to be under his thumb and his sonny boy just happens to be interviewing for a job with E-911.
So he uses his position as the budget chairman to leverage his boy a job, is that how it works in Loudon County?
I can't think of any one politician who seems to use his position to feather his nest and that of his kin and cronies. Unbelievable!!

Let me see if I understand what Tom is saying....
Just because most of the politicians in this country are ethically compromised, that makes it OK for Arp to do do whatever he wants.

The Good Ole Boy network has got to go!

CountryGal wrote:

The Good Ole Boy network has got to go!

And what do we replace it with darlin'? Power corrupts. Politics are corrupt. Shaver is a loud-mouth idiot. Arp is a crook. Who can fill the shoes that will not become easily corrupted?

I agree with ya, just don't know what the answer is.

jrwebb wrote:

Just curious ...
Anyone besides me think that having a family member work for the county or school board should disqualify a person from holding office in the body that has oversight or funding responsibility for that agency?
The potential for conflict of interest is both obvious, and directly injurious to the people's confidence in their government.
It seems interesting to me that we already recognize this principle in other dimensions of law in our State. For example, a Judge would not hear a case where his spouse or other family member was a party.
Yet, on our badly troubled county school board, you've got Proaps casting a vote for a budget that includes compensation for his wife (someone please correct me if I'm wrong about that - if so I'll retract and apologize), quite literally voting to put taxpayer dollars directly into his own account.
Whether the Arp's son situation has any merit or not, the very appearance of a conflict of interest should disqualify either Mr. Arp, or his son. The people are entitled to have confidence that their interests are the first in line to be served by the employees they pay.

Not just Proap's wife (who I heard makes more than three fourth of the individual employees in the school system, but his daughter is now drawing a paycheck. Who supervises this and how did it come to pass?

John Wayne, you are a disappointment. You used to stand for something.

John Wayne wrote:

<quoted text>Shaver is a loud-mouth idiot.

Wondering what you are basing that on. Everything I've heard Shaver say has been right on. Now, on the other hand what I have seen first hand, I think he is having to deal with several loud-mouthed idiots. Keep up the good work Shaver.

John Wayne wrote:

<quoted text>And what do we replace it with darlin'? Power corrupts. Politics are corrupt. Shaver is a loud-mouth idiot. Arp is a crook. Who can fill the shoes that will not become easily corrupted?

Shaver is a good, honest man. Arp is a crook though, you got that part right. Who can fill the shoes? Other good honest people, who's families haven't made a career out of pocketing our tax dollars, who have the citizens best interest at heart and nothing to hide.