[Andy Fox]

A number of people have reached out to me since my announcement of the March Muslim Madness discussion topic, requesting that I delay this item on the agenda. They’ve expressed they want to be involved in this issue personally, but are currently devoting their time to election issues and are unable to commit time to both issues. Therefore, in light of the impending election, I am pulling the March Muslim Madness discussion topic off this month.

I reject the idea of a workshop on this issue, however. Most people cannot attend events that occur during the business day. Even attending our commission meeting that starts at 5 PM is difficult for the working people of Knox County, the people who actually pay the bills for the county; I have repeatedly heard that feedback from constituents, both in regards to our zoning meeting and government agenda meeting.

Our commission meeting is a dedicated, transparent forum, at least as I understand those words, for engagement on issues of public concern. Our agenda specifically includes a public forum that is not tied to any particular agenda item. I do not think that a workshop in the middle of the day, tucked away at the commission conference room or some other conference room would be more “dedicated” and “transparent” than the regular government agenda meeting that is actually broadcast on public TV.

Also, a Commissioner or member of the public can sign up to speak with no notice of the topic at all. By law, we have to give notice of items that we will be voting on and some other items. There is no requirement of notice or vetting before every single topic that may be discussed by Knox County Commission during the government agenda meeting. I would appreciate you explaining what you mean by “vetting”, and where you are getting your claim that we have a responsibility of providing notice for every single topic that may be discussed during the government agenda meeting.

I encourage everyone to read Article II-Legislative Branch, section 2.01. It states, “The legislative power of the County includes all lawful authority to adopt ordinances, emergency ordinances, and resolutions governing the operation of government or regulating the conduct and affairs of the residents of the County . . . . It is the business of the commission to deal with more than just government budget, roads, and zoning. I’ve stated this repeatedly, and the Knox County Charter backs me up.

In light of the many terrorist acts committed by muslims across America and in other parts of the world, we need to discuss whether a threat exists – I do believe a threat exists – and what to do about such a threat. The last thing we should do is bury our heads in the sand and pretend that nothing is happening. Given the delay, I may bring some legislative items forward as part of this presentation.

By the way, under Knox County Commission Rule VI, Section E, discussion items are specifically for topics that an individual Commissioner believes are important to discuss but do not necessarily reflect the views of the commission as a whole. So there is no “vetting” of what an individual Commissioner wants to discuss.