Presstalk 671-TALK
• I was in attendance at the Knox County Republicans luncheon when (Alderman) Bob Markli stated that if elected mayor (of Farragut) he would replace the members of the planning commission and other committees with developer-friendly members. I believe we have room for improvement with regard to our business friendliness, but do we need to stack the deck against the residents desires?
Isn’t a balance of all interested parties better for the greater good? I have observed Mr. Markli as an aldermen over the years and found him to be late or not in attendance at meetings of Board of Mayor and Aldermen. Also, he has not been prepared for the those meetings by obviously not reading the packets prepared by staff, and appears to have a decision made prior to hearing all sides of the issue and is seldom swayed by other perspectives. Having observed and participated in issues before the board, I believe Mr. Markli will not stop at anything to get his way. Farragut was founded so we could control the environment of the residents and businesses. I have sincere concerns about his suitability to act as a Mayor interested in serving both the residents and the business community.
• Now that the nine hotels, one alderman and one resident has had their chance to bully our Mayor (Ralph McGill) into changing his vote (from in favor to against implementing a Town Hotel/Motel Tax), I’ve decided to put my 2-cents in. The Hotel(/Motel) Tax would not come out of the pockets of any of the residents of Farragut, or the hotels for that matter. It would be passed through to the Town from the tourists who are staying in the hotels. That would be $2.50 on a $100 room. Knox County, City of Knoxville, Oak Ridge, Maryville — all of them have this tax to promote their hotels and restaurants and their shopping areas to the tourists. According to my research, the hotels got a free pass in 2013 from the Board of Mayor and Aldermen with the promise they would work with the Town to increase Sales Tax — and they did nothing. Should we really believe them again? I guess time will tell.
• I am calling in to reply to a couple of ... presstalks in (May 24) issue. Both of them are congratulatory messages for the fact that the Hotel/Motel Tax did not pass. One of them mentioned that it was just a matter of time, had they passed, until residents and landowners would be taxed. I think this person has it (inaudible) backwards. The Hotel/Motel Tax, had it passed, would help keep down many necessities for taxes to homeowners. (Inaudible) people from out of town pay taxes here in Farragut. I don’t know of anyone who ever chose their hotel on the basis of whether or not there was a tax added. I hope the subject comes up again for discussion and I hope it passes.
• Many of us love the beauty of Hilton Head Island. And one of the features there is that there are no above-ground electrical lines, no poles — and therefore they don’t butcher their trees. If we in Farragut focused on Kingston Pike, we could make Farragut a more beautiful community. The millions of dollars we are spending on all the other projects, some of that money could be directed into this concept. Hopefully our decision-makers are listening.
