E-mails kill Board’s 25-or-less gathering proposal: Zachary
Saying he took to social media asking residents who may not agree with a Knox County Board of Health proposal, which would limit most public gatherings to 25 or less, to make their voices heard via e-mail, state Rep. Jason Zachary (R-District 14) pointed out “hundreds and hundreds of people contacted the Knox County Health Board.”
The item, listed as “Proposed Regulation No 2020-5-COVID-19 Social group transmission suppression” — which was on the Board’s agenda on Wednesday, Aug. 5, before being postponed one week — did not come up for a vote at the Wednesday, Aug. 12, KCBOH meeting.
“The information about the meeting and proposed order was posted on social media, the people engaged and the Board did not take action on the order,” he added. “They were going to cap gatherings, but people made their voices heard and the unelected Board listened to the citizens of the community.”
Zachary also said it was “a perfect example of how to get engaged in a respectful manner. People want to make a difference and change the trajectory of things. There were no protests and no rioting, but people let them know, ‘We don’t want this.’
“Unfortunately, the Silent Majority typically rarely engages, but this (issue generated) 500 to 700 e-mails,” he added. “It made enough people mad to make their voices heard.
It also shows how you don’t have to leave the comfort of your house to make a difference.”
He noted the appointed board, which includes Farragut resident Dr. Pat O’Brien, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, Knox County Schools superintendent Bob Thomas and Dr. Martha Buchanan, Knox County Health Department executive director, “has been thrust into the unfortunate position of being legislators and passing legislation.
“One of the Board members I talked to said he ‘felt like we have to take action.’ However, we had a productive conversation and I suggested to him, ‘You never take action just for the sake of taking action,’” Zachary added. “And the people of this community are telling you, ‘enough is enough.’”
The KCBOH has been meeting weekly since June 17 and was the body that passed a resolution requiring face masks in all Knox County indoor public locations earlier this year, then passed a resolution at its July 17 meeting closing all bars to stop the slow of COVID-19.
That resolution was amended a week later, allowing bars to remain open but imposing a 10 p.m. curfew.
The issue was among agenda items to be discussed during this week’s regular meeting.
Emergency Powers
Zachary also has been appointed to chair a new joint ad hoc committee to study the current authority granted to the executive branch and the courts with regards to emergency powers.
The 17-member panel was created at the request of both the Democratic and Republican legislative bodies.
According to a Zachary office press release, the group would be “providing more clarity regarding the powers of both our judicial and executive branches should similar, unprecedented events like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic occur in Tennessee’s future.”
Zachary said they are set to meet this week.
