Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
The last eight years in Farragut have been very different from the other forty-six years of our town’s history. When Eddy Ford and Ralph McGill were our Mayors the average person could understand what the town was doing. The last eight years under Mayor Ron Williams and former Vice mayor Louise Povlin have not been that way.
Tennessee law clearly states that agenda items for town meetings must be able to be understood by the average citizen. That has gone away in the past eight years. Not only are agenda items often unintelligible to the average person, but they are also frequently bundled into omnibus legislation.
Omnibus legislation is a single, larger piece of legislation that bundles numerous smaller, distinct votes, into one package, thus requiring only one vote by the Mayor and Aldermen. This directly disenfranchises the citizens of Farragut. This is why the United Stated Congress has historic low approval ratings.
An example of this was the terrible Farragut Mixed-Use Town Vision Center Plan that was soundly rejected by residents and was prohibited by the town attorney from being voted on as an ordinance. It was passed as a resolution.
Now the vote for the proposed Economic Development Coordinator is bundled into omnibus legislation instead of being a line-item vote. Just like the U.S. Congress does.
If that is not bad enough, the Atlanta consulting firm TSW that did the failed Farragut Mixed-Use Town Vision Center Plan is now being brought back to completely redo the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The matrix used to evaluate the four firms that bid on the contract to redo the Comprehensive Land Use Plan was slanted to favor TSW.
Allowing TSW a second bite at the apple for their failed Farragut Mixed-Use Town Vision Center Plan is unconscionable in my opinion.
The people of Farragut need new management that returns their government to the people.
Mike Mitchell
Farragut
