The Knox County school board has selected Dr. Jon Rysewyk as superintendent. The 15-minute meeting went awry, including not asking Rysewyk to say a few words. Instead, board member Mike McMillan flashed anger in victory (he voted for Rysewyk). When board member Daniel Watson moved to make the selection unanimous, McMillan objected. “Y’all had a chance to vote for him before …”
Could this school board get any worse?”
“Yes, it could.” The state legislature has made school board races partisan, so we will see more people like Betsy Henderson and fewer like Virginia Babb. A full list of those running is here.
Nashville District 5
I like Beth Harwell and hope she wins the Republican nomination in Nashville District 5. Rep. Jim Cooper opted to retire after the Republican super-majority redistricted parts of Nashville into three majority-GOP districts. Other candidates so far include Morgan Ortagus and Robby Starbuck.
A tub to wash, a tub to rinse and a wringer in between.
Harwell, who earned a doctorate from Vanderbilt, has a serious typo in her release: Today’s America has been put through the ringer …
Ding, ding, ding! It’s wringer, Beth, an old-fashioned gizmo with a crank that folks used to wring water from just-washed clothes before hanging them on the line to dry.
Candidate Expo
Tim Graham is hosting a free expo for all candidates running for office in 2022 on Thursday, March 31, from 4:30-8:30 p.m. at the Knoxville Expo Center, 5441 Clinton Highway.
“We wanted to provide an opportunity for folks to get to meet the approximately 70 candidates running for office,” said Graham, president of Graham Corporation, which owns the Knoxville Expo Center. Candidates can reserve their spot by emailing crystal@knoxvilleexpocenter.com or calling 865-686-3200.
Yard signs
Driving to the Corryton Post Office to deliver our KnoxTNToday mailers gave me a chance to count yard signs. The most by far were for Sheriff Tom Spangler with second place a tie between Richard “Bud” Armstrong, former law director running for chancellor, and Kim Frazier, seeking an open seat on Knox County Commission.
The best yard sign (I saw one in East Knox County) belongs to Larsen Jay. It’s cherry red with bold white letters.
Reminds me of the summer of ’76 when I was a field rep for the Tennessee GOP, trying to take a majority in the state House and Senate. We had a candidate in upper Tennessee named Bud Sine (I think). I had bright red signs printed with white letters: SINE. It was the shape and size of a stop sign. Bud’s supporters got excited and put them at intersections. The sheriff tracked me down and told me to come and get them.
We had a country-club woman in Shelby County who rejected her brochures just before mailing because her hands were clasped and her wedding ring didn’t show. She demanded a reprint. I remember saying, “If we wait any longer, we’ll have to drop them from helicopters in shopping center parking lots.” She was not amused.
Both of them lost and I quickly got into a more honorable line of work – junk mail.
Sandra Clark is editor/CEO of Knox TN Today.