Letter: City willing to address questions, wishes county could say the same

To the Editor:

I can’t help but comment on the difference between our county government and the government of the City of Oak Ridge.

In Oak Ridge, questions have been asked about the city government, and most of the City Council said they had a duty to look into the issues and either address real problems or clear the names of the those being accused of wrongdoing.

Now look at our county government. I have been to too many committee meetings and full commission meetings to even count. We have meeting after meeting where the benches in the room are filled with concerned citizens. Many of us believe there is ongoing wrongdoing and abuse of our tax money in the office of the law director.

I and almost two dozen citizens put our names to paper to officially raise these issues, and there are many more who have given us support or who feel the same way. But no one on county commission seems to care.

In Oak Ridge, I heard leaders say “we can’t sweep this under the rug.” But in Anderson County, sweeping it under the rug is a rule! I asked our citizens’ attorney to email the file to commissioners on the brief filed with the court that asks the question if the county lawyer is an employee or not.

Do you know how many commissioners downloaded and read the brief? Not one! Not a single one! I have the records to show the media to prove it.

It is not that they have made a decision that is the opposite of mine, but that they don’t even want to hear, see, or read any information at all! They do want to go out and hire lawyers and use our tax money to fight public records requests. How is that right or even legal?

Oak Ridge may think what is happening to them is ugly, but I think it shows they are willing to address the questions even if it is a slow process. If only I could say the same thing about Anderson County.

Lynn Byrge

Clinton