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Vogel giving up Council seat in move to Idaho lab

Posted at 11:16 pm June 4, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

hans-vogel

Hans Vogel

Oak Ridge City Council member Hans Vogel will give up his seat at the end of June because he is moving to Idaho National Laboratory in July.

Vogel made the announcement at the City Council meeting on Monday.

Vogel said he will be director of strategic irradiation capability for the Advanced Test Reactor at INL, which is in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

“It is a career opportunity,” Vogel said Monday night. “This opportunity at Idaho National Laboratory was something I couldn’t turn down.”

Vogel will also resign from his seat on the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission. He was on the Planning Commission before he was elected to City Council in November 2016. He now serves as the City Council representative on Planning Commission. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: ADFAC, Advanced Test Reactor, Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, City of Oak Ridge, Hans Vogel, High Flux Isotope Reactor, Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge City Charter, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Gooch seeks second term as mayor

Posted at 9:42 am December 5, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

warren-gooch-2016

Warren Gooch (2016 file photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch is seeking a second two-year term as mayor. Gooch has written a letter to the rest of the seven-member Oak Ridge City Council outlining why he is seeking re-election.

The Oak Ridge City Council is expected to appoint a mayor and mayor pro tem during its next meeting on December 12.

Four City Council members expressed an interest in serving as mayor two years ago, but so far this year, Gooch is the only one who has asked to be appointed.

The Oak Ridge City Council appoints two of its members as mayor and mayor pro tem at a regular meeting after each municipal election—they’re held every two years—and after all newly elected members have been duly qualified, according to the Oak Ridge City Charter. There was a municipal election on November 8 this year. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 2016 Election, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: Charlie Hensley, Chuck Hope, City of Oak Ridge, Ellen Smith, Hans Vogel, Jim Dodson, Kelly Callison, mayor pro tem, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge City Charter, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Mayor, Rick Chinn, Trina Baughn, Warren Gooch

Opinion: A blueprint for growth, the choice is yours

Posted at 7:40 pm November 23, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff 12 Comments

By Leonard Abbatiello

Nov. 19, 2015

In a previous article, I pointed out how Oak Ridge has changed. To summarize, we have changed drastically since the mid-1970s, becoming Tennessee average in median income, graduation rates, ethnic and age distributions. We are also heavily in debt, as we continue to spend beyond our means for all of our high quality services.

About 50 percent of our housing is over 70 years old and in various conditions located on lots that are often unsuitable for today’s desired off-street parking. Currently, over 12 percent of all homes are vacant, and those on the market are selling at 75 percent of their initial asking price. All aging residential housing is collectively dropping in both value and desirability. Our low-income population has increased to the point that they are the majority of our residents, and they cannot financially support our high-end services. Today, we are building only 10s of new homes annually, and a large percentage of the Manhattan Era housing remains vacant. Department of Energy radioactive and hazardous waste storage taints the community image as an attractive place to live.

We have evolved to this condition from a city that was given to us citizens debt free in the 1960s and rocketed to be the highest property taxed Tennessee city by 1973. Since then, it has endured a long list of both failed and evaporated DOE promised self-sufficiency projects. Today, DOE self-sufficiency efforts are no longer offered by DOE. Things even got worse following the 1985 fragmentation of all DOE single contractor federal operations, which then made effective local financial discussions impossible. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Opinion Tagged With: City Council, DOE, DOE PILT, double property taxation, growth, housing, Leonard Abbatiello, Oak Ridge City Charter, Oak Ridge Reservation, payment in lieu of taxes, PILT, school system, toxic waste, U.S. Department of Energy, waste storage

Baughn asks for investigation of police chief; Hensley seeks reprimand of Baughn

Posted at 6:48 pm February 3, 2015
By John Huotari 15 Comments

Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

Charlie Hensley

Charlie Hensley

Note: This story was updated at 7:08 p.m.

On one hand is Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn. She’s called for an investigation of the police chief.

On the other is City Council member Charlie Hensley. He wants the seven-member Council to reprimand Baughn.

It’s not clear which side, if either, will prevail during the Monday night meeting of the Oak Ridge City Council.

The two Council members, who have a strained relationship, have dueling resolutions that could be considered on Monday. Either one would require a second from another Council member to be discussed and four votes to be approved.

Both resolutions follow more than one week of accusations and allegations that have roiled and divided the community. They have focused, in particular, on the management of the Oak Ridge Police Department by Chief Jim Akagi and raised questions about the turnover rate and whether it is high. Some of the most blistering criticisms have come from former Oak Ridge Police Chief David Beams, who said he still visits the city. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Government, Government, Meetings and Events, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: Blount County Circuit Court, Board of Education, Bobby Hill, Charlie Hensley, Christopher Bayless, City Council, David Beams, investigation, Jack Mansfield, Jim Akagi, Ken Krushenski, Mark Watson, Oak Ridge City Charter, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Police Department, order of protection, police chief, rebuke, recruiting firm, reprimand, resolution, Trina Baughn

Letter: City may need to re-visit possible review board for law enforcement

Posted at 11:21 am February 3, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Letters 1 Comment

To the Editor:

It is well-known that systems are healthier and work better when there is the opportunity for feedback.

The Oak Ridge City Charter provides for a Personnel Advisory Board for both city employees and school employees.

Missing, however, is a board for the members of our Police Department. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Letters, Opinion Tagged With: law enforcement, Oak Ridge City Charter, Personnel Advisory Board, Police Department, review board, Virginia Jones

Watson has confidence in police chief, no further investigation planned

Posted at 11:47 am January 30, 2015
By John Huotari 21 Comments

Mark Watson

Mark Watson

Note: This story was updated at 8:35 p.m. Jan. 31.

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson on Thursday said he has “absolute confidence” in Police Chief Jim Akagi and has no plans to further investigate concerns raised this week by City Council member Trina Baughn.

Baughn raised concerns about the turnover rate in the Oak Ridge Police Department and claims made in a grievance filed by former officer Chris Bayless. In a Sunday email, Baughn said her calculations showed that the police force had lost 30 members in 3.5 years under Akagi, and that equates to 11.7 per year, or an estimated 15 percent turnover rate.

Baughn said some officers who have resigned felt “forced out,” while others who remain are “just counting the days” until they can leave.

“I believe that our turnover issues are not a reflection on the character of the majority of our men and women in blue; rather they are attributable to leadership,” Baughn said in an email to Watson and carbon-copied to Oak Ridge City Council members and reporters.

Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

She said she is ready to help Watson “immediately address these problems and stabilize our police department.”

But city officials questioned Baughn’s numbers and said they don’t think the turnover rate is significantly out of line with what it has been previously. An average of 7.25 employees per year have left in the last four years due to resignations, retirements, or being asked to leave, Watson said Thursday.

“I don’t think it’s a significant change,” he said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: Chris Bayless, David Beams, grievance, Jim Akagi, Mark Watson, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge City Charter, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Police Department, officers, Police Department, police force, Trina Baughn, turnover, turnover rate, Warren Gooch

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Classifieds

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

Public notice: Draft environmental assessment for Y-12 Development Organization at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

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