Oak Ridge Today

Guest column: Strategizing a path to prosperity

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Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

The problem

This month, the Oak Ridge City Council will establish your property tax rate for 2014 via the approval of our annual city budget. And though it appears that taxes will remain flat, our excessive spending levels are unsustainable and continue to hinder our ability to compete with surrounding communities.

In spite of all the new developments happening as of late, if council approves the budget as proposed, residents and businesses will continue to feel the financial crunch for quite some time. Not only will we retain one of the highest property tax rates in the state, but we’ll also retain one of the largest per capita debt levels in the region. (At nearly $7,000 per person, we have more than four times that of Knox County residents and more than seven times that of Knoxville residents). A dozen more chicken places and grocery store relocations won’t make a dent in the average Oak Ridger’s bills.

If we are to make any kind of progress, we need a strategy that aims to increase revenue while reducing expenditures. This column will focus on increasing our revenue base. I will address budgetary inefficiencies and waste in a follow-up piece next week. [Read more…]

Council approves Protomet tax break, ends recycling rewards program

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A five-year, 100 percent tax break for parts manufacturer Protomet was approved in a 4-1 vote by the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday.

The tax break could be used to help Protomet more than double the size of its 15,000-square-foot plant in the Bethel Valley Industrial Park, consolidate operations with a Blount County facility, and add 20-30 workers.

Also Monday, the City Council agreed in a voice vote, with no objections, to end the RecycleBank Reward Program and determine later what to do with the savings of $0.84 per household per month. The savings are expected to add up to about $124,000 each year. [Read more…]

Guest column: ORCVB, Chamber funding should be reduced 50-100 percent, festivals outsourced

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Note: This is an edited version of a letter submitted by Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn at a March 25 work session.

Mr. Watson and Fellow Council Members:

At our last retreat, I proposed that we each share our specific positions regarding the Economic Diversification Fund. A successful economic development strategy must focus on both retaining and increasing business and residents with a primary goal of establishing a more competitive financial position. For Oak Ridge, that means becoming a more affordable place to live and work. With that in mind, I present my point-by-point response to Mr. Watson’s Eight Point Economic Statement:

1) I support the city manager’s proposal to eliminate this fund and distribute the costs within the general fund if that distribution includes some reduction and/or reallocation of funds to the direct benefit of our taxpayers. Of the $1.4 million we currently spend, I recommend that we attribute half toward a reduction in the property tax rate (the equivalent of 7.7 cents). Such a reduction will benefit every existing and future business and home owner. [Read more…]

Council approves $18 million in borrowing for sewer system repairs

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Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

After more than an hour of discussion, the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday approved the borrowing of $18 million in low-interest state loans to help pay for a $23 million project to fix the municipal sewer system.

Council voted 6-1 to borrow the money at a 1.23 percent interest rate through the State Revolving Fund program, which is administered by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

The work is being done to comply with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order that requires Oak Ridge to repair all sewer system overflows by Sept. 28, 2015.

[Read more…]

Guest column: Researches EPA sewer order, says more work needed

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Last month, Oak Ridgers were hit with a water/sewer rate increase for the second time in nine months to pay for $15 million worth of debt that you were told (incorrectly) was issued to cover a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandate. On Monday night, City Council is preparing to approve another $18 million in debt for the same cause, which will result in subsequent rate increases.

A statement I received this weekend from one resident sums up the frustrations that so many of you have been sharing with me: “Utility rates (water, sewer, electrical, trash pickup, etc.) keep going up; the city and county property ‘double’ taxation is simply too much. It so happens that our group of friends and us discuss the idea of moving to other less costly vicinities nearby more often than before. We would strongly suggest that our city government start budgeting our expenditures with the money we have.”

[Read more…]

Guest column: Changing the economic development game in Oak Ridge

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There’s no nice way to spin it: The results of our city’s bad decisions for the past decade are catching up with us.

In addition to having high debt and property taxes, our sales tax revenues continue to decline, we are exporting more than $727 million per year in U.S. Department of Energy payroll (1), and we have a comparatively stagnant population growth. Even with all the new restaurants opening, these projects won’t fully replace the revenue we’ve lost from the countless businesses that have closed up shop or left town for greener pastures.

Continuing down this path is not an option. Thankfully, our city manager understands this and wants to strategize a more competitive position for Oak Ridge. He is proposing that we change our approach to economic development (2) by finding other uses for the $1-2 million we’ve been spending annually on nearly 20 different external organizations like the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.

[Read more…]

Guest column: Let’s work hard rather than ‘rubber stamping’ water, sewer debt

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We are only a few days into 2013 and most of us have discovered that we will have to make do with less this year. Before January ends, Oak Ridgers will realize that fact again when they receive their water and sewer bills, which will reflect the second rate hike since last May.

But before you have a chance to see your newly increased bill, Oak Ridge City Council may take an action that will cause your rates to rise a third time before 2013 ends. On Jan. 14, City Council will vote whether or not to apply for two state loans totaling $18 million. This debt, in addition to a large portion of the $15 million issued since September 2011, will pay for work affiliated with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrative order that requires the city to stop sewer overflows.

All $33 million borrowed will be paid by Oak Ridgers through multiple increases in your water and sewer rates. The amount of those increases is not determined until after each round of debt is issued. In other words, the city first borrows on your behalf and then determines how much it will charge you without consideration for your ability to pay.

[Read more…]

Council to elect mayor, vice mayor; could hire shelter veterinarian

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The Oak Ridge City Council will appoint a mayor and vice mayor on Monday, one month after the Nov. 6 election.

Council will also consider hiring a full-time veterinarian at the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter and approving a pair of $17,000 demolition contracts for two city-owned homes.

The current mayor, Tom Beehan, and vice mayor, Jane Miller, have both asked to be appointed to a third two-year term. In Oak Ridge, the mayor and vice mayor—officially called mayor pro tem—are also council members, and they are appointed after each municipal election.

There has been some public opposition to re-appointing Beehan as mayor. It has been led by new Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn.

[Read more…]

Baughn asks for mayor’s travel records for past five years

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Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

After asking Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan to consider resigning, new City Council member Trina Baughn requested trip and cost information for all of his city-related travel in the past five years.

She asked Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson for the trip information in a Wednesday afternoon e-mail.

Baughn requested the mayor’s travel records for the dozen boards and committees she knows about, as well as any she doesn’t. She asked Watson to also give the total cost of each trip, including mileage, per diem, hotel expenses, entertainment, and other charges, as well as the funding sources.

[Read more…]

New council member asks mayor to consider resigning, mayor says ‘no’

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Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

Tom Beehan

Tom Beehan

New Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn has asked Mayor Tom Beehan to drop his bid for a third term as mayor and consider resigning.

In a column posted on her website and submitted to local media, Baughn lobs accusations at the mayor that range from his alleged public encouragement of “backroom meetings” on the high school debt to the alleged benefits he received from the $30 million Kroger Marketplace shopping center.

“An overwhelming percentage of Oak Ridgers have lost all confidence in Tom Beehan’s leadership abilities,” Baughn said. “They elected me to be their voice, and with this letter, I am keeping the only campaign promise that I specifically made: I will not cast my vote for Tom Beehan as mayor.”

The seven-member council is expected to appoint a mayor to serve a two-year term during a Monday, Dec. 10, meeting.

It’s Baughn’s first major move as a new City Council member, and Beehan dismissed it with dismay this week.

“If you had to fact-check that whole column and label it, it would be ‘pants on fire,’” Beehan said. “It’s mostly fiction.”

[Read more…]

Letter: New City Council member gives thanks

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To the Editor:

I would like to thank the citizens of Oak Ridge for allowing me to represent them on City Council. I am both honored and excited to go to work for you. I am eager to work with my fellow council members, the city manager and the city staff to make Oak Ridge more affordable for residents and businesses.

I would also like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Ellen Smith for her five years of service on council. She dedicated a tremendous amount of herself to the betterment of Oak Ridge without expectations of praise or notoriety. She is a woman of absolute integrity for whom I have the utmost respect, and I wish her nothing but the best.

Finally, I would like to thank my family, friends, and other supporters (some of whom I’ve never even met) for their hard work and dedication over these last eight months. I had the most amazing people backing me and am absolutely humbled at how much time and effort you sacrificed to help me win. I thank you all for believing in me and am ready to make you proud!

Trina Baughn

Oak Ridge

Except for Smith, incumbents re-elected in Oak Ridge, state House

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John and Liz Ragan

Tennessee Rep. John Ragan, an Oak Ridge Republican, pictured at right, and Liz Ragan, his wife, celebrate the legislator’s re-election to the Tennessee House at the Buffalo Mountain Grille on Tuesday night.

It was a good night for incumbents in five local races in Oak Ridge and the Tennessee House and Senate. With one exception, they were all re-elected.

Chuck Hope and Charlie Hensley had hundreds of votes to spare as they easily won re-election to Oak Ridge City Council. Keys Fillauer and Angi Agle, the two incumbents on the Oak Ridge Board of Education, also coasted to victory.

Tennessee Rep. John Ragan, an Oak Ridge Republican, won a narrower victory over former Rep. Jim Hackworth, a Clinton Democrat. Ragan received 699 more votes than Hackworth, according to unofficial results. He finished ahead by 51.4 percent to 48.6 percent.

The one newcomer elected Tuesday was Trina Baughn. She will join Hope and Hensley to serve on Council.

Gone will be incumbent Ellen Smith, who was soundly defeated. Hope and Baughn each finished ahead of Smith by more than 2,000 votes, according to unofficial results in Anderson and Roane counties.

Baughn first campaigned for a City Council seat in an August special election, when she lost to Hope. Hope was appointed to Council last summer after former member Tom Hayes resigned.

Baughn and Hope both said the August special election helped prepare them for Tuesday’s municipal election.

Midtown Polling Station

Andrew McCulloch, right, signs in at the Midtown Community Center polling station on Tuesday. Also pictured are poll workers Margaret Terrell, left, and Jim Young.

The training paid off. Hope finished first Tuesday with 6,887 votes, and Baughn was second with 6,739, according to the unofficial results.

Baughn, a communications professional, credited hard work and the efforts of some 20 to 50 volunteers making phone calls and visiting voters.

“We knocked on doors, and we went to the voters,” said Baughn, who is perhaps best known for her newspaper columns and work challenging city and school system spending. “The supporters that I have are elated that I won.”

Top priorities for the new council member are controlling spending, lowering the property tax rate, and reducing the city’s debt.

Hope, owner of Chuck’s Car Care, was not available for comment late Tuesday night.

It was a disappointing night for Smith, who served one term on City Council. She collected 4,624 votes.

“The results are surprising, and I don’t understand them,” said Smith, a research staff member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. “I was pretty roundly defeated.”

A fifth candidate, business executive and Oak Ridge planning commissioner Kelly Callison, finished fourth in the City Council race, with 5,450 votes.

Campaign Signs at Midtown Community Center

David Hughes, left, supports presidential candidate Gary Johnson and Sherry Bath supports Oak Ridge Board of Education candidate Keys Fillauer at Midtown Community Center on Tuesday.

In the school board race, Agle and Fillauer both trounced Leonard Abbatiello, a former Oak Ridge City Council member, by more than 2,000 votes.

“I’m thankful that the people of Oak Ridge put the priority on students because that was the focus of my campaign and the focus of Keys’ campaign,” said Agle, who was battling for a third term.

Like Baughn, Agle credited door-to-door campaigning for her win, as well as her daily work during early voting and the newspaper articles she’s written during the past few years.

Now, she said, the first priority of the school board is to select a new superintendent, possibly on Dec. 8. Tom Bailey, the current superintendent, is retiring at the end of the year.

Agle said she also wants to continue making improvements in school curricula and student performance.

It was the second time Ragan and Hackworth ran against each other in the state’s 33rd District, which includes most of Anderson County. Ragan beat Hackworth in the 2010 election.

Midtown Community Center

Jake Phillips supports Tennessee Rep. John Ragan at the Midtown Community Center polling station on Tuesday.

This year’s contest between the two men was one of a half-dozen key races in the Tennessee House of Representatives, and it was expected to help Republicans gain a supermajority.

“I knew it was a close race,” Ragan said in a Tuesday night celebration at Buffalo Mountain Grille in Oak Ridge. “It was a hard-fought race.”

Ragan, a retired Air Force pilot, said Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly have cut spending and taxes, and created a more job-friendly environment. Jobs and education will remain top priorities for him in the upcoming legislative session, Ragan said.

Another local incumbent who was re-elected was Oak Ridge City Judge Robert A. McNees III. He had no opposition.

Neither did Tennessee Sen. Ken Yager, who was re-elected in the 12th Senatorial District. Yager’s district includes Roane, Morgan, Rhea, Scott, Campbell, and Fentress counties.

In other elections, the vote on a liquor referendum to allow package stores to sell alcoholic beverages in Oliver Springs appeared to have been rejected, with 486 voting yes and 519 voting “no” in Anderson and Roane counties.

Three-quarters of Clinton voters agreed to move the city’s general elections from December of odd-numbered years to November of even-numbered years, when they will coincide with state and federal elections.

Republican Kent Calfee defeated Democrat Jack W. McNew by a 68.6 percent to 26.7 margin in Roane County for a chance to represent the 32nd District in the Tennessee House, according to unofficial Roane County results. The district includes Roane County and part of Loudon County.

Unofficial results showed Calfee, who beat the incumbent, Julia Hurley, in the August primary, had an even higher victory margin in Loudon County: 72.4 percent to 20.8.

Here are highlights of Tuesday’s unofficial results in Anderson and Roane counties:

 

Oak Ridge City Council

Hope—6,887

Baughn—6,739

Hensley—6,301

Callison—5,450

Smith—4,624

 

Oak Ridge Board of Education

Agle—7,738

Fillauer—7,495

Abbatiello—4,988

 

Tennessee House of Representatives, 33rd District:

Ragan, Oak Ridge Republican—12,825 (51.4 percent)

Hackworth, Clinton Democrat—12,126 (48.6 percent)

 

Oliver Springs liquor referendum (To allow retail package stores to sell alcoholic beverages in the city of Oliver Springs):

Yes—486

No—519

 

Clinton charter question (To move Clinton general elections from December of odd-numbered years to November of even-numbered years):

For—2,556 (75.7 percent)

Against—819 (24.3 percent)

 

Note: This story has been corrected to show new vote totals for Ragan and Hackworth.