Civil service hiring for the county

Clarification of issues on the ballot

Hatch Act adopted

One government (functional consolidation)

Policies to eliminate nepotism; appearance of conflict of interest

Line item budget for capital projects

Tight but reasonable term limits

County fee offices appointed rather than elected (these are administrative offices)

Have property tax in Farragut

Reduce county commissioners to nine; elect on staggered terms; with district and county-wide voting (which provides accountability)

No county commissioners working for county government

Accountability for county commissioners

Road safety - especially guard rails

Extend public transportation to county

Problem of conflict of interest with county commissioners making financial decisions about organizations they have a vested interest in

Problem with so many offices - top heavy with executive offices

What is the purpose of Knox County Animal Control - animal threat investigations - needed for legal remedy

School board must raise it's own money and have control over it's own money. Give school board taxing authority

Prohibit elected officials from being employed by city / county government

Executives, city mayor, UT officials work to help United States Veterans with employment

See all Knox County executives and officials be accountable to the public - financial disclosure / meetings

City taxpayers don't know where their county taxes go - education? police?

Every person standing for office should run county-wide - face every citizen

City-wide wireless, county too

Additional cops on the streets

County Commission meetings need to move around county and be at various times so more people can come - school board meetings too

Consolidated government

Re-open Tennessee Research Center - job placement program

Safety - city/county - more lines of communication between KPD and KCSO

Minimum qualifications (recommended) for each elected office

Restriction on hiring or appointment of relatives of elected officials or appointed officials

County curbside recycling

Blank slate - new government should be: functional, accountable, efficient, flexible and as small as possible

Require special elections if more than ten percent of offices are being filled at one time

County government needs to be more people friendly

Current county/school board public forums useless - revise to be more question/answer period

Enforce Sunshine Law - put teeth in it. Accountability. Enforce code of ethics

More active role for UT in local schools - higher standards

Prohibit any elected official from participating or voting on any matter that he or immediate family has a vested interest in

Any budget increase should not exceed combined rate of inflation and population growth

How, why and where does development get approved?

Knox County Commissioners should not take paid jobs in county

Out source as many services as possible

Knox County restricted from hiring relatives of commissioners and elected officers should be barred

Commission meeting at more accessible times

One commissioner from each district run on a county-wide basis

Reduce the size of county commission

Term limits on all elected officials

Anti-nepotism policy

Metropolitan government

Should not be adversarial relationship between school board and county commission

More county tax dollars to go to city residents

Non-partisan elections

Written job descriptions for county commissioners

Citizen beer board - Not commissioners or council

County should have civil service positions

Beer board - citizens, council and commissioners

Size of sheriff's department, number of people and resources allocated

Consolidation of services between county and city

More conformity between city and county in planning and zoning

County legislative branch like city - primaries by district - general election county-wide

Qualifications to run for school board

Only executive and legislature be elected - other director positions be appointed

Too much of a closed system / good-old-boy / cronyism

End pork barrel spending - more oversight

Explore other models for fee offices

Meetings moved for greater participation (later in the p.m.)

Nineteen - need to look at that number (find out through research - look at Memphis)

Look for common services that could be consolidated (like fire protection, law enforcement and garbage pick-up)

Nepotism - big problem. No relatives. No people on campaign. Raise standards. Civil service in county

Too many offices to vote for. Make more appointed rather than elected.

Have the elected officials to understand it's "our" money

Deal with contracts better (i.e. Lindsey and school board contract)

Don’t go out of state for positions until have to

Better urban planning and make developers accountable. They should pay fees for sidewalks and schools. Leave lots empty for common area for subdivisions

Yearly inspection of cars

School board run county-wide

Commissioners should run county-wide

More urban planning. Stronger storm water regulations. Developers need more regulations/rules. Need quality development, not quantity. Need future planning

Need more comprehensive plan for land

Metro government by referendum. Use metro plan proposed in late 1980's/ early 1990's and tweak

Give school board taxing authority for schools

Underground utility would keep beauty

More jail space / alternatives for lesser crimes

Expand programs in training / apprenticeships for teenagers. Duplicate empowerment zone for all county

Keep developers responsible and accountable. One person speak English in each office. Do not hire people who are not documented

Sheriff - appointed, not elected

No family employees

If elected - cannot be employed by county. Must resign government job

Eliminate duplication of conflicting authority. One message for outsiders

Unified government. Fewer elections. Civic participation

Staggered elections (four year) terms i.e. school board

Consolidate functions

Keep term limits - expand where possible

Better working relationship county vs. city police and fire department and Rural Metro

Define metro - unified or consolidated?

If we go metro or unified, there would be duplicate issues having to be resolved over several years

Have open county commission meetings with agendas and attachments (like MPC)

Need more information about Knox County education, goals for students, and how goals are translated into practical ideas for classrooms

Need more economic efficiency, various budgets under each entity, under one governing body. Each department's economic efficiency be compared to a national best practice (fee office collect fee and what department does not use goes to a general fund)

Need the elected head of a county to be called something other than a "mayor" (or different from city head)

Sector zoning plans need to be enforceable plans rather than general guidelines

Have limited consolidation of city/county agencies for better use of tax dollars (economies of scale)

Need unified government

Have government meetings videotaped, streamed, and archived online

Need information on government redundancy (what is wasteful? what redundancies are important to limit power?)

Need limits on nepotism and transfer from elected office to employee. (No elected official can be an employee)

Separate Knox County Schools from Knox City Schools

Limit folks from having rollover term limits

Government should be more encouraging to a diverse community

Appoint sheriff to a six-year term with no term limits (with impeachment if necessary)

Need more citizens (not just political appointments or career-related folks) to serve on commissions and boards

Provide means for people to be in a "resource pool" to serve

Need term limit reform with more frequent elections

Need more emphasis on quality service rather than politics

Need more appointed, less elected offices so more time is spent serving

Create sheriff's advisory committee

More community involvement

Less duplicity between governments

More community education/information

Family members of those elected/employed by government should not be hired - nepotism

We should have a non-partisan government

Accountability - elected officials need to be elected at-large

Community involvement - engagement that is honored and listened to

Smaller government: need unification, reduce duplication of services, need coordinated efforts

Every head of every department should be held to a certain standard of accountability

Restructure School Board - in general, school board needs to have a better understanding of how the county is growing

Unified government

Too many layers in county government. Need more streamlined, effective government

Priorities are not in line with what needs to be funded

There are departments that are understaffed and under funded. Internal monitoring of budgeted funds. (Thinking of county government could be both city or county)

Ethics committee within government itself

Crucial the school board be more accountable - term limits would help with this

Need smart, intentional development through MPC. Strategic growth

Can't seem to get anywhere without being in someone's pocket

Dismantling of the good ol' boy network

Elected officials have fiscal responsibility to the citizens. They lose sight because of power struggle

There needs to be honesty and transparency of elected officials

No good community input into budget - it seems last minute. The community doesn't have opportunity well in advance.

Sign and zoning ordinances need to be more strictly enforced. Need public input on what ordinances we do have.

No more debt to avoid tax increases

A smaller legislative body would require redistricting

Unified government is a good idea IF the structure of that government can afford for accountability, efficiency, etc. Don’t make the mistake Nashville made (Didn't eliminate any positions when unified)

Would like to be able to vote for school board member in district where kids go to school

Chief law enforcement officer needs to be appointed if unified government. A professional is needed. Too much power rests in one place

Pension issue! Before a referendum can pass- there should be public workshops to explain and clarify what the referendum is for the public

The public needs to know what the heads of departments are spending their money on

Need metropolitan government to reflect our metropolitan culture