League of Women Voters of Blount County 2006 Candidate Survey

Name J. C. Franklin Phone 865-995-2436

Candidate for Blount County Commissioner District 6 Seat “A”

Please write your answers in the space provided or use a separate sheet, and return your survey in the enclosed stamped envelope. It is very important that you write legibly. Please consider e-mailing your completed survey by requesting an electronic survey at rderycke@bellsouth.net

The League of Women Voters will acknowledge receipt of your completed survey.

I. Qualifications and experience:

1. Please list your diplomas and degrees, along with the areas of study:

Madisonville High School, U.S. Military Intelligence School at Fort Riley Kansas, The National Radio Institute and the University of Tennessee Center for Government Training with over 200 Hrs. training covering each part of county government. I am a Certified Public Administrator.

2. What relevant experience do you have, including previous public offices held?

I served in this position for 12 years beginning in 1990.

My military training and experience.

My 30+ years working at ALCOA helping to solve quality problems and training other people.

I owned and operated a T.V. sales and service business for several years.

I have owned and operated a farm for 50 years. And,

My 200+ hrs. of training at the U.T. Center for Government Training make me well qualified for this job.

3. Please list local service and civic groups in which you have participated, including when and for how long:

The Tennessee Farm Bureau for the past 50 years.

Member of a group called “Save the Little T” which fought construction of the Tellico Dam. 1965-1968

Member of Alnwick Community club 1988-1992 (President 1989-90)

Co-founder and co-leader of a group called “Citizens Alliance” which prevented construction of a medical waste

Incinerator in this county to burn waste from New York and New Jersey. 1989-1993

Member of the Blount County Republican Executive Committee. 1990 to present

Member of Clover Hill Presbyterian Church for past 30 years where I am an Elder.

Member of The Raven Society for the past 3 years. (President for 2 years)

4. Please indicate any business activities that could constitute a conflict of interest in the event you are elected:

I have absolutely no possible conflicts.

5. Name three leadership skills that you practice.

1. Leadership by example.

2. I am a consensus builder.

3. I am a good listener.

6. What unique qualities, besides the above leadership skills, do you have to contribute to this office?

I research each issue and get the facts before making a decision. I do not rely solely on information that is passed around by word of mouth.

I always look at the cost/benefit ratio when spending my money so I will do the same as a commissioner.

I will listen to everyone’s opinion when making decisions where there are no hard facts to consider. I can recall being in leadership classes of 18 to 20 people at ALCOA and sometimes only one person would have the right approach to a problem when the class was given a set of circumstances with no hard facts.

II. Questions about your understanding of the office you are seeking:

1. What do you see as the three most important functions of this office?

1. Approving/disapproving financial matters since the commission is the financial body of the county.

2. Oversee development, implementation and enforcement of zoning ordinances and building codes.

3. Work with Education, Highway and other departments to provide service to the citizens of Blount County. And do any other local Legislative duties that come before the commission.

2. What would you identify as the three most important issues facing Blount County in the future?

1. Controlling Growth.

2. Overcrowded Schools.

3. Roads. Water and air quality are equally important.

3. What can you do in this office to impact these three most important issues?

We cannot stop growth; it is a natural part of the history of this country. We can and should control it though. The county must continue to implement the Hunter Growth Strategy. The Implementation committee should have already been appointed. The Hunter people themselves say it will take many years to fully implement these plans so we should continue doing it piecemeal and not let it die. The commission, the school board, the highway dept. and the planning commission must work together to co-ordinate growth with the available infrastructure.

All departments must work together to develop a long range capital needs plan that can be implemented without “breaking the bank”. I will work with the school board, as I have done in the past, to use the resources we have to improve education in Blount County. We constructed 5 (five) new schools and eliminated most of the portable classrooms while I was on the commission before. We came up with enough money to hire enough teachers to meet the B.E.P. requirements. I will work with Mr. Dunlap to try and obtain more State and Federal funding for roads. I will try to find ways to better use the local funds we have that could be used for roads.

III. Positions on specific issues of importance in Blount County: Use a separate sheet to respond.

A. Means for insuring the fair and respectful treatment of all Blount County citizens, regardless of race, gender, religion or ethnic background, given recent concerns about racism and bigotry in our county:

The commission should include something on this in the Ethics rules we will be required to write by July next year. The best thing we can do is lead by example. This applies more to full time elected officials who hire and supervise people.

B. Promotion of greater diversity in our hired and appointed government officials and employees:

The commission does not hire anyone except a secretary. We should consider this when approving people

recommended by someone else, however, qualifications should still be the first priority.

C. Reconciling the potentially competing interests of growth/development and adequate infrastructure in our county, including the application of the Hunter Growth Strategy:

We must continue to implement the Hunter Growth Strategy. We need to remember the five Guiding policies this

Strategy is based on are not Hunters work but are the result of 17 (seventeen) public meetings across Blount County. Above all we must work with all departments and develop a long range capital needs plan that covers all needs. We can then prioritize those needs and work from there.

D.. The environmental impact of development and/or non-attainment status with the EPA:

The non-attainment status with the EPA is mostly caused by sources outside Blount County, however, we

must be sure we don’t recruit business and industry which adds to the air and water pollution. We need to keep

working with the industry we have as they try to reduce their pollution. We need to encourage developers to leave more trees and green space so nature can help purify the air naturally.

E.. Identifying and resolving conflicts of interest of public officials:

We can address this in our Ethics rules to be developed. If we see something that we think is

a conflict it is our duty to report this to either the county attorney or the Attorney General. The commission can

bring charges in court but has no other power.

F.. The consolidation of:

1. city and county schools

2. city and county government

3. or a feasibility study on consolidation

I would support a feasibility study on consolidation of some city and county departments. I believe there is a benefit to having city school systems in the county. They are good to compare the county system to. If there were only one system then Blount County would be compared to Knox Co., Sevier Co, Monroe Co. and other counties close by. None of which are as good as Maryville. It may cost a little more this way but I believe it is worth it and I don’t even have children or grandchildren in the schools.

G.. Health care:

Other than furnishing the Health Department building space and furnishing health insurance for the county employees the commission has no control over health care in the county. We should look at what Knox county is doing with prescription drugs and see if we might get a similar program here which would save the county money and could help people who don’t have insurance.

IV. Questions for CANDIDATES FOR COUNTY COMMISSION: Use a separate sheet to answer these questions.

1. How can you communicate effectively with your constituents?

I am establishing an E-mail advisory group for anyone in the 6^th district who wants to join. The address is

District6A@aol.com . I intend to E-mail information on important issues to this group and ask for their guidance. I will also have a web site that I will post my thoughts on issues and others can do the same. If people don’t have a computer my phone # is 995-2436 and we can commute the old fashioned way.

2. Which recommendations of the Hunter Growth Strategy do you support, and why?

I fully support the five Guiding Policies Hunter used to develop this Strategy report. Remember these are ideas from 17 public meetings across the county. This is Hunters recommendations for implementing our own ideas. I disagree with their recommendation to finish the Pellissippi Parkway. I fear that would put a lot more traffic on Wear’s Valley road which can’t handle large trucks very well. We need to remember that these recommendations must be implemented or approved by the Planning Commission or the county Legislative body or in some cases both so the end product in some cases may not look like Hunters recommendation.

C.. How do you propose to fund infrastructure growth and improvements?

1. A wheel tax--------I would only support a wheel tax by referendum.
2. An adequate facilities tax------If the revenue went to school construction I would support it.
3. Other__I believe growth in county revenue has averaged about 5% per year. If managed properly that should be enough to fund normal growth and improvements. I believe we should try to live within our “means” just as the citizens do.

D.. How can the county address the needs of the senior population?

We now have the Senior Citizens Center at Everett. We have the best library in the area. Several groups have their

own organization. The county could let them meet in a county building for free. I don’t see the county getting into

public welfare or health care any time soon.

E.. What is your position on hiring a county law director vs. the current practice of retaining an attorney for the Mayor?

I would be willing to look at it again but the last time we considered it the cost would have been several times

what we were paying for attorney’s fees then. We would have to fund a whole staff—one or more attorneys,

secretary, law clerk, office space and whatever other costs go with the job. They would still contract out a lot of

the work and some of the other officeholders could still hire their own attorneys. It would require a private act or

change in the public law.

F.. Concisely describe your vision for Blount County’s future:

I believe growth in Blount County will level off and maybe slow a little. It appears to be doing this nationwide.

I believe the retired population will grow faster than the younger group will. I see more people becoming involved in trying to maintain the rural and historic qualities of the county, even developers. I see more apartment buildings and condos being built in or close to the cities where sewer can be connected. I see the cities of Maryville and

Alcoa annexing more county residents resulting in a reduction of children in the Blount County school system. I see better working relations between the commission and the Mayors office. I can see Blount County remaining the best place in the world to live but it will take all of us working together to make it happen.