Knoxville City Council candidates keep violence interruption front and center
Knoxville violence interruption workers and advocates are making sure their mission stays in the public eye by running for city council this year. The neighborhoods that have been harmed by youth gun violence are in District 6, where Councilmember Gwen McKenzie is term-limited.
Candidates Denzel Grant, director of Turn Up Knox; Stan Johnson, executive director and co-founder of SEEED; and Lawrence Williams, a pastor, all work in the violence interruption space. they're joined in the race by Sam Brown, Charles Frazier and George Raudenbush III.
Making room at the table: The race for District 6 is crowded, with six candidates stepping up to run for the open seat. Several have been advocates for the city council to pressure Mayor Indya Kincannon to allocate more money for local violence interruption groups.
Why it matters: Three of the six candidates said they're running to uplift community voices in violence interruption spaces. Presumably, it'll be a prominent talking point during the primary campaign, especially after the Knoxville City Council allowed the mayor to pay the National Institute of Criminal Justice Reform to spearhead violence interruption here instead of local nonprofits.
Why the election change will have an impact: The new election system endorsed by voters in 2024 means only residents of a district can vote in that district's elections. Whatever voters decide is a priority will dominate the race. The top two candidates in the primary election will move on to the Nov. 4 general election.
Get prepared: There's still a few months until the August primary, and Knox News will have voter's guides out before early voting so you can study up. In the meantime, you can get familiar with the candidates in your district the list at knoxnews.com. If you don't know which district you live in, put your address in at tnmap.tn.gov/voterlookup.
For conservative Knox County, no news is good news on the budget. That's reflected in Mayor Glenn Jacobs' proposal for the coming year, where the main highlights were $5 million in increased funding for the Knox County Sheriff's Office and Jacobs supporting Knox County Schools' full budget request.
Property tax rates will not change if it's approved as proposed.
The increased funding for KCSO will pay for overtime, funding for officers' pensions, raises, increased contract costs, new body cameras, new tasers and new vehicles.
Body camera funding increases: The budget increase for body cameras comes as KCSO's policy is under scrutiny. Knox News was first to report the SWAT team members who shot and killed the South-Doyle High School student were not wearing bodycams during the raid on 18-year-old Daevon Montez Saint-Germain's home. SWAT team members shot and killed Saint-Germain. Neighbors and elected officials put pressure on KCSO to require body cameras, which Spangler told community members he did a month after the Saint-Germain's killing.
What's happening this week:
The Knox County Commission will listen to public input on the budget 4 p.m. May 19 in the main assembly room of the City-County Building, 400 Main St.
The Knox County Commission will vote on the budget at 5p.m. May 19 in the main assembly room of the City-County Building, 400 Main St.
Want to study up? Knox County's budget is at knoxcounty.org. Click the finance option under the government tab. The proposed budget is at the top of the page.
The Knoxville City Council is analyzing its own rules as part of a process it hopes to repeat regularly, similar to how the county commission reviews its' rules routinely.
Why its relevant: The public comment section of meetings will be reviewed later this month. It loomed large last year, as demonstrations at meetings arose periodically, and were an ongoing point of friction between council members and pro-Palestinian demonstrators who effectively used the council's rules to redirect the focus of meetings from agenda items to the Israel-Hamas War.
Council members grew exasperated by meetings that stretched for hours. Demonstrators pointed out that if the council refused to address their concerns about what could be done locally to influence the war, they would use the legal means available to them to make their points.
Setting up a debate: Council member Amelia Parker, who represents the whole city, was an advocate for expanded public forum during the demonstrations, while most other members were quiet or supported Kincannon's efforts to keep the meeting moving. Now, Parker is on the council committee that's set to examine how public comment works.
Happening this week: Parker is hosting an information session to talk about public forum rules from 6:30-8 p.m. May 27 via Zoom. Registration is required at the QR code on Parker's Facebook page.
A couple weeks ago, I mentioned an effort by Knox County Commissioner Andy Fox to add an extra layer to the county's applications for federal grants.
Fox's proposal: The county's grants department applies for state and federal help and then seeks the commission's approval before accepting the money. Fox wants commissioners to know before the department even sends in the application. Commissioners would be able to approve or deny the application, and they could also postpone it (potentially past the deadline).
Why it's back The commission voted to delay a vote on Fox's proposal, so now its on their agenda again for this month.
Important date: The commission will meet at 5 p.m. April May 19 in the main assembly room of the City-County Building at 400 Main St.
Here are some news highlights from last week:
Tyler Whetstone, Myron Thompson and Kelly Puente broke the news the the Tennessee Highway Patrol is now partnering with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement through the federal agency's most aggressive program
Keenan Thomas wrote about former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam's new role
Hayden Dunbar highlighted the history of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center on its 50th anniversary
Allison Kiehl explained the new "Junk Fees Rule"
I caught up with former supporters of Knox County Trustee Justin Biggs and politicos to talk about his spending
Allie Feinberg reports on politics for Knox News. Email her: allie.feinberg@knoxnews.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @alliefeinberg.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville City Council candidates keep violence interruption out front
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