The World According to Oatney

Cawood resigns...sort of

If there is nothing right about the infamy described here in past entries that occurred in Knox County, Tennessee on January 31 (and I believe that to be the case) I think Knox County Commissioner Sharon Cawood has to be applauded for at least deciding to resolve the long-standing conflict of interest of working for the Knox County Juvenile Court Clerk's office while also serving on the County Commission.

“I am resigning as I wish to enlarge upon that commitment and end any controversy arising from recent events,” Cawood wrote.

Cawood's resignation will not end the controversy, largely because her appointment stems from having been appointed by her husband Mark, who she replaced on the County Commission. However, the larger controversy seems to be that Mrs. Cawood worked in the County Juvenile Court while serving on County Commission-which has authority over the county budget which could decide her pay. The entire Cawood saga seems to be one not only of nepotism, but of political stupidity. In a participatory system, the Cawoods apparently believed the voting public would overlook these conflicts of interest because so few people seem to care about local government, let alone understand its importance.

I suspect that enough of the citizens of the 6th Commission District of Knox County have let Mrs. Cawood know that they do care about local government, they are aware of the conflicts of interest which surround her appointment to the Knox County Commission, and they will be voting in next year's General Election. Mrs. Cawood is obviously hoping that the political axiom that the electorate have short memories proves to be true in her case yet again.

Labels: Local politics

posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 7:10 PM