Nero played the violin while his corrupt Rome burned. Who is fiddling in Knoxville?
This morning, Kathy (that would be my wife for those who don't know) informed me of a HUGE fire in Downtown Knoxville. She thought they said the McClung Building. Well, I told her that I knew of the McClung Tower on campus and the McClung Warehouses near the Old City. It was the warehouses......as readers in the greater Knoxville area know. (By the way, I am starting this blog while Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" is playing.)
I read the stories available via the internet. I know these buildings. Remember folks, I was your friendly radio traffic guy in Knoxville for over four years, only three and half in the mornings....but still. I also know that there have been several moves in the last few years to do SOMETHING with these warehouses. One of the big concerns last year came in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's Kelo decision. It was thought that the city or county government would condemn and take possession of these buildings.
And there are groups like Knox Heritage who wanted the owner, Mark Saroff, to do something to improve these buildings. Others liked the idea of loft apartments there.
Now, something has been done. Accident? Arson? Homeless keeping warm? Whatever has happened, these hundred year old buildings are mostly gone, and may be completely gone shortly.
However, I smell a rat. And I will not point fingers, because there are many theories that are possible. Besides, I do not currently own a tin-foil hat. There is not an ALCOA Haberdashery location in Jefferson City, Missouri. That said, something here stinks and it is simply not the embers smoldering near the Old City.
You see, like many Knoxville residents, and yes I am STILL a legal resident of Knoxville (I just don't live nor work there), I have little faith in the local officials. My faith was shaken by the actions of nineteen unscrupulous individuals that we call the Knox County Commission. Actually, it is more than nineteen because it is the nineteen and all of their power hungry friends and relatives who got the replacement seats and did the work without the viewing eyes of the media. Lets see, a former commissioner AND father of a current commissioner, a wife and oh, this is my favorite, a former drug dealing son as new members of county commission. WOW!!! A county commissioner who has served since 1970...the year I was born...is now county clerk. I guess it is better than adding another name to the rolls of the unemployed, isn't it?
The aftermath is this. The City of Chicago has passed a proclamation where they have passed the torch to Knox County. In fact, I believe they said in Chicago, "Knox County, Tennessee, makes us look like a bunch of damned amateurs!!" Late Mayor Richard J. Daley has been seen out of his grave and walking the streets on the South Side once again. Boss Tweed and the Tammany Hall crowd are wondering if their place in history is going to be wiped out. Boss Tom Pendergast of Kansas City never had this kind of control......and he got the wheels turning on the political career of Harry Truman!!!
And you wonder why I am curious about this fire. As I titled this entry, Nero played the violin while his corrupt Rome burned. Tell me, because I really want to know, who is fiddling in Knoxville?
