I agree, Betty.

The story gives me too little context in terms of the prior education and work experiences these family members brought to their current positions. Neither does the story give me any information WRT the backgrounds of other applicants applying for the same jobs these family members ultimately landed. I can't determine, then, if these family members were or were not the best choices for hire.

In a point I made previously on another thread, teachers, in particular, undergo a great deal of job-specific education, training, and testing that may not be applied to any other occupation *except* positions in public schools(or in the relatively fewer private schools in Knox County). Also, it is a recent phenomonen that teachers are retained and/or promoted largely on the basis of their students' performance on standardized tests. In this particular occupation, then, arguments that some (many?)Knox County teachers are employed or remain employed only due to nepotism carry less credence.

I'm not entrenched in any position for or against the hire of people profiled in this story, but these considerations are relevant, I think.

(Some off-the-cuff observations, though: Lee Tramel would see his salary cut in half in the private sector, but Craig Leuthold and Sharon Cawood are underpaid!)

One thing that occurred to me is that surely the voters knew about many of these alleged conflicts. The ones who were appointed appear to have less ties than Commissioners who were elected. Craig Leuthold worked for the Trustee's office before he was elected. Everyone knew his father. John Whitehead was Property Assessor before Scott Moore was elected to Commission and before he married Lorie. Same for Dorothy Pinkston, Greg Pinkston and their jobs with the county. They had those before Paul was elected. My guess is the same is true for those married to teachers.

This report is nothing more than inuendo. There is no cite to any vote designed to benefit a relative. I guess with the approval of any budget, there's some benefit. But, this report tries to imply wrongdoing when there's no evidence of any such thing.

As Betty says, many people marry people with whom they share a common interest. Same with friends. Before being elected, many of our current Commissioners had relatives in elected office. They worked in campaigns. Is it any wonder they might want to run for something? Same can be said for many of those who were appointed.

I noticed the Shopper called "Lorie Tipton" Moore John Whitehead's step-daughter. Don't know if she is biologically related or not, but I went all through school with her and she went by Lorie Whitehead. I think the Tipton named was from a prior marriage. I've waited for years for the Sentinel to do indepth reporting,they seem to do it away from election time, like no mention of Tyler Harber during Ragsdale's campaign last year. I'm glad they are uncovering things but agree that they shouldn't paint all family members with the same brush, but I bet today's graphic helped sell some papers. Stacey

They all should not be painted with the same brush. I agree with that statement. No where did I read that she said she would write it different.

Knox Insider, You argument is silly. For some reason you are trying to pick on bbeanster.

some body writes he not above calling them names like Tabloid" News and the Tabloid writer and Juvenile.

And obviously too chicken to stand up to me in person.

Hey, 3 is my lucky number. At least for the last 8 years.

007, is this your handywork?