By Clayta Richards / crichards@crossville-chronicle.com
Although it was a virtually unannounced visit, around 60 Fairfield Glade residents gathered at Legends to enjoy an early morning breakfast with Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam. Cumberland County Mayor Brock Hill accompanied the mayor, who is one of four already-announced Republican candidates for governor of Tennessee in the August 2010 election.
Haslam, mayor of Knoxville since 2003, said deciding to run for that job is the best decision he ever made. His family owns Pilot Gas Company, and he has been at its helm the last 25 years. In considering a run for governor, the mayor stated the next governor must be a great financial manager, especially since the state budget is projected to see a billion-plus shortfall. He disagrees with the current spending of one-time money to cover recurring state budget costs, as the current administration is doing with federal stimulus money and state savings. Looking to his record, he noted that since becoming mayor, he has lowered Knoxville's debt by 25 percent and succeeded in achieving significant savings for the city.
The candidate believes the answer to Tennessee's funding shortfall is not a state income tax, but the introduction of more jobs into the economy. With unemployment at 10 percent in many counties and even higher in some, Haslam would seek more jobs for the state's under-employed workforce in order to produce adequate revenue. Backing that up, he feels he has a proven record of bringing jobs into Knoxville.
Haslam is a supporter of Tennessee students' TCAP scores being graded by national standards, not by the state's own scorecard. "In K-12 education, we're 42nd. Worldwide, Tennessee ranks with former Soviet states," said Haslam. He pointed out that the current scorecard system shows Tennessee students to be 80 percent proficient, while next year, when they are graded on the national standards, Tennessee students will only be shown as 25 percent proficient.
Alex Ebneth suggested sending educators to high-ranking foreign countries to study their methods of education. Haslam agreed this is one approach that could be taken. He also spoke about higher standards for hiring and tenuring teachers, saying it has been shown teachers graduating in the top 20 percent of their class produce better educated students. He further suggested pushing tenure back to three years rather than the current two.
He feels local principals need to have more authority in their schools and wants to set up "principal leadership academies" across the state. He supports principals developing a team approach and meeting accountability standards.
Moving on to health care, the mayor agreed additional measures need to be taken to reduce the drain TennCare has on the state's budget. When Phil Bredesen took office, it was taking fully one-third of the state's budget. Now it's around 25-26 percent of the budget, after Bredesen removed about 10 percent of TennCare enrollees.
The mayor was questioned regarding the illegal immigrant problem Tennesee has experienced. He indicated it would be a matter to be handled with the authorities and the employers of those illegals. From the audience, a man who identified himself as an "employer," said he can't investigate a person until he hires him, but if Homeland Security comes in and finds that illegal he has just hired, they will punish the employer. The man said he feels the states need to "stand up" to the feds on this matter. Haslam agreed states need more control, and thanked the man for his comments, saying, "you have taught me something."
In closing, Mayor Haslam summed up the tone of his campaign with one sentence, "Be sure you have a set of principles you're committed to."
A fundraiser is planned in the Glade in July for Haslam's campaign, when he is likely to add to his declaration that Peavine Road will be "fixed."
