NYT on Knoxville Politics
CMM February 4th, 2008
From Dan Barry at the New York Times– “Backroom Politics Is Brought to the People, and the People Step In”
Thanks to Jack Lail for sharing the story. Check out his comments here.
As anyone who spends anytime with me knows, I’m a political junkie. On the eve of Super Tuesday, it is nice to see an article that gives a little break from the machine of national politics. After over a year of embarrassing political and civic blunders on the county level, Knox County citizens have an opportunity to make a difference tomorrow. Culminating in the now deemed unconstitutional actions of January 31, 2007 (Black Wednesday), the county commissioners are forced to answer to their bosses– the people. We’ll see tomorrow what they decide, but the outcome is not nearly as important as the process.
For anyone wanting to lead a reform movement, here are some steps taken by the citizen leaders:
- Organize a public trust of respected community leaders outside of county parties and official office
- Utilize grass root efforts for educating the public on the process and events (Knox County One Question)
- Partner with a research institute to share resources (Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy)
- Embrace local media, including bloggers
- Stay focused on the cause and don’t let high profile involvement or political bullies distract from the goal
