Slam dunk
Today's verdict in Jack McElroy's lawsuit against Knox County Commission was a slam dunk for the plaintiffs and for the people of Knox County.
As a citizen of Knox County, I'm thrilled with that outcome. Of course, the judge's remedy won't come down for several more days, so plenty of opportunities for disappointment remain.
Here's the remedy I'd personally like to see:
1) The immediate removal of all twelve appointees from their offices.
2) An open, public process for accepting nominees to fill the vacant seats; commissioners should be prohibited from nominating anyone and should only be allowed to vote on a slate of candidates brought forward by the people of Knox County. This do-over of Black Wednesday could only be carried out by the eleven remaining commissioners after the eight appointed commissioners are kicked out of the room.
3) The disqualification of all twelve Black Wednesday appointees from being re-appointed to any of those open seats.
4) A permanent injunction against County Commission prohibiting further violations of the Sunshine Law, with an automatic penalty of a large fine and jail time for future violations.
5) An amendment to the Knox County Charter enabling the people to force a recall referendum at any time for any elected official, subject to enough petition signatures being gathered.
The judge could order the first four, and he could strongly recommend the last one, if he were so inclined.
I'm under no delusion that the factions pulling the strings on County Commission have been dismantled or even grievously wounded by this verdict; this is only a temporary setback for those éminence grises. It will take constant vigilance by the people and the press to keep them from polluting future processes; at the very least, I sincerely hope this trial has awakened the sleeping citizens to the dirty tricks routinely carried out in their names.