government Where’s the board oversight? There is lots of talk about Gloria Ray. She made the Charlie Daniel cartoon as Gloria Pay over her $405,000 annual salary. Jack Neely lampooned her cleverly as Gloria in Excelsius. Jack McElroy called for more accountability.
Victor Ashe
It is hard to defend such an excessive salary. Several things stand out in this situation. Ray’s salary has stunned most area observers. No one imagined that it was more than $400,000 a year and has been for several years. Apparently her own board members did not know and never asked what she was paid. Their performance would not be part of a best practices seminar for nonprofit boards. Ray should know that her pay is subject to public scrutiny due to the 990 IRS forms which the Sports Corporation must file. Furthermore, most of its funding comes from public money which is the hotel/motel tax. She and the board should know that receiving such a high salary would embarrass the corporation she worked for when it became public. It has brought an unneeded spotlight on her and KTSC which has diminished their public standing. Her board, which includes many able and respected citizens, has been caught mostly unawares and they look ill informed when they say they did not know her salary. Board members of any for-profit or nonprofit group ought to know what their CEO’s salary is and annually vote on it. It is unclear if the
executive committee even voted on it. The board should take a remedial course on fiduciary responsibility and then practice it. It is also unclear how much time Ray spends in Knoxville. She does not take annual leave time to attend her second $90,000 a year job as a board member of Blue Cross when it meets in Chattanooga. ■ Next week the city will advertise to fill the Donna Young greenways coordinator position which will be renamed greenways and parks coordinator. Former City Council member Charlie Thomas may be an applicant. He has been a longtime greenways advocate and Rogero supporter. ■ Rogero spokesperson Jesse Mayshark also tells me that the tree replacement budget will be recommended to go from $40,000 a year to $80,000 assuming council approval in the next budget. While this is good news, much more will be needed to replace the trees on city property killed in the last major storm and replace those which annually die. A “green” city will want to stress trees in its city budget for medians, parks and greenways. The city tree budget over the past several years was inadequate to stay even with the normal tree death rate, let alone major wind and hail storms. ■ Chris Irwin filed his lawsuit against TVA on Jan. 23 in federal court. He is protesting TVA barring him from a public hearing because he wore red paint on his face. Irwin claims violation of his First Amendment rights and seeks $50,000 in damages. Amazing that TVA tries to enforce a dress code for its public hearings. No other public agency tries to do such.
A-4 • JANUARY 30, 2012 • WEST SIDE SHOPPER-NEWS
Salary debate shifts from ‘how much’ to ‘who leaked’ The money Gloria Ray makes has set tongues wagging and fingers pointing.
Betty Bean That’s because $405,000 a year is a lot of money. New York money, except in Knoxville. It comes from the hotel/ motel tax – 45 percent of Knox County’s take and 5 percent more than state law mandates they hand over for tourism promotion. It’s a handsome sum that goes to the Knoxville Tourism & Sports Corporation, of which Ray is founder and CEO. And it’s money that a bunch of other nonprofit organizations devoutly believe they could put to better use. They will have the opportunity to make their case during upcoming city/county budget cycles. But they better bring their A-game, because, as she demonstrated last week, they’ll be playing on Ray’s court. Has that home court advantage been neutralized by chumming up the water with a hot mess of rumors just before budget hearings begin?
R. Larry Smith
Gloria Ray takes her case to County Commission. Photo by S. Clark blame blowback launched by Ray’s defenders stands my Shopper-News colleague, former Mayor and Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe, who clashed with her back in the day when she chaired the board of his ancient bête noir, KUB. Ashe, however, says he had nothing to do with any of it: “Focus should be on the issues themselves and how little Board oversight there is at KTSC ... not on who started the pay issue which was not me by any stretch of the imagination. Since public
money (hotel/motel tax) is the major source of funding, it is valid for the public to be informed. When I learned of Ray’s $400K it had already been circulating for months. There has been a crescendo of comment which has been self-generated.” – Victor. So. Whoever is taking aim, the issue of whether Gloria Ray deserves the money she makes has nailed a big old bull’s-eye right in the middle of her back. And in case somebody misses the target, long knives are available.
Safety expert talks bullying
utes, local school district policy or the controversial proposals to amend the state’s anti-bullying laws. Tennessee has had its anti-bullying law on the books since 2005. The law does not define “bullying” and leaves it up to the local school districts to do so. Knox County Schools states: “Harassment, intimidation or bulGreg lying means any act that Householder substantially interferes with a student’s educational benefits, opportunities or perThe seminar, which in- formance,” and then goes on cluded separate activities to differentiate between acts for kids, was sponsored by that happen on school propthe Knoxville Tae Kwon Do erty and those that do not. Academy. There is a move to amend As Patire gave tips to par- the current state law by proRepublican officeholders Sherry Witt ents, kids played “Know and tecting freedom of speech if and R. Larry Smith tore into each other Go” and “See and Flee” in an- a student speaks out against something for religious realast week as Smith called representatives other part of the building. Patire, a resident of New sons. For example, if a student of County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS) to appear before County Commis- Jersey, discussed bullying spoke out against homosexusion to explain certification and bonuses. and pedophilia in general ality in a civil, nonthreatening Witt, the county’s register of deeds, said terms and stayed away from manner because of religious she was “embarrassed for Knox County.” any specific mention of Ten- beliefs, that speech would be Smith, she said, had “put out information nessee’s anti-bullying stat- protected and not considered that’s just not true.” Smith had said on television that the Magnet modifications of the Andrew Johnson Hamilton County trustee paid only a $200 Building. The regular bonus to each CTAS certified staffer. Witt on board agenda meeting will begin at 5 p.m. said she called the trustee who said he’d Wednesday, Feb. 1, in the Fresh off a two-day re“never heard of Larry Smith.” treat with the Knox County main assembly room of the Later, Smith said he had confused Ham- Commission, the school City County Building. ilton County (home of Chattanooga) with board will meet twice this Superintendent Dr. Jim Hamblen County (home of Morristown). week. The work session will McIntyre will recommend And Smith stood his ground, saying the begin at 5 p.m. Monday, three “budget neutral” $3,000 local bonuses are too high. changes to the KCS magnet Jan. 30, in the boardroom
“bullying” under the law. Patire said parents must be involved with their kids and listen to their children. If the situation involves the school (and it will almost always be school related) then the school must be involved. Kids are the most vulner-
able to bullying at ages 13-17, he said. Attacks against them on websites or through social media hurt most because at these ages kids care a lot about what others say about them. Patire advised that there are four distinct steps that parents must follow: 1) discuss the situation with the alleged bully’s parents (usually in the presence of school administrators); 2) failing that, inform the school administration that they have three days to resolve the issue; 3) failing that, involve the police; 4) and finally, if all else fails, bring a civil lawsuit. Patire also discussed ways to protect kids from pedophiles, providing demographic information about victims of pedophiles and pedophiles themselves. The evening wrapped up with a demonstration by the Knoxville Tae Kwon Do Academy demonstration team and some hands-on personal defense tips by Patire.
program. He may recommend additional changes when there is “greater clarity” for the 2013 budget and beyond. For now, McIntyre wants to open the communications academy at Fulton High School to all Knox County students, to add art
to the STEM Academy at Green Elementary and to study the effectiveness of all magnet programs. Both meetings will be broadcast live on Comcast Cable Channel 10, AT&T U-verse Channel 99 and streamed live at www. knoxschools.org/.
Personal protection specialist Tom Patire, billed as America’s leading personal safety expert, spoke to a group of parents about bullying and other child safety issues last Thursday at the Jubilee Banquet Facility in Powell.
Witt and Witless
Sherry Witt
Maybe. A $400K salary, even though about half of it comes from incentive bonuses earned by meeting prescribed goals, is bound to cause resentment. Especially when (and I’ll echo County Commissioner Amy Broyles here) it’s a woman making it. Checking out the comment sections on local media sites should remove any doubt about that proposition. Think back 15 years. What happened in the era of Tom Ingram, who became the CEO of something called the Knox Area Chamber Partnership (into which he unsuccessfully attempted to force Ray’s Sports Corporation)? Was there talk about his $200,000 a year base salary (plus perks we never figured out) to do stuff like warn us that downtown was doomed unless we agreed to foot the bill for a space-age planetarium funhouse guaranteed to catapult us into something called the 4th Dimension? (Seriously. He said that.) Was there grumbling about the $12,500 a month he collected for six months after he departed to explore opportunities elsewhere? Yes, but nothing like the feeding frenzy of Gloria gossip that is now out in the open. In the epicenter of the
Personal safety expert Tom Patire speaks to a group of parents about bullying and other child safety issues last Thursday in Powell. Photo by
Greg Householder
Photo by T. Edwards of TEPHOTOS.com
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