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Blount County Commission confirms multiple appointments; Travis Gardner chosen for Smoky Mountain Tourism seat
Summary
The commission confirmed mayoral and commission appointments including the medical examiner and Adriel McCord to the Telco Reservoir board; after two rounds Travis Gardner won the Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority seat.
The Blount County Commission confirmed a slate of mayoral and commission appointments at its Sept. 18 meeting, including the county medical examiner and multiple committee members. The commission also elected Travis Gardner to represent Blount County on the Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority after a two-round vote.
In the elections and confirmations segment, the clerk read multiple mayoral appointments and the commission voted on each. The commission confirmed Duranka Malusnick Polshan, M.D., Ph.D., as Blount County medical examiner by a roll-call vote that the clerk announced as 14 yes votes. The clerk also announced confirmations for other advisory boards and committees, including the animal center advisory board (Mike Aikard, Rick Carver, Jessica Hannah, Stacy Martin and Linda Webb) and the Telco Reservoir Development Agency board of directors appointment of Adriel D.J. McCord.
The commission appointed members to internal committees, including the Blount 250 anniversary coordinating committee (Commissioners John Giles, Jessica Hannah, Rick Carver and Misty Davis) and multiple standing committees such as education, human resources and technology. Several confirmations passed with unanimous roll-call votes; some had abstentions where commissioners recused themselves for cause.
For the Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority vacancy, the commission first voted among three candidates. In the first round the clerk reported 10 votes for Travis Gardner and 4 for Steven Duker, leaving Gardner as the leader but below the commission's threshold; the rules required the lowest candidate to drop off and the commission took a second, runoff vote on Gardner. The runoff produced 14 votes for Gardner, and the clerk declared him elected.
During public input on agenda items, resident Roy "Hoot" Shields said he wished to volunteer for the Blount 250 committee and a revised public service committee; Commission staff said questions were not taken at that time.
The confirmations and appointments will populate the commission's committees and outside-board representatives through the end of the current terms noted at the meeting.
