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Blount County commission declines to change regular meeting schedule after lengthy debate
Summary
A proposed resolution to move the Blount County Commission's standard meeting days to Thursdays failed after an amendment and the main motion were both rejected following extended discussion about public convenience, overlap with municipal meetings and clerks' timelines.
A resolution to amend the Blount County Commission meeting schedule failed after commissioners voted down a proposed amendment and the main motion during the April workshop session.
Supporters of keeping meetings on Thursdays, including Commissioner Anderson and members of the rules committee, said standardizing meetings on Thursdays would simplify public calendars and allow more time for county budget items that follow local school board actions. Opponents, including Commissioner Acker, argued the county should revert "to the schedule that we had prior to it being changed last month," saying long-standing patterns and municipal meeting conflicts made the current proposal disruptive.
The amendment offered by Commissioner Acker to restore the previous schedule was defeated 3-14. The main motion then failed 1-16, and Resolution 254020 will not move forward to the full commission.
Commissioner Anderson, who described the rules committee's reasoning, said moving all meetings to Thursdays would make public notice simpler and give the commission more time to process items sent after local school board meetings. "The reason to move it to all Thursdays . . . is the school board meeting is the first Thursday of the month," Anderson said, arguing the change would provide additional time before scheduled commission meetings.
Commissioner Acker, who proposed the amendment to return to the prior schedule, said the previous pattern had worked for many years and better accommodated residents and town meetings. "I would like to make the motion that we return to where we that we amend this resolution that's in front of you to simply return to the schedule that we had prior to it being changed last month," Acker said.
Other commissioners cited family and work scheduling conflicts, and overlapping municipal meetings in Maryville, Alcoa and Townsend, as reasons either to keep the new schedule or to revert to the earlier one. Several commissioners urged trying the new schedule for a limited period; Commissioner Bowers suggested testing it for three months and reverting if it proved impractical.
With both the amendment and main motion defeated, the commission left the meeting schedule unchanged for now. The rules committee's recommendation to standardize on Thursdays will remain opposed by a majority of commissioners based on the workshop votes.
