Hamblen County moved to authorize the process for purchasing property at 508 West 2nd North Street (identified as 'Mister Anderson's office') during its Nov. 20 meeting, but several commissioners questioned the procurement steps and the use of an outside real estate agent.

Commissioner Green said a prior contract with a real estate agent in 2022 did not come to the county commission for approval and asked why the county would pay a commission rather than negotiate directly with the Andersons. She asked whether the reported agent commission — read in the meeting as "5 to 7%" — might be illegal in some contexts.

The county mayor responded that he used a one-year contract with an outside real estate agent to avoid perception-of-bias and to follow a process used previously by the county. He said there was no expenditure until the commission votes to approve a purchase and that the contract's purpose was solely to negotiate on the county's behalf.

Public commenter Louis Chen earlier raised related concerns during the public-comment period, saying a clause requiring a $1,000,000 liability insurance policy and certain contract language appeared to exclude many qualified local firms and could be one-sided in favor of the mayor's office.

The commission debated vote thresholds and whether a simple majority or two-thirds support applied to the action; after clarifying the process, commissioners voted and the motion was recorded as passing.

Provenance: topicintro SEG 450, topfinish SEG 1035

Speakers quoted or cited in this article appear in the meeting record and are listed in the article speaker list.