On Politics

Rising prices – After examining a parking study requested by Gatlinburg City Commissioner Jeff Collert, the commission approved raising the daily parking rate for the public lot at the Anna Porter Library from $3 to $5. The rates will change on August 7th. The monthly parking fees at the lot were not affected.

Gator ballots in a hurricane – Several Florida counties are among those being considered for an expansion of the 2000 on-line voting project. The project allows voters from the selected counties who are in the U.S. military over seas and a selected number of civilians to cast their votes over the Internet. Though the U.S. Navy does have large bases in the Sunshine state, which is a reason for its consideration, using the term election and Florida in the same sentence still leads many in both parties to wince.

Whatchamacallit – It’s a merger, but its not. The non-profit Council on Aging Board and Sevier County’s Senior Committee are still working on the details of joining, kind of. Boiled down, the two groups are trying to use the same membership to ease the decision making process for common programs. The details get in the way in that the board and committee can’t merge because one is a government committee and the other is a non-profit board. They will still remain as two distinctive groups even if composed of the same members, which isn’t unusual as they are already have the same director.
Rather than suffering more pains and aches than a corporate take over, it would appear to be easier for the County Commission to simply appoint the three members of Council on Aging not already on the Senior Committee to it.

Budget numbers – Sevier County passed its budget Monday night. Pigeon Forge completed theirs earlier in the summer. Sevierville is wrapped up, leaving Gatlinburg as the only local municipality still crunching numbers. Gatlinburg’s city charter allows a later time period for its budget process. City Commissioners will take up work on the new budget again at a workshop on Thursday, July 31. The first vote on the proposal is set for August 5, with an additional workshop on August 14, before the final vote. The final vote is tentatively scheduled for August 19. All remaining workshops and regular meetings are at Gatlinburg City Hall.