Moore Takes Helm at Public Works

Hendersonville Mayor Scott Foster has named Chip Moore the interim director of the Public Works department following the recent termination of former director Jerry Horton.

Moore has more than 10 years of experience as the city's design engineer.

The move was prompted by an investigation that ultimately led to the firing of Horton.

More on the story from the Hendersonville Star News

New Rules for Public Comment at Board of Aldermen Meetings

Woodcock, Sprouse, Foster and former Mayor Ausbrooks ... a drama without end, apparently.

It's right here.

Forsythe Fired!

Settling a long and contentious discussion about Mayor Scott Foster's handling of a city contract for professional services with former Alderman and part-time Mayoral candidate Garry Forsythe, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen this week voted to terminate the city's contract with Forsythe.

Forsythe was hired by the Mayor without the knowledge of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and his contract, for nearly $50,000 a year, has been questioned ever since it came to light.  It's unclear why existing city staff can't complete the tasks Forsythe was assigned. 

Forsythe is now claiming he's not being treated properly by both Mayor Foster and his former colleagues on the BOMA. 

New Budget, No New Taxes

Hendersonville's Board of Mayor and Aldermen gave approval to the 2013-14 budget which includes raises for most city employees.  The budget does not require a tax increase.  The raise for the Mayor, originally slated for a 30% increase, was whittled down to 6% -- or roughly $4000 -- enough to boost the Mayor's pay to just over $90,000.  Foster will still make less than Gallatin Mayor Jo Ann Graves, who earns $111,000 a year.

Forsythe Under Fire

Former Alderman Garry Forsythe, who supposedly "ran" for Mayor in 2012 in what many suspect was an attempt to split votes and ensure a Scott Foster re-election, is now under fire for his $48,500 proposed city salary in the Mayor's "Central Administration Budget."

Forsythe joined the city last year and worked a full week before any Aldermen were formally informed of his being on payroll.  The arrangement corroborates a rumor going around during the election that Foster would offer Forsythe a job in exchange for Forsythe entering the Mayor's race. 

Forsythe never really campaigned, didn't put up too many signs, and raised little money in his campaign.  Still, his 8% of the vote may have been enough to keep Tommy Elsten from winning the Mayor's race. 

Now, Alderman Matt Stamper is challenging both Forsythe's arrangement with the City and Foster's proposed 30% pay increase for himself. 

The discussion in the full Board should be quite interesting. 

Foster, Others May See Big Raises

Mayor Scott Foster has proposed a 30% increase in his own salary and 5-30% increases in other city employee salaries for the 2013-14 budget.

While many believe the salary of $86,600 currently paid to Foster is too low, it's not clear if there is broad support to bring the pay up to $112,000 -- just $1000 more than Gallatin Mayor JoAnn Graves earns.

Foster says the raises are needed to keep the city competitive with other cities in Middle Tennessee.

The plan requires approval from the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

Library Controversy Gets a Committee

The controversy over who owns (and who wants to own) the Hendersonville Library now has a County Commission Committee.

The issue now seems to be that neither body actually wants the Library.  The County has not properly funded the library, and the City handles maintenance costs.  The City seems unwilling to fund much more than the $50,000 they now contribute.  And so, who will get the library?  It's worth noting that private and City funds paid for much of the construction of the library.  And the property has never been deeded to the County, so it would seem to be fairly easy for the County to just leave it to the City. 

Absent a tax increase at the City level, however, it seems unlikely that the City could operate the Library at its current paltry state of operating hours. 

Of course, the County could leave the situation as it is and continue to contribute funds to the Hendersonville Library in order to ensure that every city in the county has an operating Library.

Stay tuned as Library Battle 2013 heats up this summer.

Higher Taxes, More Coffee Coming to Hendersonville

In a sign that Hendersonville may be turning hipster, Mayor Scott Foster has announced that higher taxes will be discussed and that a third Starbucks is coming to town.  Hipsters don't admit to getting their coffee from Starbucks, of course, but absent an acceptable local alternative, Starbucks works for the ironically bearded bunch. 

In other news from the State of the City Address, it seems light rail or a bus system of some sort may be coming soon and the city should be getting some form of Dog Park. 

Fighting Over Books

It seems Hendersonville and Sumner County are in a fight of sorts over the Hendersonville Library.  Built with county, city, and private funds and maintained by the City, the library apparently (according to Jerry Stone) belongs to the county.  Perhaps he and Scott Foster can engage in an MMA match to determine the outcome?

Controversial Apartment Complex Off the Table ... For Now

The controversial rezoning of land behind Cracker Barrel on Indian Lake Boulevard to accommodate a 312-unit apartment complex has been removed from the Board of Mayor and Aldermen's consideration ... for now.

Former Mayor Charles Kimbrough is consulting with the North Carolina-based company and admitted he was unsure the votes were there to approve the new development.

Some advocates for schools also raised concerns about the number of new students who would be zoned to attend either Whitten Elementary or Nannie Berry Elementary -- two already over-crowded schools. 

Whether or when the rezoning will be back before the Aldermen is unclear.

Aldermen Meet Tonight

The much-discussed and now somewhat controversial plan for apartments behind Cracker Barrel on Indian Lake Boulevard is NOT on the agenda. 

So There's a Petition About Apartments

And not building them.  Or, at least not the apartments being proposed behind Cracker Barrel on Indian Lake Blvd.

Here's the text:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/preserve-hendersonville-2

Preserve Hendersonville

The Petition

We, the citizens of Hendersonville, petition the Board of Mayor & Aldermen to:

1. Deny the rezoning of the land parcel behind Cracker Barrel on Indian Lake Blvd. for the construction of multi-family housing.

2. Conduct a comprehensive traffic study of the Indian Lake Blvd. area between Main Street & SR 386, independent from the studies conducted by apartment developers.

3. Grow our city in a responsible & controlled manner without the negative impact of overdevelopment on our way of life, our schools, infrastructure or overall crime rate.

Hendersonville currently has no fewer than 22 existing or approved apartment complexes totaling 4,881 apartment units. There are currently 2 complexes under construction, but not yet complete: 1 is located behind the Glenbrook shopping center & the other is located behind the cinema at the Streets of Indian Lake. No one currently resides in these 2 complexes under construction. Our infrastructure, schools and way of life have not felt the impact of these 2 new complexes yet. However, the Board of Mayor & Aldermen is weighing the possibility of adding yet another apartment complex to the already overloaded Indian Lake Blvd.-changing our community forever.

 

The long-term impact of overdevelopment cannot be un-done. We urge the Board of Mayor & Aldermen to study the impact of multi-family housing & general overdevelopment by glancing toward the Antioch & Rivergate areas. The citizens of Hendersonville want to preserve our community, and the hometown atmosphere that makes Hendersonville a great place to live, work & play. 

Let your voice be heard by signing this petition, contacting the aldermen and by attending the Board of Mayor & Aldermen meeting next Tuesday, Feb. 26th at 7:30 pm @ City Hall.

Garry's Back!

Former Hendersonville Alderman Garry Forsythe is back at City Hall.  This time, as a special consultant to the Mayor.

Of course, Forsythe sort of ran for Mayor against Scott Foster back in 2012. His campaign was so tepid that many suspected he was running simply to muddy the waters and allow Foster to win re-election in the face of strong challenges from both Alderman Steve Brown and Alderman Tommy Elsten. 

Now, Forsythe will make up to $48,000 a year consulting at the Mayor's direction and reporting exclusively to the Mayor while having a City Hall office and City of Hendersonville email account. 

Aldermen expressed concern about the arrangement noting they didn't even know it had been arranged. 

Some speculated that Forsythe would receive a plum city position in exchange for his willingness to help the Mayor win an otherwise unwinnable campaign. 

Now, that speculation seems to have proven rather accurate. 

So, 2013 has not started well for Mayor Scott Foster.  He's taken heat for buying gifts and meals for his wife with taxpayer funds and now he's hired a friend for a taxpayer-funded position without telling anyone. 

Hendersonville's Hungry Mayor

So it seems Hendersonville Mayor Scott Foster is a hungry guy.  That, or he is being reimbursed from City funds for meals he purchased for his wife on a recent business/personal trip.

What's most telling about this story is the arrogance with which Foster responds to the questions.  Not only does Foster believe he is exempt from the policies that govern every other city employee, he also believes taxpayers won't mind too much if he's spending their money for personal purchases. 

Not once in the piece does he apologize or offer to re-think the policy or reimburse the City of Hendersonville. 

Instead, he responds incredulously to the idea that a reporter might actually obtain publicly available documents and use them to write a story. 

While the receipts don't necessarily indicate that Foster purchased food for two people (he is a bodybuilder, after all, and could be very hungry when he travels) -- he doesn't dispute the claim. 

Foster is right in one sense.  The story is talking about a relatively small sum of money in the grand scheme of the City's budget.  However, readers don't know (yet) if this is the norm for Foster - is he frequently spending City money to purchase meals/entertainment for his wife while she's with him on City business?

Can the Finance Director really not deny his claims? Why doesn't the reimbursement policy for every other City of Hendersonville employee apply to the Mayor - a full-time position funded exclusively with taxpayer dollars? 

Fortunately, Alderman Matt Stamper seems focused on getting to the bottom of this.  Possibly even changing the policy going forward. 

No word (yet) on Foster reimbursing the City for this trip, though.