Tomorrow, September 21, 2026, at 3 p.m., the Knox County Commission’s Optional Agenda Review Meeting may be a MUST-SEE live stream. It is the Preview Meeting before the September 21 Zoning Meeting and the September 28 all other business Voting Meeting.
First, the issue of a contract involving Commissioner Shane Jackson’s employer will be removed from the Consent Agenda at Jackson’s request. He will abstain, or recuse himself, from the vote.
HERE is my Friday, September 18, story, and HERE is my Sunday, September 20, follow-up story.
If I were the daily paper, I would probably boast that this was my “Exclusive Exposure” of the issue.
But I am not in a dark alley like that.
Over-Ride or No?
Then we have Commission Chair Terry Hill trying to prove who has the bigger—oh, wait, they’re females. I digress.
Commission Chair Hill wants to override Mayor Betsy Henderson’s veto of the workforce/affordable housing project off John Sevier Highway.
The proposal passed with the old Commission on August 31, 2026. Mayor Henderson took office, along with the new Commissioners, the next day, September 1.
Mayor Glenn Jacobs did not sign the action into the record before midnight on August 31. So, when Mayor Henderson walked in, the measure was sitting on the desk.
She said, “NOPE. NOT GONNA DO IT!”
In order to override the veto, Commissioner Hill needs seven votes—not six.
I guess because the measure passed 7-4 on August 31, she thought, Oh, this will be easy.
Here is who voted YES on August 31:
- Courtney Durrett (D)
- Damon Rawls (D)
- Shane Jackson (D)
- Terry Hill (R)
- Kim Frazier (R)
- Larsen Jay (R)
- Gina Oster (R, then-Chair)
Here is who voted NO:
- Andy Fox (R, representing the South Knox district where the project was proposed)
- Angela Russell (R)
- Adam Thompson (R)
- Rhonda Lee (R)
But September 28 is a different Commission.
When Commissioner Hill has her colleagues vote on the veto override, she no longer has Frazier, Jay or Oster.
And Fox no longer has Lee.
Hill may have Commissioner Brandon Huckaby (D).
I wouldn’t be so quick on that one.
Call Me! (I digress to the 1980’s, my bad, SORRY)
Huckaby and Mayor Henderson have joined together on a solution involving the Commission’s 6% pay raise, which was passed in June.
So, Huckaby obviously has the Mayor’s phone number.
That brings us to something I posted HERE on Friday also: Commissioner Hill and Knox County School Board Chair Katherine Bike said they do not have Mayor Henderson’s phone number and have not heard from her.
Odd.
Bike worked with Henderson for four years on the School Board. Henderson also replaced Hill on the School Board.
And, as I pointed out in Friday’s post, Henderson’s phone number has not changed since 2001.
Even if it had—and it hasn’t—we all know the Knox County Mayor’s Office number is 865-215-2005.
I would venture to think that when Hill and her colleagues discuss the veto override tomorrow during the Optional Agenda Review, Chair Hill may see the obvious and pull the item from the September 28 agenda.
Lastly, This Jewel
Lastly, I didn’t know until WBIR Channel 10’s “Inside Tennessee” aired that Chair Hill had THIS 12-second jewel.
Although, on Friday, WBIR touted in its news story that Hill and Bike had not received a call—which was the reason for my Friday story.
So, let’s go back four years.
When Hill was elected Vice Chair of the Knox County Commission after the Commission elected Courtney Durrett (D) as Chair, there was plenty of discussion about that cross-party collaboration.
Hill told Compass Knox in the story “In Surprise Move, Commission Names Durrett Chair” on September 2, 2022:
“Even as Commission chair, there is only one vote assigned to that person,” Hill said. “They (chair) carry no more sway than any other commissioner.”
Four years later, it may be worth watching exactly how much sway the chair has—or doesn’t have—when these votes come up.
I might add that maybe Mayor Henderson has already worked the other 10 Commissioner’s and Hill may be the one that it really doesn’t matter how Hill votes.
Now that we have had this little nasty episode with Hill and Bike playing Mean Girls, can we just get to a better Knox County. It looks in my opinion that only Mayor Henderson has been doing that for 20 days.
