You never know what you might learn in watching a 30 minute Knox County Retirement and Pension Board meeting.

One thing is Knox County Sheriffs Lt. Gabe Mullinax must like meetings, he serves on the Retirement and Pension Board. I thought his service on the Merit System, Council and Knox County Sheriffs Department Kumbaya Meeting was his first and only committee meeting.

Second is that the defense of  that September 2019 Uniformed Officers Pension Plan lawsuit filed by a group of taxpayers and represented by Roane County Attorney Tom McFarland has exceeded the budgetary expense by $39,000. Originally budgeted $50,000 and now $39,000 over for an $89,000 obligation.

Of course, the courts are all meeting electronically, virtually. It was revealed at the Retirement and Pension Board that the courts asked about an electronic hearing and the Plaintiff’s Attorney McFarland informed the court he does not have capacity to do an electronic hearing.

So, here we are the citizens of Knox County having to spend tax dollars to defend a lawsuit by a group of citizens with no end and no hearing in sight.