Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs' Weekly Update
Вставка
- Опубліковано 17 жов 2024
- Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs tells us about the week that was for June 1, 2020 - June 5, 2020.
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs' Weekly Update.
TRANSCRIPT:
It’s Friday. Time for another weekly update.
Let’s start with some much needed good news. Read City USA has surpassed 402,000 hours on our journey to accumulate 500,000 and read around the world 20 time in 2020. That’s already 80 percent of the way to our goal with nearly half the year left, but it’s no time to take our foot off the gas. Please help us by going to ReadCityUSA.com, download the Bean Stack Tracker app on your smartphone, and log your reading hours. Every minute helps so start today!
This Monday I released the proposed fiscal year 20-21 Knox County government budget. It’s not pretty at all. Just like virtually every other organization, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a tremendous shock to County finances, and we expect that to continue for the foreseeable future.
This budget is a working document. We expect to be back before County Commission to adjust and amend it as needed. Our goal with this budget is to ensure we are providing the services that Knox Countians need, along with some of the amenities we are used to, without raising property taxes.
Speaking of COVID-19, we all need to remember that the pandemic has not ended and we still need to follow the Health Department’s guidelines to minimize its impact. We have recently seen an uptick in the number of cases, but thankfully our hospitalizations and deaths have remained low and steady. I believe a lot of this is due to the work of our Health Department, our health care system, and our long-term care facilities all of whom have done a tremendous job protecting our vulnerable populations. Big thanks to all of them for averting what has proved disastrous in other areas around the country.
Finally, I’d like to offer my thoughts on the horrific death of George Floyd and the riots that are engulfing our nation.
First of all, no one should ever needlessly die at the hands of the police.
No one.
Yes, there are some bad people who happen to be police officers, but from my personal experience, I find police officers overwhelming to be good people who care very deeply about their community and want it to be a great, safe place to live. I have long believed that we need meaningful sensible reforms to the criminal justice system that will protect both our citizens and our police.
For instance, I’m proud that our Knox County Sheriff’s Office mandates their patrol officers wear body cameras. This protects the public by providing more transparency enhancing accountability for our officers, but it also protects our officers by recording evidence against unfounded accusations of wrongdoing.
As someone who believes that the US Constitution is the supreme law of the land. I strongly believe that individuals have the right to protest and petition the government to redress their grievances. I also believe that government needs to listen and take action to rectify injustice, and I also believe that one of the primary functions of government is the protection of property. So I strongly condemn rioting and looting, but here’s the interesting thing.
The people who are exercising their constitutionally protected right to protest are not the same people who are committing crimes. As government, we must both protect peoples’ first amendment rights as well as protect the lives, property, and liberty of everyone in our community.
As a nation, we must have the difficult conversations about race and other factors which divide us. It’s time to stop repeating this cycle. A tragedy happens. There is outrage. Things settle down and we forget about it without reaching any kind of resolution, or even making any progress, and we become even more divided, frustrated, and angry, and, finally, there is an explosion.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
When we see each other as human beings first, when we see that we all really want the same things, we realize that we share more in common than we do differences. Throughout my athletic career and then in my WWE career, I met and became friends with individuals from diverse backgrounds from all over the world. I didn’t care what they looked like, what their culture was, or anything else. I cared that they had my back, and they cared that I had theirs. We shared something in common and that brought us together.
As a society, that’s where we need to start.
How about we listen instead of yell?
Why don’t we talk instead of argue?
Why can’t we remember that we’re all human beings first and foremost?
This week, Vol Nation lost one of its greats. Johnny Majors was an outstanding football player at UT and then won 3 SEC championships as the Vols head coach. You will be missed.
Until next Friday, I hope everyone has a great week.
Hey Glen, so well said. I congratulate you. I come from the other side of politics in Australia (a greedy / socialist/ libertarian ish) but its great to be able to freely discuss these matters rationally. Well done
READING MORE AND MORE ABOUT MAYOR KANE!
Glenn Jacobs should be president of USA
Man Knox County is so lucky at least their mayor is actually staying up-to-date with its citizens. My mayor hasn't spoken to anyone in 3 in the last few times he has he's just done covers of Elvis Presley songs. We need more Glenn Jacobs and less Brandon Whipple's.
Bravo.
Vedo che non sono l'unico italiano a seguirlo ahahah
Siamo tanti
Nice to see you continuing on beyond wrestling. There needs to be more guys like yourself going out on a high note to pursue public service as opposed to Flair, Hogan, etc destroying their careers with comebacks and terrible promos.
Hola kane buenas tardes
Man ... This guy should be in W.H Im tellin you.
He absolutely could. While being born in Spain, his parents were American citizens. Glenn has a way of speaking that really puts you at ease. It could really serve him well in higher office. Ironic, given how scary he sounded as Kane.
2
Kane president