For my project topic choice I deliberately stayed away from issues on which I already had a strong opinion or some degree of knowledge. I thought it would be a good idea to throw myself into an issue I am completely unfamiliar with, to step outside my box and look at something new from the environment around me. I am beginning to ask myself what in the world was I thinking! People stay in comfort zones for a reason; it is easy, comfortable and for someone juggling an ungodly schedule one could justify that it is more efficient. The truth is, I firmly believe we should take every opportunity presented to us to find a way to think differently. So, here I am admitting to everyone that I have next to zero knowledge about the inner workings of the city I live in. I am embarrassed to say that I could not tell you anything about how Knoxville is run, what policies are in dispute, what our greatest economic and socioeconomic challenges are. This semester, however, I am about to become more familiar than I may be excited about with all things Knoxville government. I will be analyzing the pros and cons for merging Knox County and The City of Knoxville administrations. I know so little I do not have an opinion one way or another.
I have spent the past several days reading analysis of cities that have gone through mergers similar to the one proposed for Knoxville. What an incredible number of components of administration to take under consideration! My preliminary impression is that Knoxville should maintain the separate structures. By and large the research does not support the arguments often presented in favor of the consolidation. Costs of administering the city actually increase instead of decrease, bureaucratic entanglement increases and the level of services actually decreases just to name a few.
As I move forward I will take the major issues and challenges other cities have faced and compare them with the issues that are concerns for Knoxville. I am excited about the project and hope to view my city with a new set of eyes and commitment as a resident.
I thyink it would be great to merge the two school boards together. It will help cut the cost to the city as far as paying for two school boards to operate. Here in Memphis we are having the same problem because the City Schools budget is lacking funds the Mayor wants to have just one boatd to run but the city and the county schools. This to me should work better for the tax payers and the students. The children could get a bettr education when there is not so much of a hassle sabout the schools having to take out some activites because they can't afford them due to lack of funds. You should push for consolidations od the school boards.
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