Make Knox County Safe and Affordable
Primary Early Voting February 14th - February 27th, Election Day March 5th, 2024
General Election Early Voting July 12th - July 27th, Election Day August 1st, 2024
Make Knox County Safe
Ensuring a reasonable sense of safety to its citizens is the primary responsibility of a government. With almost no common sense gun safety laws, dozens of unfilled positions in the Knox County Sherriff’s Office, neglect of public infrastructure (in particular sidewalks for children to safely access schools), and traffic systems that make just turning out of your neighborhood a risky endeavor, Knox County has a lot of catching up to do to give its citizens the confidence they deserve. On Commission, Keith will be advocating for:
Working with the state legislature to pass gun safety laws and to reduce the restrictions of T.C.A. § 39-17-1314 so that the Knox County Commission can pass meaningful gun safety legislation on its own.
Despite a wide-gap in their political postures, Keith worked with the Knox County Sheriff in 2023 to obtain substantial pay raises for Knox County deputies and officers, instead of paying millions out in inflated overtime rates.
Developers to obligate themselves to provide for pedestrian infrastructure (sidewalks, greenways, etc.), not just in front of their property, but from the property to its zoned elementary school.
Developers to obligate themselves to provide for traffic infrastructure like turn lanes and stoplights that their development is likely to necessitate after completion.
Working with the City of Knoxville to combine resources so the needs of the citizens can be addressed faster and more robustly.
Make Knox County Affordable
It’s a privilege to develop land in Knox County and your Commissioner should be acting (and voting) accordingly. Knox County needs more affordable housing and Commission should incentivize that, but all development should avoid having negative impacts on the people that already call Knox County home. New development needs to include infrastructure investment to compensate for community impacts (increased traffic, pedestrian access, utility usage, flooding potential, etc.), otherwise that development isn’t here to build up our community, it’s to maximize developer profits. On Commission, Keith will be advocating for:
Prioritizing tax incentives (TIFs, PILOTs) to community-based, affordable housing and making affordable housing accessible to more developers in more neighborhoods by ensuring new development complements existing neighborhood residents and increases community resources.
Forcing developers to mitigate negative impacts to the communities they develop in while the project is on-going and after the project is complete, in particular how a new development might influence flooding on neighboring and “downhill” properties.
Community based planning by developers (instead of profit based planning), meaning that development proposals must be accompanied by how target residents will connect to basic services like schools, jobs, grocery stores, and entertainment.
Increased participation and commitments from state legislators and the governor for state road improvements that have become choke points in the everyday lives of Knox County citizens (ex: Northshore Drive and Kingston Pike).
Childcare subsidies for parents of young children and universal pre-K inclusion into the Knox County School system starting with the Bright Steps initiative.
Substantial pay raises for Knox County employees, in particular our Knox County Schools employees because a key facet of a successful government is ensuring that the people we depend on can afford to live as our neighbors.