How the County Commission is Handling Our Money –

The Smoky Mountain Racetrack Deal

• Today we are hearing a great deal about the County’s money problems
• But back in December, when Commission wanted to spend $785,000 to buy the Smoky Mountain auto racetrack from Dennis Garner’s, Garners Amusements Inc., we did not hear much about money problems.
• Without the issue even being listed on the meeting agenda, the purchase was first proposed at the December 15 meeting of the Commission. Only a few Commissioners, led by Commissioner Cardin, expressed concern about the price that Finance Director David Bennett negotiated on behalf of the Commission. Bob Kidd made a motion to buy the track, subject to environmental conditions, among others. Only Commissioners Arwood, Cardin, Dowdy, Graham, and Townsend voted against the proposal.
• At the January 19 Commission meeting, again without listing it on the meeting agenda, the Commission held its final discussion on the purchase of the racetrack. Commissioners approved the $785,000 price. But, they went further. At the urging of Commissioner Brock, they decided not to do soil and water sampling to check for environmental problems, from the gas and oil that were used at the site. They even rejected a motion by Commissioner Walker to require the seller to hold the County harmless if environmental problems are found at the site!
• The site was used as a auto racetrack for more than 40 years, with quantities of gasoline, oil, and cleaning solvents present. The County proposes to use the site as a Fairgrounds where young children will inevitably be in attendance. No reputable organization would purchase such a site without thorough environmental testing.
• In the end, only Commissioners Arwood, Cardin, Dowdy, McCall and Townsend voted against the purchase.
• One of the many problems with this deal was the price the County paid. The new, total full value assessment on the Smoky Mountain racetrack property is $354,000. The Commissioners paid Dennis Garner $785,000. Why?
• The Commissioners could try to argue that the assessor’s value is wrong. But a look at the sale history of the property seems to say the Assessor is right. The property changed hands four times between 1996 and 2003 when Dennis Garner bought it. Over that time the value of the property decreased from $350,000 to the $321,000 that Dennis Garner paid.
• The Commissioners paid a very high price, $785,000, for the property. Why did they take the additional steps of killing the environmental study of the site, and not holding Dennis Garner responsible for any pollution problems on the property. Now all us taxpayers will have to pay for any cleanup. Why did the Commission do this?
• Why did the Commissioners pay $785,000 for a property that has a new assessment of just $354,000? Nearly everyone would be happy to sell the County their property for the 2.2 times the new assessment, that the County paid Dennis Garner.
• The Commissioners have taken $431,000 of our money and given it to Dennis Garner, apparently for nothing.
• The County Commissioners made David Bennett, our County Finance Director (he is also Chairman of the local Republican Party) responsible for negotiating the racetrack deal. We called Bennett to get his explanation for the very high price we paid. He did not return our calls.
• POSTSCRIPT: Every Republican Commissioner who voted against the racetrack deal and ran again, found themselves with a party backed opposition candidate, even though they were incumbents. And they were all beat in the primaries. Clearly there is retribution if you vote against the wishes of the Party establishment.