Knox County Public Forum: Politics vs Science

KNOXVILLE, TN (Aug. 3, 2020) — At 5 p.m. Wednesday, the Knox County Board of Health will convene as usual via Zoom for its weekly meeting.

Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs has proposed that the Board observe 30 minutes of public forum at the start of the meeting. Each speaker will have up to three minutes to address the Board.

“When this began, the Board of Health acted as an advisory council, but now these doctors are drafting and approving public policy,” said Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs. “No public institution I’ve ever seen can make these types of sweeping regulations without public input. Transparency is the greatest tool we have in government, and this situation is no different.”

To register for public forum, Knox County residents must call the Mayor’s Office at 865-215-2005 to speak to Marsha between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. tomorrow, Aug. 4. Due to time constraints, roughly ten people will be able to participate in the public forum, with a few others queued just in case some don’t use all their allotted speaking time.

Medical professionals serving the Board of Health have declined to publicly attend the meeting at the City/County Building’s Main Assembly Room in person. So Mayor Jacobs plans to patch into the Zoom meeting from the City-County building where he will be conducting the public forum.

To register for public forum, Knox County residents must call the Mayor’s Office at 865-215-2005 to speak to Marsha between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, Aug. 4. Due to time constraints, roughly ten people will be able to participate in the public forum, with a few others queued just in case some don’t use all their allotted speaking time. Call as close to 8:30 am as possible to be included among intended speakers.

Those speaking at public forum will be required to be present at the City/County Building at 400 Main Street to work with on-site staff to join the meeting, which automatically excludes or puts at-risk speakers who prefer to exercise Knox County/CDC safety and social distancing guidelines at risk.