By Ken Lay
Candidates seeking to become Knox County’s next mayor appeared at a forum at a local hotel early last week in West Knoxville.
The three Republican candidates, including current Knox County Commissioners Larsen Jay and Kim Frazier and Knox County Board of Education member Betsy Henderson, and Democrat Beau Hawk, a labor leader, attended a forum to discuss the issues concerning voters.
The four candidates are seeking to succeed Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, who has served nearly eight years in office and is term-limited. The candidates convened at a forum hosted by the Greater Knoxville Hospitality Association at Embassy Suites Knoxville West on Monday, March 30.
Jay and Frazier are at-large commissioners, while Henderson is the chair of the Knox County Board. Hawk is the president of the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Labor Council.
Jay said that his professional experiences in both the private and public sectors position him to effectively serve as Knox County’s next mayor.
“When you’re the mayor, you’re the CEO for the people of Knox County,” Jay said. “I’ve served eight years on the county commission and I’ve owned a business and I feel like I have the experience and qualifications to be the next mayor of Knox County.”
“I want to serve the hard-working people of this county, who have reached out to me,” Frazier said. “I own a small business.”
All candidates vowed to keep taxes low and work to raise wages to keep up with the cost of living.
Henderson revisited her work with the school board.
“I began on the school board in 2020, and I fought to keep our students in the classroom and out of masks during COVID, “she said. “My parents were small business owners and my dad immigrated here from Greece.
“He came here by himself and went through Ellis Island for a better life. I will keep taxes low.”
Hawk also pledged to keep taxes low.
“I’m not running on a tax increase because people are struggling enough,” he said. “The working family, I don’t want them to shoulder that growth.
“Wages have not been keeping up with the price of housing,” he said.
All of the candidates addressed the rise of the cost of living in Knox County and since the event was hosted by the hospitality industry, the candidates addressed the concerns of hospitality workers.
Jay addressed the hotels and Airbnbs and the struggles they face as they are taxed differently.
“You have to have a level playing field if competition is the goal,” he said. “You in the hospitality industry are the reason that we’re growing.
“We have to make sure that we’re doing what we can to keep our workers here in Knox County.”
Frazier professed a love for Knox County, but said that the county must address its infrastructure, including its roads.
“I promise to work on our infrastructure and improve our roads,” she said. “I love Knox County.
“We’re growing and we didn’t get here in a day. We will continue to work on infrastructure.”
