Haslam visits Old North

	Bill Haslam addresses the attendees of Old North Knoxville Inc.'s May meeting.

Before the May 29th neighborhood meeting mayoral candidate Bill Haslam spoke to residents of Old North Knoxville. He said he decided to run because he believes Knoxville is poised to head in a new direction. He pointed to Knox County recently electing a new county mayor, and to Knoxville soon electing a new mayor and new city council members. He also said that there is "a new sense in Knoxville that we have assets here that are positive things." He cited UT and the technological developments in Oak Ridge as two examples. 

When asked about the J. Allen Smith house and the H-1 Overlay controversy, he said he would like to achieve a win-win situation between the city and the Cherokee Country Club. When asked if as mayor he would have his law director drop the city's suit against the Cherokee Country Club, he said no, he wouldn't. Until February of this year, Bill Haslam was a member of the Cherokee Country Club. 

He said strong neighborhoods "are important to creating economic opportunities" and that if elected mayor he wanted to change the attitude to promote "strong government service" by "getting better value for lower cost," encouraging businesses to "give back to the city" and working with neighborhood groups to strengthen ties throughout the city. 

Haslam credited present mayor Victor Ashe for raising the awareness of historic preservation and that he supports the idea of curbing demolition by neglect of historic structures. If elected mayor, a Haslam administration "will work with property owners in any way we can to see that our historic structures are preserved." 

Bill Haslam is president of Pilot Corporation and is principal owner of the Tennessee Smokies, an East Tennessee AA baseball team. His web site is www.billhaslam.com.