Aikens is notorious for adding items to the agenda at the last minute to prevent scrutiny. Sure enough, at the beginning of the meeting, here it comes. He added one item then another then another. None had anything to do with the judge pay. So maybe I was wrong? Maybe I don't know Tony as well as I thought I did.

At the very end of the meeting, Aikens said the attorney/judge elect wanted to say a few words. Harrison started off with a love fest for the mayor to the point I thought he was going to give him a big sloppy kiss. "Tony Is The Greatest" was the phrase I liked most. Then Harrison went all through describing how he planned to run the court, He's going to hold court three days a week, night court and all kinds of other improvements. He would leave it up to council about the pay. When he got done, Aikens announced he had put together a committee to study the salary issue to bring back a recommendation to the August 22nsd council meeting for a vote. Of course, all the council members dutifully fell in line and voted for the mayor's plan.  

Mayor Aikens appointed councilman Mike Henline as the chairman of the "fix the judge's salary" committee. The other members are Tammy Powell, Chris Swafford and LCPD officer, David Flynn.

Not even four days after the election, the fix is in. Guess I know mayor Aikens pretty well after all.

I'll go ahead and make another prediction. Looking into my crystal ball, I predict they will pay the new judge more than the 75k the previous judge was making.

Is there anybody in Lenoir City who is surprised?