WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:14.799 --> 00:00:21.080 MTAS. What does that stand for? What is an MTAS and what does it do? 00:00:38.800 --> 00:00:44.640 Every citizen in the state is touched by MTAS because if it wasn't 00:00:43.440 --> 00:00:50.000 there his taxes, his or her taxes would be that 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:54.879 much higher and doing far less. Many of the cities in Tennessee most of 00:00:52.559 --> 00:00:59.359 them in fact are small cities and they couldn't function 00:00:56.719 --> 00:01:05.280 properly without the the technical assistance that MTAS gives. 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:10.799 It would be awfully expensive to go to legal counsel or whatever we might 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:14.960 need in the way of technical service and it would it's just uh it's just a 00:01:12.960 --> 00:01:19.920 tremendous thing for for cities across this great state. I can 00:01:17.600 --> 00:01:23.840 give you a a a multitude of stories with city managers 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:26.960 and other people who who didn't have anywhere to go 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:31.040 and had access to MTAS and what it's meant to 00:01:29.520 --> 00:01:34.240 their cities and the innovative things that they've done in 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:39.680 in the computer age that we live and the technical aspects of what faces a city 00:01:36.880 --> 00:01:45.200 manager say in a Sparta with limited resources uh you know and 00:01:43.360 --> 00:01:49.920 what they have they have to contend with basically the same problems that 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:53.520 Nashville does, but they don't have the the specialist or the technical people 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:57.360 on the payroll to deal with those problems and boy, here is where MTAS steps 00:01:55.759 --> 00:02:03.280 in and makes the difference I just can't imagine 00:02:00.240 --> 00:02:07.200 a better organization or a better prepared organization to help and assist 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:12.640 the cities than MTAS was. 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:17.120 The hardest job I ever had was mayor and I was a minority leader, that wasn't as 00:02:14.640 --> 00:02:21.360 hard, and I was also and I'm also a state representative, that's not as hard, 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:24.560 but with more and more responsibilities shifting back to local governments 00:02:23.040 --> 00:02:28.560 you're going to have more and more 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:31.280 opportunity to need organizations like MTAS. 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:35.599 I think the single greatest thing about it is 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:40.800 that they study the problems of cities and make recommendations 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:46.080 without having to answer to some politician or somebody 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:51.040 else. It's it's an objective approach. It's really educational 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:55.440 and a lot of states have wished I've heard them express it 00:02:52.640 --> 00:02:58.879 many times that they had an MTAS in their states to work with them. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:08.319 I give credit to Herb for conceiving of the idea of MTAS and 00:03:05.760 --> 00:03:13.280 and he more than any other one person is responsible for it being there 00:03:11.200 --> 00:03:17.519 and over all those years I worked very closely with him 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:21.840 he was a great visionary 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:27.360 I think. He had lots of ideas and he was tenacious. I would say he was 00:03:24.239 --> 00:03:32.000 a bulldog, if he got a good idea and nobody was more dedicated to the 00:03:29.920 --> 00:03:35.040 interests of cities than Herb Bingham and he would stay with it. 00:03:35.519 --> 00:03:42.480 He was really a great person. Governor Browning promised us in 1948 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:46.159 when he was running that he would give the cities a seventh 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:50.480 of the state gasoline tax when he got elected governor and he was elected 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:54.080 and he broke his pledge. We wrote up a 12-page 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:58.959 memo statement 00:03:56.560 --> 00:04:03.599 calling Governor Browning a liar on every page 00:04:00.959 --> 00:04:03.599 and uh 00:04:04.799 --> 00:04:10.560 but we we had developed a counter strategy 00:04:08.480 --> 00:04:16.479 of getting over 2,000 mayors and councilmen 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:19.840 to sign a pledge "I will 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:25.919 endeavor to defeat any candidate for governor that doesn't pledge the city's 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:30.800 one-seventh of the state gasoline tax." Over 2,000 of them signed that pledge 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:34.160 and Governor Browning 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:37.520 uh hung around the president of the 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:40.080 Municipal League over in Lebanon day and night almost 00:04:38.880 --> 00:04:46.000 every time he in Middle Tennessee he'd go over there 00:04:42.080 --> 00:04:49.639 and visit with our president at Lebanon and he 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:53.600 he apologized for not having kept his 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:58.800 commitments and assured us that he'd never break his word 00:04:56.960 --> 00:05:02.479 to us again. Well he didn't because he got defeated 00:05:00.880 --> 00:05:07.680 for governor. These mayors went out there after him. They ran Frank Clement. 00:05:05.520 --> 00:05:09.840 Now that's the only time that they got into 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:13.440 a political 00:05:11.840 --> 00:05:16.960 alliance but after waiting on the governor for 00:05:15.280 --> 00:05:20.400 four years they weren't about to wait two more. 00:05:18.479 --> 00:05:23.520 I said he was dedicated to the interests of cities and if he thought something 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:27.120 was good for cities he wouldn't let loose of it 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:31.919 and it was even rumored at one time I don't know I say 00:05:29.840 --> 00:05:36.080 rumored I heard it that he'd been thrown out of the governor's 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:42.400 office for for insisting that something be done and uh 00:05:39.919 --> 00:05:47.440 he had a reputation for uh pushing hard. 00:05:44.080 --> 00:05:54.400 One fun thing that happened was when we had a huge fight over the 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:58.800 beer dealers trying to cap the beer tax and uh that was a classic Herb Bingham 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:04.639 fight. I mean he he mounted a hell of a campaign 00:06:01.520 --> 00:06:09.680 and uh we beat the the speaker of the house a guy named nNed McWhorter 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:13.600 and I don't think he ever totally got over it you know. I think he still thinks 00:06:11.840 --> 00:06:18.400 about it every once in a while, probably has a nightmare or two. 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:21.919 And McWhorter would call me in his office occasionally, we'd send out all these 00:06:20.080 --> 00:06:25.199 bulletins and press releases and he'd say 00:06:22.880 --> 00:06:28.000 call off the damn dogs I'm tired of my phone ringing! 00:06:29.520 --> 00:06:37.280 We emphasize that most of these people on the technical staff 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:40.479 had been in city hall and served in city hall 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:45.120 and knew practical governmental administration 00:06:43.039 --> 00:06:47.680 and furthermore they delivered answers that they could get accepted by the 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:52.000 people and that worked when they put them into 00:06:49.280 --> 00:06:57.360 effect. They developed a terrific uh reputation 00:06:54.880 --> 00:07:02.479 and we selected them to try to 00:06:59.440 --> 00:07:06.720 get people aboard at MTAS who had not only 00:07:04.080 --> 00:07:10.960 knowledge and intelligence but that had 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:15.599 winning personalities. They were salesmen. 00:07:12.880 --> 00:07:17.840 They had to sell ideas and 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:22.319 and it just worked, it just worked. 00:07:23.599 --> 00:07:32.080 I could call on Dr. Hobday day or night and he'd send somebody immediately to 00:07:29.919 --> 00:07:36.479 help and assist us. I shall always remember that. 00:07:33.919 --> 00:07:40.479 And so I knew Victor Hobday as a colonel and had a lot of interesting experiences 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:45.599 with him. One day I he asked me to teach class at 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:49.759 reserve and I did and I decided it was proper to joke and have fun 00:07:47.840 --> 00:07:54.319 and he came in when I'd cracked the joke and he let Sergeant Johnson know that 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:56.960 wasn't a proper kind of role. I'm sure he's forgotten that but I never 00:07:56.080 --> 00:08:01.919 did and then he was very excited once we 00:07:59.599 --> 00:08:06.000 were on uh we were out in uh somewhere down in Georgia one of those gosh 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:09.440 forsaken places down there on for a two week camp 00:08:07.440 --> 00:08:13.520 and it as it turns out in that group everybody was a lawyer except about four 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:18.240 of us and they were all lieutenants and we were sergeants and and uh Hobday was 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:23.199 always concerned that we had these simulated bombing raids where they 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:26.000 dropped flour on you and he'd go out and yell and scream at us and tell us we 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:29.680 were supposed to take all sorts of precautions and somebody's always, "Yeah 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:32.640 but it's nothing but flour!" and uh 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:35.919 Colonel Hobday didn't think too much of that and 00:08:33.680 --> 00:08:38.800 and somebody would turn on a flashlight when we had a blackout to look for 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:43.519 rattlesnakes and he didn't think too much of that either, so I knew Vic in an 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:46.720 unusual kind of way. I I've always thought that he ran MTAS much better 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:49.519 than he ran the military government reserve unit. 00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:57.519 This is what we're doing, we're providing a service to the citizens of the state 00:08:55.120 --> 00:09:02.320 of Tennessee and that's the mission of the University of Tennessee. The 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:07.920 University of Tennessee had a service that was more 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:10.640 problem-oriented and more on the job on in the field 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:15.200 service to the clients than any other 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:20.640 university I know of and I think we probably could still say that. 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:25.040 We we spent a great deal of our time in the field, we were helping the city 00:09:22.560 --> 00:09:29.760 officials deal with their real problems. It wasn't academic research. 00:09:27.680 --> 00:09:34.080 I mean academic research has its place I don't want to put that down but I mean 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:37.200 that was the difference. Our mission was just different and 00:09:35.920 --> 00:09:43.120 we went about it a little differently. 00:09:40.640 --> 00:09:47.040 Well, I don't see any limit limitations to what it can do in the future. There's 00:09:44.959 --> 00:09:51.360 always going to be need for city officials to have somebody give 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:55.680 them some technical assistance. When you think of the fact that 00:09:53.600 --> 00:10:00.480 for instance I had never been in public office. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:05.279 I had never run for any public office, and when I came in as 00:10:02.560 --> 00:10:09.279 Mayor of Knoxville I needed somebody I could turn to to get an objective 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:14.320 viewpoint and to give me a little training on how to be a better mayor. 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:18.399 And you think of the turnover in city officials across the state 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:21.279 I think they're always, as long as we have local government, there'll always be 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:25.360 a need for Municipal Technical Advisory Service. 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:38.640 He was driving about 95, and this highway patrolman pulled him over, walked up to the car and he said 00:10:36.800 --> 00:10:42.880 "Um, mayor, you're going a little fast, aren't you?" 00:10:40.079 --> 00:10:46.880 And uh Al hell had this had this complementary card that 00:10:44.560 --> 00:10:51.839 Governor Blanton give him so he showed it to him you know. Guy said, "Ah mayor," says 00:10:49.680 --> 00:10:54.320 "You're going too fast," he said. Guy said, "You're going to die, you're going to get 00:10:52.880 --> 00:10:57.360 yourself killed." Said, "Mayor, we want you to stay around." 00:10:55.600 --> 00:11:00.240 Al kept looking at his watch and he let up on the brake a little bit, that guy 00:10:58.880 --> 00:11:04.320 kept talking and kept looking at his watch, finally the guy let him go 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:07.519 Well Al got going, he was going by almost a hundred. I mean he had to 00:11:05.920 --> 00:11:11.440 make up that time and another highway patrolman stopped him, 00:11:09.040 --> 00:11:14.720 and the guy came up the door, he rolled down the window he said, "Mayor are you 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:18.240 going a little fast? Why are you going that fast?" He said "I'm trying to make up 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:22.959 the time that other guy's wasted back there!" 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:26.959 One one thing was sort of funny to me Vic Hobday 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:30.959 always been interested in local government 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:36.000 He got involved and he uh entered a council race and then took a 00:11:33.680 --> 00:11:42.160 he just felt so good about it he took a vacation during the campaign period, he 00:11:38.160 --> 00:11:46.399 came back, he lost just by a few votes. Victor Hobday was the president of the Knoxville 00:11:44.560 --> 00:11:51.440 Humane Society we always were kidding Victor about things and 00:11:48.959 --> 00:11:55.519 about his role with, we called him the top dog 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:58.720 of the Humane Society and we have a clipping service, we subscribe to a 00:11:56.959 --> 00:12:02.320 clipping service so the newspapers from all over the state about city news were 00:12:00.079 --> 00:12:06.160 clipped. Well here was a big story in the in the newspaper we had a picture of 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:11.040 Smokey with a football helmet on, it was during football season, 00:12:07.839 --> 00:12:15.200 and it said under it "Top Dog," so 00:12:13.040 --> 00:12:19.760 in one of Mr. Hobday's clippings we substituted the picture there under what 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:24.079 top dog was and Smokey and just inserted it in the clippings on his desk and we 00:12:21.760 --> 00:12:28.959 all sat outside his desk waiting for him to find that clipping with his picture 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:34.160 there under top dog and Smokey and the football helmet and everything. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:38.560 And uh he almost outdid us but all of a sudden one day we heard this huge howl 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:42.639 coming from his office when he had come across the picture. I guess I'll always 00:12:40.800 --> 00:12:47.200 remember that it was it was a it was a funny experience, fun. Well there's a lot 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:52.160 of good men that served as president of Tennessee Municipal League 00:12:49.760 --> 00:12:56.480 and Vic knew just about, I guess he remembers all he of 'em because he kept up 00:12:54.800 --> 00:12:59.839 with it and going along I noticed he was out politicking the other day when I 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:02.959 called. Victor? Yeah, said 00:13:01.040 --> 00:13:07.120 I don't know I don't know who he was was working for working as an election 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:11.760 officer to hold the election, Leonard, let's get that straight yeah okay 00:13:09.760 --> 00:13:15.600 Well that's part of the election process. Well yeah the elections have to be held. 00:13:13.680 --> 00:13:18.800 Someone has to be there today no I don't I don't think, I used to think politics 00:13:17.839 --> 00:13:22.480 was was an ugly word but I don't think it's 00:13:20.959 --> 00:13:26.320 ugly anymore. It's just whatever politicians make it uh 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:29.360 They used to accuse me of being a politician before I was ever the mayor 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:34.800 and I objected to that a little but I know 00:13:31.760 --> 00:13:41.040 I'm as proud of that now as calling me a Methodist. They called me a politician 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:41.040 till I lost and then they knew I wasn't, oh. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:50.000 I like that. I said that Al, "Why don't you sing 00:13:46.560 --> 00:13:53.120 us a hymn?" So he he sang two or three verses of "When the Roll Is Called Up 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:56.959 Yonder I'll Be There" and then right on the end he said 00:13:54.880 --> 00:14:00.959 now what I do he said I kind of get beared up in Oak Ridge and I get my 00:13:58.959 --> 00:14:03.839 pickup truck out at election time and I go up down the street, 00:15:14.079 --> 00:15:16.160 singing that.