Will the real guilty party please stand up?

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a plea for mercy, but there's a very real danger that the head villain in the endless scandal known as the Ragsdale administration may yet slip through the noose. The clamor surrounding Cynthia Finch, the woman the Mayor once compared to Jesus, may prove just loud enough to drown out the cries for Hizzoner's head. That would be a travesty, not because Finch is innocent, but because Ragsdale is guilty. 

He's guilty of arrogance without precedent in the county's chief executive office.

He's guilty of spreading that arrogance among his senior staffers and creating a climate in which the occupants of Suite 615 came to believe that the rules didn't apply to them.

He's guilty - at a minimum - of tacitly stamping approval on all the excesses of Finch and Werner.

He's guilty of deceiving the Knox County Commission and the taxpayers of Knox County by refusing to admit any personal wrongdoing.

He's guilty of violating the charter of Knox County and the laws of the state of Tennessee by operating an off-the-books slush fund, the "hospitality account."

He's guilty of helping to create an image of Knox County government before the state and even the nation as an institution that believes rules and laws are for those not part of the Mayor's posse.

So, rail against Finch if you must. But don't forget the architect of the scandal known as the Knox County Mayor's office.