04/21/2026
Kim Frazier has come under attack of several baseless smear campaigns, primarily by Betsy Henderson: who wrongly alleges first, that Kim will raise taxes, and that "her campaign manager is a liberal” - smears without facts.
I was there when Kim Frazier reluctantly got into politics. She was a Hardin Valley mother concerned about unplanned growth that overwhelmed school capacity, did not provide for sidewalks, parks, and roads and worse, left taxpayers footing the bills. Kim discovered that developers were being subsidized by the taxpayers for the water and sewer their projects required, without their participation in the cost of curing the problems they were creating.
On Commission Kim has worked to shine a light on and change those practices - no easy job.
In her many trips to County Commission hearings as a volunteer, Kim met other neighborhood leaders, and realized that we were all being bulldozed, one at a time, as zoning was being changed to accommodate profits.
My neighborhood group was among those in the sites of developers. We volunteers introduced ourselves, exchanged numbers and a group of neighborhood leaders met in my living room in West Knoxville. Eventually we formed an umbrella organization to educate one another on how to avoid being steamrolled. With so much Hardin Valley experience, Kim emerged as leader and helped us navigate county government and rules. More importantly, she became the vision that created and the glue that held together very different people and groups as she lead us to focus - on our common needs and goals, not our differences
We come from many walks of life but share a common motivation, to preserve the beauty and character of Knoxville, to provide infrastructure ahead of well-planned and controlled development - and to prevent taxpayers being left with the bill for the haphazard projects of out-of-state investors.
Kim Frazier should not be criticized for her ability to communicate with and organize conservatives, liberals, urban, suburban and rural citizens, young and old, trades workers, academics, and professionals.
Kim’s even-handed leadership is why so many neighborhood associations drafted Kim to run for County Commission and why she won. It is why we stand by her now. She has never let us down.
Kim is a dependable voice for taxpayers and neighborhoods. Her expertise and determination have only grown stronger.
The mayor's race has a well-funded establishment candidate who is backed by the local developers and lawyers for foreign investors, whom we see at every meeting of County Commission, asking for exemptions from zoning, hilltop and ridge line protection, traffic and school impact studies. These subsidies are the root cause of property tax increases.
Betsy Hutchinson cannot defeat the machine behind Larsen Jay. All her advisors can do is sabotage the candidate of The People who can win: Kim Frazier. The smears are only helping the Knox Machine, and never confronting the problems they created. It is time to stop this attempt to divide conservative voters, and divide the diverse citizen coalition which has been electing consensus candidates like Kim Frazier. It is time to replace more inside operators on County boards, and move Kim Frazier into the mayor's office.
Diane Montgomery
Co-Founder Northshore Corridor Association
Former President Amberleigh HOA
