28° CLEAR, Defrauded? Headquarters in Tennessee, not Muscle Shoals
Last Modified: Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 11:02 p.m.
The Tennessee Valley Authority Act that was signed into law by President Roosevelt in 1933 stipulated the public utility's headquarters were to be in Muscle Shoals.
Knoxville, Tenn., however, became the de facto command center even as the ink from Roosevelt's pen dried.
It's no secret that many in the Shoals feel defrauded that the headquarters strayed from the area. It's a sentiment that is still shared by many area residents, particularly those who were often told of the maneuvering while growing up in northwest Alabama.
"They've a done a lot for us, but they never treated us right," said C.W. Simpson, an 82-year-old Lauderdale County resident. "They were supposed to put their headquarters here and leave it here. We could have what Knoxville has today. No sir, it ain't right, and they know it ain't."
It's hard to question Simpson's logic, especially when it's spelled out in the legislation that created TVA. The act clearly states: "The Corporation shall maintain its principal office in the immediate vicinity of Muscle Shoals, Alabama."
The issue became a controversy for some almost from the start. It led to nearly 50 years of investigations and lawsuits that culminated in a Supreme Court ruling in 1982 that allowed the headquarters to stay in Knoxville.
Even after the ruling, north Alabama residents openingly complained that an Alabamian had never been selected to the TVA board of directors.
That changed a couple of years ago when Howard Thrailkill, of Huntsville, was chosen when the TVA board expanded from three to nine members.
Perhaps in a symbolic gesture and in celebration of TVA's 75th anniversary, the nine-member board will meet today in Muscle Shoals.
The controversy over the headquarters can be simply explained.
"It really boils down to logistics," said Pat Ezell, a TVA historian.
When TVA board members held their first meeting in June 1933, their first large project in the Tennessee Valley was the construction of Norris Dam, just outside of Knoxville.
The University of Tennessee in Knoxville sweetened the deal by making its labs and law library available for the TVA staff.
William Bruce Wheeler, emeritus professor of history at the University of Tennessee, who co-wrote a book about TVA's Tellico Dam, speculated that there could be several reasons why Knoxville became TVA's headquarters.
At the time, Knoxville was a larger and more established city than Muscle Shoals, which had 727 residents of mostly farmers and a smattering of business owners, according to local historian Jesse Bradford. In contrast, Knox County in Tennessee had nearly 156,000 residents.
"In a way, it made sense because Knoxville is technically where the Tennessee River begins," Wheeler said.
Just north of Knoxville, the Holston and French Broad rivers meet and form the Tennessee River. The Tennessee bends and turns 652 miles into Paducah, Ky., where it flows into the Ohio River.
The headquarter controversy led to decades of back-and-forths between Muscle Shoals and Knoxville, a battle decided by the Supreme Court ruling 26 years ago.
Muscle Shoals didn't go down without a fight, though.
"There was a period in 1939, (when) the board decided to review the headquarter question and they found out that there was no office space in Muscle Shoals," Ezell said.
The TVA Reservation in Muscle Shoals would have required construction, but officials tabled any possible plans involving Muscle Shoals when World War II started.
"That stopped everything all building and construction materials went to the war," Ezell said.
In 1950, the board approved building the headquarters in Muscle Shoals, but the United States' involvement in the Korean War limited steel supplies. As a result, construction had to be postponed.
The closest the headquarters got to Muscle Shoals came in 1953 when the board announced plans to move. Business interests, politics and finances played significant roles in killing the idea.
Knoxville businesses protested the move would eliminate 500 jobs. Knoxville, a Republican stronghold, also benefited from President Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican who just took office, whereas Muscle Shoals was a longtime Democratic stronghold.
In the 1970s, Alabama sued TVA to move the headquarters to Muscle Shoals, but TVA won on appeal in 1981. Then, the Supreme Court closed the case for good by ruling, without comment, that the appeals court ruling was correct and that the headquarters was to remain in Knoxville.
At the time, many in the area were disappointed by the ruling.
Former U.S. Rep. Ronnie Flippo, a Florence Democrat, called the ruling "a decision of expediency and not of fairness. I find that most unfortunate."
Trevor Stokes can be reached at 740-5728 or trevor.stokes@timesdaily.com.
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Comments
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May 20, 2008 8:12:34 am
RE: http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20.../NEWS/805190320/1011
It is a shame that the TVA, begun in a deceitful manner, continues to this day to flaunt the law of the land. The law says tha "principle office" of the TVA is to be in Muscle Shoals, Alabama or vicinity.
While it has been discussed many times, the law has not been changed, not even by a Supreme Court ruling. Until the law is amended (not just interpreted differently) it remains in effect.
The language in the TVA Act is plain and unambiguous.
Clearly, the TVA is in violation of a federal law and should be harshly penalized for violating it. It does not matter how the present interpretation of the law is derived, TVA is in violation of present law. It particularly is shameful that the federal government allows one of its agencies to violate a law it is sworn to uphold.
Ernest Norsworthy
emnorsworthy@earthlink.net
May 20, 2008 9:55:05 am
Clearly, you are CLUELESS. The FACT is that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in TVA's favor on this matter and that settles it! Your wishful thinking and guardhouse lawyering carry no credibility in the matter whatsoever. And by the way, that should be "principal office," as the law reads, not the incorrect "principle office" you placed in quotes above. For Pete's sake, when you QUOTE something, at least spell it the way it appears in your cited source.
May 20, 2008 10:00:57 am
Wow! I agree with beternU!
May 20, 2008 10:26:01 am
Principle, or no principle, that is the question. The TVA started out with a very unprincipled act and continues in that mode even today.
Why do you not want to talk about the issues instead of trying to be a grammarian?
Well, at least someone has read the TVA Act.
BeternU, do you believe the MAIN offices of the TVA should be located today in Muscle Shoals, Alabama or in the vicinity? No, I Didn't think so.
If the Supreme Court ruling did not change the TVA Act requiring the location of TVA's offices to be in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, then the law still stands even though an interpretation of the Act avers otherwise.
The case is NOT settled unless and until the TVA Act law is changed.I guess you've heard by now that the TVA is embarking on a new "Five Year Plan" Doesn't this have a reddish tinge to it?
Oops! So at the end of five years when the cropper didn't yield, well, there's room for another "Five Year Plan".
But that sholud be the subject of another thread and I'm working on it.
Ernerst Norsworthy
emnorsworthy@earthlink.net
http://norsworthyopinion,com
http://norsworthyattheshoals.blogspot.com
May 20, 2008 11:06:00 am
Since my husband is an employee at TVA I am not going to get into this except to say that he has pamplets on Five Year Plans that he recieved 3 different times during his career..... And he says there has been many so-called plans made by TVA..... this one you are talking about probably wont be the last one either..........
May 20, 2008 3:09:44 pm
[QUOTE]Originally posted by emnorsworthy:
Principle, or no principle, that is the question. The TVA started out with a very unprincipled act and continues in that mode even today.
Why do you not want to talk about the issues instead of trying to be a grammarian?
Well, at least someone has read the TVA Act.
BeternU, do you believe the MAIN offices of the TVA should be located today in Muscle Shoals, Alabama or in the vicinity? No, I Didn't think so.
If the Supreme Court ruling did not change the TVA Act requiring the location of TVA's offices to be in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, then the law still stands even though an interpretation of the Act avers otherwise.
The case is NOT settled unless and until the TVA Act law is changed.I guess you've heard by now that the TVA is embarking on a new "Five Year Plan" Doesn't this have a reddish tinge to it?
Oops! So at the end of five years when the cropper didn't yield, well, there's room for another "Five Year Plan".
But that sholud be the subject of another thread and I'm working on it.[QUOTE]
The "ISSUE" is a non-issue that only YOU would push off on the forum as involving something ILLEGAL. The U.S. Supreme Court does not support the dead and gone proposition you espouse. Irrespective of carping and whining from persons who can neither spell "principle" nor their own first name ("Ernerst--see your previous post) correctly), TVA's headquarters IS (believe it or not) in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The office in Muscle Shoals that receives legal service for TVA is, technically and legally, the HEADQUARTERS of the agency! That is enough for the Supreme Court and it should be enough for YOU!
May 20, 2008 5:05:58 pm
If Muscle Shoals, Alabama is the principal office of the TVA in your view that says a lot about the culture at the TVA.
What is "black" at the TVA obviously could never be "white" and vice versa. I hope you understand the PRINCIPLE involved.
To call the TVA's principal office today to be in Muscle Shoals, Alabama is nothing more than a sham.
One more thing, how does TVA get around its legal standing in Alabama? The Act is clear on that point too.
"Sec. 8. (a) The Corporation {TVA} shall maintain its principal office in the immediate vicinity of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The Corporation shall be held to be an inhabitant and resident of the northern judicial district of Alabama within the meaning of the laws of the United States relating to the venue of civil suits."That's a direct quote from the current TVA Act ("TVA" in parenthasis provided).
Ernest Norsworthy
emnorsworthy@earthlink.net
http://norsworthyopinion.com
http://norsworthyattheshoals.blogspot.com
May 21, 2008 3:44:53 pm
WAKE UP, Norsworthy. The very material you quote relative to TVA being "an inhabitant and resident of the northern judicial district of Alabama" is clearly qualified and circumscribed in the next part of the text, namely, "within the meaning of the laws of the United States relating to the venue of civil suits."
TVA still receives legal proces service in an office in Muscle Shoals pursuant to FEDERAL law. . THAT part of their performance under the TVA Act was duly noted by the courts in the litigation validating TVA's conduct of business in Knoxville and Muscle Shoals under the Act.You are whupped, Norsworthy! You have no case. You are an inveterate and irremediable caviler! (and I have not here misspelled "cavalier," since that term clearly does NOT apply to you and the discordant songs you sing about TVA!)
May 21, 2008 4:35:52 pm
Let's stop all the pettifoggery and get back to the issues.
First, if the court held that the principal office of the TVA was in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, I would like to see that citation.
The rest is, what it says it is. The TVA Act clearly states where TVA's principal office is supposed to be. Now until that section in the Act is changed, amended in its language, I'll stick with the plain English law of the land.
TVA is always trying to weasel out of something, just look at all the suits that have been filed against it. And all the wasted millions in litigating those suits.
Face it, BU, TVA is between a large rock and a very hard spot and the hammer is about to fall.
Good luck!
Ernest Norsworthy
emnorsworthy@earthlink.net
http://norsworthyopinion.com
http://norsworthyattheshoals.blogspot.com
May 21, 2008 4:41:03 pm
Cavalier with some pretty fancy words BetternU and oh, by the way I am not better than you, I figure we're about equal. My shoulders are chip free. But if you insist on calling me names, how about iconoclastic pettifogger? Much more lyrical, don't you think? And a lot more class.
Since I prefer not to call people names and had rather stick to the issues, let's stay on point, okay?
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