A Hamilton County government employee admitted Tuesday that he has done work for his private business while on his nearly $65,000-a-year county job, and did it with a county e-mail account.
Public Works employee Alan Knowles, the son of Hamilton County Clerk Bill Knowles, promised it would not happen again.
Knowles is president of Dove Ministries Inc., which conducts business as DMI Concerts, a nonprofit organization that books Christian music acts.
It's a mistake, and it's one that won't be repeated," he said.
When first contacted Tuesday, Knowles said he did not perform any work related to DMI while he was on the clock for the county. But a number of e-mails he provided to the Times Free Press contradicted his claim. The e-mails showed that he used his county-provided e-mail account for DMI business both during and after work hours.
Though Knowles does not provide his county e-mail address on the DMI website, people who contacted the company routinely did so through his work e-mail, at least in 2009 and 2010, the two years covered in the e-mails Knowles turned over. Such e-mails are public under the state open records law.
Earlier Tuesday, his supervisors said they knew about his work with DMI, but they did not indicate it was on county time and with a county e-mail account.
Rebecca Hunter, Hamilton County's director of human resources, said county policy "prohibits employees from [engaging] in any outside employment that adversely affects their work performance as an employee of the county or creates a conflict of interest."
She said employees must make their county jobs their first priority, and said work schedules are not adjusted to accommodate noncounty business.
County Public Works Administrator Dan Wade said he was aware that Knowles operated DMI but that Knowles assured him he didn't work on DMI business during county time.
County Mayor Claude Ramsey refused to comment Tuesday evening, saying he had not seen Knowles' e-mails.
According to IRS records on DMI, which is identified as a nonprofit company, Knowles spends 30 hours a week on the concert business, in addition to his full-time job at the county. He has earned a total of $157,345 from DMI since 2007, records show.
Knowles earns $64,555 from his job as county superintendent of support services. He needs to supplement his income, he said, because his wife is disabled.
In its 2007 IRS filing, DMI reported $1.89 million in gross receipts from 2003 to 2006, with the nonprofit having its best year in 2006.
Knowles has served as president of the nonprofit since 1986, according to the DMI Concerts website. Among the upcoming concerts listed on the website is Oct. 28's VeggieTales Live!
Bonnie Daniel, an employee of Big Idea, which books the VeggieTales concerts, said Knowles was her primary contact for the event. She said talks about the concert "probably" happened during normal business hours.
"I couldn't say exactly when all the conversations took place," Daniel said. "We talked fairly regularly."
Knowles said he doesn't recall speaking with Daniel during business hours, but added that Big Idea is in Franklin, Tenn., which is on Central Time, or an hour before Chattanooga time.
He said most entertainment agencies don't keep normal business hours.
David Breen, owner of The Breen Agency, which represents the group, said he received e-mails Knowles sent from a private account on March 3 at 7:13 p.m. and on Feb. 9 at 10:05 p.m. Breen said he handles business 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He declined to send the e-mails to the Times Free Press.
Knowles said he started his business because he wanted to make sure Chattanooga was not overlooked when it came to Christian performers.
"I guess some people play golf, and this is sort of my hobby," he said. "I love music, and I have a strong faith and I like being a part of it."
Contact Dan Whisenhunt at dwhisenhunt@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6481. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DWhisenhunt