Last Friday was the fourth time Rutherford County’s anti-government Tea Party Republicans took to the streets to protest. Republicans oppose federal stimulus spending aimed at turning around the Bush recession that started in December 2007.
But this time, Tea Party Republicans were out numbered 10 to 1 by Rutherford County voters supporting health care reform.
It takes a lot of courage to stand on the street and publicly protest paying your taxes, reforming healthcare, enhanced healthcare for Rutherford County’s veterans, Nissan’s $1.6 billion government loan creating 1,000 new jobs of the future and the millions of dollars now being spent in our schools, roads, and extended unemployment benefits. It’s not surprising that Hidalgo hid in his office the entire time.
When voters reflect on how our nation addressed the deep Bush recession, they will see one party who acted swiftly with change that works and one party that protested every effort and yearned for four more years of the same failed policies.
Republican County Mayor Ernest Burgess continues to refuse to release documents related to a secret land deal he tried to hide from Rutherford County tax payers.
Mayor Burgess confirmed to a persistent DNJ today that he spent $100,000 of tax payer money for land in Rockvale that the county valued at $31,300. Mayor Burgess continues to dodge growing public demands for full transparency on his secret land deal that was part of a lawsuit settlement with the county.
Mayor Burgess had an opportunity to do the right thing when no one was paying attention, and when he thought no one was watching, Mayor Burgess chose to break the law and enter an ill-advised secret land deal using tax payer money.
Mayor Burgess had another choice when confronted with his illegal behavior and again chose to violate the public trust, hide behind lawyers and lay the blame that created this mess on the entire County Commission. Rutherford County deserves a mayor who respects the law and whose faith guides them to serve the people with honesty, even when he thinks they aren’t paying attention.
Every day Mayor Burgess refuses to release public documents on this land deal is another day Mayor Burgess is blatantly breaking state law, violating his oath of office and making a mockery of the leadership our county deserves. Every day Mayor Burgess feels he can withhold public records is another day we’ll be here to remind him of his duty to the people and his oath to uphold the law.
red-faced and red-handed County Mayor Ernest Burgess
Republican County Major Ernest Burgess told the DNJ he doesn’t have to tell tax payers how much of their money he spent on a secret land deal made as part of a settlement with a Rockvale land owner.
Mayor Burgess is the latest in a growing list of local Republican politicians who have been caught breaking the law to serve their own private interests while using tax money.
Mayor Burgess can either uphold the law and come clean with the people he was hired to serve, or he can do it the hard way.
The county has apparently agreed to buy 1.7 acres in the Rockvale community to settle a lawsuit filed by a couple whose rezoning request was rejected by the county a few years ago. According to Burgess, the settlement terms are confidential, meaning taxpayers are left in the dark about how much money they paid for this piece of property.
We believe this is a clear violation of the state’s open records laws, and even if it isn’t, as a matter of principle, it flies against this nation’s bedrock concept of transparent and accountable government. Simply put, taxpayers have a right to know how government is spending their money.
Besides, Rick Hollow, legal counsel for the Tennessee Press Association and a noted authority on state open records law, told The DNJ that a Tennessee Attorney General determined in the 1990s that a confidential agreement is void if it pertains to withholding public records.
“The expenditure of public funds is public business,” Hollow said. “An agreement to withhold information from the public is unenforceable.”
Rutherford County Tea Party Chairwoman Lou Ann Zelenick defends tax increases.
Tea Party organizer and Rutherford County Republican Chairwoman Lou Ann Zelenick launched her party’s message for the 2010 elections today.
Lou Ann is quoted in today’s Daily News Journal on behalf of Republican candidates saying tax increases by county Republicans this year were the “right decision.”
We don’t recall Lou Ann defending tax increases to the Tea Party wing of the Rutherford County Republican Party, but it’s no surprise to hear just days after Lou Ann was photographed above screaming into a microphone in protest of politicians who raise them.
Lou Ann defended one of the largest property tax increases in Rutherford County passed under current Republican County Mayor Ernest Burgess. Lou Ann went on to say she “can’t wait” for other Republicans to announce their campaigns for the 2010 elections. With a message like that, neither can we!
“The citizens of Rutherford County are fortunate we have an honest, hard-working leader in Mayor Ernest Burgess,” she said. “He puts in 24/7 for the citizens of Rutherford County with dignity and honor.”
Republican County Mayor Burgess campaigned in 2006 on cutting county government spending 10% across the board and promised no property tax increases. Mayor Burgess has failed to live up to his promise, and every Rutherford County tax payer can now expect the bill and thank the Rutherford County Republican Party.
A federal judge has granted a temporary order barring Republican Election Commission Chairman Tom Walker from firing Rutherford County Election Administrator Hooper Penuel.
The order is the latest in a federal lawsuit against Walker and seven other Republicans who plaintiffs claim are violating the United States Constitution with politically motivated firings of county election administrators.
County election administrators are appointed by local election commissions, and state law required those commissions to have Republican majorities because the GOP gained control of the legislature last year.
Some of those new commissions have ousted election administrators who were appointed by commissions with Democratic majorities. In their lawsuit, the eight administrators say the moves are unlawful.
At a hearing Friday, U.S. District Judge John Nixon approved a temporary restraining order barring Rutherford’s election commission from moving to fire Penuel.
Penuel is the only one of the eight defendants who still works as an election administrator, though court filings say he was told his firing is imminent.
“This decision puts the brake on what appears to be a wholesale removal of election administrators across the state,” Forrester said. “Why would you fire people who have such a wealth of experience and knowledge of the election process if it weren’t political patronage?
“These firings and the refusal of Secretary of State Tre Hargett to implement the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act leads me to believe there is an organized effort by Republicans to obstruct fair and verifiable elections.”
Republican protesters even had the nerve to tell our county’s veterans that they don’t deserve the enhanced health care benefits provided them by the federal government’s stimulus funds. Presumably they’d like four more years of the cuts to veteran care that occurred over the past eight years under Republican control of the White House and U.S. Congress. In 2008, Democrats said it’s time the American people honor our heroes who deserve better. American agreed and put Democrats in power to deliver, and that’s just what we did.
The well fed, lawn-chaired crowd of Republicans protested paying taxes, yet the only taxes a majority of the crowd will see increase this year are local property taxes.
County Mayor Ernest Burgess just pushed through one of the largest property tax increases in Rutherford County history. Burgess campaigned in 2006 on cutting county government spending 10% across the board and promised no property tax increases. Mayor Burgess has failed to live up to his promise, and every Tea Party protester will get the bill.
When Republicans take tothe streets in protest, you don’t hear anything about real tax increases Rutherford County voters will soon pay. If Tea Partiers focused on Tax & Spend Republicans like County Mayor Ernest Burgess, they just might be relevant.
Republican election commissioners voted to spend Rutherford County tax payer money on lawyers from Chattanooga to defend themselves in a federal lawsuit. The lawsuit filed in District Court yesterday against Republican Election Commission Chair Tom Walker and seven other Republicans across the state alleges violations of the United States Constitution for partisan selections of County Election Administrators.
Republicans gained a 3-2 majority on county election commissions across the state of Tennessee when Republicans took control of the House and Senate. The plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit (view the lawsuit here) will argue in District Court that Republican defendants violated federal law by making hiring decisions for non-policy making positions based on party affiliation. This is the third time within a month that Republican Election Commissioner Walker has had a run-in with the law.
Apparently Republican election commissioners don’t feel there is a single attorney in Rutherford County capable or willing to defend their actions in a District Court. The bill to defend Rutherford County Republicans could cost Rutherford County tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars, all of which will now line the pockets of Chattanooga lawyers.
The Rutherford County Election Commission voted 3-2, along party lines this evening to hire two Chattanooga attorneys to represent the three Republican members of the commission named in a federal lawsuit Wednesday.
A civil lawsuit was filed in federal court late Wednesday on behalf of eight administrators of elections who were allegedly terminated or have been threatened with termination on the sole basis of their perceived or actual political party affiliation.
The Election Commission also voted unanimously, due to the federal litigation, to defer action on the 90 applications for administrator of elections until its Aug. 3 meeting.
Newly appointed Republican Election Commission Chairman Tom Walker is at the center of a federal lawsuit filed in District Court that could cost Rutherford County tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The suit filed in District Court against Walker and seven other Tennessee Republicans claims the defendants violated the United States Constitution by politicizing the selection of the County Election Administrator. Walker and several other Republicans gained control of county election commissions when their party got control of the House and Senate.
At the request of Rep. Kent Coleman (D-49), State Attorney General Bob Cooper issued an opinion in April warning election commissioners that politicizing the hiring and firing of County Election Administrators would violate the United States Constitution.
Attorney General Cooper recently issued another opinion stating counties will have to foot the bill for defending the unlawful acts in court. That means Tom Walker’s partisan antics could cost Rutherford County tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend.
Of course Election Commissioner Walker could have saved the county from having to defend his actions by simply upholding the law, but this is just the latest example of Walker’s disregard for the law and his open willingness to make the tax payers of Rutherford County pay for it.
Last month, Walker literally told local media that he didn’t care what the laws of Tennessee say when he attempted to defy the state’s open meetings law not once, but twice. It took the county attorney valuable time to educate him into compliance. Fellow Republican Election Commissioner Doris Jones supported Chairman Walker’s attempt to break the law saying to local media “we’ve got some crazy laws in this country.”
Read how Tennessee Republicans are preparing for the 2010 election:
Just as a growing number of Rutherford County families are feeling the brunt of significant job loses, Rutherford County Republicans are very busy planning yet another “tea party” to protest the help we need from the federal government.
After some much deserved attention on Rutherford County Election Commission Chairman Tom Walker’s blatant and unapologetic violation of state law on two separate occasions (Monday and Tuesday) in the same week, the county attorney stepped in and talked some sense into the man.
It’s too bad Chairman Walker and Election Commissioner Doris Jones still have their jobs, but you can count on us keeping a very close eye on the people the state Republican Party saw fit to entrust with our local election process.
Tennesseans will not stand for politicians who thumb their noses at the rule of law and obstruct the constitutional right to have our voices count in a fair and transparent election. And attacks on the rights of media to report on the public’s interest will be defended here, in court and at the ballot box.
Rutherford County Attorney Jim Cope informed The Daily News Journal late Wednesday afternoon that he had talked with County Election Commission Chairman Tom Walker regarding the application process for the administrator’s position.
“After our discussion, Mr. Walker … said he will be bringing in all the applications to the Election Commission Office before the end of the business day Thursday, and presumably they will be available for public inspection,” Cope said.
Walker could not immediately be reached for comment.
Rutherford County Election Commission Chair Tom Walker continues his open and blatant defiance of state law and demonstrates why he must resign his position immediately and restore voter confidence in our county’s election process.
Here is today’s Daily News Journal on this developing story. Pay close attention to Walker’s careless statements that he answers to no one, including the laws of the state of Tennessee.
Rutherford County Election Commission Chairman Tom Walker denied media access to applications for administrator of elections Tuesday despite the documents being public records, according to state law.
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Attempts to reach Walker by phone for an interview Tuesday were unsuccessful. The staff of current Administrator of Elections Hooper Penuel notified Walker that The Daily News Journal made an open records request to review the information.
“What I was told by my staff assistant was that (Walker) said he was not going to place any applicant’s name under the bus,” said Penuel, noting more than one person in the office heard the comment.
Senators Bill Ketron (R-13) and Jim Tracy (R-16) joined Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey yesterday in crashing a press conference by advocates for pre-K education. Advocates had gathered for a press conference on Capitol Hill to stand up to Republican proposals to cut pre-k funding.
Democrats want funding for pre-k education to be a part of the general budget as recurring funds year after year. Senators Ketron, Tracy and other state Republicans want those funds to remain in non-recurring funds that are voted on by the legislature.
Placing pre-k funding on the annual chopping block is just one of the Republican budget proposals Gov. Bredesen recently called “stupid.” The Republican proposal to keep pre-k funding on the chopping block year after year is part a general state Republican Party agenda of defunding the priorities of working families.
Tennessee ranks in the top half of states that focus on pre-k education. If Tennessee Republicans get their way, Tennessee could find itself knocked off yet another good list of states focused on education.
Tennessee’s Pre-K program met nine out of 10 quality standards benchmarks in the report, The State of Preschool 2008. The state increased enrollment of 4-year-olds to 21 percent, and the $4,465 in per-child state spending earned the state a 13th place ranking on resources.
“Quality Pre-K classrooms are one of the best investments we can make in the education of children in Tennessee,” Governor Bredesen said. “Even in difficult budget times we have been able to maintain our support for these classes and, as this report shows, it’s paying off.”
Gov. Phil Bredesen used one word to describe the budget plan cobbled together at the last minute by state Republican lawmakers: “Stupid.”
State Republicans propose major cuts in education, health care, and jobs after wasting several months on abortion, guns and booze legislation and ignoring the priorities of working families.
The GOP proposal would remove funding for the state to acquire land for a West Tennessee megasite that would be used to attract large manufacturers and more jobs to the state.
It would also scuttle Bredesen’s plan to spend $62 million in federal stimulus money to build a solar generation plant at the site near Brownsville and establish a solar research institute at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
“Some of these cuts are personal. The House spent two months talking about abortion this year, and now we’ve got a budget cut to eliminate the infant mortality money. That borders on being hypocritical as to what you believe in, whether you are pro-family or pro-life. It’s a study on infant mortality. It’s a study on how to keep these babies alive. I’ve got zip codes in my hometown with infant mortality rates of Third World countries. We’ve got to figure out how to stop that and we don’t need to wait until we’ve got a budget surplus to do it.”
Check back later for more focus on the role Rutherford County’s Republican delegation is playing in the state party’s proposed cuts in education, health care and jobs.
With a one seat advantage in the state house, Tennessee’s Republican Party has empowered radical voices who spent the entire legislative session focused on abortion, guns and booze while the priorities of working families were ignored.
This is the real agenda of the Tennessee GOP, and if given more power in 2010, Republicans will redraw district lines and ensure their radical agenda has a regional foothold in American politics for years to come.
When the census is complete in 2011, the Tennessee General Assembly is charged with drawing new lines on congressional and state legislative districts.
With the state’s Republican Party taken over by “right-wing zealots,” Mr. Forrester said, the Democratic Party has developed a strategy to regain the House.
The House now has a one-member Republican advantage.
“We know we have enough money,” Mr. Forrester said. “We don’t know if we have enough boots on the ground.”
He said the party plans to target eight to 12 state Senate and House seats, while also making sure every state House and Senate seat up for election and held by a Republican has a Democratic challenger.
A day after we reported on Leahy’s lawsuit, Leahy quickly removed copies of the lawsuit everywhere he had posted them online and stopped posting to his blog and twitter. But lucky for us we copied the entire embarrassing complaint which you can now print and enjoy reading at your pleasure.
Why would we do something like this? Because we knew after reading the lawsuit that Leahy would come to his senses, feel embarrassed and try to make his words disappear. Besides, if you are going to waste the tax payer’s money on a lawsuit this hilarious, the least we could do is make sure everyone has a free copy. After all, you paid for it.
Once you read the lawsuit you might ask yourself what kind of Tennessee Republican feels it’s their right to private phone records, text messages and emails between those who report on anti-government advocates who tie up the courts with lawsuits over not paying their taxes. The answer is at the very top of the lawsuit itself: Michael Patrick Leahy. That’s who.
After reading Leahy’s ridiculous lawsuit, you might also ask yourself what kind of person does the Rutherford County Republican Party want representing them at tomorrow’s “instant tea party” here in Murfreesboro,TN. The answer is actually one of the two people who have confirmed online that they will attend: Michael Patrick Leahy.
It takes a very special person to stand on the street and demand the government give back money they never gave in the first place, and we suspect Leahy will rethink stepping foot in Murfreesboro tomorrow, but you never know what a fool will do.
Just as a growing number of Rutherford County families are feeling the brunt of significant job loses, Rutherford County Republicans are very busy planning yet another “tea party” to protest the help we need from the federal government.
