Hyde and Rogers Take on Voters

Apparently, resoundingly losing an election won't stop Merrol Hyde from trying to meddle in local political affairs. Despite the fact that Hyde's County Commission buddies Frank Freels, Jerry Stone, and Kirk Moser lost in the May elections and that Hyde's once-powerful faction on the Sumner County Commission now can barely muster more than 5 votes on any single issue, Hyde continues to push an anti-voter legislative agenda.

Hyde has partnered with State Rep. Courtney Rogers (the candidate Hyde recruited to run against Debra Maggart in 2012) to advance state legislation that would bar teachers, police officers, and first responders from serving on the Sumner County Commission.

Hyde claims that this is to prevent any "conflicts of interest." Nevermind that voters were fully aware that the candidates they were voting for (or against) in May and August were also serving Sumner County as teachers, sheriff's deputies, and in other capacities. Hyde wants to protect the poor voters from any injustice -- Hyde knows best, after all.

While such a stance may seem hypocritical in light of the fact that Hyde himself was once Director of Schools while at the same time serving as a County Commissioner, hypocrisy has never gotten in the way of Merrol Hyde with a political ax to grind. In fact, when his schools budget was out of balance and he was serving on the County Commission, he voted 7 times in a single night for varying levels of a tax increase -- now, he claims to be an anti-tax champion.

As one might guess, County Commissioners who also serve our community in other capacities have had enough of the 1-2 punch of Hyde and Rogers. Last Monday, they passed a resolution calling on the General Assembly to oppose the ill-conceived Rogers bill.

And one Commissioner, Scott Langford, offered his opinion in the Hendersonville Standard.

Langford said of the Rogers bill:

This bill seeks to undermine free elections by limiting the choice of who can serve and whom voters and whom voters can elect.

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