Main Street Media Sues Election Finance Board

Main Street Media, the publisher of The Hendersonville Standard, has joined a lawsuit against the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance.

In an effort to uphold the Open Meetings Act, the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government has joined news media organizations, journalists and press associations in filing an open meetings lawsuit against the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance. (Main Street Media of Tennessee, publisher of The Cheatham County Exchange, has joined the lawsuit as well.)

On the evening of April 1, the election finance board took an email vote in secret to reduce by $44,100 the fines owed by longtime lawmaker state Rep. Joe Towns, D-Memphis.

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For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Wait, What?

The response one Sumner County Commissioner received when he inquired about receiving a county email address to conduct government business is truly baffling.

The Hendersonville Standard reports:

Elected officials for the city of Hendersonville, Sumner County Board of Education and City of Gallatin all have government sponsored email accounts. Members of the Sumner County Commission conduct their correspondence through individual, private email accounts.
“Open records are the exact reason we advise against having a county email address,” (Sumner County Law Director) Dennen responded. “If you have a county email, anything and everything would have to be turned over in a records request. By using your own, you have better control over what can be turned over if a request is made.”

Umm? That's not how this works. At all. First, a transparent government should be encouraging the creation of records, not attempting to find ways to "protect" elected officials from open records requests.

Second, if an elected official uses a personal email address for conducting public business, that email address can be subpoenaed in order to determine the government-related emails.

The Tennessee Coalition on Open Government found Dennen's explanation "absurd:"

 “You’re not asking [them] to give up a private email, but you are asking [them] to conduct government business on a government email account,” she said. “That is not unreasonable. In fact, it’s standard.”Sumner County Commissioners’ use of private email to conduct public business creates a system that makes it easier to avoid complying with the public records law, Fisher noted.

One solution would be for County Commission leadership to initiate the creation of Sumner County email addresses available to County Commissioners and other related officials.

The solution is easy. The advice given by the law director is most certainly absurd.

For more on issues impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews 

What's Going on at the Election Commission?

Or, better yet: What's NOT going on at the Sumner County Election Commission?

In recent months, the Election Commission has voted NOT to have satellite early voting in the Presidential Preference Primary in March -- which is also the primary for the Tax Assessor position. Then, the reaffirmed that vote, in spite of resolutions from the cities of Hendersonville, Portland, and Goodlettsville asking for the voting. And most recently, the voted against allowing a public comment period before meetings.

Josh Nelson at the Hendersonville Standard has the most recent story.

While the story notes the Commission Chair's correct statement that satellite early voting hasn't been an option in previous presidential primaries, it's worth noting that this year's primary is in March -- just one month after the Iowa Caucuses (which take place on February 1st). That means it is very likely there will be viable candidates in the race at the time Tennessee votes, especially on the Republican side.

Should the Election Commission be making it easier for citizens to vote in such an important election? And, does satellite early voting increase participation.

The answer to both questions is YES. The Election Commission should be working to make it easier for qualified voters to cast ballots. And YES: When there has been satellite early voting in other elections, voter turnout (as a percentage) has increased.

So far, there's been no turning back from the decision not to have satellite early voting. And, the Election Commission isn't going out of its way to get public feedback on this issue.

For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

The Unspoken Facts about Jim Vaughn's Facts

Over at the new Strong Schools blog there's a piece detailing point-by-point the issues raised by County Commissioner Jim Vaughn's recent article on taxes.

Here's that article:

In a recent article for the Hendersonville Standard, County Commissioner Jim Vaughn raised questions about the budget for our schools, specifically on the need for new investment in schools. Vaughn makes three claims I'd like to address. Vaughn's three claims are:  New investment in schools is not necessary, additional funds for personnel do not help students, and increasing support for schools will not result in improved test scores.

I'd like to begin by noting that Dr. Phillips and the School Board laid out budget plans starting July and in meetings in August. Jim Vaughn was not present at those meetings, even though they were open to the public. The budget was then voted on by the Education Committee of the Sumner County Commission on September 8th. The minutes of that meeting reflect that Vaughn was not present to raise the concerns he voiced on November 21 in a newspaper article. Finally, the School Board's budget was passed at the County Commission meeting of September 15th. At that meeting, Dr. Phillips took questions from Commissioners are the proposed expenditures. Jim Vaughn was not present at that meeting to ask questions, raise concerns, or vote against the budget. Now, more than two months after the budget passed, Jim Vaughn is complaining that he doesn't like parts of it. That's simply disingenuous.

Now, on to his first argument: Vaughn suggests we simply don't need new investment in schools. This is surprising as Vaughn represents the fastest-growing area in Sumner County. A tour of the schools in his district would demonstrate rapid growth.  In fact, over the past 10 years, Sumner County has added around 350 students per year -- or, the equivalent of an entire new elementary or middle school every two years. Part of the planned spending on schools is a 5 year plan to proactively address this rapid growth. It's a plan that maximizes existing space and efficiently spends funds. That is, rather than build a new school every two years, Sumner County will be taking advantage of and improving the facilities it has to manage growth.

Next, Vaughn expresses concern that hiring new teachers means that the School Board is prioritizing personnel over students. Pitting teachers against students is one of the most cynical approaches used by those who don't understand how schools work. Strong teachers impact the lives of students every single day. A growing system needs to have adequate staff to meet the needs of current and future students. The alternative would be larger class sizes and less individual attention. Supporting personnel in the schools directly benefits the students those schools serve. Moreover, the new school system budget includes funds to improve teacher pay and adjust staff pay. This means Sumner County can both attract strong new teachers and keep the great teachers we already have. That's a win for students and their families.

Finally, Vaughn wonders if investing in schools will have an impact on test scores. While that hypothetical proposition will only be answered in time, it is clear that those systems who consistently perform at high levels also invest significantly in their schools. Of the 10 systems that have the highest 3-year ACT average, 9 of them spend more per student than Sumner County. On average, those systems spend $1500 more per student than our system. That is to say, at the very least, there's a correlation between investment in schools and results in terms of student achievement.

I regret that Commissioner Vaughn missed opportunities in September to more fully engage in the school budget process. I hope that going forward, he'll engage with the School Board, his fellow County Commissioners, and the parents and teachers in his district in order to gain a better understanding of the needs of our schools.

Skid(no)more

Incumbent County Commissioner Jo Skidmore, who this year filed to run for office as a Republican for the first time in her long political career, has been denied the right to run as a Republican by the state GOP.

Her status as a Republican was apparently challenged, and the state party committee agreed that she lacked the credentials to be considered a Republican in good standing.

Jim Hawkins was also denied ballot access in his bid to run as a Republican candidate for Chancellor.  Hawkins previously ran for state Senate against Diane Black in 2008 as a Democrat.

The Hendersonville Standard has the full story.

DeSopo Attacks Local Elected Officials, Hides from Questions

Hendersonville resident Donna DeSopo, a frequent critic of city officials in Hendersonville, has come under fire for her aggressive, personal attacks on two local elected officials.

The Hendersonville Standard carried a story this week on DeSopo's tactics and her refusal to return calls for comment.

In one incident, DeSopo took to an area news blog and then Facebook to attack Goodlettsville City Commissioner Zach Young, accusing him of being jobless, living in his parents' basement, and relying on them for health care and food.

DeSopo has not responded to the fact that Young is employed full-time at a local property management company and is also a full-time college student.  Young notes that he lives at with his mother to care for her as she has a terminal illness. 

No word from DeSopo in terms of an apology for her outlandish attack. 

Young says he's fine with political disagreements, but doesn't understand why DeSopo made it personal. Worse, she simply lied. Every one of her accusations about Young's personal life are false.

In another incident cited by the Standard, DeSopo refers to Hendersonville Alderman Scott Sprouse as a piece of excrement who should be thrown out. 

The paper goes on to editorialize that DeSopo's conduct has no place in a civil discussion regarding political disagreements. 

Sprouse says DeSopo's words don't concern him, but he'd like for her to produce tangible evidence to support her claims.

It's not clear whether or when she plans to apologize for insulting Sprouse or lying about Young's family life. 

Perhaps DeSopo will continue her approach of boldly attacking with lies and vile language, then hiding when confronted.  Perhaps being exposed for such tactics will cause her to re-think her approach. Time will tell.