Payne Retires from Chamber

Hendersonville Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Brenda Payne retires from her position this month.

The Hendersonville Star News has the story:

“To me, the accomplishment closest to my heart is putting the Hendersonville chamber on the map in the region,” Payne said. “Me being at places in Nashville. It’s critical. Businesses looking to relocate (to this area) don’t look at county boundaries. They look at who we are in Middle Tennessee.”

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Moore Takes Helm at Public Works

Hendersonville Mayor Scott Foster has named Chip Moore the interim director of the Public Works department following the recent termination of former director Jerry Horton.

Moore has more than 10 years of experience as the city's design engineer.

The move was prompted by an investigation that ultimately led to the firing of Horton.

More on the story from the Hendersonville Star News

Not so fast with the wine

The move to allow the sale of wine in grocery stores is hitting a bit of a snag in Sumner County, with more than half of the signatures on petitions filed so far turning out to be invalid.  Cities which allow liquor by the drink, as Hendersonville does, are eligible to hold a referendum on allowing the sale of wine in grocery stores. In Hendersonville, just over 1500 valid signatures are required on a petition by August 28th in order for the issue to make the November 4th ballot.

If the referendum passes, Hendersonville residents could be buying wine at Kroger and Publix by June 2016.

More on the complications related to the wine petitions.

Sumner County Election Results

The May 6th Primary determined many of the 2014 Election outcomes.

At the County Commission level, candidates supported by local grassroots group Strong Schools won 13 races, including defeating three incumbents.

The Gallatin News had this to say:

They said they would make a difference and in the Republican County Primary Tuesday, a group nearly 4,000 strong swept the election polls with all 13 of their endorsed County Commission candidates; upsetting three longtime incumbent commissioners.
It was a victory night for the Strong Schools group, formed in 2012, following the shut-down of schools opening during a budget standoff of the County Commission and the School Board.

And the Hendersonville Star News added:

Tuesday was a big night for Strong Schools, a grassroots group formed in 2012 when a stalemate between the Sumner County School Board and Sumner County Commission caused an eight-day delay in the start of the school year.

Thirteen of the candidates the group endorsed won their primary races, with several facing no opposition in August. In addition, three incumbents vocally opposed to raising property taxes to give more funding to education were defeated.

Primary winners endorsed by the group included Leslie Schell and Jerry Foster in District 4; Trisha LeMarbre and Joanne Kemp in District 7; Jerry Becker and Chris Taylor in District 9; Paul Goode and Caroline Krueger in District 10; and Scott Langford and Bill Taylor in District 11.
Incumbents who lost included Jerry Stone in District 11; Kirk Moser in District 7 and Frank Freels in District 4.

In other elections, Joe Thompson narrowly won the primary for Circuit Court Judge, Louis Oliver III won the Chancellor's race, Barry Brown was re-elected General Sessions Judge, Sonny Weatherford easily won the Sheriff's race, and Kathryn Strong dominated in the race for Circuit Court Clerk.

The elections now move on to August, which will see the General Election for County Commission, School Board, and other county offices.  There are contested County Commission races in district's 2, 3, 6, and 9. 

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