Wild Wild West

Sumner County has joined a growing list of Tennessee local governments in passing a resolution that asks local law enforcement to ignore duly passed state and federal laws regarding guns. On Monday night, the Sumner County Commission passed the "Wild West" resolution, essentially declaring the "unalienable right" to keep and bear arms. The resolution's language interprets the U.S. Constitution and multiple Supreme Court decisions in a way that views most or all regulations on gun possession and sale as an "infringement" on an individual's rights.

Specifically, the resolution says:

The sanctuary county resolution was first introduced by Commissioner Jeremy Mansfield and states that Sumner County “will not authorize or appropriate government funds, resources, employees, agencies, contractors, buildings, detention centers, or offices for the purpose of enforcing or assisting in the enforcement of any element of such acts, laws, orders, mandates, rules or regulations” that infringe on the right to keep and bear arms as described in the nearly three-page document.

A copy of the full resolution can be found on page 38 here.

The resolution passed 18-4 with only Commissioners Krueger, Ring, Echols, and DeWitt voting "NO."

The Hendersonville Standard reports on Commissioner Baker Ring's reservations:

“Our oath of office says we are to support and defend the constitution of the State of Tennessee and the constitution of the United States,” Ring said. “I cannot vote for the original resolution with wording in there that tells us we must violate state law if we pass this.”

Rather than take a firm stand, County Executive Anthony Holt responded in typical weasel-word fashion:

 

Sumner County Mayor Anthony Holt said Monday that he would not veto the resolution. He also called for civility among everyone involved in the debate.

“Nobody… me, any elected official (or) any commissioner is going to take anybody’s guns in Sumner County,” Holt added. “I don’t know of anybody here that… needs to be demonized because they really believe that everyone’s Second Amendment rights needs to be protected.”

If the Sumner County Sheriff's office follows the plain language of the resolution, they would be in violation of state and federal law regarding guns.


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County Commission Passes Wild West Gun Resolution

A so-called "gun rights" resolution that, if followed, would turn Sumner County into the "Wild West" passed the County Commission on Monday night, with only four County Commissioners demonstrating the intellectual fortitude to vote "NO".

The four NO votes: Caroline Krueger, Loren Echols, Baker Ring, and Deanne DeWitt.

The resolution was sponsored by Commission gadfly Jeremy Mansfield, who last year opposed efforts to direct new county funding to schools, the jail, and infrastructure improvements.

According to the Hendersonville Standard, the Mansfield "wild west" resolution would:

The original version of the resolution stated that Sumner County would “not authorize or appropriate government funds, resources, employees, agencies, contractors, buildings, detention centers, or offices for the purpose of enforcing or assisting in the enforcement” of anything that would “infringe on the right by the people to keep and bear arms as described” in a three-page document.

Essentially, the resolution calls on the Sumner County Sheriff's Office to ignore state and federal laws regarding gun possession and instead to follow a "purist" interpretation of the 2nd Amendment that means gun possession should not be restricted or regulated in any way.

Sumner County joins 25 other Tennessee counties in passing some version of this resolution.

A New Face for Sumner Justice

There will soon be a new justice center in Sumner County, consolidating the area's many courts into a single building and providing a safe building for workers and those with business before the courts. The Hendersonville Standard has more:

A resolution adopting the overall new judicial center for Sumner County, including a new courthouse, parking garage and jail expansion, was approved by the Sumner County Commission in a 20-4 vote Monday. 

County leaders also approved a total of $10.2 million in additional funding for the project during the meeting. However, additional votes will still be required in order to fully fund the project, which is estimated to cost $91 million in total. 

One of those opposed was Jeremy Mansfield, a commissioner from Goodlettsville, who seems to reject opportunities for progress at every turn. Mansfield wants to wait four years -- allowing judicial system employees and visitors to conduct business in unsafe facilities until then. According to his claims (with no evidence), waiting four years to begin this project would mean it could be done without raising taxes. Mansfield also opposed a tax increase that funded the road department and teacher raises earlier this year.

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Approved

By a vote of 17-7, the Sumner County Commission last night approved a budget and certified tax rate. The measures included a $4000 pay raise for all teachers. If the Sumner County Board of Education approves, the raise will go into effect in January.

The new budget and tax rate will also fund an SRO in every existing school (hiring 15 new SROs), add funds to the highway department, and begin a construction project in Gallatin to include a new courthouse, parking garage, and jail module. The Sumner County Jail has been overcrowded for at least nine months and Sumner County's courts are scattered in multiple locations. The courthouse on the square is unsafe for employees and visitors.

11th District County Commissioner Jeremy Mansfield spoke in opposition to funding teacher pay raises and the other items paid for by the new funding. Speaking for nearly 30 minutes, Mansfield ultimately offered no alternative solutions. He mentioned several ideas for alternate funding, but never made an actual motion to amend the recommended budget. While he claimed he is "for teachers," he failed to offer a way to fund the raises he supposedly believes they deserve.

Additionally, Mansfield proceeded to insult the intelligence of Sumner County's educators by repeatedly referring to them as "pawns" who had been duped into supporting a tax increase that wasn't actually necessary. His own inability to offer a viable alternative funding source exposed his charade as little more than a failed filibuster attempt.

Likewise, 1st District Commissioner Moe Taylor offered a budget and tax history lesson devoid of many facts and then moved to amend the budget and then voted against his own amendment. He later admitted he was "confused."

Of the more than 40 individuals making public comments on the budget, the speakers were 2-1 in favor of raising the tax rate and approving a budget that included money for roads, SROs, teacher raises, and other needed improvements. Still, a small group of speakers affiliated with Kevin and Laura Baigert's Sumner Taxpayer's Alliance spoke in opposition. Many wore stickers calling teachers "pawns" and suggested that while they supported teachers, they didn't support the mechanism for funding their raise.

Kevin Baigert himself compared teachers wearing red to soldiers in Communist China who were just doing what they were told.

Many of the anti-tax/anti-raise speakers seemed to have no memory of the history of budgeting in Sumner County. None acknowledged the budget crisis of 2012 brought about by a previous County Commission that spent all the reserve funds and dipped into the hospital fund proceeds. Instead, the anti-tax crowd suggested spending all the reserves and using the hospital fund (one-time money) to pay for teacher raises (a recurring expense).

Apparently, few in this group remember the actions that led to nearly eliminating all portable trailers in Sumner County, eliminating many student fees paid by parents, planning for a new school campus (Liberty Creek), beginning the hiring of SROs for schools, and improving pay for classified employees across the district. As a result of a slow, deliberate, methodical approach, all classified employees in Sumner County now make at least $10 an hour. Pay for substitute teachers has also improved dramatically.

Additionally, during the 2018-19 budget cycle, Director of Schools Del Phillips indicated he was asking the School Board to fund one round of classified pay raises in 2018-19, adding in all remaining classified in 2019-20 (current budget cycle), and then moving forward with a significant raise for teachers.

The point: The idea that a pay raise for teachers is some sort of surprise is simply -- to borrow from Commissioner Mansfield -- "a false narrative."

Ultimately, 17 County Commissioners voted in favor of fiscal responsibility, low taxes, and much needed improvements in county services. Meanwhile, 7 voted to kick the can down the road -- to support a philosophy of spending all the money with no planning for the future.

Here's how they voted:

Voting YES:

Geminden, Hinton, Driver, Foster, Schell, Ring, Sullivan, DeWitt, Echols, Rhodes, Tucker, Chris Taylor, Goode, Krueger, Langford, Guthrie, Nipper

Voting NO:

Hyde, Becker, Wright, Tinsley, Graves, Moe Taylor, Mansfield.

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