Guest Column

With the issue of the school board redistricting being in the news I asked County Commissioner Robert Stevens if he'd like to do a guest column on the subject to address the issue. Here is his first guest column for "This is Smyrna, TN."

Fair and equal representation is the backbone of our democracy. That is why I and some of my colleagues on the County Commission have been adamant about revisiting the makeup of the county’s school board and road board zones that are based on a 20+ year old map. Over much opposition, the Commission voted 12-7 at its November meeting to reconvene the Redistricting Committee and simply study the zones to determine whether to keep the existing lines or recommend modifications.

We should modify our school board and road board zones. For example, District 4, which encompasses a sprawling area from west LaVergne all the way to Eagleville and Midland, is no longer a contiguous district—it is made up of two unconnected islands (which is legally questionable). The City of LaVergne is divided into three zones, with LaVergne being the small part of each district. This makes it very difficult for a LaVergne resident to get elected, and it encourages elected officials to focus their time on the “majority” area of their districts, thus leaving LaVergne behind. Finally, one district in the middle of the county literally looks like a boat anchor (or a chicken foot), and another district on the east side encompasses much rural area, only to narrowly jut out into the western portion of the county in west Murfreesboro. The point: there is no logic or reason whatsoever in our current districts, and the people we represent deserve better.

When the Redistricting Committee redrew the County Commission district lines a few months ago, it adhered to three standards: contiguity, compactness, and common areas in the same district. These are certainly the appropriate standards to follow in the redistricting process. However, the committee did not spend a single minute looking at the school board or road board map, and therefore did not apply the standards to those districts. After much input from citizens, all I and the others want from the Commission is to apply these standards to the school board and road board districts and redraw them in a logical fashion.

Retooling the map is a complicated issue, both legally and practically, but it can be done. I came up with three alternatives in a short amount of time. With the technology available, the Redistricting Committee can easily create a sensible alternative in short order. Most of LaVergne can be grouped into its own school board district, which will allow that member to focus on that area’s schools, instead of also considering the needs of a sprawling rural district. Smyrna can also be drawn into a district that covers most of its residents. Also, the remainder of the county can be reshaped into districts that are more compact and focus on areas with similar interests. This will allow school board and road members to serve without divided loyalties and spend less time traversing the county.

In summary, the school board handles about 75% of the county budget each year, and making sure we have the best representation possible to decide how our school system will operate is a valid inquiry. To me, spending a few more weeks on the issue to study it and make an informed decision is a no-brainer. We must continue to pursue this issue until the map is modified, or until all available avenues are exhausted. I sincerely hope that the County Commission will modernize from the “status quo” and ensure fair and equal representation for each citizen of this county; you deserve no less.

County commission moonshiners?

I dropped by YouTube today and had a good laugh at the expense of the county commission. YouTube has a section where they recommend for you videos related to the subject matter of other videos you've watched before. At one time I had watched "County Commission Meeting - December 17, 2009" of the Rutherford county government. YouTube somehow saw our county government meeting and recommended this video as being related.

Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton was a famous moonshiner until his death in 2009. The quality of his product and his extreme desire to be left alone made him a legend in his own lifetime. This video interview was by Johnny Knoxville of 'Jackass' fame.

Now I know that local politics can be a bit backwards in some areas, but for YouTube to view our county meetings and connect them to moonshiners just made my day and gave me a good laugh. Thanks YouTube.

The county election as of today

In the local county election for August a couple of more names have been added. It is a bit hard to find direct links for some, so if it is not a professional site I do not directly link with their name, but afterwards.

The deadline is April 1st so I will do one near the end of this month and then I hope that I can get a good number of these people to agree to do guest columns for our website or even email interviews or personal interviews. With the struggles the economy is in the ability of the county government to fiscally function is made harder and harder each day. I'd like to see how each would approach these issues and others or feel they should be addressed.

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 3 WILL P JORDAN 1/8/2010
COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 3 JAKE T ROBINSON (youtube/resistnet)3/4/2010
COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 3 ZACH L WHITE 2/10/2010

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 9 STEVE SANDLIN 1/8/2010

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 10 WALTER L FARMER (meetup) 3/2/2010
COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 10 ANTHONY R JOHNSON 1/8/2010
COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 10 BRAD TURNER(facebook link) 1/11/2010 certified on 1/19/2010

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 11 CHRISTOPHER S DEAL 1/21/2010

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 12 RICHARD B HALL 1/13/2010
COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 12 ROBERT STEVENS 1/4/2010 certified on 1/7/2010

I'm hoping to get more candidates to look into non-main stream media arenas such as blogs as a form of reaching out to people.

2010 Census "It's in Our Hands"

The Rutherford county government has started to put their meetings on YouTube for easier viewing. While this does not allow bookmarking sections in meetings as agenda items come up, it does allow more people quicker access to them. The county commission put this video out and I thought sharing it would be proper.

This is where you live

Reader Cynthia pointed out that she has a Smyrna address and lives in district 3...so I went and looked closer to the map on the county website.



She is correct. District 3, the blue'ish section on the right, does connect to Smyrna, and here is the updated information on county seat candidates.

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 3 WILL P JORDAN 1/8/2010

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 9 STEVE SANDLIN 1/8/2010

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 10 ANTHONY R JOHNSON 1/8/2010
COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 10 BRAD TURNER(facebook link) 1/11/2010 certified on 1/19/2010

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 11 CHRISTOPHER S DEAL 1/21/2010 certified on 1/26/2010

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 12 RICHARD B HALL 1/13/2010
COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 12 ROBERT STEVENS 1/4/2010 certified on 1/7/2010

I'm still stuck on who Christopher S. Deal is...so dear readers please ask around. This person lives in the 11th district somewhere,s and I would like to find something out about them

Who will run?

Smyrna is mostly covered by four county commission districts. 9, 10, 11, and 12. Every four years all seats are up for grabs and as of right now the following is where things stand according to the Rutherford County election commission.

As of right now in district 9, 10, and 12 the incumbents have picked up a petition but if they have filled one it has not been posted on the RCEC website. The first date following the name is when they picked up a petition in their name, the second, if there is one, is when it was certified.

District 10 has a contender that is active in the Republican party in Rutherford county but only has a facebook page to put out information. In District 12 the contender is a local lawyer and I linked to his professional website.

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 9 STEVE SANDLIN 1/8/2010

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 10 ANTHONY R JOHNSON 1/8/2010
COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 10 BRAD TURNER(facebook link) 1/11/2010 certified on 1/19/2010

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 11 CHRISTOPHER S DEAL 1/21/2010

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 12 RICHARD B HALL 1/13/2010
COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 12 ROBERT STEVENS 1/4/2010 certified on 1/7/2010

The odd one out is Christopher S Deal. I can find NOTHING on him or her, or even a listing on whitepages.com. If you know of anything give me a yell.

As the deadline for petitions is April 1st this list will grow so expect updates and a master list of candidates and their possible websites.

Tonight is the night....if you can see it.

Tonight is the night for the debates between the candidates for the the sister towns of Smyrna and LaVergne. They will be broadcast on the Rutherford County Government Access Channel

• 6:45-7:15 p.m.: La Vergne Alderman. Candidates are Senna Mosley, Dennis Waldron and Mike Slinker.

• 7:30-8 p.m.: Smyrna Town Council. Candidates are Paul Johns, Tim Morrell, Mary Esther Reed and James Yates.

I have a request for the two...or maybe three regular readers of This is Smyrna.

I have tried for three days to get online and check out the online streaming feed supposedly at THIS link (link also on the RCTV page). At first I received this error message.

Windows Media Player cannot play the file because the server is not responding. If you entered a URL or path to play the file, verify that it is correct. If you clicked a link to play the file, the link may not be valid.

I emailed them and they responded that the problem should be fixed...but now I get this error.

Windows Media Player cannot play the file because a network error occurred. The server might not be available. Verify that you are connected to the network and that your proxy settings are correct.

I have gone to other streaming sites that stream through windows Media player and they all work, and have even updated to the latest version of media player and all to naught.

Will you click to see if the link works for you, and if not could you email them. I received no response after the second email, and I really want to watch the debate. Sadly my plans to go view it have been derailed by a bum knee that I have re-hurt. Yep. Back on crutches for a while.

I know a good number of people view the town meetings here in Smyrna by way of computer and if everyone is having this issue then it needs to be corrected.

Give it a try and tell me in comments if your system works. Thanks

"Abstain from all appearance of evil." - 1 Thess. 5:22

While not evil, the question of possible conflicts of interest have been brought to my view in the county government.

At least one Rutherford County commissioner says it's "outrageous" for two of his colleagues to chair committees that supervise departments in which they or their family members are employed.

Commissioner Mike Sparks, who earlier this year unsuccessfully sought commission support for a state bill to bar county employees from serving as county commissioners, questioned the re-election of Gary Farley and Joe Frank Jernigan as committee chairmen.

Sparks said Farley, who was re-elected chair of the Public Safety Committee Thursday, has a conflict of interest because his son, Bobby Farley, is a sheriff's deputy, while Jernigan, who was re-elected to chair the Public Works Committee, has a conflict because he is employed as assistant highway director for the county.

"I don't see how they can be objective," Sparks said. "We've still got the good-old-boy system and if we don't change something we're just going to get the same old results on it."

Conflicts of interest can create a bad view of a committee or council. Sometimes the old saying about "killing the messenger" is true.

Sparks said he knows his position about commission conflicts is unpopular, but he is willing to be unpopular to get his point across.

"People tell me, 'Mike, that's just political, you got to live with it,'" Sparks said. "I'm not going to live with it."

Our own city council's Tony Dover often reads a message that he has a possible conflict but is voting his conscious. Impressed the heck out of me the first time I heard him read it and still does.

One thing that modern online newspapers offer is a forum for comments on stories. The DNJ's forum on this article has some interesting comments.

note: this post's title is from a comment in the DNJ forums.