Candidate forum

The candidate for Smyrna political office will be part of a forum held by the Smyrna AM this coming Monday at the Smyrna Town Centre.

The forum, which will be held at 6 p.m. Oct. 11 at the Smyrna Town Centre, will offer candidates a chance to answer a series of questions from Smyrna A.M. Editor Taylor Loyal, who will moderate the event. Smyrna A.M. is a weekly publication distributed to Smyrna residents on Wednesdays inside The Daily News Journal and The Tennessean.
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The forum will give candidates an opportunity to share their opinions on a variety of issues and explain their reasons for running.

This will be televised so you can watch it at home.

Bart Gordon to step down

Breaking news.

Rep. Bart Gordon, the dean of the Tennessee congressional delegation, announced Monday morning that he will retire at the end of next year.

The field is now open.

I don't have two heads...honest!

Earlier this year I went in front of the town council and asked for them to review my idea of a good neighbor fowl program. let's say I was looked at like a two headed freak. I was VERY disappointed in how the subject was addressed by the administration of the town.

In comments and in posts(item 6) by OTHERS on this blog the idea lives on. This article I found from the Christian Science Monitor addresses the idea that some people just go ahead and do it be damned the laws, and some have a town council that looks openly at the subject and agrees that it isn't an idea that will destroy a town.

The Worldwatch Institute reports that a growing number of US city-dwellers are raising their own chickens, often in defiance of local ordinances.

Citing unsanctioned henhouses in Denver, Boston, and other cities, Worldwatch’s Ben Block notes that an “underground ‘urban chicken’ movement has swept across the United States in recent years,” flouting authorities’ concerns about noise, odors, and public health.

But in some cities, such as Ann Arbor, Mich., Ft. Collins, Colo., South Portland, Maine, and Madison, Wisc., owners of these clandestine coops have successfully changed the laws to allow them to keep a limited number of hens. (Roosters, whose characteristic crowing can disturb neighbors, are usually more restricted, but they’re not needed for hens to lay unfertilized eggs.)

Take a moment and read just a few of the comments to the article.

I don't have two heads and damned if I feel that if I can be a good neighbor then why the heck is the town government involved? I live in a town where we have already been judged as doing it wrong before we even try.

Smyrna. Where you're a bad neighbor before you even start...

more from Worldwatch.org

The field is set.

The Rutherford county election commission has announced who will be running for local offices for the November election.

Smyrna Town Council: Three seats, currently held by council members Paul Johns, James Yates and Mary Esther Reed are available. Each has qualified to run for re-election and will be joined by newcomer Tim Morrell.

Tim Morrell is a member of the planning committee of Smyrna and has served on it for several years. Other then that I know squat.

I will admit surprise that there are only 4 candidates. In the November election of 2005 there were 8 candidates vying for three seats.

H.G. Cole Jr. (2nd)
Barbara Davenport
Catherine L. Dodd
Tony Dover (3rd)
Ed Garner
Lance Lee (1st)
Jerry Oxsher
David Stricklin

With the growth of Smyrna I would have expected a few 'wild card' candidates to try for a seat.

LaVergne has two Aldermen (Alderperson?)positions open.

La Vergne Board of Mayor and Aldermen: Seats held by aldermen Dennis Waldron and Senna Mosley are up for grabs. Both Waldron and Mosley have qualified and will be challenged by Mike Slinker.

I do not follow politics much in LaVergne, but I do know that Senna Mosley has reached out to get to know the bloggers and that has gained my respect for her.

PART I
Here is part II of a guest column on last weeks historic district meeting from an anonymous submitter. They are very unimpressed with how the process is being carried out.

Another woman hoped to change her signage... and was deferred for another 45 days.

After the commercial district was dealt with, the crowd knew what they had to look forward to, should their homes become part of a town-decreed "historic district." The contempt for the petty bureaucrats in the room had become palpable.

Most attendees were there because they were part of the proposed expansion. They learned that their homes would soon be subject to the tyranny witnessed in the first half of the proceedings - and they wanted none of it.

One after another, people stood and protested the draconian regulations. Would you like to put a grille over your air conditioner? Under the new rules, you'd need approval - even if your house, like mine, was built in the 1950's or later!

In fact, all changes to the exterior would need approval.

One man in the audience yelled "Just leave us alone!" That sentiment seemed strong... yet there were still some calls for tighter zoning to keep run-down rentals and gravel drives out of the neighborhood. Unfortunately, that kept the town's foot in the door. They voted to defer the historic district idea in its current incarnation, but to start a citizen-led committee instead that would work with the town to define new rules.

Whatever happened to the "land of the free?" Rules rules rules!

One woman made the point well. "These are our houses that we paid for and no one should tell us what we should do with our own property!"

Amen to that. And praise to all those who keep up their houses nicely without the oversight of layers of worthless meddlers

When your choices about the land you own are under the direct control of a small group of leaders... are you really free? Or are you a serf.

The serfs fought back today, but we'll see what happens as this process drags out.

I get a feeling this is just a taste of the new "community standards" mentioned in the comprehensive plan that will be forced upon us to make our town bright and glorious....and a bit sad.

Politics gets mean

A person in Nashville decided to make a statement. I wonder how long till codes shuts them down.

"This is a huge LED sign belonging to Interstate AC Service in Nashville, TN. This sign overlooks I-40 westbound as it approaches downtown Nashville."

direct linkage

I don't agree or disagree with this sign, I just like the fact that it can be openly said.

Tennessee early voting and getting ripped off.

I was talking to a friend last night about this week's column and specifically Fred Thompson's campaign.

I made a comment that a fundamental flaw in early voting is that a vote for Thompson that someone in Smyrna might have made is now a wasted vote as he has withdrawn. I suggested a compromise that when you vote early in a primary you can vote for two or three, and if your initial pick withdraws the next one will get your vote..and so-forth. I luckily voted for one who is still in the race, but unlikely to win. Ones who voted for Thompson, or Edwards has had their vote nulified.

NOTE: Bad spelling is due to the fact that spell check has not worked on blogger for three days for me.

Fred Thompson gone? ***update***

Rumors are flying around that local boy Fred Thompson may be dropping out of the race for the republican nomination.

Jonathan Garthwaite passes on word that, “Fox News is reporting that Fred Thompson has told Fox he will not be participating in Thursday’s debate and may make an announcement about his candidacy soon.”

Rumors are not worth much, but I'll follow up on this as it develops.

update
Fred has officially dropped out.

The exit of the former actor came as little surprise to those who had taken notice of his speech on the night of his defeat in South Carolina, when the normally laconic Thompson talked at length, and with an air of nostalgia, about his campaign.

"We will always be bound by a close bond because we have traveled a very special road together for a very special purpose," he told supporters.

The main question now is who will his supporters lean to. With it seeming that the republican candidates take turns winning states no single one has risen to the top, and Thompson's supporters may change that in the near future.

If you wanted to support Thompson I ask this. Who would you vote for now? Anonymous comments welcomed

Local elections this year

While the news is on the presidential elections there will be local elections the same time that will affect you.

In Smyrna Paul Johns, Mary Esther Reed (Bell), and James Yates terms expire, and their seats are up for grabs. No news this early in the year if they plan on running again, but this will be fun for me. I was not really paying attention to local politics when the 2005 election occurred, but I am now, and I plan on having fun.

Also there will be other elections that have had little press.

Closer to home, races for state House and Senate are under way, and Murfreesboro will hold elections April 15 for three City Council seats and Murfreesboro City School Board seats.

County general and state primary elections will be held Aug. 7 for state House seats and the 16th Senate District. Finally, state general and the presidential election will be held Nov. 4. Smyrna, La Vergne and Eagleville will also hold elections that day.

I'm thinking of making up a candidate questionnaire with your help for the local candidates and seeing what response I get as I share their answers with you.

Ban it

A senator is attempting to ban sweet foods in public schools, and I may surprise many by being for it.

Why? Because it really is good for the children, but in ways the government would never suspect, or desire. This ban will be a very educational experience for the children. A true lesson is small business economics.

There is a saying that a true black market can only exist when an item is over regulated. A government enforced ban is the best example of an over regulated market that can be found.

Into this void of supply will step children with an entrepreneurial spirit. A desire to make money. The lessons they learn will be better then any time spent reading economics 101 in a classroom. Free marketers at their best.

Helping create the next generation of business leaders one ban at a time.

One of the last states.

With a large election year just around the corner you might be interested to know what Tennessee does NOT offer you.

Tennessee is one of the last states that allows electronic voting on machines with NO paper ballot. Without paper ballots that have been marked by the voter (to be counted in a mandatory audit) there is no way to know that the electronic voting machine recorded your vote accurately.

Now something so simple as a paper trail may seem small, but electronic 'issues' can mess up multi-million dollar votes.

This webpage has more information on the issue, and people and agencies you may want to contact on the issue. I'm not sure if the machines that the state have posses the ability to make paper tickets, but the need is there. I'm sure all of us would want our votes counted.

Political money in Smyrna

A lot of people give money to political causes, and one of the more problematic parts of it is the fact you need to register your donation. Almost as if they fear an election may be bought. It didn't work for Perot, or Forbes, but the fear is still there. I checked on two separate websites for donations in Smyrna and posted them in brief here for you to view.

I declined to put down individual names or addresses as I feel donations should be totally anonymous, even from the government. I thought you may be a bit interested in donations to specific campaigns and PAC's (Political action committees).

From the Huffington Post a search for 37167 brings forth these results.

750 Romney
$6075 Thompson
$250 Edwards
$500 Ron Paul
$500 Tancredo
$15 Gravel

No listed donations for Giuliani, Obama, McCain or Hillary. The large ammount for Thompson is due to large multiple donations from one address. Seems one family really wants a Tennessee boy to win.

A similar search at Opensecrets.org brings these numbers

250 Romney
$500 Tancredo
$4125 Republican Committee(state and national)
$1755 PACs
$250 Edwards
$1000 Democrat committee
(left out donations to local and state politicians.)

Since there are some major differences between the two lists the information should be taken with a grain of salt on quality and correctness.

Let the Sunshine in

This issue does have merit on the surface.

Rutherford County legislators and local elected officials should lead efforts to turn back a proposal that would pull the curtain on Tennessee's Sunshine Law.

A measure approved by a subcommittee of the state panel appointed to strengthen Tennessee's open meetings law would allow members of elected bodies to gather for meetings as long as they don't have a quorum of members.

Tennessee Sunshine laws are one thing that we should be proud of, and never relinquish one bit of these hard fought laws for any reasons.

Now those who wish them rolled back does have a few good points.

Some officials believe Tennessee's law is too strict, that it should be OK for two or three members of an elected body to chat about policy during "chance meetings." They believe such talk could take the power out of the hands of bureaucrats who aren't bound by the open meetings act.

I can understand the desire to simple talk on issues outside of the public, but the history of backroom deals have left a foul history in Tennessee, and we must stand strong against this change.

Recently the town council talked openly about a resolution that stated that they were against a change in the cable franchise laws. That change was small compared to a roll back of the sunshine laws. A simple email to our town council can get this moving forward as it should.

Repealing a law

Our town just a short time ago went through a long and protracted fight to try to change the alcohol package laws. A very public display of how hard it is to change laws on certain hot issues.

I asked myself a few weeks ago a simple question. How hard would it be to change a foolish and non-threatening law? Not liqueur or anything "adult" in nature, but one of the many laws that I feel are small, and simple not something we should have controlling us.

My Smyrna Am column for this week, "Let's 'unpass' some silly laws", talks about the issue of laws that are not needed for the "health and welfare" of our town, and are on the books for no discernible reason.

I noticed that at the end of proposed ordinances here in Smyrna, they attach the phrase "health and welfare of the Town of Smyrna requiring it". Well, I would not want to be against the health and welfare of our town, would I?

Smyrna just recently finished the recodification of our town codes. They made numerous changes, and added a few ordinances to our town codes. I just don't remember them doing one thing. I don't remember them fully dropping any codes.

No one said "This law has not one darn thing to do with the health and welfare of our town" and then voted it out of the codes. If codes are passed for the health and welfare of Smyrna, then if we find they have nothing to do with it, then are they dropped? You may not like the answer.

Have you heard of any law totally being dropped, not modified, but wholly removed from a municipalities ordinances in recent history?

To get a code added to the ordinances of our town requires 4 people on the council to vote for it. 4 people to make a law, but as the package liqueur law fight shows, it takes thousands upon thousands to repeal or strike down one.

Now I'm wanting to try something small. I want to see how hard it is, and the reaction from the council, to strike a law from the books. In the recodification process many changes were made by the council, and the voices of the people during the last meetings got a few changes made.

I have decided to try to get a law removed. Not a specific one, but one I'm asking people to choose for me.

Thus I am going to ask you for help. The city codes of Smyrna are now online at the town's main Web page, townofsmyrna.org. Go and look through the city laws and e-mail me one or two that you feel have no place in our town. Ones that if they were unpassed, would not leave us worse off.

I hope I get at least a few emails, from the newspaper or from here with some good examples.

A fine example of what I am talking about can best be shown here.



Now I asked this question in the Smyrna AM.

Yes. Even if you are 'endowed with supernatural powers' as the codes say, you cannot attempt to make a living with them. What does our town have against its supernatural brethren?

Would Smyrna be worse off if this law is removed from the books?

There are many laws that have nothing to do with the classical view of what a government is allowed to do under the enumerated powers given to them. Time to try to roll one back in a rather public display. let's see if the ordinances are stronger then the reality of their worthlessness.

At least our state is not top ten

11th is bad enough.

Here are the 35 most populous states ranked by their corruption rate:

Louisiana (1)(7.67),
Mississippi (2)(6.66),
Kentucky (3)(5.18),
Alabama (4)(4.76),
Ohio (5)(4.69),
Illinois (6)(4.68),
Pennsylvania (7)(4.55),
Florida (8)(4.47),
New Jersey (9)(4.32),
New York (10)(3.95).
Tennessee (11)(3.68),
.........

Tennessee. Ford tough.

I wonder why they list our state so high? Inner city political corruption, state government corruption, or the remains of the good ol' boy networks?

Voting in a new place.

It looks like a lot of people, including myself, will be voting in new polling places in the next election.

The Rutherford County Election Commission has approved the immediate relocation of 10 overcrowded voting precincts prior to the 2008 election cycle in an effort to better accommodate voters in future elections.

Moving from smaller precincts to larger facilities, rather than adding more precincts just a couple of years before the 2010 U.S. Census begins and district lines are redrawn will save the county considerable expense. (Listings of precinct changes with new precinct locations are listed below.)

The Smyrna/Almaville/LaVergne polling places affected are as follows.

Precinct 5-1 (LaVergne Civic Auditorium) moved to the LaVergne First Baptist Church, 375 Old Nashville Hwy., LaVergne.

Precinct 8-1 (Almaville Community Center) moved to the Blackman United Methodist Church, 4380 Manson Pike. Murfreesboro.

Precinct 9-1 (Almaville Fire Hall) moved to the Stewarts Creek Elementary School, 200 Red Hawk Pkwy., Smyrna.

Precinct 9-2 (Rock Springs Elementary School) moved to the Giles Creek Baptist Church, 7084 Rocky Fork Rd., Smyrna.

Precinct 11-1 (Smyrna Fire Hall) moved to the Smyrna Middle School, 712 Hazelwood Dr., Smyrna.

Precinct 12-1 (Nissan Fire Hall) moved to the Tennessee Rehabilitation Center, 460 9th Avenue, Smyrna.

You should get a letter describing the polling place changes in the mail..I would hope.

The elections for next year are as follows.

February 5, 2008- Presidential Preference Primary, Rutherford County Primary

August 7, 2008- State and Federal Primaries, and Rutherford County General

November 4, 2008- Presidential, State General, plus Eagleville, LaVergne and Smyrna Municipal Elections

Remember. An informed politician is as important as an informed voter. let them know what you think. Otherwise they will tell you how to think.

Online and ready to read

While it may seem to many that I harp on the town council, they do a lot that I agree with.

One of the main issues I had with the ending of the Smyrna recodification was the lack of information. The MTAS codes seemed way out of date, and there was no current versions online, and all of the proposed changes were unattainable financially by many until less then a week before the final vote.

A lot of people were in the dark, and that is not a good way for any government, at any level, to function. During the September workshop the Town Attorney mentioned that she intended to get a copy of the current codes online for easy access.

A big thanks from "This is Smyrna, TN."and myself as it has come to our attention today that the codes were now online and updated. The individual chapters are in a PDF format so there is no need to download the whole set of codes, just what you feel you need to read.

Now all ordinance changes can be made to them and updated in a timely manner.

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Now we just need to convince the town to add a "Single Subject rule" for future changes.

Tennessee pork

Yes pork. I wish I were talking about the pork you cover in a nice sauce and lay between two kaiser rolls with pickle slices on the side. No. I'm talking about the pork from Washington that comes out of your pocket, and paycheck in so many ways.

Our representatives in Tennessee score good, and very very bad when it comes to anti-pork votes. This chart from Taxing Tennessee, a local tax issue blog, shows how our representatives voted. The higher the number, the better their anti-pork votes.

Cooper (D-TN-5)	98% 49 / 50
Blackburn (R-TN-7)	94% 46 / 49
Davis, David (R-TN-1)	91% 43 / 47
Duncan (R-TN-2)	88% 44 / 50
Wamp (R-TN-3)	12% 6 / 50
Davis, L. (D-TN-4)	4% 2 / 50
Gordon (D-TN-6)	4% 2 / 50
Cohen (D-TN-9)	2% 1 / 50
Tanner (D-TN-8)	2% 1 / 50

Sadly our own Bart Gordon did not score very well at all.

These numbers were gathered from the Club for Growth annual report card on pork. If Bart Gordon is your representative, I'm sorry. If your representative is Cooper, then drop him a line and say thanks.

A short term guest in Smyrna

For about one day.

State Sen. Jerry Cooper will enjoy the company of our kind city for 24 hours.

State Sen. Jerry Cooper, D-Morrison, did not contest DUI charges today in Rutherford County General Sessions Court.

Cooper was fined $350 and sentenced to 24 hours in custody at the Swaim DUI Center in Smyrna. Litter pickup was waived due to his physicial condition and 24 hours of public service work in Warren County was substituted.

Cooper, D-Morrison, was charged with DUI after his SUV overturned multiple times in a crash Feb. 7 on Interstate 24 east of the Buchanan Road exit.

If you see him say 'hi' from This is Smyrna, TN.

Smyrna, TN Radio Show This Thursday

Mike Sparks and crew will be having the Smyrna Radio Show tomorrow at 3:00 PM at the North Rutherford YMCA.

In attendance will be State Senators Bill Ketron and Jim Tracey and La Vergne, TN Mayor, Ronnie Erwin. On the agenda are questions regarding illegal immigration, food sales tax.

If you have questions you would like answered, post them now.

This show can be heard on WGNS 1450 AM and 100.5 FM.