Economic Development Cuts Budget Request, NOT.

After it was reported on this blog last year that the Director of Economic Development was enjoying some rather lavish and very questionable benefits at taxpayer expense some County Commissioner said enough. Unfortunately they were not in the majority and after some very high promises from the Attorney and Chairperson of the Economic Development, the Legislative Body voted to restore funds that had been cut in previous meetings. Those high sounding promises were for such things as monthly expense statements and activities of the Economic Director and the promise that expenses would be looked at with an eye for cutting all waste.

To date, after speaking with a number of commissioner none have received a regular monthly accounting of expenses by check number and with the release of the newly proposed budget not only did the Economic Development Committee not cut their budget, as promised, they have increased it by well over $10,000.00. That is split between the county at $5,000.00; the city at $5,000.00 and the Electric Department at an unknown amount. Folks this is in addition to the amount they asked for and received last budget year.

There is already much talk of a property tax hike, this is in addition to the increased tax assessments most people have received with their recent tax bills. To help cover the PES share the proposal has been made to increase rates by 2.7% this year and 2% each of the next two years. (This proposed rate increase will be discussed again at the next PES Board meeting at 7AM on Tuesday 28 May at the PES offices). The current plan for the city is to do as in past years when money is needed just take it from the cash cow officially known as the Gas Department.

My question is the same as it was last year and the years before, "How can these expenses be justified".  To date, even when the Chairperson and Attorney spoke at the Legislative Meeting last year, no justifications were offered just empty promises and an attitude of this is what you get, find a way to like it.

  

What Is Proper Dress For Church?

This is a topic requested by a poster. 

This is the request, "Anonymous said... Barrett..

I have a suggestion for a thread topic. Why not a discussion of whether or not Christians should dress up to go to church? Some people say it discourages those who don't have nice clothes to wear, while others feel it is a matter of reverence for The Lord's House. Some even say those who wear coats and ties to church are creating a stumbling block to those who otherwise would repent. I tend to think those who cause trouble and strife are more the stumbling blocks.
There would be no need for name-calling or personal attacks with this one."

Sunday, May 19, 2013 8:32:00 AM

 

Is The County On The Verge Of A Major Drug War?

In light of recent events that resulted in the murder of one man and the arrest of three including the shooter one must ask are we on the verge of an open drug war. There is no question that the meth business is booming in Giles and surrounding counties but there seems also to be a very big market for other illegal drugs. Drugs are not only people destroyers they are big money makers for the seller and those involved with trying to control and prosecute the dealers.  No matter how hard law enforcement may try they will never be able to control any substance that is desired by a large number of self destructive people.
With this traffic and the money to be made taking control would make someone very wealthy, the wealth will always outweigh the negatives with some people and murder for that wealth will be just a part of doing business.

Negotiating Committee Presented Contract For School Director

The School Board met and the negotiating committee presented a three year contract for Dr. Timothy Webb at a salary of $101,00.00 per year, $94,000.00 for salary, $6,000.00 for travel and $1,000.00 for education. This salary was set by the negotiating committee and was set partly in order to comply with the state requirement that the director be the highest paid person in the school system. Currently the interim director’s salary is $94,000.00, but should drop back to the previous salary on 1 July 2013 when Dr. Webb’s contract starts.   

The troubling part of this situation is that Board members agreed before the meeting that no one from the audience would be allowed to ask questions including Commissioners. This clearly is a step backwards for the Board by holding private meetings and prohibiting public participation.

The full board will vote on the contract at its regular 5PM meeting Thursday. 

S.336 - Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 113th Congress (2013-2014)

Once again our Tennessee Senators have joined with the democrats to raise taxes on all citizens.
Senators Alexander and Corker both signed on with twenty two democrats as co-sponsors of  senate bill S.336 "Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013". While the title of this bill may sound innocuous it is far from it in reality. This bill opens the door very wide to impose sales taxes on all internet sales. Not only does it increase the burden of cost to the buyer but it also will require huge increases in cost to the seller which of course will be passed on to the buyer. With the added taxes, shipping and higher administrative costs you can say good-bye to not only better deals via the internet you can say good-bye to all transactions over the internet except with the very largest of companies.
Contact Sen. Alexander and Corker and tell them how you feel about this new tax they seek to impose on us. Then contact your Representative and ask them to vote against this destructive, repressive increase in taxes.    

Incredible Event Tonight At Murphy Center In Murfreesboro

Today is the big day, the very first Mighty Men Conference to be held in the United States will be held at 7 PM at MTSU Murphy Center. Tickets while in short supply will be available at the door.

If you are not familiar with the Mighty Men Conferences they are led by a South African Farmer, Angus Buchan whose miraculous life is told in the movie, "Faith Like Potatoes". Angus Buchan under God's blessings and power has spoken to groups numbering in the hundred thousands. The power of the simple message through this man is incredible and to miss this is a terrible loss.   

"Say It Ain't So Joe, Say It Ain't So"

Say it ain't happening right here in River City folks!

Will someone please tell me it isn't true, that the GCHS football coaches are all leaving for greener pastures but in the meantime they are drawing a full salary from Giles County for less than a full day of "teaching" as they go to their new school while having Giles County pay for substitutes for them here. Would even this School Board approve and allow such a thing to happen? Well someone approved it and are allowing it because it's happening everyday.

It seems the head coach leaves early everyday and takes at least one of the asst. coaches with him. That means they are both getting full pay even though they are doing half a days work but to rub salt in the cut, substitute teachers have to be hired to cover the classes those two coaches are missing thus adding another expense to the taxpayers. It sure seems the school system has a lot of money to throw around these days.

Did Commissioner Terry Harwell Really Have A Sex Change Or Was He Just Confused And Hungry?

Seems Commissioner Terry Harwell in a moment of sexual confusion, overwhelming hunger or an attitude of "I'm a commissioner what you gonna do about it" attended the Professional Women's Luncheon at First National Bank today.  

While distinguished businessmen of the community served lunch to the ladies in appreciation of all their hard work, there in the midst sat ole Terry, one "male" among all those ladies. The amazing thing seems to be that he seemed to fit in so well, could it have been from the years and years of intense training under the hand of a certain councilwoman?  

Local Attorney Involved In Malpractice Lawsuit, Appointed New Attorney In Condemnation Lawsuit

Local Attorney Chris Williams, who is currently battling against a malpractice lawsuit filed against him by a Lawrenceburg Doctor,  has been appointed to represent Giles County in the long delayed condemnation lawsuit for land needed at Interstate Exit 14 for a waste-water treatment plant.   

Some questions arise as to why a different attorney is needed when the county has an attorney already. This isn't the only time the county through Mrs Vanzant has reached out for the services of Mr Williams. He represented the county and Mrs Coleman in the voter fraud lawsuit I filed. The question of how he was paid and how much was never adequately answered by anyone in authority with the county. 
  

Indiana Has Nothing On Giles County When It Comes To Voter Fraud

Voter Fraud Trial May Demonstrate Obama Never Qualified In 2008

Questions will soon be answered as to whether or not Barack Hussein Obama actually qualified to be on the 2008 Presidential ballot as the trial gets underway for a former Democrat Party official and a Board of Elections worker who are accused of submitting illegitimate signatures on petitions that enabled both Obama and Hillary Clinton to qualify for the race in Indiana.

Former longtime St. Joseph County Democratic Party Chairman Butch Morgan Jr. faces multiple felony conspiracy counts to commit petition fraud, and former county Board of Elections worker Dustin Blythe is charged with nine felony forgery counts and one felony count of falsely making a petition of nomination. The proceedings began Monday in South Bend.

Morgan is accused of being the mastermind behind the plot, by allegedly ordering Democratic officials and workers to fake the names and signatures that Obama and Clinton needed to qualify for the presidential race. Blythe, then a Board of Elections employee and Democratic Party volunteer, has been accused of carrying out those orders by forging signatures on Obama’s petitions.

Two former Board of Elections officials have already pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme and could testify against Morgan and Blythe.

Former board worker Beverly Shelton, who allegedly was assigned the task of forging the petitions for Hillary Clinton, pleaded guilty in March to charges of forgery and falsely making a petition. The board’s former Democratic head of voter registration, Pam Brunette, pleaded guilty in April to felony forgery, official misconduct, and falsifying a petition.

Under state law presidential candidates must obtain 500 signatures from each of the state’s nine congressional districts. In the Second Congressional District, which is St. Joseph County, Obama’s campaign only got 534 signatures, while campaign rival Hillary Clinton got 704.

Prosecutors in the case claim that nine of the petition pages of signatures for Obama were forged. Each of the pages contain ten names which makes it possible that up to 90 names were forged. This means Barack Obama would have been ineligible (not that he isn’t ineligible on other grounds) should he fall under the legal limit required to qualify. Clinton on the other hand still had a significant amount of petition signatures to meet the threshold of 500.

One Indiana State Police investigator, who investigated the petitions, said in court papers that “selected names at random from each of the petition pages and contacted those people directly. We found at least one person (and often multiple people) from each page who confirmed that they had not signed” petitions “or given consent for their name and/or signature to appear.”

If you recall, this is the very thing that tripped up Newt Gingrich up in the Republican primaries when he failed to get on the ballot in Virginia because authorities claimed that hundreds of signatures on his campaign’s petitions were fraudulent. One campaign worker pleaded guilty and another is still facing charges.

What's The Difference Between $87,000.00 and $101,000,00 in salary????

The School Board met last night and after the regular business of the Board was conducted the issue of the new director's contract was discussed.
There were several County Commissioners in the audience, Commissioner Greene, Pope, Pollard, Harwell, Jackson and Brown. I don't think there were any others but the seating in one area was blocked from the view where I sat.
The question was raised by Commissioner Pope as to why the meeting of the Negotiating Committee was not announced in the newspaper as required. Mrs Braden stated that the information was sent to the radio station and to the newspaper and that it was announced on the radio but failed to get in the paper. She stated that she accepted the responsibility for that situation. End of the matter for most present. The Board after considerable discussion finally voted to redo the meeting in-order to comply with state law and so that there would be no appearance of wrong doing. Board Members Story and Byrant voted against this action and then resigned in protest from the Negotiating Committee, this was later followed by Mr. Greene's resignation from the committee in order for the committee to have a completely fresh start. A copy of the State Open Meetings Law was asked for by a Board member and given by Commissioner Pope.     

The second issue raised by Commissioner Pope was the matter of salary for the new Director, specifically why, since Dr. Webb had asked for a salary of $80,000.00 plus $6,000.00 for a car allowance and $1,000.00 for professional development, did the Committee insist that his salary be set at $94,000.00 plus the $6,000.00 for a car allowance and $1,000.00 for professional development?
The Committee had voted this increased salary 2 to 1 with Mr Greene casting the lone no vote.

Mr. Story and Mr Byrant both took defensive attitudes and angrily (you can watch the meeting on the PES channel and see the anger in their faces and words) stated at various times that the "money was in line with other counties", (but when asked which other counties had a first year Director the question went unanswered), "We thought he was worth it"; (the question was asked over and over as to why if he asked for a lesser amount did they insist on giving a higher amount).

It was stated and agreed to by all present that the matter had nothing to do with Dr. Webb, he had made a very generous offer, but that the problem was in a cash strapped county the amount of money the Committee had suggested was just not reasonable.

Finally it was suggested that the Board should become more familiar with the State Open Meetings Law, perhaps get a copy of the CTAS Manual used by Commissioners, since they had tried to hold secret ballots when voting for the director in the March meeting and now refused to accept the fact that adequate public notices must be given before the meeting can be legal. Mr Story even went so far as to state "we haven't been giving notices in the last five years why the big deal now".
When Mr Bryant angrily accused me of "assuming they were trying to do something illegal", I responded that I was assuming nothing only looking at the actions taken in the March meeting and the attitude displayed by some in this meeting, that they were the Board of Education and with an attitude of disregarding the law what kind of example was that setting? When Mr Byrant repeated that they had done nothing wrong, I stated that he seemed to be holding an ignorance of the law as justification for wrong behavior, he became enraged and the meeting was adjourned. Obviously Mr Byrant was still angry, claiming I had called him ignorant later as I explained that I had not used the term "ignorant" in a derogatory manner he refused to shake hands.

Ignorance -  "Having a lack of knowledge, or awareness of" 
As I tried to say to Mr Byrant the term has nothing to do with being stupid as he obviously interpreted it. 

Vandal Caught at Court House Annex

Well it seems that the county with the help of Rackley Technologies used a camera to 

catch the person who vandalized at least one vehicle in the parking lot. 

If you go to You Tube and type in "Vandal Caught with aid of Rackley 

Technologies" you can see the video of the act being committed.

A person identified as Elwin Wayne Stafford, a former employee of the county tax assessor's office, has been arrested and is free on $30,000.00 in bonds. According to the arrest report he was charged with vandalism and is due in court on 2 April 2013. 

I wonder if there will be any criticism for the use of the camera to catch the vandal as there was when I used a camera to catch a vandal? 

A New Director Of Schools Has Been Selected

Tonight the school Board met and voted on a new Director of Schools.

On the ballot to choose the top two possibilities the vote was as follows;

For Dr. Webb- Byrant, Greene, Young, Story, Glover and Ead

For Dr. Wright- Byrant and Story

For Commissioner Brown - Turner, Greene, Young and Glover

For Principal Smith - Turner and Ead

On the vote between the top two

Dr. Webb received the vote of Board Members  Byrant, Greene, Young, Story and Ead

Ms. Brown received the votes of Board Members Turner and Glover

News From The County Legislative Meeting on 18 March 2013

Listed below are the major actions taken during the County Legislative Meeting yesterday. I have not included the basic housekeeping items or those items that have no alterable effect on the citizenry.

1) The question was raised by Commissioner Cary as to how much money from the Hospital Fund was left? After approximately five minutes of discussion without  a clear answer and the question asked twice more it was finally stated by the Director, "I don't feel comfortable giving that number at this time".
The director also stated during this discussion that 93% of the property taxes for the past year have been collected. The fund balance for the county is currently about six million dollars and we still have a third of the fiscal year left.

2) Amendments to the School and County Budgets were approved without dissent.

3) Transfer of funds to the Highway Department was passed with only Commissioner Flacy voting NO.

4) The Resolution to change the Driving School cost from $130.00 to $150.00 was approved on a 19 to 2 vote. Commissioners Cary and Houston cast the NO votes.

Under Unfinished Business Commissioner Pope asked if the attorney representing the county in the property condemnation (the property at the interstate to be used for a waste water treatment system) had met her deadline to file with the court. (After several attempts to move the project forward and being hampered by the attorney failing to file the proper papers with the court the Legislative Committee met and set a deadline of 1 March for the filing ). Because this deadline was not met a motion and the commission voted unanimously to fire the attorney and hire a new one immediately.  

Under New Business, Commissioner Reedy raised the issue of the previously cancelled public meeting that had been scheduled to discuss placing SRO's (School Resource Officers) in each county school.
It was stated that the meeting had been cancelled based on the suggestion of the County Attorney. The issue is currently on hold awaiting a second State Attorney Opinion on the matter.
No public mention of a Wheel Tax was made.

Has The Fix Been Put In On Selecting A School Director?

A very interesting question has arisen after the first two applicants were interviewed for school director this morning, 

Did one applicant have access to the questions prior to the interview? 

Based on the level of comfort demonstrated by one applicant and the seemingly expectant attitude toward the next question some became suspicious. While no one seems willing to publicly question the situation at this time it certainly seems questions are being raised behind the scenes.  

I fear this whole process, from paying over $8,000.00 to folks in Nashville to search out five of the best applicants and getting only four that were selected by internet searches to making commitments to include the other local applicant then breaking that commitment, has become clouded with controversy. 

While the people of Giles County deserve much better I fear they will once again settle for less than the best because buddies and pals said it should be this way. 

Progress of Malpractice Case Against Local Attorney Williams

Depositions were taken yesterday in the malpractice suit against local Attorney Chris Williams. The suit revolves around charges by a Lawrence County doctor who sued Mr. Williams, who had been retained to represent him and apparently missed several filing dates resulting in a judgement against the Doctor. I don't expect this to fade away quietly as it has a major effect on the doctors reputation and he has the finances to follow it through.

News From The Budget Meeting Held 7 March 2013

First I must apologize for posting this so late, seems like sometimes nothing goes right as far as you trying to get something done.

1. Emergency Management: Approval was given by the committee to spend 86,703 dollars out of the Litigation Fund to purchase a natural gas run generator that would power the entire Courthouse Annex in case of a power failure. The winning bid was submitted by Blalock Plumbing and Electric.

2. A School Board amendment that had been passed by the school committee to transfer funds within the school budget was approved by the committee.

3. After much discussion about the driving school and the request for an additional $5,000.00 from Judge Damron to pay a secretary through June, approval was given to raise the price of a speeding ticket from $130.00 to $150.00 and use that increase to pay for the driving school and secretary with the remainder going into the general fund. The vote was Commissioners Beech, Cary, Adams, Pollard and Jackson voting yes. No votes were cast by Commissioners Houston and Coleman.

4.  A report was given by the County Executive on the comparison of hiring a Janitorial Service as opposed to having the current system of county employed custodians to clean the Courthouse and Annex.

The Janitorial services would provide a nightly cleaning service by a staff of fully bonded and insured personnel. All cleaning supplies would be provided by the service and there would be one staff person available each day from open to close for any emergency cleaning. This service had an excellent reputation within their four state service area where they have satisfactory contracts with banks, credit unions, high security areas at Redstone Arsenal among other areas. The cost of this service would be $78,235.68 a year.
Currently it cost the county $134,330.21 plus over $6,000.00 for supplies. This would mean over fifty thousand dollars a year in savings to the county.
Current janitorial employees would lose their jobs and it's unsure if they would be rehired by the new Service Company. A Maintenance Person would still have to be hired but that cost was not included in the $134,330.21.  

5. Tennessee Services Loan Pool had a representative present information about refinancing a current bond that would drop the rate from 3.5% to 1.71% this would result in a savings of approximately $15,000.00 a year for the life of the bond. There would be a closing cost on this change of approx. $1,560.00 and would be rolled into the loan.

6. Payment to City for Airport Expense. There was much discussion and dissatisfaction among those present involving the interlocal agreement for the airport, the main contention being the idea that the county is required to pay half the expense but has no input in its operations. It was expressed that the only involvement the county has with the airport is getting a bill with no explanation other than to say pay it. This year the county's part of the bill is $43,609.00 up from $39,400.00 last year, no explanation or itemization included.
Motion to re-examine the airport agreement and to not pay at this time was approved.

7. Discussion was held about the sales taxes being up this year but the county was not getting their share because the increased rate goes to Sam Davis Park. Dissatisfaction was expressed that neither the Commission nor Executive knew how much was being paid on the note for Sam Davis Park, with the main question being whether the city is paying the total amount of the designated sales tax each month or simply making a set payment  and putting the rest in their general fund.

NEW BUSINESS:
Much discussion was held without decision about placing SRO's in each school at an approximate cost of $280,000.00 a year. Emotion dominated the discussion and reason was mostly ignored. Commissioner Reedy presented a Resolution to fund the SRO's at $280,000.00 a year. The Chairman stated that the Resolution was so poorly worded that it could not be adopted by the County Legislative Body and as presented have any legality. There is nothing in the written resolution describing where the money might come from but it was verbally stated a Wheel Tax would be the means. The resolution was withdrawn to possibly be re-written and presented at the March Legislative Body Meeting.
One huge flaw by itself will bury this Resolution.

OLD BUSINESS:
The County Attorney was not present and therefore no one knew if the attorney had filed the proper paperwork, as required, to proceed with actions on the Waste Treatment project at the interstate.  

Wheel Tax To Be Proposed In The March County Legislative Meeting

Well, the state has spoken and as expected the county can not directly fund the SRO program nor can they simply give additional money to the school system with directions to use it on the SRO program.

Keep in mind that putting an SRO officer in each school will not do anything to actually prevent a tragic situation taking place in those schools. The second thing to consider is that neither the County nor the School System has the money to provide these extra officers.

So comes the solution to be presented by Commissioners Campbell and Reedy who plan to introduce a Wheel Tax proposal at the March County Legislative meeting.

For those who fail to remember, the lion’s portion of the last large property tax increase went to the school system for the “desperately needed” replacements of “dangerous” buses. The money was spent elsewhere.  The School System declared the building being used as an administration hub to be unfit and condemned, money was given to build a new administration building and suddenly the old building wasn’t so dangerous and is still being used.  The last time the school system asked for a big influx of extra funds was for a major maintenance program; the money was given and quickly spent elsewhere. The Special Education program has wasted a huge amount of money on personal expenses including transportation to and from work for the instructors, check the last state audit.

Want more money for the school system cut out the “daycare program” called kindergarten which has been shown by every study done to have no value past the third grade.

Millions of dollars mis-spent, moved around until it disappeared, funneled into insurance scams, or used for personal benefits, whatever the results are very clear….. The School System, until it can prove to be more responsible with the funds they have, do not deserve any additional funds regardless of the reason and they especially do not need more funding for another failed program. 

The Folks In Nashville Have Spoken And We Have Four Official Candidates For Director Of Schools!

Four names were given to the School Board tonight to be voted on at some later date for Director of Schools. There is scheduled a work session for the School Board set for 26 February at 4:15PM to discuss and formulate procedures for conducting the interviews.
A later date will be set f or the public interview sessions. 
The recommended candidates are:

1) Ms. Rose Brown,  currently employed with the school system and serving as a County Commissioner.

2) Dr. Philip Wright,  currently principal at Spring Hill Middle School

3) Mr. J.B. Smith,  currently principal at Bridgefort Middle School

4) Dr. Tim Webb,  currently principal at Richland High School  

When Is Blackmail Not Blackmail?

Here's the situation you decide what to call it.
When the county budget was made and approved it was decided that an additional $5,000.00 for a new secretary's position would not be funded. Now some seven months later the person in charge of that office says that unless you give him the five thousand dollars he wants he is going to do something that will cost the county over sixty thousand dollars.

Now that may sound very petty and like a threat from an immature child but it comes from an elected county judge. The message was presented to the Budget Committee this week by a spokesperson for the judge. I quote the spokesperson, "If the judge don't get the money for his secretary, he's going to close down the drivers school".  

From the Budget Meeting on 10 January 2013

1. Approved a $7,.900.00 pay increase to $52,000.00 a year for the Emergency Management Director. See next threat topic for more details.

2. Approved expenditure of $86,160.00 to purchase a generator for the Emergency Management Department.

3. Turned down a request from Judge Damron for a full time secretary.

4. Approved Mrs Greene's request to spend $100,000.00 of her funds for a completely new computer/software system for the Circuit Court Office. This system will also require an annual expense of $16,000.00 for maintenance agreements which is a reduction of about $8,000.00 from the current agreement.

5. It was reported that the weight station has brought into the general fund of the county approximately $10,000.00 a month average since it opened.

6. Approval was given to spend $89,000.00 to build a new road extension at Tunnel Hill with work scheduled to begin in the spring with better weather. Several property owners were in attendance who have committed to sell the right of way for the same amounts they originally paid for the property, this was considered to be practically a gift and made the project possible.

7. Approval was given to seek an amendment that would change the wording of a private act to allow Motel/Hotel taxes to be used for all county buildings instead of just the courthouse and jail.

8. Much time was spent on an explanation of benefits to be gained from paying off an eight million dollar bond in February. After this is paid there will be approximately five million left from what was once considered the "Hospital Money". The remainder is now a part of the genera fund and considered as the fund balance.

9. The matter of what happened to the million dollars that was missing from the budget was explained. It was explained that it wasn't a million dollars it was only $975,000.00 and after several ambiguous responses to why the money was not in the budget to begin with, it was finally stated "it was an error"

One thing I'll add about this meeting. I have attended probably more meetings that most citizens and even commissioners and this was the most professional, well run meeting I have attended. Commissioner Jackson as chair, allowed questions and uninterrupted discussion of issues. Mrs Moore and her assistant provided answers to every question without having to check with the County Executive, their knowledge and openness was not only refreshing it was plain impressive. While I certainly don't agree with all that was done, I do  congratulate everyone involved with this meeting.      

When You Get Caught With Your Hand In The Cookie Jar What Do You Do?

The question is when you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar what do you do? Well, in Giles County it seems you just change the name of the jar from cookie jar to mayonnaise jar and nobody cares.

When citizens began questioning the huge amounts of overtime pay being given to the Emergency Management Director, as being inappropriate for a salaried department supervisor/head, something had to be done especially as the outrage grew and was highlighted in the last audit.

In the budget meeting on 10 Jan 2013 something was done by orders of the County Executive. According to Mrs Vanzant the whole problem existed because Mr. Whitt had never "officially" been titled as the head of a department. Understand, Mr. Whitt has little if anything to do with what he's identified as and I certainly do not fault him with taking money that is legally offered to him. The problem is that the County Executive has recognized Mr. Whitt on numerous occasions as head of the department, including allowing him to speak at Commissioner meetings without a suspension of the rules, in keeping with the rule of allowing elected department heads to speak.

Mr Whitt isn't elected, he is appointed by Mrs Vanzant and supervised, before yesterdays meeting and is supervised by her now. She sets his salary, since the commission is unwilling to buck her for what ever the reasons So yesterday Mr Witt was officially named a department head and given a $7,900.00 pay raise to $52,000.00 a year. Not bad for a position that just a few years ago was a volunteer position without pay or any assistants.

The question I must ask is what difference does it make what you call a person if you give them a raise equal to their overtime then say he can't get overtime anymore? Will this make a difference in his retirement that the county will have to contribute to for the rest of his life? Are other county employees being treated fairly when one gets such a large raise and they get nothing?  Cookie jar or Mayonnaise jar?
         

School Safety Issues

On 15 January at 11:30 in the Courthouse Annex the County Legislative Committee on Law Enforcement will meet to discuss school safety. This meeting is advertised as an opportunity for the community to discuss the various needs and concerns for increased school safety.

Proposals that have been discussed at different levels across the county and the nation include such things as placing armed guards at each school; creating new SRO positions for each school; allowing teachers to be trained and allowed to go armed during school; increased electronic surveillance; securing all exits directly from a classroom to the outside; etc, etc.

What are some of your concerns and ideas for this discussion?

Head Custodian To Retire

The news that Roger Strickland will retire in February has caused at least one commissioner to start salivating at the idea of moving out of the Financial Management Office and into Mr. Strickland's "office".
   
Apparently the job qualifications are being upgraded for any replacement.

I have been bombarded with questions of ,"how can Mr. Strickland retire when he is only 64 unless he is another county employee benefiting from the very generous disability system". I don't know the answer, I don't know how old he is or what his health is. I do know that he apparently feels healthy and able enough to make physical threats against people who question his personal use of county property.

Hope your retirement is all you hope it will be.

Special Called Meeting Of The County Legislative Body

This morning's called Legislative Meeting was very revealing in the way business continues to be done under the leadership or more accurately the misleading by the county executive.

The meeting was scheduled to start at 9 AM. It actually started sixteen minutes late. The reason it was not started on time was that a commissioner who was supporting Mrs Greene was running late. The County Executive announced that Commissioner Beech would be late because he could not find a parking place. I was one of the last people who arrived at the courthouse and walked in with two minutes to spare and there were a large number of parking spaces around and just off the square. The County Executive as is her custom was once again a little loose with the truth. Finally Commissioner Beech arrived at sixteen after nine, the meeting was called to order and immediately after the opening prayer and Pledge of Allegiance the vote was taken on filling the vacant commission position.

A second inconsistency that took place was in combining a public hearing with the special called meeting. Some may remember that only a few months ago I had requested to speak on a subject that had been published as the reason for a called meeting. I was denied the opportunity by the county executive who used a totally perverted  interpretation of the rules to say that nothing could be discussed at a special called meeting. This morning not only was that fictitious rule ignored but she combined an unannounced public hearing about allowing a retail alcohol package store to be set up in the county with a special called meeting. Nothing had been previously announced about a public hearing, but that didn't keep the boss from having her way, regardless of state requirements. Retail Alcohol Stores are strictly prohibited outside city limits by state law but apparently in Giles County if you call a duck a horse you can ride it.

TennSouth was authorized a Certificate of Compliance for the retail sale of alcohol. This was and could have been done by the County executive without approval of the commission but  apparently the County Executive wanted some political cover for her decision to expand the sale of alcohol.

The Commission also approved the economic Impact Plan for "BRE's PLACE" at Giles Center.

New Commissioner Appointed And Sworn In

Congratulations to Mrs. Melissa Greene who was appointed to fill the vacant commission seat in the 5th District. Most will remember that the seat became vacant after long time Commissioner Bill Holt moved out of the district.
Today's vote resulted in ten commissioner votes for Mrs Greene and ten for Mr Doggett the other highly qualified candidate. The tie was broken by Mrs Vanzant who cast the deciding vote in favor of Mrs. Greene.

Mrs. Greene, after being sworn in, was placed on four committees by her 5th district colleagues. She replaced Commissioner Pollard on the Highway Committee, and Commissioner Howell  on the Environmental, Insurance and Public Service Committees.

Garbage Rates To Increase?

Well, it seems, according to the newspaper, that consideration is being given to the idea of raising the collection rates for garbage.  As one of the more efficient operations run by local governments I commend those responsible for the collection of garbage.

To raise the price at this time seems a very painful burden to impose on city residents and businesses.

With Obamacare about to take more from the pockets of citizens, increasing medicare with-holdings  increasing food prices and the true cost of living increasing almost daily those on fixed incomes are being asked to pay even more so others can have wages that will allow for a better lifestyle and new unneeded equipment can be purchased. 

What’s a few cents added to each customer, we are asked. Well, I agree it may not be much but then what is a few cents added to a gallon of gas? Is the money really needed by the city, I think not and here is my reasoning.

First, why is there a need to go to a completely new system when the one we have is working just fine. The cost of continuing the current system with the current machinery cannot begin to compare with the total cost of a new system requiring new trucks and new polycarts.  The only real benefit mentioned for this change would be to do away with a job in garbage collection. Now that is really something we should embrace doing away with more jobs during such high unemployment.  Many of our seniors have trouble handling the current carts and to get even bigger more awkward ones will only add to existing problems they experience.   It seems unreasonable to me, that city residents are currently paying county taxes that provide for the pick up of dead animals from around the county at no charge. While the two, county and city residents, are very different in many ways one thing they share is the dwindling population and lack of income.  

If the report in the paper is correct then there are many questions that arise about the cost. At one point it is reported that it will cost $55,000  a year for eight years which adds up to about $440,000 but later in the report it is stated that $750,000 in capital outlay notes will be needed to purchase the equipment. With interest that will be over a million dollars. So is it half a million or over a million that it will cost? Is this another case of being sold a brown milk cow only to get it home and find it’s actually a white goat.

How much does the city pay PES to handle its billing? I’ve been told over $30,000 a month, if that is correct, why? If it’s incorrect then give the correct amount. Could there not be a large savings to the taxpayer if the city handled this task. Is it true that the city under the former mayor made this deal to prop up PES when they were about to go bankrupt?

The third thing MTAS, Municipal Technical Advisory Service, recommends this change. Well, please excuse me if I cringe. MTAS is nothing but a twin of CTAS, and both are nothing more than the dummy for the cities and counties ventriloquists.  They provide a buffer between the people and the politicians allowing the local politicians to claim innocence on most all spending as the fault of either MTAS or CTAS. Neither MTAS nor CTAS are accountable to the people so they are the perfect foil to hid behind, they are asked to provide cover for the wants of local politicians who fear not being re-elected.

Contact your Alderman and ask them to vote down this unneeded expense and spare their constituents this added burden.

Time To Start Work On A New County Charter

After having spoken with a number of folks who are suffering from voters regret, it may be time to break the malaise created from the defeat of the Charter and election of the Chicago thug and start work on a new Charter.
After the behavior and decisions  of some in leadership positions it's easier to become re-energized to the idea of creating a new Charter. Certainly the wild spending that has taken place with the hospital funds being depleted to non existence, money disappearing, bills and personnel not being paid, and no one willing to take responsibility to fix the problems this should be a prime time to get a Charter passed. Especially now that we know to what lengths the opposition is willing to go. Much was learned from the last effort that encourages for the next effort.
I'll have more to say on this subject in the near future.  In the mean time think about and consider what role you would be willing to consider in the monumental effort.

Why Have So Many Self Identified Christians Become So Envious Of Other People And Their Wealth?

The dictionary defines envy as "a painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage".

It seems that once upon a time people had a strong sense that if you wanted something you should work for it. Today it seems that the prevailing idea is if you want something you should just be given it.
Today those we consider to be rich are envied, despised and looked upon as somehow being responsible for our own personal failings. It's unfair for some to have more than me has become the prevailing mantra. What is fair? Is it fair that some have cancer and others don't? Is it fair that some can throw a football better than others? There is so much that we whine about as being unfair, but the truth is what we define as unfair for the most part is focused on what we don't have. Basically if a person has a million dollars they could feel justified in considering it unfair that someone else has ten million.

Should a person who practices self-discipline and sacrifices many instant gratifications for their long term goals be punished for having reached those goals. Does the person who spends extra time studying to pass a test deserve to have his grade held down so the guy who spent the night drinking beer wouldn't feel a loss of self esteem? Does the guy sitting on the the couch watching TV really deserve the same considerations and benefits as the guy out in the cold working every day? Should a person be rewarded for having a baby out of wedlock or for refusing to take a job they considered beneath them? Is it fair to take by force from one who has earned and give to one who refuses to earn?

Does the proverbial couch-potato who is content to avoid every learning opportunity, for easy entertainment really deserve the same rewards as the person who worked, saved and invested their money, time and sweat and becomes financially successful?

What is it that seems to make Christians especially, so envious, so angry toward those they perceive to be wealthy? When I was much younger working for $.50 an hour I thought my boss was wealthy until I found out how much he owed on the store and what his obligations where in meeting his payroll each week and maintaining his stock. In reality based on the time he spent with the store business he wasn't really making that much more than me. It was also enlightening to learn he had started in the grocery business the same way I was. Instead of being envious It was inspiring. I never thought of taking what he had but to become more like him.

The nation seems to have become more and more divided and especially of with all the rhetoric and demands that the rich give more to support the government. This division has been perpetrated by a president, that has seen his own wealth increase millions of dollars in the past four years, and other politicians
who stir racial and economic unrest for personal benefits.

It is amazing to me that in this country even the poorest have lifestyles far and away above many considered to be middle class in other countries. Today one of the great concerns the government has for those they consider to be poor is the fact that so many are overweight. Around the world people are dying from hunger but our big concern is the poor eating to much. How weird is that?

Does the person with a hundred million dollars really live millions of times better than the person who only makes a minimum wage?  Both have cars, maybe one isn't as exotic as the other but they both allow travel in comfort. One may have a bigger house than the other but both have the same heat, air conditioning, running water, bathrooms, appliances etc, to make their life more comfortable. Certainly there are differences but certainly not a million times better.

The Bible makes it very clear, envy that becomes resentment is a bad thing. The Bible also teaches that while contentment is desirous it must not become a substitute for laziness.

Bias In Local Reporting?

It seems that the Tennessee regulatory Board recently sent out a press release to all the news media in the state. This report identified businesses that were found in violation of state rules and regulations or laws.
WKSR appropriately posted some of those companies mostly those in other counties but one in Giles County, a business that failed to get a business license was fined $250.00. What was significantly left out of WKSR's report was the fact that Commissioner Tommy Campbell, doing business as a surveyor, was find $2,000.00 for unspecified violations.

Was this just an oversight or could it be that an attempt to protect yet another commissioner from public scrutiny? The only way it could have been an innocent mistake it seems would have been for the station personnel to have failed to read the release, but if they failed to read the press release how did they manage to identify the other violators?

When will the news be reported fully and without reservation for those favored in political positions?

Big Changes In Local Law Firm!

Well, it seems some big changes are taking place in a local law firm that has gone unreported in the local media. The law offices of Harwell, Plant and Williams is now Williams only. Seems between an ugly divorce and huge law suit filed against Mr Williams for unprofessional representation, Mr. Williams and Mrs Vicky are now on their own.

Why Are Some Teachers Treated With Special Benefits And Luxuries While Others Struggle To Make Do?

Audit Finding 12.06

Four individuals were paid as Contracted Services Providers instead of employees of the school system. Two of these employees had been treated as school employees the previous year. This was done "so that their salaries would not be restricted by the departments employee salary schedule". Basically by being treated as contracted providers they were allowed to receive a much higher salary than was authorized.

In addition to this inappropriate action there were "IPads were purchased, equipped with phone service, and given to three individuals and the monthly bills were paid from General Purpose School Funds". "Additionally the school department sent these individuals to a Special Education Seminar paying for mileage, meals, lodging and wages for a normal 8 hour work day for days spent at the seminar. They should have been paid as employees with deductions for Federal Withholding"

 "Time sheets for the above noted individuals consistently reflected 8 hour work schedules with no provisions for lunch. It appears they were paid regular wages during lunch hour each day."

"The Supervisor's signature on the above time sheets authorizing payment appears to have been made by a rubber signature stamp. Additionally several weekly time sheets submitted were copies of prior weeks time sheets with the dates marked through and changed".

The abuse and incompetence that has been revealed in this audit makes it abundantly clear this director is woefully unqualified to hold this position, yet not only have they not been removed they have not even received a written reprimand. Is it any wonder the school system's financial house is an absolute chaotic mess. Teachers treated unequally, money misused, time sheets inappropriately submitted and accepted, where are those charged with preventing such things?    

Where The Missing School Money Went?

While there are still many questions about where the "missing" money from the school budget went a clue can be found in the audit finding 12.11

In this finding it is revealed that purchases were made without going through the County Purchasing Agent or the Financial management Office. This is an action in direct violation of Section 49-2-110 of the Tennessee Code Annotated.

In simple terms the school system issued credit cards to at least one employee, the Special Education Director seems to be the only one identified so far, and that person simply went on a shopping trip without getting prior approval, submitting purchase requests or any regard for state law.

How much money was spent on those purchases, what type purchases were made, were they work related or for personal use? At this time no one has been willing to even address this issue, in fact some have even denied that it happened but the facts are there in black and white and so far as I have been able to determine there hasn't even been a reprimand issued and certainly no money has been paid back. These violations are worthy of a minimum written reprimand and possibly termination from the school system.

I believe, the County Commission through the School Committee, the Ethics Committee and the School Board has an obligation to investigate this issue and inform the people who pay the taxes what the situation is. Silence is not an option anymore than ignorance is a defense.

Not All Thieves Uses Guns And Knives

 The word "steal" as a transitive verb means to take or appropriate without right or leave and with intent to keep or make use of wrongfully. 

These are some of the findings from the State Audit ending 30 June 2012, and are found under Finding 12.09 "Questioned Cost In Use Of Federal Special Education Funds". 

The full Audit can be found on the State Comptroller's sight, I have condensed this finding to simple terms for easy understanding. You decide if a thief was involved and allowed to be gotten away with. You decide how this could be viewed in any reasonable way as anything other that outright fraud.

14 Feb. through 17 Feb. 2012  the Director of Special Education, two special education employees and two contracted services providers attended a seminar at the Opryland Hotel.

Travel expenses of all participants including mileage and lodging were reimbursed from federal Funds. Circular A-87 describes costs which are allowable, reasonable and necessary.

The following are cost that were deemed questionable.

A) The travel expenses for the two purported contracted services providers, $99.00 mileage, $305.00 meals, $682.00 lodging "were inappropriately paid".  Contracted services providers are not eligible to receive payments for travel or lodging or wages for services not contracted for. 

B) Five rooms were obtained at the Opryland hotel four at a cost of $137.00 each per day while the Director's room cost $202.00 per night. "The additional cost of $195.00 of the director's room  is questioned". Other than simple arrogance what reason would there be for the Director to take a room costing almost $70.00 a night more than the other participants with her?

C) Meals charged to a school credit card included one breakfast at $25.00. and Dinner for five on 15 Feb. at a cost of $381.00 plus $65.00 tip. Folks that averages out to be over $75.00 each for one meal almost $90.00 each including tip. Now, I have eaten at the Opryland Hotel and while it is expensive it would take several bottles of wine or a large number of mixed drinks to push one meal above $75.00. Apparently spending other people's money comes very easy for some.

D) The Special Education Director requested reimbursement for travel to Nashville for which she was paid twice for it.

A Special Education employee requested and received payments that exceeded receipts submitted.

E) There were "numerous instances where the Special Education Director and employees claimed mileage reimbursements for travel to and from home".  With regular classroom teachers having to pay for some classroom supplies out of their own pockets, it must be nice to collect mileage of over $.45 a mile for coming to work and going home. 

F) Some personnel were reimbursed for mileage at the rate of $.46 while others were reimbursed at the rate of $.47 and even $.52 a mile. 

These are just the items found in procedural audit under one finding. Had the audit actually been comprehensive as requested by commissioners and citizens what would have been revealed. I believe a comprehensive audit would show massive violations and missing funds but we may never know because the ones who are most apt to be the violators are also the ones who determine what kind of audit is done.

  

Article on Ambulance Service Raises Questions

After reading the 30 October article in the “Pulaski Citizen” several questions come to mind.

Why are calls where no treatment is rendered free? It has become common knowledge that many times people will call, sometimes the same people over and over, an ambulance to be taken to the doctor or hospital instead of a taxi or a family member or friend. People are being given these “free” rides at a very high cost to tax payers.  Regardless of whether treatment is rendered or not doesn’t it cost the same to operate the ambulance, don’t the same driver and the same paramedic have to be present for a free ride as with a $13.50 a mile trip?

According to the article “rate increases are targeted at getting higher insurance reimbursements”. Now, the question is for whom are these increases to benefit, the Medical Billing Company in Kentucky or the local citizens who continue to struggle under the burden of a sloppily run ambulance service?

It’s stated that “with this increase the ambulance service could move closer to breaking even on its annual $2.1 million budget”. This sentence followed, “with the increase we could go up to $1.6 million”. Hummm, a 2.1 million budget and a $1.6 million increase would only bring us closer to breaking even, based on that statement alone the ambulance service lost more that $1.6 and closer to two million dollars last year. 

What amount of this loss was actually profit for the Kentucky collection agency?  How much was lost through mismanagement, the audit already revealed considerable mismanagement due to not following the law and bidding out jobs properly.

Another huge problem revealed in this article was the fact the Director Roy Griggs is seeking what amounts to a county wide monopoly for the ambulance service. In other words if you need an ambulance you will use this county’s ambulance or nothing. This will certainly have an impact on those who live near our borders and go to Athens or other hospitals for treatment. Consider the cost of having an ambulance from Pulaski pick up a patient in Prospect or Minor Hill and take them to Hillside as opposed to calling an ambulance from Alabama and going to Athens. At $13.50 a mile just a couple of trips to Minor Hill and back would buy a new ambulance.

Finally we come to coverage of special events. As I read the article there has been and continues to be no charge for coverage of special events.   Why? Do the schools not make enough on gate receipts to cover the cost of an ambulance and crew standing by? While it’s stated that “off duty” personnel are being used does that mean that those persons are not being paid and does that not open the door for liability to the county for an off duty person being hurt? If they are being paid then how is it that they are off-duty? Is it even necessary to have an ambulance standing by during all events?

Election Day Tuesday 6 November

One Of Giles County's Most Active Voting Districts!

The Giles County EMA Maze

Have you ever had one of those times when you just looked at a thing and said that’s just hard to believe and then you take a closer look and find it’s not only hard to believe it’s just plain bizarre.

That’s the reaction I had to the idea that a salaried employee with the county was receiving overtime pay equaled to about half his salary. That was the hard to believe part, and then I got into the plain bizarre part.

A few years ago there was a man who, as an unpaid volunteer, served as the Emergency Management Director. Today the budget for the Emergency Management Office is over $377,000.00 dollars that includes a Director’s salary of $42,000.00 a year, an assistant at $29,960.00 and $21,000.00 for overtime. The overtime is enough for 13.5 hours a week for the full 52 week year. I’m not sure how the overtime was split but according to the 2012 state audit it was about half and half which means each person worked an average of almost seven hours each week or 47 hours but according to the audit there was no time sheets that reflected any overtime. Also according to the audit those time sheets have now been corrected to show those overtime hours.  I don’t know of any businesses where a person would be allowed to go back a full year and add 700 hours of undocumented overtime.

According to the audit there was also a federal grant that is to run from 28 March 2011 to 27 March 2014. This grant was made up of $89,880.00 from the federal government, $14,980.00 from the state government and $14,980.00 from the county government for a total of $119,840.00. Within this amount $46,800.00 was designated for the EMA Director and $39,000.00 for the Asst. Director to be paid at the rate of $30.00 and $25.00 an hour respectively.  During this fiscal year the Director received $31,200.00 and the Asst. Director received $26,000.00 not one hour was documented according to the state audit.

In order to justify these overtime and grant hours in addition to the regular 40 hour work week it would also require a minimum 14 hours a week for the overtime and 20.8 hours a week on the federal grant for a minimum of 74 hours of work each week. This tabulation does include two weeks a year for vacation time but does not include time for sick leave or holiday time which equals out.

Now if you consider that the overtime was divided equally that would mean the Director was paid a total of $83,700.00 and his assistant received $66,460.00 for the fiscal year 2011-2012.

From The Washington Times by James S. Robbins

“Sec. Of Defense Leon Panetta stated, "(The) basic principle is that you don't deploy forces into harm's way without knowing what's going on; without having some real-time information about what's taking place," Panetta told Pentagon reporters. "And as a result of not having that kind of information, the commander who was on the ground in that area, Gen. Ham, Gen. Dempsey and I felt very strongly that we could not put forces at risk in that situation."

The information I heard today was that General Ham as head of Africom received the same e-mails the White House received requesting help/support as the attack (in Benghazi) was taking place. General Ham immediately had a rapid response unit ready and communicated to the Pentagon that he had a unit ready.

General Ham then received the order to stand down. His response was to screw it, he was going to help anyhow. Within 30 seconds to a minute after making the move to respond, his second in command (Gen. Rodriguez  apprehended General Ham and told him that he was now relieved of his command.

General Rodriquez has been named to replace General Ham as the head of Africom

These events contradict  Mr. Panetta’s October 25 statement that General Ham advised against intervention. But so far there is nothing solid to back it up. Maybe Ham attempted to send a reaction force against orders, or maybe he simply said the wrong thing to the wrong people. Perhaps he gave whomever he was talking to up the chain a piece of his mind about leaving Americans to die when there was a chance of saving them. At the very least U.S. forces might have made those who killed our people pay while they were still on the scene. The Obama White House is famously vindictive against perceived disloyalty – the administration would not let Ham get away with scolding them for failing to show the leadership necessary to save American lives. The Army's ethos is to leave no man behind, but that is not shared by a president accustomed to leading from that location.

The question remains why the repeated requests – which is to say desperate pleas – to send a relief force were refused. Perhaps Mr. Obama and his national security brain trust thought the terrorist assault would be a minor skirmish and quickly blow over. When it became clear that the attack was something more serious, they may have had visions of the rescue team getting involved in a Mogadishu-like firefight, a “Blackhawk Down 2.” This would have been too much for the risk-averse Mr. Obama, particularly in a Muslim country, and less than two months before the election. Instead they simply watched the live video hoped for the best. If there were American fatalities, they felt they could shift blame for the circumstance to the supposed Youtube video which they had already blamed for the riot at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo hours earlier. In fact the Embassy had sent out its “apology” tweets even before the Cairo riot commenced."

This has become the most outrageous display of incompetency, dereliction of duty, deceit and outright abandonment of American Forces since Robert McNamara betrayed the American people in Viet Nam.

This president and his keystone cop menagerie have betrayed this country and every citizen. They are obsessed with vindictiveness and totally void of integrity and honor.   

From The Audit Ending 30 June 2012

Well, the audit is finally out and while it only touches on procedures it still is a humdinger of excesses, incompetency, and outright fraud.

I cannot post the  large amount of information at this time as it cannot be downloaded or copied and pasted, I am having to write the information in long hand then type it. Anyone can read the Audit by simply going to the Tennessee Comptroller then clicking on the 2012 audit for Giles County.

These are the highlights as stated in the audit

1.     

  Some general ledger payroll liability accounts were not accounted for properly.

2.    

   Competitive bids were not solicited for tires purchased for the Ambulance Service.

(I find it most interesting that the Ambulance Service spent almost as much on tires and tubes $12,087.00 as did the School Transportation System $20,330.00 and over twice the amount as the Sheriff’s Department  $5,118.00 !!!!!     The Ambulance Service also spent $10,377.00 on lubricants while the School Transportation spent only $6,371.00!!!!! Doesn't the School system have at least twice the vehicles as the ambulance service and aren't those big bus tires am lot more expensive and those on an ambulance or car)

3.   

    Time records were not maintained to document payroll expenditures reimbursed by a Federal Grant.   

This is the specifics of this deficiency as stated by the auditor. Both the EMA director and Assistant Director prepared biweekly timesheets documenting hours spent on their regular duties. However these time sheets did not account for hours spent working on the Grant. Each employee received a payroll check for the time recorded on their time sheet and an additional payroll check for 40 hours bi-weekly at the rate of $30.00 an hour for the Director and $25.00 per hour for the Asst. Director or a total of $31,200.00 for the Director and $26,000.00 to the Asst. Director for the year 2011-2012 budget year.  

Don’t be concerned the matter has been taken care of with this official response from the County Executive, “Both employees have RECEIVED TRAINING IN THE PROPER WAY TO REPORT THE HOURS they work. Time sheets have been REVISED to show the hours they worked.”

Does this mean they have been taught how to record bogus work hours without getting caught and if they do get caught she will cover for them by revising their errors?

4.Deficiencies were reported in both Budget operations and Payroll procedures.

5. The General Purpose School Funds Actual Beginning fund balance was $3,678,925.00 as of 1 July 2011 but the amount reported to the County Commission at that time was only $1,923,217.00 a mere difference of $1,755,708.00.

I don’t suppose this should be called a lie since that is a harsh word that upsets the gentile constitutions of some, so what should it be called.

Mrs Garner has paid a very high price for her part in this fiasco of incompetent, laziness and fraud when will the others who were just as deeply, if not more, be forced to pay for their parts.

 There will be more to come next week. 

You Tube Videos Reveal The Real Vicky Hastings Harwell.

 Bob Hughes said...

Dear Citizens of Pulaski,
Sorry I did not get this posted as promised over the weekend. The area I am in does not have a reliable internet connection with enough bandwidth for upload of videos. My apologies as I stated I would have it up over the weekend. All citizens of Pulaski and Giles County need to view these videos before voting. So please help with sharing these videos with your friends and social networks. There are 3 parts to this video. 2 are complete at present. The longest part of the video is part 2 which contains the complete interview by the police of Council Member Vicky Harwell during her interview by local police as she tries to defame me further, and her accusal of me physically attacking her, as well as her denial of Commissioner Harwell continuing his assault by throwing water on me during the incident at the Chili Cook Off. You have to see this video when it completes uploading later today.

Part 1 is ready: http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5ICZdU_i4g&feature=youtu.be.youtube.com/watch?


part 2 will be available for viewing when finished uploading Vicky's interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw6bOgkeQVc&feature=youtu.be    


Part 3 is ready: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6suJNsKmbJc&feature=youtu.be    


Sincerely,

Bob Hughes

Problem Posting And Sending E-Mails

To the Concerned Citizen who sent me an e-mail requesting it be posted to the Blog.
I am very sorry but I have not received any e-mail but the one where you asked me to post an earlier one. I have been having some issues with my e-mails for over a month now, some comes through but I can't send any out.
I'm sorry that you have been having a problem posting to the blog I have no idea what the problem is but then I don't know a lot about programs.

Read more »

Say It Ain't So!!!!!!!

Even here surrounded by the warm waters of Orange Beach and it's beautiful sunshine and 80 plus degree temperatures people are asking, has there been a new person hired in the Giles County Financial Management Office to serve as assistant director?
The word is circulating that Mrs Melissa White wife of the state auditor that just completed the audit of the county finances has been hired as Assistant Director of the Financial Management Office. Is this, could it even be true? I have not been in town to confirm this yet, but it comes from very reliable sources. Did anyone see an advertisement for this position?

This also comes as part of the report of current events in the Financial Management Department. Commissioner Jackson was elected to be the chairman of the committee over the County Director who then refused to serve as the Vice-Chair.

If this report is accurate then how can there be no questions of conflicts, pay offs and just plain corruption of the system?

What's Happening With The School Board?

Well, looks like the school board is determined to pay the Tennessee School Board Association $10,000.00  to find a new Director of Schools for them. This reportedly comes after more broken commitments to locals about the replacement.

Mrs Braden is currently serving as interim director in violation of current residency requirements. While I have no problem with Mrs Braden's ability to serve as interim director I certainly question the decision that placed her in that position while she is not a resident of this county. When she was recommended and that recommendation was challenged by another board member because she does not live in the county, Board Chairman Mike Young made the statement well, "you could throw a rock from this county to where she lives". That may be so, but unfortunately the distance is so great you can not throw a sack of property tax money from her house to this county.  Why go through that mess again when the requirements are for the director to be a resident of the county, oh well, it's just a rule.

The bigger question is why was Mr JB Smith offered the job of director with the commitment from the school board that if he did well after six months he would become the new Director? Why would the school board pay $10,000.00 of Giles County tax dollars to a Nashville group to send someone, with more connections to Nashville than to Giles County, down here to be the school director when highly qualified and proven people in the system now could do a more than adequate job? Could it be that with his long success as a principal at one of the tougher schools in the county Mr. Smith just has his priorities in the wrong place? With a history of more emphasis placed on academics than sports has Mr. Smith simply placed himself outside of consideration? It's been reported that the "coaches", one in particular, wants some one as dedicated to sports as was Mr. Jackson, that would be a huge mistake. While I love the competition of athletics I desire an educated populace much more.
It is past time for the school board and the school system to get their priorities straight and create a school system that is both disciplined and productive. I believe that much of the frustration experienced by teachers,  and in part the reason for such excessive absenteeism among teachers, is a lack of strong supportive leadership and this conflict of just what is the most important part of their job, to provide a small group of young men and women the opportunity to play ball or provide them the education they so desperately need.  
I hope the School Board will reconsider this huge expense, appoint Mr. Smith with a six month probation period and if he works out give him the permanent position, if he doesn't work out then the only thing lost is some time and the process can begin again. What is the rush to make another huge mistake. Get everything in order and do it all by the rules.

This Is For Our Religion Discussion

In order to not redirect other topic threads from their posted subjects, please use this thread for the continued discussion about Salvation and other religion oriented topics  that was started under the thread topic  Why Is Deceit And Untruths So Dominate With The County Executive?
posted on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012.

Thank you.

Statement From Commissioner Left Me Fully Puzzeled

During the Legislative Meeting today Commissioner Reedy made a very odd statement, at least to me. He stated that "we are adamant about cutting and saving, we have actually reduced taxes 3.2% by not raising (property)taxes but once during the last ten years." This statement was made just minutes after restoring all the money for Mr Speer and only a week after the Legislative Body restored most of the funds that had previously been cut by the Budget Committee. Now I ask you, are you paying less in property taxes now than ten years ago or even five years ago. With two excessively high reassessments during that time the county has actually increased the amount of property taxes owed. Personally during those years my property taxes have increased over 26% while my real property value has decreased.

Commission Cowers And Restores Speer Money

After showing a strong backbone in the called meeting, last week, the Legislative Body of Giles put back into the budget the more than $66,000 cut because of the lavish personal benefits being given Mr Speer. Today after a powerful speech by Commissioner Pollard against funding the entire $66,000 and intense questioning by Commissioner Howell the vote was taken and with two commissioners absent everyone but Commissioner Howell voted to give the full amount to the Industrial development Board. There was an unusual amount of threats about lost grants and businesses if the money was not restored and the entire budget funded. The interesting thing that came out today is that no Commissioner admitted having actually seen the budget Mr Speer made. It is my understanding that a budget must be presented and approved by the Legislative Body, today the Legislative Body was basically ordered to fund Mr Speer's bloated budget. Now the question is if he had asked for $80,000 in his phantom budget according to those who spoke for it, it had to be approved..... what utter nonsense. If a reasonable budget had been presented that called for $40,000 it could have been fully funded and not actually considered a cut that would jeopardize any grants, but then the Country Club might have been cut out and that is important, as one speaker stated the Country Club is in financial trouble and needs to be supported. Well, let the members deal with that problem without tax money. Later that same speaker stated that they hadn't even used the Country Club for years..... well then, if it isn't used why did they pay over a thousand dollars last year for a membership with tax money while many of those taxpayers are struggling to pay those taxes and electric bills? Yes, many promises were made to take a “closer look” at that budget “next year” but the truth of the matter is it could have been changed today in less than an hour. My concern is that this is as empty a promise, as those past promises, to provide copies of their budget to the Legislative Body. We also found out that the $1,000.00 given to the “Songwrites Night” and credited to Mr Speer personally was a mistake on Martin Methodist College part, but if that is true, why did Mr Speer sit in the special section for those who donated a thousand dollars and said nothing when he was given special recognition as a donor? No, I fear, based on past broken promises, all the right promises were made but they are as empty as a bucket with no bottom and no sides, only a handle. I fully support every effort to get jobs here, to build the infrastructure that would bring those jobs, but a membership in a Country Club that no one supposedly uses; excessive amounts for health insurance for someone who isn’t even an employee of the county, city or PES, where the majority of the funding comes from; having HD TV and more phones than employees, (does anyone other than Mr Speer have a cellphone that cost over $150.00 a month?) ; and feeding some wealthy members each month. Today it was stated that the meals only cost about six or seven dollars, well even that is more than many can spend on meals over three days. The problem is if the meals are only six or seven dollars each why are they paying $170.00 a month for those meals, which if $7.00 each would feed over twenty –four people, more than double the number on the Board. Now, one other thing about the meals, Mrs Vanzant no longer eats free there and I certainly commend her for that decision.

State Department Apologies For Attacks On American Embassy in Egypt!!!!!

This is a copy of the statement issued by the Sate Department Embassy in Egypt, you judge the merits of this response. "The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims, as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions of those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others." Our Embassy was attacked by murderous thugs and then apologies to those thugs for hurting their feelings, how can that possibly be justified? Has this country sunk so low that we no longer even know right from wrong? Well, yes we have and this kind of utterly stupid, totally distorted official statement proves it. Consider that in the name of free speech our government has funded a number of exhibits so offensive to Christians it's beyond belief. I hope most people remember the upside down Crucifix in a jar of urine and the Christ covered with feces. There was apology from the government then but now an apology is made to terrorist who had their feelings hurt because the truth was told about the murderous, child rapist who taught, convert or be killed. Of course not all Muslims are part of this more radical group but they have supported the more crazy adherents by remaining silent. The apology speaks of "the universal right of free speech", you go to a Muslim controlled nation where Sharia law is in place and see how much free speech is available. Iran now holds a Christian Minister under a death penalty for the "horrible" crime of converting from Islam to Christianity and refusing to deny Christ. All across this nation Christians are under attack with officials ordering the suspension of public prayers, removal of Crosses from long establishments Memorials. Those who speak out about the sexual perversions are condemned and threatened with prosecutions for "Hate crimes". That last sentence in the apology is so very telling of the truth about this nations ideology toward religion, We must be tolerant of all religions that threaten to kill millions if offended but Christians and Jews are OK to offend and to discriminate against because they will just take it and not kill over those numerous offenses. Folks, you don't have to believe me just do your own research, Islam is not a religion of peace, it's not even a true religion but a political movement. A movement that has caused the deaths of more people and suppressed the God given rights of more people than any thing in human history. Mohammad was a cheap political assassin who preached murder or submission, who had numerous wives but still found time to rape small girls. To not condemn this movement and these actions is a betrayal of everything good about America and her people.

One Ambassador, Three Embassy Staff Murdered; Obama's Response "

White House apology to Muslims: "The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others" "This is how Obama celebrates 9/11. By condemning those who ‘hurt the religious feelings of Muslims.’ After radical Islamists attacked the US Embassy in Cairo over what they claim was a film in production that apparently ‘insults the Prophet Mohammed’ the Obama regime isn’t interested in condemning those who attack our embassy. Instead, it’s much more important to attack people like the film maker and those who ‘hurt the religious feelings of Muslims.’" Reprinted Just as he did to the terrorist that destroyed the World Trade Center and the lives of millions of Americans, Obama has again apologized for the murderous Muslims responsible. His infamous policy of "leading from behind" in Libya is as disastrous as his economic policy, only difference is he hasn't apologized to the 23,000,000 unemployed.