Why Is The Tourism Office Under Attack ?

While there has been some contention and competition between the Tourism and Chamber of Commerce for the most part they seem to have co-existed with separate personnel and missions.

The Chamber primarily under the control of the Industrial Recruiter/Mayor has not been as supportive of the Tourism Office as could have been hoped for. Until Tourism was moved out of the Chamber Office the Chamber was charging Tourism over $12,000.00 a year for rent. This provided approximately 300 Sq. Ft. of space in the Chamber Office and took the entire monetary amount given to Tourism by the County. Finding this totally unacceptable the County Commission voted to move Tourism into the Courthouse where the Tax Assessor Office had been. This move has provided the much needed independence and convenience needed for the Tourism Department to function and flourish.

Now comes another attempt by the County Executive and City Mayor to make Tourism an arm of the Chamber once again under the control of the Mayor/Industrial Recruiter. This did not work very well in the past and I believe it will not be beneficial to the County in the future. Because there is more to Giles County than the city of Pulaski, Tourism must remain independent in order to provide the continued benefits to Giles County.

According to the University of Tennessee Department of Tourism in 2008, the last full year available, Giles County had 19.98 million dollars of direct tourist spending. Keep in mind that the Director of Tourism is the lowest paid head of any department in the county making approximately $12.00 an hour. There are many assistants to assistant directors who make much more than that, but Mr Turner has not complained.

On 20 August the Property Management Committee with Chairman Commissioner Jackson presiding, met and decided to give the Office of Tourism sixty days to vacate their offices. The County Executive as an ex-officio member was asked about possible alternatives to moving but refused any discussion about alternatives.

This is a matter that will have to be voted on by the full Legislative Body probably at the 20 September meeting when new members can once again be caught off guard and be required to vote before they know all the facts in the matter. One can only hope that the full Commission will do the right thing and keep the Tourism Department where they are. Allen Barrett

Integrity Doesn't Prevent Mistakes It Does The Right Thing To Fix Them

Last Friday after it was determined that a candidate for the 7th District Commission, Vicki Coleman, had failed to meet the requirements to qualify for the 5 August election. In accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated I filed a contest of the election. This has resulted in a Judge preventing any 7th District commissioners being sworn in with the other Commissioners on 27 August 2010. A court date has been set for 2 September to hear this contest.

There are many rumors being spread about this situation. First of all I have not accused Mrs Bassham or anyone in her office of any wrong doing, there was a mistake made which they have admitted and this is merely the means to remedy that mistake. Mrs. Bassham and her staff have been helpful thus far and I have no problem in accepting their explanation that it was a simple mistake. I do not however believe that I should have to pay a penalty for another's mistake.

The facts are that Vickie Coleman turned in Qualification Papers on 1 April 2010 that did not contain the adequate number of qualifying signatures yet her name appeared on the ballot as a viable candidate. Having failed to qualify that left only three qualified candidates to be voted on for the three positions on the Commission, much like the positions in the 6th District where only three qualified for the three positions.

On 2 September at 9AM a Chancery Court Judge will hear and decide the matter.

Taylor To Contest Sheriff Results In Lawrence County

This is from the WLLX Radio web site. While there are several election results being contested across the state this one involves our neighbor county.

Taylor to contest sheriff's race
Lawrence County Sheriff Kenny Taylor filed papers in chancery court Friday afternoon challenging election results in the August 5th sheriff's race.
Taylor is contesting the results based on candidate Mike Risner's residency. Jimmy Brown won the election by 118 votes. Taylor came in second and Risner third.
Taylor contends that Risner lives in Giles County and should not have been a candidate for sheriff. Nashville's Channel 5 reported Monday that Risner signed a statement declaring an address in Ethridge as his legal residence but that Risner has actually lived on a farm in Giles County for several years. In the interview, Risner admits switching his voter registration to Lawrence County in order to run for sheriff.
The election commission will meet Monday to certify the election results. Taylor had until Friday, August 27, 2010 to ask for a recall.