Re-election campaign kick off for Davette Blalock

Davette Blalock is one of the good council members seeking reelection. Please join me in contributing to her campaign.

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Fox for Nashville Campaign Floats Transit Plan. WHAT????

 Network leverages sustainable fuels and “out-of-the-box” modes

For immediate release: April 1, 2015. Nashville, Tenn.-- Mayoral candidate David Fox today unveiled a three-point plan to keep Nashville moving forward, by providing innovative transportation options that are more fuel-efficient and more “fun” than standard automotive vehicles.

The cutting-edge intermodal plan will layer air, land and water routes, while adding no traffic to existing roadways, and will be phased in over three years, starting in fall 2015.

Phase 1: An east-west dirigible, also known as a blimp, will connect the air corridor between Bellevue and East Nashville. Depending on wind currents, this retro-chic and Wi-Fi enabled zeppelin, nicknamed The Blamp, will either reduce the 13-mile journey between Sam’s Club and Marché Artisan Foods by 5 minutes or increase it by 2 hours.

Phase 2: Following the model of telecommunication companies piggybacking on existing trunklines, the subterranean channels currently employed by Metro’s stormwater and sewer systems will host a human flume, open 24 hours a day, with all routes terminating at the Cumberland River.

Phase 3: In an effort to promote a pedestrian lifestyle in the downtown core, a network of pack animals for short-term rental will help walkers transport cargo that might otherwise necessitate a vehicle.

“This transit trifecta will be the envy of cities across the world and will fortify Nashville’s reputation as a creative center,” Fox said. “Imagine living in a city where you can take a water slide to work, rent a llama to get to your meetings, then take the Blamp home. It will be like living in Opryland.”

The program is expected to cost somewhere between $20,000 and $2 billion, depending on the number of llamas and size of the Blamp fleet. Passenger rates will be in line with existing public transportation. “This is gonna be awesome,” Fox said. “You’re gonna wanna spring for the season pass.”

The above is exactly the way I received it. And it had the official Fox logo in the email. I must assume this is someone's joke and the email is a fake. This is pretty funny. It got a laugh out of me. I have contacted the Fox campaign for a comment. Rod 

I just realized today is April Fools day. Rod

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The Scottie Hughes letter of qualifications and platform for position of chairman of the TN GOP, if she decides to seek it.

Scottie Hughes

Below is the letter from Scottie Hughes to members of the Executive Committee of the Tennessee Republican Party. She states she has not yet decided to seek the chairmanship of the party but lays out her qualifications and platform. Rod
 
Dear Members of the State Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Tennessee,

This past week with the announcement of Chairman Devaney's resignation, a whirlwind of political flurry has ensued with various rumors and announcements of potential candidates to fill the role. From elected to sitting SEC members to activists to fundraisers, various names with diverse backgrounds and talents are offering their willingness to serve and would do a good job as Chairperson. However, we as a Party have an excellent opportunity with this decision to change the narrative being cast upon us by those on the left as well as legitimately try and bring unification to a divided Party.

Tennessee is an amazing State filled with amazing citizens who are known for their willingness to Volunteer and participate in the election process. I saw this first hand as I started and organized the Young Republicans of Weakley County in 1999 while I was attending the University of Tennessee at Martin receiving my degree in Communication with a minor in Political Science. As a born Republican growing up in Williamson County, I saw this in all of the actions of my mother’s friends but I did not get to experience this as an adult until I joined the Republican Women of Williamson County in 2003 and later was honored to serve on the Board of the Tennessee Federation of Republican Women as their Press Secretary. As my journey in life continued and I married, I was quick to join the Republican Party of Sumner County and joined their County Party Board after successfully running or coordinating many of the local Republican races including the successful County Commission campaign of my husband and your SEC colleague, Chris Hughes. I can honestly say I have experienced the structure of the Tennessee Republican Party at every level and respect the important role each play. I was born Right, raised Right and will always fight for what is Right.

But while I was able to observe amazing Leadership in these various roles, it was really my work in the grassroots where my political philosophies were most shaped. In fact, this was where I met most of you and our friendships formed. Whether it was the reelect W bus tour I helped the Victory campaign coordinate in 2004, which gave me the great opportunity to travel to almost every County and hold great rallies or the various State House or Senate races I was able to help - including fundraisers, meet and greets, strategy sessions or general media pushes by being a part of the Steve Gill Show, The Phil Valentine Show, The Michael Berry Show and the Mark Skoda Show for over a decade. We all know the incredible power of talk radio in Tennessee and I am very proud of how these shows helped defeat unpopular policies and elect great Representation.

It was here that I learned that the most important part of being in elected office is TRUST. Trust that your representative body is carrying out the wishes of the people. Trust that time, effort, and financial resources are being valued and not wasted. Trust that good is being done and in the best interest of the people and that transparency is a priority.

My second lesson was that people want RESPECT. Regardless of status in life, age or even differing opinion, respect needs to be present and sincere in all interactions. We are truly the Party of diversity of opinion and all opinions within the GOP should be brought to the table equally with hope of finding common ground to build on.

The third lesson is the value of COMMUNICATION which is a key element if you want to build trust and have respect for the people you represent or you work with. Tennesseans are the #1 asset to the Republican Party and by giving them information, we are showing our appreciation for their hard work and motivating them to continue.

I am a woman who lives by the conviction of putting action behind the words we speak and when given the opportunity one should not pass up. Hence, why when approached to consider running for Chairman, I knew this was an opportunity I needed to seriously consider. I love my current work as News Director for an online media company (TPNN.com) which has allowed me to tackle politics, pop culture and business on the national media scene and with many national organizations but I never miss an opportunity to brag on the amazing spirit and stories of my home state and share the political happenings.

Ultimately, when you pick a Chairman I hope you look at their past but more importantly what their plan for the future is and do they have the ability to achieve those goals. My vision would be simple:

• First: Bring the party together to win. No more infighting. We need peace in our County Parties and need to find common threads to tie them together for a stronger bond. I can honestly say I represent both sides of the party and view each side fairly and equally. 
• Second: Raise more money than TN GOP has ever raised. I have been blessed to make several national contacts who I believe should have more involvement in our State and I promise to meet personally with the major donors here in Tennessee and find new ones. I also promise to find ways to recruit new donors at all levels and I believe we do this by communicating where their dollars are being responsibly spent to further the goals of the TN GOP as laid out by the SEC. 
• Third: Implement the most cutting edge new media strategy the party has ever seen. Including social media, email, TV, Streaming video, Teletown halls. Build the party from the ground up. Recruit and involve the next generation of Republicans and channel their passion and creativity to achieve success for our candidates. 
• Fourth: Highlight and share the success we achieve here in Tennessee with the National media and be a major partner in helping the RNC reclaim the White House after the primaries are finished. I am a firm believer in trickle down politics and the actions of our elected officials on the national level do affect us at home. 
• Fifth: To honor the role of the State Executive Committee as the representatives of the citizens who elected you. The Chairman is acting at the power of the Board and I believe all decisions should be ruled on exactly as the bylaws of the TNGOP state. Any "gray" areas will be decided by the SEC and properly added at the next meeting. My life is an open book and my interactions are as well. If you have nothing to hide, then you don't need to close your door. I would keep this same theory unless in situations which need discretion because they involve private matters.

Over the next week, I will be upholding my promise to my family to completely disconnect from my professional life and spend some much deserved time focused on them. Because of the truncated schedule before the April 11 Special Call Meeting, the timing is not the best, but like all of you, family is priority and no position is important enough to break a promise to my husband and children. There is no cookie cutter GOP family today and I believe we need to appeal to these families and resist the urge to insult either the mother or father roles as I can personally sympathize to the stresses it takes to provide for a family in today's economy. More women (even those with young children) find themselves working in and out of the home and my job the past few months has called for me to be in New York City, advocating for our foundational conservative ideals during the week. Hence, why the next 8 days I must fulfill my promise and I ask for your prayers as I will use this time to make a decision regarding my running for Chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party. I ask for your patience, your guidance and your support should I seek this great honor. 

 Scottie Nell Hughes

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Who is contributing to the Jeremy Kane campaign?

Jeremy Kane

For the report period ending January 15th, 2015, Jeremy Kane starts his campaign with no money on hand, shows receipts of $310,381, expenditures fo $39,297 and a balance of hand at the end of the campaign report period of $271, 084. As of this report, his campaign does not show any campaign loans. He has not put any of his own money into the campaign.

Below are the contributions I found of interest in his report. By no means am I the most well-connected political person in town, so others may find significant contributors that I overlooked or did not know of their significance. If you are an important civic-minded person reading this or someone seeking to maximize your influence and I didn't mention your name, please don't be offended. If you are a reader who wants to see for yourself who contributed to the Kane campaign, follow this link.

Kane's contributors come from a broad category of occupations.  There is no one profession that dominates like the numerous Vanderbilt professors who contributed to Megan Barry campaign or the many attorneys who contributed to Charles Robert Bone.

Kane received $6000 from AGC PAC located at 6070 Poplar Ave, Memphis, TN. I do not know who AGC PAC is and a Google search shows only Dobbs Management Service at that address. I have contacted the Kane campaign asking for clarification.

There is no first name listed but the last name of a contributor is “36 Venture Capital” who gave $3000, and also Mr. David Freeman CEO of 38 Venture Capital and his wife Melissa gave another $3000.

Other contributors on interest are Attorney Nicholas D. Bailey $300; attorney George Cate, one of the founding fathers of Metro Nashville Davidson County $250; super lawyer and Republican Lew Conner $3000; Colleen Welch, retired Dean at Vanderbilt School of Nursing and widow of the late Ted Welch, who was one of the largest Republican fund raisers in the nation, gave $3000.

May Dean Eberling who was the first Executive Director of the Metropolitan Historical Commission and a former Director of the Nashville Arts Commission and on the board of numerous non-profits contributed $534.  I also think she had some other important position in the administration of Richard Fulton. Why such an odd dollar amount, I have no idea.

Fred Dettwiller, CEO of Det Distributing and his wife Kathryn gave a total of $6000 to the Kane campaign. Dettwiller also contributed to $1500 to the Fox campaign. I guess he is hedging his bet. Butch Eley is another contributor contributing to more than one candidate for mayor. He gave $1000 to the Kane campaign and his wife gave $750, but he also gave $250 to the Megan Barry campaign. School Board member Mary Pierce contributed $500 to the Kane campaign but also contributed to $500 to the David Fox campaign.

Council member Emily Evans contributed $500. The Waller Lansden PAC gave $1500 and the  HG Hill PAC $2000. Show PAC located at 2033 Richard Jones Rd gave $7400. I do not know who Show PAC is or their purpose but the treasurer is listed as Steve B. Smith and the address is that of home builder and realtors Haury and Smith.

Retried Senator Doug Henry gave $200. Martha Ingram, Chairman of Ingram Industries, gave $3000. I don’t know if David and Sarah Ingram are related to Martha Ingram or not but they gave a combined total of $6000.

Representative Harold Love gave $250. Adam Nickas, former Executive Director of the Tennessee Repubican Party and now a lobbyist with Captol Resources gave $500.

Kane got a few contributions from out of state but nothing of much significants.

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School Choice Bill Continues to Gain Momentum, Passes in Tennessee Senate

Press Release - The Beacon Center is proud to announce that The Tennessee Choice &Opportunity Scholarship Act has passed the Tennessee State Senate. This is a big step in what Beacon hopes will lead to the eventual passage of a school choice program in 2015.

"We are extremely proud of the senators who stood with families across the state of Tennessee today," said Beacon CEO Justin Owen. "It is completely unfair for a child's future to be determined by his or her zip code. Every child deserves a quality education that meets his or her unique needs, and today's passage of this bill in the Senate was the first step to making that dream a reality."

The bill will next be reviewed by the House Government Operations Committee on Tuesday.

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Scottie Hughes seeking Chairmanship of Tennessee GOP

Scottie Hughes, one of the babes of  FOX News, is reportedly seeking the position of Chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party.  In addition to being a beauty, she is a news analysis, smart, an author,  and a solid conservative.  She describes herself as a "God Fearing, Gun Toting, Baby Loving, Traditional Marriage Believing, SUV I don’t care about my carbon imprint driving, Border securing, Benghazi Truth Seeking, Fox News & The Blaze TV Watching, Lame Stream Media Smacking, Sip my Sweet Tea from a Big Gulp Drinking, RINO Hunting, Target of IRS Auditing, One Nation Under God Pledging, MOM."

Prior to her advance to the national spotlight, she was the executive producer of the Steve Gill Show here in Nashville. She is a  Magna Cum Laude graduate from the University of Tennessee at Martin with a broadcast communications/political science degree.

Her Husband is Chris Hughes, a member of the Tennessee Republican Party Executive Committee from Sumner County and a Sumner County commissioner.

I have not verified her candidacy for the position but have heard she is a candidate. I have emailed, seeking confirmation. If anyone has a solicitation from her please forward me a copy or if anyone can confirm she is actively seeking the position, please let me know. I will update this post if I have something.

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Policing for Profit may be coming to an end in Tennessee.

As unbelievable as it sounds, if the police stop you and you are carrying a large amount of cash the police can confiscate your money, never arrest you or charge you with a crime and you have to go to court to get your money back.  They can also confiscate some property such as your vehicle. That would appear to violate the 4th amendment to the constitution but the policy has been allowed to stand.  Getting the money back can take months and can be costly.  Some people never recover the confiscated cash or property. One has to prove the source of the money.

Legislation was introduced by Rep. Timothy Hill, R-Blountville, that would have repealed civil forfeiture laws that make the practice of  police confiscating cash and property legal. Hill has amended his bill so that instead of prohibiting all civil forfeiture, that civil forfeiture could still occur but only when there is an arrest. That is an improvement over what we currently have and would end most of the abuse. Police will argue that civil forfeiture is an important tool to curtail drug trafficking. It may be helpful in that regard but so would wiretapping without a court order or beating confessions out of people.  Civil forfeiture is wrong and needs to end. This bill needs to pass.

Channel 5 news has reported on "policing for profit" extensively. For more information follow this link.

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Who is contributing to the Bill Freeman campaign for Mayor?

Bill Freeman

As of the date of the first required financial disclosure, Jan. 15th 2015, Bill Freeman had only raised $1500. Don't fret however, Freeman has the ability to self fund  what ever it takes to mount an effective campaign.  He started the report with no money on hand, loaned his campaign $30,000, received a single contribution of $1500 from Chip Forrester, former Chair of the Tennessee Democrat Party, spent $30,000 in advertising to put his ads on Gray’s Disposal trucks and that is all his report shows.

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NashvilleNext is ready for review and comment: The Draft Plan - Vision, Trends, & Strategies.

I was at the very first meeting of the NashvilleNext project and attended numerous of the various meetings that occurred over the last two years and I posted on their website and took the surveys.  Now the plan is prepared and ready for public consumption.  Somewhere along the way I lost my appetite.

I did my part; I brainstormed in small groups, I put little sticky dots on various options, and I answered surveys. I reached a point however in which I thought I was being led around by the nose. I reached a point to where I thought this is sham.  The plan is already written and there is a boilerplate template somewhere where they will simply change the name of the city. 

Surprise, surprise: Nashville wants less congested roads, affordable housing, walkable communities, good schools, low crime and economic opportunity.  I could have told you that without spending millions of dollars and two years. I don't know how much NashvilleNext cost, but I am sure it was not cheap.

While NashvilleNext did engage a lot of citizens, that does not necessarily make it any more democratic than if the same input would have been gathered from a single pubic hearing.  Council members are elected; no one elected the participants in the NashvilleNext process.  The planning staff and metro council could have come up with NashvilleNext plan and then had a single public hearing and I think the result would be the same.  Why should the opinions of those who showed up be given greater weight than those who didn't?

I am doing other things and I have not read the final report. I don't really know what is in the final product. I just know the generalities. However, to ensure, we are not getting a future we don't want a lot of people need to read it. They are calling this "the peoples plan." Anything that claims to represent "the people," somehow concerns me.  Especially if "the people" who contributed were self selected rather than democratically elected.

I do hope to read NashvilleNext soon. However, I hope some other skeptics of grand plans read it and makes sure it does not lead to the adoption of policies that impact our freedom and property rights.  It probably does not, but someone needs to be objectively reviewing the plan. Most plans gather dust on a shelf and never do more than inform the thinking of a few people. Also, plans can turn on a dime when circumstances change. Long range planning never envisioned Music Valley Dr. and Opry Mills and The Opryland Hotel and Convention Center, yet when an investor showed up with the money the plan changed.  A developer with money can turn a plan on its head and on the other hand, all the good plans in the world can not make something happen if someone does not want to develop in accordance with the plan.  Still, I am not opposed to planning. It is good to have some established guidelines even if they are subject to change. Some plans are really bad plans however and we should be pleased they never went into effect. Some of what causes our problems today are a result of plans that sounded good at the time.

Here is the link to the NashvilleNext website. I hope someone whose opinion I trust gets involved and can inform the rest of us what is in the final document.

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The battle to preserve open records however is not over.

In case you missed it, our right to view public records in Tennessee in safe for now. Last week State Rep. Steve McDaniel took off notice a bill that would have allowed new charges to be assessed citizens who want to inspect public records. The battle to preserve open records however is not over. The Tennessee School Boards Association had called passage of the bill its top legislative priority. Rep. McDaniel said in taking off notice his bill, that the Office of Open Records Counsel had agreed to conduct public hearings on the proposal to charge for viewing public records this summer and to make a recommendation on the bill by January 2016. (See Tennessee Coalition for Open Government web site for more info.)

There is a lot of waste and pure corruption that takes place in government. Construction projects have specs written to benefit a particular vender, change orders benefit the contractor once awarded and some politically connected people have jobs created for them but do little work.  You can't stop all of this but if no one is watching a lot of it occurs. You may recall the scandal at NES and the perks given to NES bigwigs by Gaylord management in exchange for not charging for some NES services in conjunction with the Opryland Christmas lights display. That investigation by citizen activist Ken Jakes led to other revelations of massive credit card abuse at NES and other abuses.

With a diminished local news media that does very little investigative reporting, it is often up to citizens to be the public's watchdog.  If public records can be kept secret the opportunity to expose waste and corruption pretty much disappears. In Montgomery County, Maryland recently when a citizen activist filed to get public records pertaining to a $89 million construction of a library and recreation center, she was told she had to wait three months for the records to be gathered and pay sum of $58,407. That could happen in Tennessee unless we are vigilant.

I am pleased to see that in Nashville the agenda's and minutes of all boards and commissions are on line and all meetings of the Metro Council, the School Board, the Planning Commission and some others are streamed and then archived. I think everything that can reasonably be on line should be on line.  I was pleased to recently see the Davidson County Election Commission put local campaign financial reports on line. Federal and State financial disclosure reports were already available on line, but not the reports of candidates seeking local office. I am in the process of reviewing those reports to see who is financially supporting which candidate. If not on line, if I would have wanted to view the reports, I would have had to go in person to the office of the Election Commission request the reports, pay a fee per page, then come back and pick them up.  To keep watch over the democratic process should not be so difficult in this age of instant knowledge.

Regardless of one's political persuasion, I think we can all agree that the actions of government should be accessible and transparent. Meetings should be open, not conducted in secret, and records should be available for public inspection.

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Who is contributing to the Fox campaign for Mayor

David Fox

I have reviewed the campaign financial disclosure report of mayoral candidate David Fox and recognized very few of his contributors. There are not many contributors from the same profession, unlike the many Vanderbilt professors who have contributed to Megan Barry or the many attorneys who have contributed to Charles Bone. Fox's contributors seem to come from a broad variety of professions.

Most of Fox's campaign money comes from a loan he made his campaign of $1,050,000. He started the campaign report period with no money on hand, raised 1,303,030, spend 256,666, leaving a balance on hand of 1,046,363.

Out of state contributors include Patrick Colman of Old Greenwich CT $1500; Benjamin Fox of Greenwich, CT $1500; George Fox of Samfort, CT $1500; Matthew Fox of Greenwich, CT $1500; Pamela Fox of Greenwich, CT $1500; Barbara Jonas of New York City $1500; Henry Klein of Rye Brook, New York and March Klein of Rye Brook, New York $1500; Laurel Miller of Greenwich, CT $1500; Ellen Wolfson of Lawrence, NY $1500; Donald Jonas of New York City $1500; Kyle Miller of Greenwich, CT $1500; and maybe six other contributors of $1500 each from Greenwich CT. He must have a supportive family in Greenwich Connecticut.

Contributors of interest include Fred Dettwiller of Det Distributing $1500, Walter Knestrick $1500 and Sarah Knestrick $1500, Mary Pierce of the Metro School Board $500 and Ryman Hospitality Properties PAC $1000. There are lots of important civic minded people in the city I don't know and you may recognize the names of some of his contributors that I do not. To view his campaign disclosure report follow this link.

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Who is contributing to the Kenneth Eaton campaign?

No one yet. His financial disclosure for 1/15/2015 shows no money raised, no money spent and no money on hand.

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