At last night’s meeting of the County Commission, a resolution was passed requesting that the Election Commission retain the current Administrator of Elections, Lynn Harris. Ms. Harris has been the administrator for a number of years, always while the Commission was under control of the Democratic majority. Now, the Commission has a Republican majority for the first time, and they have the right to appoint a Republican as Administrator. This is part of the world of politics, and there is no reason for the County Commission or anyone else to expect Ms. Harris to be retained. I am deeply troubled that the County Commission would feel a need to get involved, as this seems like a continuation of the “business as usual” attitude, where “change is bad”. The people of Tennessee have spoken, and therefore, we should have a new Administrator.
Congratulations to Jim Emberton and Frank Bush for having the conviction to vote no on this resolution. Fred Weston abstained, Carolyn Thompson was absent, and Bernie Ash also abstained, apparently because he wants to be considered for Administrator. The remaining 20 Commissioners all voted to pass the resolution.
In other news, my opponent in the 2010 election, Commissioner Larry West, was the only No vote on a resolution that passed 23-1, to authorize a budget transfer to allow WEMA to purchase new heart monitor devices. Note that I said budget transfer, not budget increase. Not sure why anyone would object to upgrading the life saving capabilities within our county.
As a closing thought, I’d like to show an image from the Wilson County Election Commission website. The website still does not have the results of the 2008 November election. Nor do they have the results of the county election in August, or for that matter any election since 2006. I’ve called for improvements to this site in the past, and hope that the new Administrator can work to improve the use of technology.
