Election Day

Nope, not this year

We are one year away from another election. Nope, I’m not going to talk about the presidential race. The federal government is a train wreck wrapped in an EMP playing bank with chocolate coins wrapped in gold colored aluminum foil.

What I do want to bring up is what we have going on here at the local level. In 2022, we changed the face of White House politics. John Corbitt was elected mayor in a landslide. “We the people” decided that 5000 housing units approved and more than doubling the size of the city in roughly ten years was NOT working for us. The entire board is new. Developers are being held to their contracts, and a stoplight is going in on Pleasant Grove Road. I’m pretty happy with the results, but it is NOT time to go back to the kitchen. (I’m literally in the kitchen writing this as the beans are on the stove and my son is working on his math, but I digress)

In 2024 you will have chance to replace or retain many members of your local boards. Are you starting to think about who will represent you? Not who will represent the builders, real estate agents, or curriculum providers, but you and your family. In the city of White House, Alderman 3 and 4 are both up for election. Linda Silver and Mike Wall were both placed in those positions. When Corbitt moved to mayor, Silver was the applicant chosen for the job. When Clif Hutson stepped down, Wall was chosen for the job. Both of them have to run for that office in 2024. Are you paying attention to their votes? Are they the ones you want in that position? If yes, you will need to be vocal about it starting in the spring. Call them, text them, email them, ask them to run. If not, who do you want representing YOU? Find that person and get them to run.

These are not the only positions you will be voting on. School board members in both Robertson and Sumner Counties are up for election. Did you know that you can’t just go and speak to your school board?

This is the form you need to fill out and submit the Friday before the meeting if you want to talk to them. Also, what you are going to speak about has to be on the agenda.

So how exactly do you address the school board? You don’t. I know this personally because I sent an email concerning the wrestling team and assistant coach pay. Robertson County doesn’t pay any coaches that aren’t teachers. Subsequently, East Robertson lost their cross country team two years ago because there is not a teacher that was willing to take on the team. I know, who cares about cross country right? I mean do we even have sports that aren’t football or soccer? That’s beside the point. The point is, I cannot go before the school board and have my statements made public because paying “volunteer” coaches is not an agenda item. Do you have an issue that needs to be public at a school board meeting? Well, zones 3, 4, 5, and 6 are all up for reelection. Tired of them not listening to you? Replace them!!!!!

Sumner County you are in the same boat. One of the commissioners just told me that the school board spent $40k in CEO furniture. Yet there are school buildings with plastic walls, and the board is asking for $15.8 million for new stadiums. Don’t believe me, check the link. The Sumner County school board has these seats up in 2024. School Board Districts 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 School Board District 9 unexpired term.

Here is what Sumner County School Board thinks about hearing from you. Pretty much the same as Robertson County. In the City of White House, one of the first things the new mayor did was put in a place for public comment in EVERY meeting. The argument I’ve heard against public comment is, “We would be there all night listening to those people.” Listen here school board member, first of all, THOSE PEOPLE are your bosses. You work for them. “Those people” pay taxes with which you spend money like a pirate who just came ashore after being at sea for 10 months. Secondly, after attending city meetings for the past two years, I assure you people are not lined up to speak at every meeting. In fact I can count on one hand the number of times people have come to the BOMA meetings in White House to speak on an issue not on the agenda. Besides, they have control over that. Open a public comment at the beginning of every meeting, limit it to 30 minutes. That would be 10 people at 3 minutes a piece. If you could get ten people to show up, that would really be something. Choose a candidate who actually wants to hear from you.

At the county level in Robertson County you will also be electing a circuit court judge, a highway commissioner for all 12 districts, and an assessor of property. In Sumner, you have Assessor of Property and a General Session Judge Division III unexpired term to vote for.

At the state level, in Robertson County District 7 for US Senate and Congress, and State Rep for District 66 are both up for reelection. In Sumner it’s US Senate and Congress District 6.

Robertson County

Sumner County

Let’s be honest, no one has enough money to run against Blackburn or Rose or Green. I don’t even care about those any more. The politicians at the federal level are a waste of my time to give two sh$Ts about. They do what their party wants and they don’t care what I think. If they cared what I thought, they would not send another dime of my money to another country. NOT ONE!! They would stop bailing out big banks and printing money like a kindergartner playing store. They would not get rich being a “public servant,” and they would vote themselves term limits. They would only have sessions a few weeks of the year, have to go home to their constituents, their regular job, and disallow lobbyists. Until that stuff starts to happen, I’m fed up with all of these people.

Robertson County district 66 you have voted for Sabi Kumar for the last 8 years at this point. How about a candidate from the White House side of the county? As long as state money is going to come to the county, can we get our side of the county fixed? There have been lots of projects in Springfield in front of the hospital out towards the county dump. Has there ever been a representative from this side of the county?

Kumar is a very nice man, but it’s time we have some more “teeth” at the state level representing us. I for one, am never putting a mask on again, and refuse to be told what to do by my civil servant. Step up citizens!!!! We need some new ideas at the house level. Can we start to make these out-of-state-developers pay for schools? (when they build 1000 houses and walk away) Can we get rid of the tax on food? Can we have a rep that is willing to work for the people and not the corporations and big government? I don’t care what color they are, red or blue, black, white, or brown, I just want to be represented.

Sumner County your reps up for reelection are Tennessee Senate 18th Senatorial District (multi-county; Sumner, Trousdale) Tennessee House of Representatives 35th Representative District (multi-county; Sumner, Trousdale) Tennessee House of Representatives 44th Representative District (Sumner County) Tennessee House of Representatives 45th Representative District (Sumner County)

I don’t live in Sumner County so I don’t have direct experience with this crew. But you might. Read up and see if they need to be replaced.

This is NOT me telling you how to vote. This is a warning that the next election is coming and if you want to see any kind of change in your community, it’s time to start looking for a candidate that is more interested in telling the federal government to take its money and its strings and jump in a lake than in kissing babies and shaking hands. I for one am tired of paying sales tax on a used car that was originally built in 1989 and has been sold 5-6 times. I’m tired of paying sales tax on food. I’m tired of paying property tax on my house after I paid sales tax on my house. If you are tired of being taxed on everything from the water you drink to the sheets you sleep on find a new candidate. Find one of us, an actual tax paying citizen, not the friends of the politicians. Step up. Put your hat in the ring. Change can be made at the local level. Just look at what we did here in White House in 2022. Maybe the county is next. Are you in?