Who Works for the People?

We are living in an oligarchy but no one told you- One girl's opinion

There is a club in DC, and you aren’t invited. That club is filled with politicians, bankers, land owners, and hedge fund managers. They are from the World Economic Forum, private schools, elite colleges, and trust fund babies. They make decisions for us behind closed doors. They decide what kind of light bulbs we are allowed and how much CO2 we are allowed to produce. Most of the time you have no idea who they are.

Sometimes you will know them. They are the elected elite. They go to DC part of the “working class,” and come home millionaires. That is if they ever leave office. (Pelosi, McConnell, Sanders just to name a few) Their friends are getting rich because those elites make the rules. Most of the time we have no idea what game they are playing because we didn’t elect them. The federal reserve, Blackrock, RealPage, and Facebook decide what we spend, what we eat, what we pay in rent, and what we can say.

We live in a constitutional republic where “we the people” get to elect someone to represent us. At this point, “we the people” have thrown up our hands in disgust and given up. We see the corruption on BOTH sides and we say there is nothing we can do. We put our heads back in the sand, turn on the football game and go back to Candy Crush on our phones.

Aside from the Candy Crush, I have been doing the same. I’m done. I knew the elites were running the country, but until the summer of 21, I didn’t know we had our own little oligarchy running the city. It wasn’t until a planning board member spoke to me as if I were a child and the city administrator told me I would just go away that I really started to look at what exists at the city level. So far, I have only dropped a few things here and there from what I’ve learned. Given that early voting starts this week, I thought it was time to do the job that both the local and main stream medias have failed to do. Let me show you who your candidates are, what they own, where their signs are and who donated to their campaigns. After that, it is your job to decide who is working for you.

Here is what Hutson owns in Sumner County

Here is what he owns in Robertson County.

Here is what John Corbitt owns in Sumner County

Sam Matthews is running for Alderman in Ward 1 he owns in Robertson County.

William Green is also running for Alderman in Ward 1. The address he has listed on his petition is in Robertson County. It is owned by Shanna and David Green

Jana Singer Spicer owns in Robertson County

Let’s go to campaign donations. Spicer is running unopposed so she has not spent any money. Matthews, Green, and Corbitt have both spent their own money.

Hutson has raised more than the other candidates. You can find the forms for all candidates here.

Wilkinson sits on the planning board, Sherry Eden is the widow of County Commissioner Don Eden, Mike Honeycutt is also on the planning board and a realtor in town.

Tom Byrum sold his property to the city for a park and is living there until his death.

At this point I have not yet discovered the committee for Clif Hutson for mayor’s finances. As soon as I have those, I will report on them.

Where are the signs for the candidates? Again, Spicer is running unopposed, there are no signs for her. Matthew’s signs can be seen on property on Wilkinson and Calista. There is one off of Sage and another across from the development on Portland Road.

A private citizen’s yard

Many of Green’s signs are paired with Hutson’s.

202 Portland Road- Property of Drew Christenson future town center

On HWY 76 there are two vacant houses to the west of the Mapco. That property has Hutson signs. Ownership=

There is a Hutson sign at 202 Portland Road

Sage Road. Sign is on Tate Ornamental property. My understanding is they are the same owners of this property where more of his signs are located.

More of the future town center.

This property is owned by the former mayor’s boss.

Craig Johnson of Craig Johnson Construction another owner of industrial property

Directly south of Hutson’s property

Corbitt’s signs are on Kroger property, also on Future Publix property along with Hutson and Green’s. His are also in private citizen’s lawns. Many of them have sent me photos of their signs.

Marlin Road

New Hall Road

Calista Road. This one is my property. I can’t vote. Neither can my neighbors and they both have Hutson signs.

This is NOT a personal attack on anyone running for office or anyone that donated to a campaign. This is an outing of what appears to be going on in our city. Here is what was going on in 2018, and no one seemed to know or care.

Those are campaign donations from 2018 to the former mayor. Who do you think he was actually representing?

This has all happened because we no longer have a local media. Where was the media back in 2018 when Goodall Homes was donating to the local mayor’s race? Where is the media telling you who the candidates’ friends are and who they go to church with? Where is the local media telling you which candidate owns property where? No where. They don’t exist anymore. That’s why when I write these things I am accused of hating one candidate. I am accused of being disrespectful to people who have served this community for years. I ask you this, would they have served this community for so long if the actual residents knew where the representatives’ properties were and what was being planned? Would the city continue to elect representatives that seem to work for developers instead of their constituents? If you voted for Arnold in 2018 would you have had you known who donated to his campaign?

Here is what I have been told and what I hear. “How dare you call my ___________(father, brother, wife, sister) unethical!” “I’ve known ________________ all my life.” “This is just how city politics works.” “This is the good ole boy system.” “You’ll never change it, this is just how it is.” “But he/she is a great person, we went to high school together.” “Our kids grew up together.” “No one is getting rich.” “No pockets are being lined.” “You’re just jealous you don’t have that kind of property to sell.”

Let me answer a few of these myself, specifically for the haters. I have NEVER accused anyone of being a criminal or unethical. I am pointing out public information that the local paper should have been pointing out for years. I don’t care if you’ve known X your entire life. Tell me about their voting record and why you would vote for him/her. If this is how city politics work, then let’s change it. If the good ole boys are running this place, let’s vote them out! I’m sure they were great in high school and you’ve been friends for a long time. How have they voted? What is their position for the city? Who are their business friends and associates? Your kids can still be friends even if your politics don’t align. Someone is getting rich, or we would not have 8 national builders in our town of 12k people. Yes, I’m jealous that I don’t have that kind of property to sell. You got me there. But here’s the kicker, I’m happy that someone who owned their land for years is going to make some money off of it. What puts a bee in my bonnet is when those same people have been making political and zoning decisions driving growth to places where is seems to benefit themselves or their friends.

You may view this as an attack, I see it as public information. Information the public should have. Do you know who your politicians friends are? Do you know who their business associates are? Do you think you have the right to? Are you tired of politics being run by a club that you were never part of?

The only place we can have our voices heard is at the local level. The only way we are heard is if we vote. You can read this and be shocked at what all is going on, but if you only complain on Facebook, you too are part of the problem. Right now, all we have is our vote. Use it wisely, but for the love of God, use it. It’s time for “we the people” to take back the seats of government from the private club members.

If you like what I’ve been up to, send me a cup of coffee. Venmo @Nicole-Taylor-262