Commission to fill two seats Monday night
|
Commissioner Sally Brock, of District 1, and Ken Martin, of District 3, have both stated they plan to nominate their former fellow district commissioners to the seats they vacated. Both Smartt and Zechman say they will accept those nominations. Both men also say they intend to run for the office in the general election this August, whether they are re-appointed tomorrow or not.
Although they are eligible for the nomination, according to County Executive John Pelham if they are re-appointed to their seats they will begin as new commissioners. Thus Smartt won’t regain the chairmanship of the Budget and Finance Committee, and Zechman won’t chair the Education Committee, positions both men have held for some time.
Smartt says he understand Pelham’s reasoning on this.
‘Bill and I both made the choice to leave the commission to pursue the Senate nomination,’ Smartt said. ‘It was our feeling then, and each of us thought, we had an excellent chance to get it or we wouldn’t have done it. We walked away from what we had, and yes, we’ll be coming back as new members. Not uninitiated or uninformed new members, but new members from that standpoint.
‘It’s John’s decision what he wants to do,’ Smartt continued. ‘And if I am re-appointed, I welcome whatever challenge or opportunity he presents to us.’
Zechman says he accepts this decision as well.
‘That’s perfectly fine with me,’ Zechman said. ‘There are other people on the Education Committee that have been there for years who are very well qualified, very capable people and they deserve a chance to serve as chairman. I will serve in whatever capacity they see fit. Obviously I would like to be on the Education Committee, but that’s a decision John will have to make.’
Though some, including at least one commissioner, have suggested leaving the seats open until the general election in August, Pelham says according to state law if the seats will be open for longer than 90 days, as in this case, the commission is required by statute to fill them.
Much has been made of the fact that in the past when a commission seat was vacated the remaining commissioner in the district nominated a replacement, which was generally approved by the commission with little, if any, discussion.
But the appointment procedure in this case has presented a unique situation, generating a fair amount of controversy among county residents, with some saying the two longtime commissioners should be re-appointed to the seats they gained by popular vote in their districts, while others claim the fact they voluntarily gave up their seats to pursue higher office should preclude an automatic reinstatement.
When these objections were raised at a meeting of the commission’s Nominating Committee earlier this month, the decision was made to conduct a nomination procedure similar to the one used for the Senate appointment process.
Pelham explained how the process will be handled.
‘It will be a little different than the December court meeting,’ Pelham said. ‘We have business on our normal docket and we will again put the appointments as the last item on the docket. There will be a few things that will be a little different, but the process for the most part will be essentially the same as the senatorial appointment.
‘However, in this case we will deal specifically with one district at a time,’ Pelham said. ‘We will do that district, we’ll complete our task to the best of our ability, and then we’ll move to the next district. We’ll do District 1, and then we’ll do District 3.’
According to information provided to commissioners prior to the meeting, those making nominations or seconds must be residents of Warren County, and all qualified nominations must be accepted.
In order to be nominated an individual must reside in and be a qualified voter of the district represented, be at least 18 years of age, a U.S. citizen and a Tennessee resident.
The county commission currently consists of 22 members. Therefore, the simple majority required to appoint is 12 votes, regardless of the number of commissioners present. Unlike the senatorial appointment, if there is an 11-11 tie, the county executive will break the tie.