Hamilton County Commission: Making Stands Against Democracy Appear Noble

This coming Wednesday, December 7 2011, the Hamilton County Commission will be meeting publicly with OUR delegation to the Tennessee General Assembly to request changes in law from OUR State Legislature.

What will the Commission be asking of our delegation on behalf of the people of Hamilton County? It appears in all likelihood that there will be motions made to ask the State to:

1. Repeal the Open Meetings Act and make changes so as to allow politicians to deliberate in private about matters that affect those whom they govern – barring both the media and their constituents from knowing about such meetings, participating in them, and having access to records of them.

The Tennessee County Commissioners Association Board of Directors, on which Hamilton County District 4 Commissioner Warren Mackey sits, has voted on endorsing a series of Proposed Changes to the Tennessee Open Meetings Act. At the November 22 meeting of the County Commission, County Mayor Jim Coppinger and District 4 Commissioner Warren Mackey both openly called for the Hamilton County delegation to support the proposed changes to the Open Meetings Act. Commissioner Mackey explicitly said that it was “important” for the Commission to be able to “meet in private.”

This issue is cropping up all over the state as the counties themselves take public stands in either support of the law and the public’s right to meaningfully participate in the decision making process or in support of changing the law in defense of the Good Old Boy backroom corruption that Tennessee government is known for.

2. Support the suppression of voter turnout by purposely endorsing legislation that is blatantly disenfranchising voters. The current “Voter ID” law passed by the GOP dominated TN General Assembly is an obvious attempt at creating undue barriers between the poor, the elderly, minorities and college students on the one hand and the ballot box on the other.

This law is best summed up by District 27 Representative Richard Floyd who says that voting is not a right, but a “privilege”. This is coded language for another Tennessee legacy that is alive and in force today: white supremacy. The views of the County Commissioners in support of this legislation are also revealing on this point. Commissioner “boss hog” Skillern, whose open hate for minorities has been widely reported, said “we have never in the history of this country had so many illegal immigrants in our country” and that “some of our districts, not mine, but some of our districts have enough illegals in them to swing an election.” Chairman Henry followed on Skillern’s heels saying that “it is evident that since 9/11 we live in a different world. Wish that we could go back to the 50s and 60s.”

That about sums it up. The Hamilton County Commission is an anachronism. They want to go back to a time before the Voting Rights Act and before the Civil Rights Act. Back to a time when the "privilege" of voting was not extended to anyone other than white men. They don’t want power ceded from them to a new generation or to communities that stand in direct opposition to the hate, ignorance and folly that their values and worldview are founded within.

Underneath BOTH of these proposals is the charade that they are being done in OUR best interest.

The County Commission needs to meet in private and exclude the public because it will make for “more effective government”. Nevermind that, following that line of thinking, the most effective government of all would be a dictatorship. The truth is that they just simply don’t want to be bothered by the media or the people about all the awful decisions that this incompetent, mediocre crew of small-minded and opportunistic good old boys sees fit to make on behalf of our county.

The County Commission loves the legislation coming out of the 107^th Session of the Tennessee General Assembly, which will be remembered as one of the worst legislative sessions in the history of our state. The Tennessee General Assembly legalized political corruption in our state, by raising the cap on corporate campaign contributions by 40% and removing any and all barriers between corporations and politicians by allowing corporations to make contributions DIRECTLY to candidates, going so far as to allow them to make contributions DURING the legislative session. After passing such vile legislation it makes perfect sense to protect your investment by creating as many barriers as possible between the people who see what is going on and the ballot box. That is exactly what has happened.

We get the kind of government we deserve. The Hamilton County Commission is working tirelessly to roll back our democracy to limit the degree to which they can be held accountable for their routine misuse of authority – all under the veneer of the noble pursuit of the public’s interest. If the public falls for it, or does nothing, then we will get exactly what is coming to us.