Chuck Fritts
Anderson County Commission Chairman Chuck Fritts continued to insist Monday that Mayor Terry Frank should either accept a $400-per-month travel supplement or use a county car—but not do both, as he alleges she has.
The $4,800-per-year salary supplement is offered in place of the mayor using a county car, a 1998 Ford Crown Victoria, Fritts said in an e-mail after Frank’s Monday morning press conference.
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank says the county commission chairman has made accusations against her related to county travel and vehicle policy, but she has violated no laws.
CLINTON—Her honesty has been questioned, and she has been the subject of a politically motivated smear campaign, Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank said.
Anderson County Commission Chairman Chuck Fritts has accused her of taking advantage of taxpayers by using a county car and accepting travel payments, Frank during a Monday morning press conference at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.
Tom Byrge, director of missions for Clinton Baptist Association, explains a proposal to put the national motto “In God We Trust” on the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.
Note: This story was last updated at 9:26 a.m. Feb. 20.
CLINTON—Despite some unanswered questions about design and legal liability, the Anderson County Commission voted 12-4 on Tuesday to put the national motto “In God We Trust” on the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.
The vote came after more than an hour of discussion during a sometimes-raucous, standing-room-only meeting that, at times, resembled a church service.
Supporters of the proposal outnumbered opponents.
“We don’t want to impose our religion on anybody,” said Kelly Bates, an Anderson County resident and mother of Commissioner Zach Bates. “However, we think it’s unfair and unjust for our children to be robbed of our Christian heritage.”
Terry Frank
Pastors at about 50 churches in Anderson County have asked to put the motto “In God We Trust” on the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton, the county mayor said in a report to county commissioners.
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank said that putting the motto on the courthouse wouldn’t cost the county anything. Instead, it would be funded by donations from churches, businesses, and individuals, she said.
Information from WYSH Radio
During a joint workshop between the Anderson County Commission and the Anderson County School Board on Thursday, schools’ security director Joe Fogerty outlined security measures already in place across the system and discussed future plans for school security.
Fogerty told a large crowd in the Clinton Middle School auditorium that there are currently eight uniformed, armed school resource officers and a DARE officer patrolling the county’s two high schools, four middle schools and alternative school, and those officers are available to answer calls at the nearby elementary schools. Fogerty also said that there are currently 259 surveillance cameras in nine of the county schools and that similar cameras are being installed on school buses.
The Anderson County Commission and School Board have scheduled a workshop next month to discuss security concerns.
The workshop starts at 6 p.m. Feb. 7 in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse. The courthouse is located at 100 N. Main St. in Clinton.
Information from WYSH Radio
Last week, the Anderson County Commission voted to get the ball rolling on an audit of the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department.
Earlier this year, the department announced it was switching to a subscription-based service due to a lack of funds so severe, officials said, that the AVFD might have to close without the subscription plan.
The county has a 40-year lease with the AVFD for the land where the new Belmont Fire Station is being built, and part of the lease agreement calls for the department to be audited each year. The matter was referred to the Commission’s audit and budget committees for consideration and further discussion.
Information from WYSH Radio
An overflow crowd of Andersonville residents unhappy about the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department’s subscription plan jammed the hallways on the third floor of the Anderson County Courthouse on Monday to express their anger and frustration over the new fees scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1.
The fire department says it needs an increase in revenue or it will have to close its doors. But many citizens call the subscription plan “extortion.”
Earlier this year, the department’s board of directors voted to implement the plan after donations continued to lag far behind budgetary needs.
Terry Frank
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank has asked the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department to postpone its controversial proposal to switch to a subscription-based plan.
The AVFD currently relies on donations, but Fire Chief Jeff Bagwell has proposed switching to a membership-based department on Jan. 1. Residents would pay a tax-deductible fee of 0.08 cents per square foot. The fire department would still respond to all fires, but non-members would be billed for service, Bagwell said in an Oct. 22 letter and list of frequently asked questions.
The first hour of a response to a structure fire could cost $1,900, Bagwell said.
“Fires could result in several thousands of dollars,” he said.
The Anderson County Commission will have a public hearing on Monday, Dec. 10, to hear citizens’ concerns about the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department’s proposal to start a subscription/membership service.
The public hearing will start at 7 p.m. in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse at 100 N. Main St. in Clinton.
Anderson County Clerk Jeff Cole will swear in Commissioner-elect Steve Emert at the beginning of the County Commission meeting on Monday.
Officials say they had to wait for the results of last week’s election to be certified before Emert could be sworn in, and the Anderson County Election Commission is scheduled to meet Monday afternoon to certify the election, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton.
Emert defeated eight other candidates in the Nov. 6 election to serve the rest of former Commissioner Johnny Alley’s term representing District 3. Alley resigned his Commission seat after winning the August election to become Anderson County property assessor.
District 3 includes Andersonville, Fairview, Glen Alpine, and Norris.
Monday’s Commission meeting begins at 6:30 pm in room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton and will be televised on Comcast Cable Channel 95, the Anderson County government channel.
This story brought to you through an agreement between Oak Ridge Today and WYSH. See more local news headlines on the WYSH website at http://www.wyshradio.com/local_news.html.
Unofficial results from Tuesday’s election remained close on an Oliver Springs liquor referendum and the race for a fifth seat on the Norris City Council, and it wasn’t clear how provisional ballots could change the final vote tallies.
Oliver Springs voters appeared to have rejected the liquor referendum, with 486 voting yes and 519 voting “no” in Anderson and Roane counties. The referendum would allow package stores to sell alcoholic beverages.
But there are about 50 provisional ballots in Anderson County and an unknown number in Roane County, election officials said Wednesday. It wasn’t clear how many of those were from Oliver Springs, or how the ballots and a post-election audit might affect the final vote when results are certified Nov. 19.
Results in the race for four of the five seats on Norris City Council seemed clear. Chris Mitchell, Bill Grieve Jr., Loretta A. Painter, and Jack Black all received more than 500 votes, according to the unofficial results.
But the write-in race between four candidates competing for a fifth seat was close. York Haverkamp had 166 write-in votes and Eugene F. Oates had 154.
Anderson County Election Commission Administrator Mark Stephens said the write-in ballots will have to be checked vote by vote.
“We have really never had to do this in the past,” he said.
In other races in Anderson County, Steven R. Emert received the most votes in the special election to represent District 3 on Anderson County Commission. That district includes Andersonville, Fairview, Norris, and Glen Alpine. Former commissioner Johnny Alley resigned from the seat after he was elected Anderson County property assessor in the Aug. 2 election.
Also Tuesday, Shain Vowell and Andrew Howard won two seats on Lake City City Council, Vowell with 231 votes and Howard with 191.
Most of the other results mirrored results in larger regions, with the exception of the presidential race. Republican Bob Corker beat Democrat Mark E. Clayton in the U.S. Senate race, Republican Chuck Fleischmann defeated Democrat Mary M. Headrick in the battle to represent Tennessee’s Third District in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Republican Dennis Powers trounced Independent Virgil Kidwell.
