Mayor’s speech had ‘false,’ ‘misleading’ information, commissioner says

Note: This story was updated at 1:40 p.m. Feb. 27.

Anderson County Commissioner Myron Iwanski said the speech given by Mayor Terry Frank on Monday contained some “false and misleading” information.

Frank held a press conference at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton on Monday, saying she had to respond to accusations that she was taking advantage of taxpayers by using a county car and accepting travel payment.

In her speech during the press conference, Frank said the $400 per month that Anderson County Commission Chairman Chuck Fritts has accused her of receiving is not travel money. Instead, it is a salary supplement that was added to the mayor’s salary back in 1988 when David Bolling was county mayor, Frank said.

She said it was removed in January 2011 when former Anderson County Mayor Rex Lynch resigned, and reinstated after Iwanski became interim mayor.

But, on Tuesday, Iwanski said Frank misunderstood the policy that was approved in the summer of 2011.

“There were specifics in there about how the money could be spent,” said Iwanski, who served as interim mayor until Frank’s election in August. “It was not a salary supplement. It was specifically for travel-related expenses.”

He also said Frank made claims about his expenses in her roughly 3,000-word speech that weren’t true.

Iwanski said the county mayor had received a salary supplement of about $17,000 per year before his appointment, but it was eliminated by County Commission before he became interim mayor.

“After taking office, it was determined that, by law, the mayor, like the sheriff and road superintendent, was to have an assigned vehicle,” Iwanski said in a Monday e-mail.

The issue was discussed with Anderson County Law Director Jay Yeager and the Budget Committee, Iwanski said. The committee and the Anderson County Commission unanimously agreed that it was in the county’s best interest to provide Iwanski with a $400 monthly supplement to compensate for vehicle use in East Tennessee—rather than assign a vehicle to him, the former interim mayor said.

“As agreed to, I never used a county vehicle while mayor nor received other vehicle compensation from the county per the agreement,” he said.

Iwanski said he also agreed in June 2011 to not use a county cell phone or be reimbursed for one, and to not accept county health insurance.

“I hope the mayor will learn that having differences of opinion is OK and that we need to have open discussion and cooperation rather than confrontation,” he said. “Differences of opinion should not be taken as personal attacks or used as a basis for ‘you are either with me or against me’ divisiveness.”

He said he hadn’t discussed the mayor’s remarks with Frank in advance of Monday’s press conference.

Iwanski said Anderson County has made progress in the past few years toward a “cooperative spirit” in the county and its communities.

“We should not start raising issues in a way that divides the community and its elected officials, pitting one group against another,” he said.

Fritts has said Frank needs to choose between the salary supplement or the county vehicle, a 1998 Ford Crown Victoria.

But in her Monday morning press conference on the courthouse steps, Frank said Fritts has never asked another county mayor to repay taxpayers for travel reimbursements. She also said she has not asked for reimbursement for any travel since she took office, even though she is eligible to ask for reimbursement for more than 1,800 miles.

Iwanski said he was not the one questioning the mayor’s travel and was not at an Operations Committee meeting when Fritts raised the issue. He said his comments were only about him and the 2011 agreement.