Oak Ridge Today

Cooper, a Vietnam veteran, longtime industrial recruiter, running for Charter Commission in District 2

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Jim Cooper

Jim Cooper

Jim Cooper, a Vietnam veteran and former president of the Melton Hill Regional Industrial Association, is running for one of eight seats on the Anderson County Charter Commission in the November 8 election.

Cooper is running for the District 2 seat. District 2 includes the Clinton Community Center, South Clinton, and North Clinton voting precincts.

“The City of Clinton has had a charter form of government since 1954, and instituting a charter government in Anderson County presents our county with the opportunity to enact term limits,” Cooper said. “I support term limits (two consecutive four-year terms) for the offices of county commissioners and mayor. I also support electing commissioners for staggered terms—meaning we don’t elect all 16 in just one election year.” [Read more…]

Mead, a county commissioner, running for Charter Commission

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Steve Mead

Steve Mead

Steve Mead, an Anderson County commissioner representing an Oak Ridge district, is running for one of eight seats on the Anderson County Charter Commission in the November 8 election.

Mead has expressed some concerns about term limits, at least as proposed in Anderson County this campaign season. Term limits have become one of the defining issues of the Charter Commission campaign, although nothing official will be proposed, debated, or approved until after the eight-member commission is elected next month.

In a press release, Mead said eight candidates have made term limits the primary focus of their campaign. He said those eight candidates were recruited by Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and her supporters, although at least two candidates—Jim Cooper and Kathy Moore—have denied that in statements to Oak Ridge Today.

Mead said he supports term limits for career politicians that make a living from their elected offices. That’s similar to the position taken by other nation-wide organizations like U.S. Term Limits Inc., Mead said in the press release. [Read more…]

In first run for office, Farmer seeks seat on Charter Commission

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Howard Farmer

Howard Farmer

Howard Farmer, a longtime educator and farmer, is seeking one of eight seats on the Anderson County Charter Commission. It’s Farmer’s first run for public office, a press release said.

Farmer wants to represent District 5, which includes the Dutch Valley, Clinton High School, Marlow, and Norwood precincts.

“I’ve voted my entire adult life, but this is the first time I’ve stepped forward to run for an office,” Farmer said. “I’m running because it is so important that we exact term limits. We have a lot of great people in Anderson County, but we’re not tapping into their talent and potential because of career politicians. We need term limits so we can benefit from new and fresh ideas.” [Read more…]

Moore cites city, county government experience in run for Charter Commission

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Kathy Moore

Kathy Moore

Longtime Oak Ridger Kathy Moore has announced that she is running for one of eight seats on the Anderson County Charter Commission, a press release said.

Moore supports term limits. The press release said term limits would give more people an opportunity to participate in local government as candidates and as board members.

Moore said she wants to use her experiences to serve as the representative from the Eighth District. That district includes the Emory Valley, Hendrix Creek, and Woodland voting precincts.

“As a lifelong Oak Ridger with experience in both city and county government, I believe I can provide knowledgeable input into the charter process,” Moore said. “A charter has worked well for the City of Oak Ridge, ensuring that citizens are an active part of our government. I want the same for Anderson County in order to move us forward.” [Read more…]

Reminder: Forum tonight features candidates for Anderson County Charter Commission

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

A forum tonight will feature the Oak Ridge candidates for Anderson County Charter Commission.

The forum will start at 7 p.m., Thursday, October 6, in the City Room (A-111) at Roane State Community College at 701 Briarcliff Avenue in Oak Ridge.

Here are the Oak Ridge candidates: [Read more…]

Stanley, a doctor running for Charter Commission, supports term limits

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

David Stanley

David Stanley

David Stanley, a doctor running for Anderson County Charter Commission, supports term limits for the county mayor and the County Commission, as well as more active citizen participation, a press release said.

Stanley is running for the District 7 seat on the eight-member Charter Commission in the November 8 election. District 7 includes the Highland View, Glenwood, and Pine Valley voting precincts.

Stanley was born and raised in Maryville, the press release said. After obtaining his undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and graduating from medical school in Memphis, Stanley spent time as a medical missionary in Laos, where he founded a modest hospital on the border of Cambodia and Laos, bringing modern medicine to the area for the first time, the press release said.

Once he returned to the United States, he moved his young family to Oak Ridge, where he built his medical practice from the ground up, the release said. [Read more…]

Ward, an attorney running for Charter Commission, supports term limits

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Hugh Ward Jr.

Hugh Ward Jr.

Hugh B. Ward Jr., an attorney running for Anderson County Charter Commission, supports term limits for county mayor and county commissioners, a press release said.

Ward is running for the District 6 seat on the eight-member Charter Commission, which will be elected November 8. District 6 includes the Oak Ridge City Hall, Robertsville, and West Hills precincts.

“Charter government has worked well for the City of Oak Ridge since November 7, 1962; the City of Clinton since 1954; Knoxville; Knox County; and other East Tennessee cities,” the press release said. “I think it’s time we modernize and allow Oak Ridge citizens to have the same level of citizen input in county government as our own fine city government. I favor a charter government, including term limits for county commissioners and the office of county mayor. For stability, I believe we need to establish staggered terms of office for commissioners as occurs in our city and surrounding municipalities.”

If elected, Ward said, his priorities will include transparency and open government, citizen participation on county committees, and ensuring charter proposals are consistent with the state constitution and general laws. [Read more…]

Not sure what the Charter Commission is? Hear from candidates on Tuesday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce has a forum for candidates for the Anderson County Charter Commission on Tuesday morning.

It’s the first candidate forum for the November 8 election.

The Charter Commission candidate forum will start at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, September 20, in the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s Joyce Conference Room. It’s free and open to the public.

There are 20 candidates for eight seats on the new Charter Commission. The Tuesday morning forum at the Oak Ridge Chamber will feature candidates from the county’s District 6, District 7, and District 8, which all include parts of Oak Ridge.

There are seven candidates for those three seats: [Read more…]

Former county commissioner running for Charter Commission, supports term limits

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Dusty Irwin

Dusty Irwin

Former Anderson County Commissioner Dusty Irwin is running for one of eight seats on the Anderson County Charter Commission, and he said he supports term limits.

Irwin is running for a seat in District 3, which includes the Andersonville, Norris, Fairview, and Glen Alpine precincts.

In a press release, Irwin said he was an active part of the petition effort to give citizens the opportunity to have term limits through charter—or Home Rule—government.

“I am committed to giving the voters an opportunity to vote on term limits for two consecutive terms for county commissioners and the office of mayor,” Irwin said in the release. “I feel strongly about citizen service on county committees, open and transparent meetings, and ensuring citizens have a right to speak at all meetings.” [Read more…]

Seventeen pick up petitions for seats on Charter Commission

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

As of Thursday morning, 17 people had picked up qualifying petitions to run for seats on an Anderson County Charter Commission in November.

The Charter Commission will be comprised of one person from each of the eight Anderson County Commission districts, and it will be responsible for studying possible changes to the county government. Their recommendations would then be placed in front of county voters to decide in a countywide referendum that would most likely appear on a ballot in 2018. Once elected and sworn in, the Commission would have nine months to complete its work.

Some of the possible changes that could be made include slicing the number of county commissioners from 16 to nine members, establishing term limits for commissioners and the county mayor, and making the county law director position an elected office. [Read more…]

Letter: Proud of Progress PAC endorsement, positive campaign

Posted at
By 8 Comments

To the Editor:

I read the article in Wednesday’s The Oak Ridger where the reporter contacted the five candidates who were not endorsed by the Progress PAC for comments. I wonder why The Oak Ridger did not contact all the candidates.

Either way, I found most comments professional, and in particular Mike Mahathy’s and Jean Hiser’s and in general Andrew Howe’s. Both Andrew Howe’s and Laurie Paine’s, however, referenced me so I feel necessary to respond. [Read more…]