Let your voice be heard
EDITOR:
Are you aware that the Anderson County GOP recently announced that all future elections for County Commission will be partisan”
What does this mean for the voters of Anderson County?
This change in rules was apparently approved by GOP Executive Committee members. This hastily arranged change in a decades-long traditional rule will eliminate two sitting commissioners from running again: Josh Anderson and Chuck Fritts.
This rule will also restrict all federal employees from participating in local politics.
This move to partisan politics will also substantially raise the cost to taxpayers for future elections.
Can one party take a vote to change the rules that govern our County Commission without being considered by the public or our duly elected county commissioners?
This unnecessary change has been attributed to the Hatch Act, yet Anderson County has never had a single complaint of any Hatch Act violations. In Anderson County we are fortunate to have a large number of highly educated, skilled and talented federal employees living in our communities due to the presence of TVA, DOE and ORNL.
The GOP Executive Committee should at least explain to the County Commission and the general public why the GOP wants to eliminate such an extraordinary local talent pool and make all our elections cost more.
If any elected official ever does violate the Hatch Act, there is already a specified remedy for that. Our own federal government realized how restrictive the Hatch Act might become in Washington D.C., with the many federal employees residing there, so Congress wisely made a specific exception to the Hatch Act for the D.C. area in order to have access to that quality work force.
Anderson County has been operating under a similar nonpartisan process up until this recent GOP change.
Why change now? Is the GOP Executive Committee acting in the public’s best interest?
The general public needs time and better information to closely study this major change. The public has a right to know exactly what future consequences this abrupt change would bring.
Ask your commissioner what problem will be solved by making this rule change?
Let your voice be heard!
James J. Wilson
Norris
