• Anderson County Board of Education was a little steamed when its proposed 2019-2020 budget was kicked back by the Anderson County Budget Committee.
Especially after that committee approved an eight-cent increase to the Anderson County’s Sheriff’s Office to bring the detention center up to speed.
I may be wrong about that — that’s just what I heard during the Board of Education meeting.
The Board of Education stuck to its guns, however, and decided to redo its budget and KEEP a 2-percent raise for teachers.
Ask anybody and they’ll tell you that when anybody moves to a new area they always ask, “So, what is the jail like? That’s where my kid is going to end up because the schools are lousy.”
• The Sheriff’s Department should get its eight cents, by the way.
There is an old saying that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
I am beginning to think that adage strongly applies to Glen Casada, Speaker of the House of Representatives in Tennessee.
I have been reading news reports that Speaker Casada gave a pay raise of $130,000 to his Chief-of-Staff such that his salary approached $200,000 per year.
That alone is shocking when you compare his salary to the average salary in our state. But it seems that this very Chief-of-Staff admitted to snorting cocaine inside the legislature.
There are also news reports that Speaker Casada encouraged two legislative employees to engage in public indecency by having sex with another legislative employee in a public bathroom.
As if that’s not bad enough, Speaker Casada may have used tax dollars on equipment to spy on fellow legislators and to limit transparency.
Certainly, this behavior is not acceptable and our elected officials should be held to account.
If you agree, please contact your representative and ask him to make a public statement condemning the abuse of power by Speaker Glen Casada.
In Anderson County, we are either represented by Rep. John Ragan (615-741-4400) or by Rep. Dennis Powers (615-741-3335).
Lst week, Lt. Governor Randy McNally (R-Oak-Ridge) made the following statement:
“It has been my goal over the past few days to allow the House of Representatives to address the issues they are facing without distraction.
“I am very aware that any comments from the other chamber can be counterproductive to their ongoing process. Questions of resignation or removal remain up to Speaker Casada and the House alone. I would expect any removal process to include due process. When asked my personal opinion on the matter, I can only answer honestly. I believe it would be in the best interest of the legislature and the state of Tennessee for Speaker Casada to vacate his office at this time.”
