What Our Vote Meant

County Commissioners received the following letter from County Attorney Clyde Richert this afternoon.
As always, any commentary I add will be in ITALICS.

"I write as County Attorney after your recent meeting and to follow-up my sending each of you a copy of my letter of inquiry to the CTAS legal staff last week. I have received a response from the attorneys at CTAS.

                As a preliminary matter, CTAS advises:

1.       “This is a difficult and complex issue”;

2.       “The issue has not been researched before”; and

3.       “After considerable time researching the issue, …the answer is not perfectly clear”.

I can certainly understand the sentiments expressed here since my own cursory review of the caselaw yielded little, if any , substance from which to form conclusions.

After I sent my letter of inquiry you received, the County Clerk further advised that in another

part of your County Commission Rules, , it provides that 13 votes is necessary to have a majority of the “legal membership” of the County Commission. After my own research, it became more clear that the Rules which the County Commission had adopted provided that in order to fill the vacant seat for the 4^th District, 13 votes for one candidate were required. Further, CTAS has agreed with the interpretation of our Rules. Thus, the answer you received at the County Commission meeting was the correct answer based upon your Rules.

                Next, the CTAS legal staff has now had the opportunity t research the Tennessee case law and statutes. Based upon a Tennessee case decided many years ago, the CTAS legal staff believes that only 12 votes is necessary to fill the 4^th District position and that no further action is necessary. The thinking is that in our situation, 23 members would be the “legal membership” and 12 is a majority vote, even though our Rules state otherwise. Generally speaking, where local Rules are in conflict with State law (or its best interpretation), the State interpretation prevails.

                In conclusion, following the CTAS reasoning, Ervin Brown has been elected by the Robertson County Commission to fill the vacant position as Commissioner from the 4^th District. No further vote is necessary and I would assume he will be sworn in either at your June meeting or at such other time as the County Mayor may determine available. I would suggest the Nominating Committee meet and assign Commissioner Brown committee assignments such that he may begin his service to the County."

I will look forward to working with Commissioner Brown. I welcome the insight and expertise that he will bring to the Robertson County Commission.

And, I certainly applaud Mr. Wade for his willingness to serve. District 4 certainly presented us with a “good problem.” Of course, I mean that the Robertson County Commission faced the difficult task of choosing between two well-qualified gentlemen.

District 4 Vacancy: Upcoming Vote (II)

Here is a letter each County Commissioner received from RobertsonCounty Clerk Susan K. Atchley regarding the meeting Monday, May 16, 2011:

Dear  Commissioners,

At the County Commissioners’ meeting to be held on May 16, 2011, at 7:00 PM, the vacancy of the 4^th district County Commissioner’s seat will be filled.  Nominations will be accepted at this time from Mayor Bradley, current Commissioners, letters submitted to County Clerk or from persons in the audience.  Oral roll calls will be taken for this election.  For any questions regarding procedures, please direct them to my office at the above listed number.

Best regards,

Susan K. Atchley

District 4 Vacancy: Upcoming Vote

We will be voting on a new Robertson County Commissioner on Monday, May 16, 2011.

There are three formal candidates that have “applied” for this seat: Donna Fike, Dennis Wade & Ervin Brown.

I have spoken to each “candidate.” Of course, there will be nominations taken right up and until the roll call vote.

You may have missed my earlier post on the processes & procedures in my earlier ‘District 4 Vacancy.’

I must say that I would love to hear from folks in District 4 – this is your district.

District 4 Vacancy

As discussed previously, Commissioner Polen has resigned.

District 4 now has one vacancy. Many folks have asked how and when the processes will take place to fill this vacancy.

The Robertson County Commission received the following letter from County Clerk Susan Atchley to County Mayor Bradley. Mayor Bradley had requested a letter detailing the processes for announcement to the public. For your consideration, here it is pertinent part:

Commissioner Shannon Polen Resigns

Commissioner Polen has formally tendered his resignation via letter to County Mayor Howard Bradley.

Details will be forthcoming, but his resignation was delivered this afternoon, and it is effective immediately.

UPDATE - 2011.4.5:

Here is Jim Bellis's coverage from the Robertson County Times.

Shannon Polen

It has been difficult to keep up with this story as it unfolds. It even crept into the national media.

And, to think, I did not even know of the arrest but for a telephone call I received from Jim Bellis of the Robertson County Times letting me know of the story he broke this morning:

Robertson County Commissioner Shannon Polen was arrested at his home Tuesday night by officials from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Office of Special Investigations with the Tennessee Attorney General.

Polen was charged with three felony counts of theft of property and taken to the Davidson County Jail for booking.

Held on a total of $400,000 bond, Polen made news recently after three civil lawsuits were filed against him for what has been described as a “Ponzi Scheme,” by some. He will now appear in court on April 4 to begin to answer his charges.

The Times will continue to update as further information becomes available .

Here are the other outlets that I have been keeping track throughout the day:

MSNBC here.

WTVF – Channel 5 here.

WSMV-TV - Channel 4 here & here.

As your RCC Ethics Committee Chairman, rest assured the RCC is keeping close track of these allegations as they unfold. Many have asked just what action the RCC will take in the days and weeks ahead.

We must remember that these allegations are unfolding at this point, and that this is an evolving process. The RCC Ethics Committee is keeping eyes and ears open monitoring this situation but due to the nature of these unfolding investigations, we cannot become another investigatory entity.

County, State and Federal officials are currently at work on their own investigations.

Of course, this investigation, and the connotations of this investigation do not cast Robertson County in a positive light. It is a dark day for everyone involved. It is our hope that the civil and criminal justice systems will bring Robertson County swift justice.

UPDATE - 4/4/2011: Check out the update to this post - "Commissioner Shannon Polen Resigns"