Sunday, August 13

Moving My Act To Nashville for the Fall

This is as much about the Registry of Election Finance not doing their job as it about Rep.Randy, not representing my rights and playing fast and loose with his campaign funds.
We report, you decide.
Uncle Ted
From the desk of
Ted G. Cook
470 Hard Rock Road
Savannah, TN 38372
August 11, 2006


Tennessee Registry of Election Finance
404 James Robertson Parkway, Suite 1614
Nashville, Tennessee 37243

Dear Mr. Chairman,

What follows is another fine example of the fact that there is abuse of the Financial Disclosure and Campaign Financing laws in Hardin County and if history repeats itself, no one will wants to do their job, including your fine offices.

Our State Attorney General has opined, in Ag-Op 05-172, December 7, 2005, that the Registry of Election Finance has a duty to review all filed statements to insure compliance. The following sworn complaint will show that your fine offices may have neglected that duty, in that the allegations are obviously from the face of the filings.

Your attention to this matter would be greatly appreciated.

SWORN COMPLAINT

Pursuant to Section 2-10-108 of the Tennessee Code, I hereby file this sworn complaint against Representative Randy Rinks, State Representative for the 71st District, for violation of the requirements of Section 2-10-107 of the Tennessee Code and Chapter 0530-1-1 of the Rules of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance. In support of this complaint, I would allege as follows:

1. In his 2005 campaign financial disclosure statement, Representative Rinks reported a $15,039.92 expense payable to American Express for his monthly bill, without any further documentation or itemization of the expense. This expense report is in violation of Chapter 0530-1-1.04 of the Rules of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance and Section 2-10-107 of the Tennessee Code due to insufficient description of the disbursement.

2. In his 2005 campaign financial disclosure statement, Representative Rinks reported telephone expenses of $1,167.34 to Access Int. Networks, $551.55 to Bellsouth, $2,507.67 to Cingular Wireless, $965.16 to Nextel, and $482.81 to Sprint, for total telephone expenditures of $5,674.53 for the 2005 calendar year. These expenses appear to be in violation of Chapter 0530-1-1.04 of the Rules of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance and Section 2-10-107 of the Tennessee Code because the expenses appear to be far in excess of what should be reasonably necessary for and incidental to the candidate’s holding public office and/or campaigning for said office.

3. In his 2005 campaign financial disclosure statement, Representative Rinks reported a $2,994.23 expense payable to Nashville City Club for his "monthly bill," without any further documentation or itemization of the expense. This expense report is in violation of Chapter 0530-1-1.04 of the Rules of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance and Section 2-10-107 of the Tennessee Code due to insufficient description of the disbursement.

4. In his 2004 campaign financial disclosure statements, Representative Rinks reported expenses of $16,901.72 payable to American Express for his monthly bill and utilities, without any further documentation or itemization of the expense. These expense reports are in violation of Chapter 0530-1-1.04 of the Rules of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance and Section 2-10-107 of the Tennessee Code due to insufficient description of the disbursement.

5. In his 2004 campaign financial disclosure statement, Representative Rinks reported telephone expenses of $1,712.81 to Access Int. Networks, $166.26 to AT&T, $150.34 to Bellsouth, $1,371.65 to Cingular Wireless, and $1,622.49 to Nextel, for total telephone expenditures of $5,023.55 for the 2004 calendar year. These expenses appear to be in violation of Chapter 0530-1-1.04 of the Rules of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance and Section 2-10-107 of the Tennessee Code because the expenses appear to be far in excess of what should be reasonably necessary for and incidental to the candidate’s holding public office and/or campaigning for said office.

6. In his 2003 campaign financial disclosure statement, Representative Rinks reported a $7,594.44 expense payable to American Express for utilities, without any further documentation or itemization of the expense. This expense report is in violation of Chapter 0530-1-1.04 of the Rules of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance and Section 2-10-107 of the Tennessee Code due to insufficient description of the disbursement.

7. In his 2003 campaign financial disclosure statement, Representative Rinks reported telephone expenses of $985.51 to Access Int. Networks, $166.26 to AT&T, $895.29 to Cingular Wireless, and $901.32 to Nextel, for total telephone expenditures of $2,948.38 for the 2003 calendar year. These expenses appear to be in violation of Chapter 0530-1-1.04 of the Rules of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance and Section 2-10-107 of the Tennessee Code because the expenses appear to be far in excess of what should be reasonably necessary for and incidental to the candidate’s holding public office and/or campaigning for said office.

WHEREFORE, Complainant respectfully requests that the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance investigate the above-referenced reporting deficiencies and expenses, and, upon a finding of violation of the above-referenced statutes and rules, assess appropriate civil penalties.


Respectfully submitted,

Ted G. Cook
470 Hard Rock Road
Savannah, TN 38372
731-925-4753

Sworn to and subscribed before me on this the 11th day of August, 2006.

My Notary Commission expires: 9-10-06
/s/ Jennie L Blackwelder
NOTARY PUBLIC

Thursday, August 10

Post Elections in Hardin County

I’m going to have to send my crystal ball out for a tune-up or even maybe a major overhaul. Boy, did I miss this one, or what?

It appears that the wave of the future in Hardin County is to maintain the status quo. Let’em do whatever they want, however they want. "Beam me up, Scotty!"

Well, the results of the Hardin County elections were, to say the least, astonishingly confusing and somewhat disappointing. But life goes on and we will have to play the hand we are dealt. I guess the bottom line is, what kind of a hand do we now have and how do we play that hand.

On the bright side, we have only about four years before the next opportunity to bring meaningful change to the governance of Hardin County, unless we take a serious look at Metro.

However, it seems apparent now that the CATS (Citizens Against Ted’s S _ _ _ (Stuff)) group is much bigger than I thought it was, or apathy and the grip of the good-ol-boys is stronger than anticipated.

As was noted in my fatal "Scouting Report" ad in The Courier that, "For what it’s worth, for years I was the butt of a standing joke at the Mayor’s office and the County Commission. That was, 'If Ted Cook is fur it, we’re agin it, and if he’s agin it, we’re fur it!' That may be the way it is at the courthouse, but I don’t think that’s the way it is in the county and I know for a fact that’s not the way it is in the Sixth District. The upcoming vote of the citizens will prove or disprove that assumption."

Well, I guess we got the answer to that assumption, even from my own district. They were right and I was wrong. It’s not a joke, it is a reality. So be it, but are we so afraid of change that we are willing to live without representative democracy?

It seems to be the plan to maintain the status quo, even though maintaining status quo is accepting the overruling of a legitimate vote by the majority of the voters in a public referendum.

The subject of the referendum does not matter, in reality.

It’s like, "forget the majority county vote, in my district/precinct the majority voted for the wheel tax, so we don’t have a problem with our commissioners ignoring the majority vote of the rest of the county." Adds new definition to the word neighbor and neighborhood.

I really believed that the citizens of Hardin County would deal with the problem if we could clearly and unequivocally prove that Hardin County government was not functioning as a representative democracy.

Come to find out, the majority of the voters in every district in Hardin County said, "So what? We won’t hold that against them," and returned 15 of the 18 county commissioners that sought reelection to office.

I have heard since the election that, "All we really want is peace and harmony. We just want everyone to get along and even if we have to admit we are wrong, even if we’re not, then let us do that in the name of peace and harmony."

Kinda like living in surrender mode because we were raised to be non-
confrontational. These are the same attitudes that would have had us speaking Japanese or German, if they had had the choice.

For years I heard, "the voters just don’t understand and most don’t really care because they have enough to worry about keeping the wolf away from their door, so they don’t have the time or desire to get involved in making an inform decision."

Sounds about right for Hardin County, but does that satisfy an American citizen’s responsibility to stay informed and participate? I don’t think so.

Unfortunately, some of my neighbors and friends are willing to sacrifice their own and their neighbors’ rights, in the name of "harmony" and that dreadful "go along to get along at all costs" attitude.

I’m going to have to tone down my optimism about some of the citizens’ willingness to stand up and be counted.

Ted G. Cook
Savannah

Our Readers Write, The Courier, 8/10/06