Friday, October 12

Letter to Editor - The Courier - Condone Theft of County Property

Local Officials Condone Theft of County Propery

For you folks that don't feel the need to look into public affairs in Hardin County for yourself, what follows is the results of a lot of homework and research.

Respectfully submitted for your consideratoion,

Uncle Ted

The COURIER
Letters to the Editor
Pg 2A

Despite a state audit and finding that illegal activity and cover-up of theft of county property was condoned by “management of the solid waste department” (Hardin County Mayor Kevin Davis and Randy Etheridge), a documented fabrication to the media, and falsification of public records to cover up the fabrication (i.e. lie) by Davis concerning animal control moving forward, neither has been held accountable.

Left to their own devices, they likely won’t, because our Board of Sanitation, the Board of County Commissioners, the county attorney, the district attorney and the sheriff all have ratified and condoned this illegal activity by their wink-and-nod and inactivity for at least the last two years.

The Board of Commissioners, despite the current state of affairs, re-elected Mayor Davis chairman of the board at their September meeting. They did this because not the first one of them was willing to step up and take the job. None of them seems to have the time and it might actually prevent them from hiding, like cowards, behind Mayor Davis, as if he is the only one responsible for allowing the corruption in his office to continue.

The best excuse of the whole sordid affair was by Mayor Davis, at the commissioners’ February meeting, when he responded to the question by Commissioner Jenkins, “Has anyone been disciplined or punished?”

Mayor Davis retorted that the audit and investigation results did not identify anyone specifically, by name, so no one has been disciplined or fired for the actual theft of county property or for management ratifying or condoning the thefts.

The really sad thing about the whole mess is that the commissioners seem to say, “O.K., sounds good to us, nothing for us to do, the mayor is going to deal with it as soon as someone ferrets out the names of the managers of the Hardin County Solid Waste Department.” That’s lame.

Since I was the one who in July 2010 filed the complaint with the comptroller, DA, assistant district attorney and Sheriff Sammy Davidson that led to the comptroller’s investigation, I’m here to tell you that I named Mayor Davis, Randy Etheridge and the county commission as the officials who were aware of the theft of the county’s scrap metal and the cover-up that was taking place.

The comptroller’s investigation files are considered work product and are not public records, at this time; they will not release those files. Be that as it may, my files are not public records, either, but I have no problem with releasing the complaint. The long and the short of it is, the investigation results confirm the allegations in my complaint.

Some of the employees had taken scrap metal, sold it and kept the money. Management of the department was aware of, and in fact encouraged, the theft and refused to take any corrective action. Their problem with corrective action against those responsible is that the county commissioners are apparently waiting for Mayor Davis to discipline himself since they refuse to honor their oath of office for fidelity to the Constitution and the law.

I for one am not going to stand by and just wait for our “leaders” to end the corruption in the mayor’s office and the Board of County Commissioners. Now that my physical issues have stabilized and seem to be under control and the corrupt affair in Hardeman County has been kicked down the road until after the first of the year, there will be time to deal with these folks, and the state, which has also been sitting on its hands.

Question: What happens when our mayor all 20 commissioners, the DA, assistant DA and county attorney violate their oath of office? They are about to find out.

Ted G Cook
Savannah