HOW MANY CRIMES CAN ONE COUNTY’S EMPLOYEES COMMIT?
by Dave Todd
(Mar. 24, 2011) — On March 8, 2011 an article titled “Expose Corruption and Eventually People Will Come Forward” appeared in The Post & Email. This sounds good and is perhaps good in theory, but here in Tennessee, it is a far cry from reality. Initially people did begin to come forward and start talking about the abusive retroactive 49% property tax increase just imposed on the citizens of this county. They also started talking about other things such as “No Bid” contracts and the sale of county property bought with grant money for only a fraction of its original value under circumstances that require the taxpayers to repay the grants in full. The apparent under-the-table payoffs being made by drug dealers for protection, the return of suspended driver licenses for under-the-table payoffs, court records lost for the right price, criminal charges dropped also for a price, in addition to a host of other issues that come with nepotism and favoritism, were all discussed.
There was also considerable discussion about the black mold problem and other health hazards in the jail, mistreatment of inmates, targeted incarcerations, abusive bail procedures to encourage plea-bargaining, excessive fines and court costs, but to make things easy on poorer people who were the primary victims of this abuse, easy payment plans are available in the event you want to remain free so that you can take care of your responsibilities and family. They make the choice easy on people, accept their terms or prepare to spend a year or more incarcerated waiting for a trial date, eating baloney sandwiches twice a day while being forced to sleep on a thin mat on the floor breathing black mold spores.
Of course, after the recent death of Jeff Smith, the county became very concerned about the mold problem and a no-bid contract was issued to an out-of-county contractor to address the problem. Some people who refuse to accept the proposed plea bargain arrangement because they are innocent and believe they would rather fight than plead to even reduced charges often find they made a serious error in judgment, because if one person is allowed to get away with such an idea, another might follow. In such cases they are assigned the most incompetent lawyer possible and in many cases even denied due process, as in the case of Anthony D. Hood, whose story will be told in detail in a forthcoming article.
For a few days things and people began to change, because they started having visions of increased freedoms, respectability, mobility and perhaps even more disposable income. A group called Fentress Citizens for a Responsible Government and at the first public meeting held at the “Community Center” it was a standing-room-only crowd. People were standing in line to make donations and sign petitions to get a charter form of government on the ballot for the next election. However, this excitement and hope lasted only a few days for the lower-income individuals of this county before hope was again suppressed.
The affluent interrelated families that have dominated and controlled the lower-income people of this county for decades were not about to let this happen. Within days, they began a series of actions that can only be described as social re-engineering and/or reconstruction of the county’s social network. One of the first noticeable but unforeseen events was the sudden change of personnel at the Election office (this event will have a serious impact on other aspects of this article). Sheryl York, who had held the position for over 16 years, suddenly resigned without warning. For the record, she had attended the Fentress Citizens for a Responsible Government meeting held at the community center only a few days earlier. She had been very helpful in providing information about a charter form of government and the petition and election process.
Within hours of her resignation, Joey Wasilliams was sworn in: one of the “good ole boys,” but far from the most qualified for the position. This is the agency that has the power to accept or reject all or any portion of the petitions submitted to put a charter form of government on the next ballot. It appears at this time that the “Fentress Citizens for a Responsible Government” might expect to encounter many obstacles in their efforts to get a charter form of government on the ballot by the next election in 2012.
One other issue of grave concern is that once the Election Commission is given possession of the petitions, they will have complete knowledge about every individual who signed the petition which could lead to acts of retaliation. Already, people are reporting that veiled verbal threats and attempts at intimidation are being made to discourage individuals from signing the petitions.
Suddenly, in the course of everyday conversation, the name of “Fentress Citizens for Responsible Government” is introduced into the conversation by many different sources including public officials, social workers, medical personnel, landlords, businessmen, lawyers and even some preachers, etc. In a very discreet but threatening way, the lower social classes of this community are told that if they sign petitions or are seen at meetings or even talking with people with “The Fentress Citizens for Responsible Government,” there could be severe repercussions such as losing low-cost housing, food stamps, state medical, disability classification, medicine, free transportation, probation revoked, change in the easy payment plan for fines and court costs and a host of other things. In such cases it is difficult to prove criminal intent or even that the content of these conversations is being coordinated, but it is difficult to ignore the fact that there is a common denominator, which is that the individuals making subtle threats are members of the same family or obligated to them for substance.
Here in Tennessee, which is supposed to be part of the United States, home of the free and the brave, many of the community’s underprivileged are not free or even brave, as they are living in a constant state of fear and terror imposed by a small group of affluent individuals. It is extremely difficult quietly being terrorized by the very people who are supposed to be protecting you and your rights. Even if corruption is exposed, it appears that few people will come forward under existing conditions. The forgotten folks at the bottom of the social ladder are living in a constant state of fear and repression, believing that little, if any, help will ever come from either the state or federal government. Who really cares about the people at the bottom of the social order who are living in a remote area in the Tennessee hills? Here in this county, threats, intimidation and even retaliation have become the rule rather than the exception. Since law enforcement is apparently directly involved, no complaints are investigated or charges filed, and victims are powerless.
On the 14th and 15th of March 2011, a series of events occurred that many put the national spotlight on corruption in Tennessee, not only in Fentress County, but also Monroe County and elsewhere. It is going to be very difficult for Attorney General Robert Cooper and/or Governor Bill Haslam to ignore this situation as they have events in Monroe County. In this situation, the victim is not just some poor little barefoot and pregnant Tennessee housewife without assets or connections as are most of the victims these people are accustomed to abusing. This is a very brave woman who does have a number of small kids at home including one in diapers, and is also caretaker of her 97-year-old grandmother who is in failing health. Outwardly she appeared to be an ideal target to bring about the derailing of “The Fentress Citizens for Responsible Government” movement. She was the most visible of the founders, a primary spokesperson, and a vocal critic at county commission meetings. All of this is happening in the forefront of my exposing abuses at the jail and the black mold problem. I was one of the first to contact the widow of Jeff Smith, who died of respiratory problems four days after being released from jail because of a traffic offense Class C misdemeanor, 37 days of which he spent sleeping on the floor breathing black mold spores. After one jail committee meeting, Sheriff Tony Choate confronted Kristin in the hallway and staircase in a very aggressive manner and with heated rhetoric that she managed to capture on tape since she still had her recorder in her hand when she left the meeting.
Several members of the Republican Party and I got wind of a plan for Ed Stephens, chairman of the Republican Party, to suddenly resign as chairman at the meeting set for 15 March 2011, to be replaced by Chris Owen, who had just recently been appointed to the Jail Committee—commonly known as stacking the deck. Several of the members, including me, had heard of this conspiracy and were able to derail the plan prior to the meeting on March 15. Chris Owen and his supporters became aware of my efforts to derail their plans, at which time they paid me a visit using aggressive rhetoric and threats in an effort to scare me off. I posted this information on Facebook and several other sites right after it happened so that a written record does exist. Chris Owen and his supporters were visibly upset when they arrived at the meeting, only to learn that the plan was not on the agenda. The group spent considerable time engaged with each other in conversation at the southwest corner of the building before the meal, but it was only later that it became apparent that they were conspiring to terrorize Kristin after the meeting.
What happened as the meeting was breaking up is somewhat unclear. Kristin was in an American Legion building attending a Republican Party meeting, so she felt secure and among friends. Paul Draper led her into that storage room while I was standing on the other side of her table engaged in a conversation with another couple when Kristin suddenly disappeared. I had been waiting for Kristin to finish the conversation she was engaged in before sharing some information with her. After she disappeared, I waited about 15 minutes and figured she must have had an emergency and left (common nowadays with cell phones), so I went home.
When I awoke in the morning there was an e-mail from Kristin with a time stamp of 3:40 a.m. describing her experience. My reaction was to fire off an e-mail to Jim Curtis at 7:29 a.m. advising him of the e-mail I had received. Jim Curtis must have panicked when he got my email because the answer I got back, dated 16 March 2011 at 11:32 a.m., establishes beyond any doubt that Kristin was by some means lured, pushed, led, etc. into a storage room at the American Legion, where she was waylaid, verbally assaulted, and intimidated to the point of becoming extremely emotional.
The e-mail sent by Jim Curtis incriminates the parties involved including him because two or more individuals conspired in advance to abduct or lure a woman into a storage area where numerous men were waiting to terrorize her in order to achieve a political agenda. Apparently up to four of these men had entered the storage room in advance of Kristin’s appearance and were lying in wait for her. Despite the claim by Jim Curtis that the “American Legion or the Republican Party did not sanction the meeting,” the incident did occur at a Republican Party event in an AMERICAN LEGION POST. The commander of The American Legion and the chairman of the Republican Party were in the room behind closed doors while this woman was being terrorized and intimidated. Jim Curtis claims the purpose of the meeting was to encourage her through the use of terror and fear to quit exposing abuses and corruption associated with the sheriff, Tony Choate, who might have even been the instigator behind this incident.
The question is: Will members of the national Republican Party and the American Legion support or accept this kind of conduct–I believe two of the individuals involved, Ed Stephens and Mark Howard, are members of the Election Commission—-Chris Owen is on the Jail Committee and Paul Draper is an avid supporter of Tony Choate.—-Will Tony Choate do his duty—will the local newspaper owned by Tony Choate’s family cover the story—will the Attorney General become involved and what about Gov. Haslam?
Incidentally, Kristin is the daughter of Mike Kinslow, a central figure in our nation’s space programs and who had been interviewed nationally as a payload specialist on numerous shuttle missions. One has to assume that he knows lots of people in the political world and the media. They just might have picked the wrong victim to terrorize this time.