Davidson County Elections

[GuardianDevil001]

Hi Girls and Boys,

One week ago I sent an email to every mayoral, vice-mayoral, at-large council, and 6^th district council candidate in Davidson County who did not cast a vote in the 2009 proposal to allow Handgun Carry Permit holders to go armed in municipal parks, and for whom I could find an email address. The email asked the following: “What is your position on allowing Tennessee Handgun Carry Permit holders to go armed in Davidson County parks and/or greenways? Would you introduce, sponsor, or support a proposal allowing either of the two or both?†Here are the responses (or lack thereof):

6^th District Candidates

Borzak, Bob: No response.*

Rich, Dave: No response.

Schmidt, Hans: OPPOSES the right to carry in parks.

Westerholm, Peter: No response.

*Bob Borzak recently suffered a brain aneurysm and is recovering at Vanderbilt Hospital. This probably explains why he has not responded.

At-Large Candidates

Barry, Megan: Current district 8 Council Member, voted AGAINST parks carry in 2009.

Coleman, Sam: Current district 32 Council Member; voted in FAVOR of parks carry in 2009.

Crafton, Eric: Current district 22 Council Member; voted in FAVOR of parks carry in 2009.

Crawford, Donna: No response.

Francois, Renard: No response.

Garrett, Tim: Current At Large Council Member; voted in FAVOR of parks carry in 2009.

Jakes, Ken: SUPPORTS right to carry in parks.

Maxwell, James A (Jim): Could not find email address.

Maynard, Jerry: Current At Large Council Member, voted AGAINST parks carry in 2009.

McFolin, Donald Ray: Could not find email address.

O'Donniley, Don: Could not find email address.

Speer, Keith: Could not find email address.

Steine, Ronnie: Current At Large Council Member, voted AGAINST parks carry in 2009.

Townsend, Charles L Sr: Could not find email address.

Tygard, Charlie: Current At Large Council Member, voted AGAINST parks carry in 2009.

Usmani, Sajid W: No response.

Wilhoite, Vivian: Current At Large Council Member, voted AGAINST parks carry in 2009.

Wooten, Jack: Could not find email address.

Vice Mayor

Baxter, James Arnold: Could not find email address.

Neighbors, Diane: Current Vice Mayor, voted AGAINST parks carry in 2009. Cast deciding vote!

Mayor

Barnes, Marvin: Could not find email address.

Casper, Bruce: Could not find email address.

Dean, Karl: No response.

Keeton, James: SUPPORTS the right to carry in parks.

My assumption is that those who did not respond are against parks carry. This means not only do I disagree on the issue but that the candidate did not have the courtesy and respect to respond to a legitimate question. I provide this information so that you can make an informed decision this Election Day. If you are aware of any errors or omissions then please let me know. If I get any late responses I will update the group.

[Defender]

THIS is very useful informaton. I did a similar mailout a while back and used my results in the subsequent elections. Thank you.

[GuardianDevil001]

For those of you who do not live in District 6, below is a list of Metro Council members by how they voted on allowing HCP holders to carry in parks back in 2009:

Against Parks Carry: Greg Adkins, Megan Barry, Erik Cole, Erica Gilmore, Jason Holleman, Walter Hunt, Mike Jameson, Darren Jernigan, Kristine LaLonde, Edith Langster, Lonnell Matthews Jr., Jerry Maynard, Sean McGuire, Bo Mitchell, Sandra Moore, Pam Murray, Anna Page, Rip Ryman, Ronnie Steine, Carter Todd, Charlie Tygard and Vivian Wilhoite

In Favor of Parks Carry: Buddy Baker, Karen Bennett, Carl Burch, Phil Claiborne, Sam Coleman, Michael Craddock, Eric Crafton, Duane Dominy, Robert Duvall, Emily Evans, Jim Forkum, Randy Foster, Tim Garrett, Jim Gotto, Frank Harrison, Jim Hodge, Bruce Stanley and Parker Toler

[GuardianDevil001]

I love it: Renard Francois did not respond to my question but he did put me on his email list!

[dunndw]

Here is a spreadsheet my brother sent me that is supposed to show how the current council voted on "hot button" issues

http://www.donelsoncomputers.com/docs/Council.pdf

[DHF]

Thanks a lot for the spreadsheet. I really love the votes on January 19th 'Public to Vote on New Convention Center'. We, defeninitely don't want that pesky little Public guy getting in the way again.

Did you put this together or pull it off of the Nashville.gov site?

[Reservoir Dog]

I love it: Renard Francois did not respond to my question but he did put me on his email list!

I know how you feel. I sent an email to my state senator (Jack Johnson) about an issue. I received no response, but then started getting his email updates. You gotta love politicians!

[DHF]

It is very interesting that you can't find contact info for candidates. For fun, I went and tried to find it for those listed above as well.

I did find this on Bruce Casper: Campaign For Liberty — Davidson GOP Chair Supports Gay Libertarian Candidate for Mayor

Keith Speer's Facebook page with email: Keith Speer | Facebook

.. and this little piece in the Tennessean mentioning Don O’Donniley: Politicians late on paying property taxes put on notice | The Tennessean | tennessean.com

Which states:

Don O’Donniley, an attorney who also is seeking an at-large seat, said he was waiting for the settlement of a recent lawsuit so he would be able to pay the combined bill of more than $2,200 on two properties, including his Belmont Boulevard home.

O’Donniley said he’s been late with his payments in other years but has always paid the penalties and gotten caught up, usually by April. He said he recently fought a three-year battle with cancer, with medical expenses totaling $100,000, and regularly uses settlements from litigation to generate cash flow to pay his bills.

“The more relevant question is, has someone failed to pay them over time?” he said. “If you’re behind and you don’t catch up, that’s a problem. ... I can’t imagine why you’d be complaining about somebody paying interest.”

He said he would pay his taxes before Election Day, which is Aug. 4.

[DHF]

I received a response from Keith Speer to the question about parks & greenways. He said that he would support permitted carriers to carry anywhere permitted by state law but he would not be the one introducing it as there are more pressing issues that need to be addressed in our county.

[Guest HvyMtl]

Here is my opinion: Do not vote for Dean. Period. Vote for the fairgrounds. Vote for people who go against Dean's wishes. Do not vote for anyone who supports Dean. He is running the city like it is all his, not the citizens.

In district 4 vote for Tuttle, he is for the fairgrounds, and seems to be a very good candidate. Not supported by Dean. Do not vote Banks, unless you want all that Dean wants, as Banks was in charge of Dean's neighborhood office. Patterson is generally unavailable. The two women seem to not even be running (one supposedly has back taxes owed.) Batsuk, I do not know much info about.

If you do not like Dean, vote people in you know will not work with him. Just that simple.

[Luckyforward]

+1 - VERY well said!