Voters Head to the Polls Thursday (View Ballot Here)

August 5, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County voters will be deciding races for Assessor of Property, Board of Education, Constable, and others in the election Thursday, August 6

The ballot includes the DeKalb County General Election, Tennessee Republican and Democratic Primaries for state offices, and Municipal Elections in Smithville, Dowelltown, and Alexandria.

(Click link below to view ballot)

Ballot

Election day voting at all 15 precincts will be from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 6.

WJLE will have LIVE election return coverage when the polls close starting at 7 p.m.

DEKALB COUNTY GENERAL ELECTION
DeKalb County voters will make their choice for Assessor of Property in the DeKalb County General Election.

Republican Incumbent Assessor Shannon Cantrell, seeking a second four year term, will face a challenge for re-election by Democrat Tom Duggin.

All seven constable candidates will be unopposed in their respective districts on August 6th including Waylon Kyle in the 1st District, Darrell Johnson 2nd District, Travis Bryant 3rd District, Paul Cantrell 4th District, Mark Milam 5th District, Jason Brown 6th District, and Johnny King in the 7th District. All are Democrats except Bryant. The terms are for four years.

There will only be one contested school board race on August 6th. Jason Miller and Shawn Washer will be seeking the 6th district seat to succeed two term incumbent Doug Stephens, who is not running for re-election. Meanwhile Jamie L Cripps will be unopposed in her bid to succeed long time 5th district school board member W.J. (Dub) Evins, III who is not seeking re-election. The terms are four years.

Meanwhile, Republican Criminal Court Judge Wesley Bray will be unopposed in the 13th Judicial District special election on August 6th to serve out the last two years of former Judge David Patterson’s unexpired term. Patterson stepped down from the bench last year and Bray was appointed by the Governor to succeed him until the August 6th, 2020 election.

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS
Five candidates will be vying for one of three aldermen seats in the Smithville Municipal Election on Thursday, August 6th. The slate of candidates include Incumbent Aldermen Don Crook, Shawn Jacobs, and Danny Washer along with newcomers, Jessica Higgins and Timothy John Perricone. All terms are for four years.

Meanwhile a mayor and two aldermen will be elected in the Dowelltown City Election on August 6. Incumbent Dowelltown Mayor Pam Redmon will be unopposed for re-election while Phillip Byford and Chris Walker will be running for Dowelltown Alderman. The terms are for four years.

Although five aldermen seats were to have been filled on August 6th in the Alexandria City Election only one person qualified to get her name on the ballot. Lynne Dickerson is seeking a four year term as Alderman.

TENNESSEE PRIMARY RACES
State Representatives Terri Lynn Weaver of Lancaster in District 40 and Clark Boyd of Lebanon in District 46 will be unopposed for re-nomination in the Tennessee Republican Primary on August 6th. No candidates qualified for these offices in the Tennessee Democratic Primary. Weaver will face opposition from Independent candidate Paddy Sizemore of Smith County in the November Tennessee General Election. The terms are for two years.

Suanne Bone of Lebanon qualified for the Tennessee Democratic Primary on August 6th to fill a vacancy as State Executive Committeewoman in District 17.

Republican Congressman John Rose of Cookeville will be unopposed in the Tennessee GOP Primary for re-nomination on August 6 but he will have challengers in the November Tennessee General Election. Christopher Martin Finley of Sparta is unopposed for the Democratic Nomination for Congressman on August 6 and will be in the November race and Christopher B. Monday of Cookeville is an independent candidate for the office in November. The term is two years.

Fifteen Republicans and five Democrats will be seeking their party’s nomination August 6 for the U.S Senate in the November Tennessee General Election to succeed Incumbent US Senator Lamar Alexander who is not seeking re-election. The term is for six years.

The Republican candidates are: Clifford Adkins, Natisha Brooks, Byron Bush, Roy Dale Cope, Terry Dicus, Tom Emerson, Jr., George S. Flinn, Jr., Bill Hagerty, Jon Henry, Kent A. Morrell, Glen L. Neal Jr., John E. Osborne, Aaron L. Pettigrew, David Schuster, Manny Sethi.

The Democratic candidates are: Marquita Bradshaw, Gary G Davis, Robin Kimbrough, James Mackler, and Mark Pickrell.

Independent candidates for the U.S. Senate in the November Tennessee General Election are: Yomi “Fapas” Faparusi Sr., Jeffrey Alan Grunau, Ronnie Henley, G. Dean Hill, Steven J. Hooper, Aaron James, Elizabeth McLeod, Kacey Morgan, and Eric William Stansberry.

JUDICIAL RETENTION COURT OF APPEALS WESTERN DIVISION

Shall Carma Dennis McGee be retained in office as a Judge of the Court of Appeals, Western Division,
or be replaced?

August 4, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

A groundbreaking could come this month for construction of a new City of Smithville Police Department building.

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, Mayor Josh Miller informed the aldermen that the architect and contractor are ready to move forward. Janice Plemmons-Jackson, the city’s financial advisor said the city has also earned a AA- bond rating because of its good financial position which will qualify for a lower interest rate for the project.

“Last Wednesday I met with the architect and the contractors and they are ready to get started. They are hoping to get started by the end of the month setting up with the equipment. They want to get everything dried in before winter. I think they are going to start selling bonds next Wednesday. We got an excellent bond rating,” said Mayor Miller.

“We (city) got a AA-bond rating. I think the negatives were based on the unknown economy and what the impact might be from that but John Werner (Vice President of Cumberland Securities of Knoxville), our representative said this bond rating is excellent. To be a AA- I think is really good. It means we will get a better interest rate on our bond which is awesome,” said Jackson.

The Boyce Ballard Construction Company of Murfreesboro had the lowest bid at over $2.6 million for a total roofed area of 12,800 square feet which includes a 1,400 square foot sally port. Th city has budgeted the full amount to be funded by a bond issue with a payout schedule over 20 years at a debt service payment the first year (2020-21) at $172,310 or less.

June 17, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The City of Smithville will soon have sirens to alert the community in the event of a tornado threat.

During Monday night’s monthly meeting, the aldermen awarded a bid to Capitol Electronics for a Federal Signal system. The cost is $71,497. One time state grant funds coming to city will cover the purchase.

Smithville Fire Chief and DeKalb Emergency Management Agency Director Charlie Parker said two sirens will be installed including one on the city’s water tank near the high school on Highway 70 and the other at the city’s water tank on Miller Road. The system is capable of adding more sirens later if needed including the reactivation of a siren on top of city hall.

“With this system it is completely upgradeable. We are looking at placing two sirens including one at the water tank at the high school and a second one at the water tank on Miller Road. We may look at doing a little adjusting for better coverage. We considered placing a siren at the water tank by the airport but we will get really good coverage with the two sirens. I also talked to them (company) about using the siren we have on top of city hall. We could probably have it upgraded for about $4,000. This is a turnkey system which has everything we need to get started. It is an automated system that originates from the National Weather Service and goes to another source which will send out the alert. The 911 Center, where the (system) is to be housed, will receive the alert and activate the sirens. The system will also automatically send out other text and tone alerts that we may utilize that would be beneficial not only to the city but the county and 911. The bid package includes training and an annual software upgrade (about $2,500 for the upgrade). The system is also expandable. If we need to add more sirens we can do that up to 10 sirens,” said Parker.

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