First Day of Early Voting Draws 213

July 15, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The first day of Early Voting for the August 4 Elections drew 213 people Friday including 195 in person and 18 by absentee.

Here’s how the numbers break down:

166 cast ballots in the State Republican Primary and 29 voted in the State Democratic Primary. Eighteen voted only in the DeKalb County General Election without voting in either State Primary.

A total of 61 voted in the Smithville Municipal Election; 4 in the Liberty, 3 in the Alexandria, and 3 in the Dowelltown election.

Early voting times are as follows at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Smithville: Mondays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesdays 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.; Wednesdays 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.; Thursdays 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. until Noon. Early voting will also be held again in the western part of the county on a limited basis. The DeKalb County Fairgrounds will be the site of early voting on July 19th from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and on July 25 from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. Each early voting site is for any properly registered DeKalb County voter.

July 15, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Its time to vote!

Early voting begins today (Friday, July 15) for the DeKalb County General Election; Municipal Elections in Smithville, Dowelltown, Liberty and Alexandria; and the Tennessee Republican and Democratic Primaries for state offices.

August Sample Ballot

Early voting times are as follows at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Smithville: Mondays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesdays 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.; Wednesdays 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.; Thursdays 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. until Noon. Early voting will also be held again in the western part of the county on a limited basis. The DeKalb County Fairgrounds will be the site of early voting on July 19th from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and on July 25 from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. Each early voting site is for any properly registered DeKalb County voter.

Dennis Stanley, Administrator of Elections explains the election process for voters.

“On August 4m there are three different types of elections held in DeKalb County- the County General Election; a State Primary for both political parties; and City Elections for those who live in one of the county’s four towns, Smithville, Dowelltown, Liberty, and Alexandria,” said Stanley.

“Let’s take a look at some simple terms or definitions to help you with the process and the ballot”.

“Candidates on a General Election Ballot have already been nominated by their respective political parties and the ballot includes any Independent candidates. As a result, on the DeKalb County General Ballot, Republican, Democrat and Independent candidates are all listed and voters can vote for a Republican in one race, for example, and a Democrat or Independent in another race,” Stanley continued.

“Candidates on the DeKalb County General Ballot are for the positions of County Mayor; County Commissioners in each of the 7 Districts; County Trustee; General Sessions Judge; Sheriff; Circuit Court Clerk; County Clerk; Register of Deeds; Road Supervisor; and School Board Member in 5 of 7 Districts. Also listed are candidates for Circuit Court Judge Part 1 and 2; Chancellor; Criminal Court Judge Part 1 and 2; District Attorney General; and District Public Defender”.

“Again, the Primary process for these candidates occurred back in May, so all candidates are listed together in August,” said Stanley.

“Voters have the option of voting ONLY in the County General Election,” Stanley explained. “They also have the option to vote in one of the State’s Primary Elections. Remember, a Primary Election is a process in which each party’s candidates are chosen to represent that party in an upcoming General Election, which in this case would be November”.

“If a voter wishes to vote in the State Primary, they must choose only one of those Primaries- Republican or Democrat”

“Candidates on the State Primary Ballots are for the offices of Governor, Congressman, State Representative, and a Committeeman and Committeewoman for each Party’s State Executive Committee. Whichever Primary you choose, ONLY that party’s candidates will be listed but keep in mind, choosing a State Primary has no impact whatsoever on how you vote in the County General Election,” Stanley explained.

“When choosing a Primary, the first page the voter will see on the voting machine is that party’s nominees. The voter will then see the County Ballot where, again, Democrats, Republicans and Independents are all listed together”.

“Again as an example, a vote can choose the State Republican Primary Ballot, but still vote for a Democrat or Independent in the County General Election,” Stanley said.

“In simple terms, they are two different types of elections and one has no impact on the other”.

“Now if you live in and are registered to vote in one of the four cities, the City Ballot will be part of your County Ballot. In the City Elections, all candidates run as Independent candidates,” Stanley explained.

“One other thing about the August Ballot, the County Ballot will also include 26 Judge Retention Questions. Voters can vote to “Replace” or “Retain” certain Judges on the State Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Criminal Court of Appeals. Those Retention Questions are listed at the end of the Ballot,” said Stanley.

“To view a copy of the ballots you can log onto dekalbelections.com; wjle.com; and check out an upcoming edition of the Smithville Review. A copy can also be obtained at the DeKalb County Election Commission Office at the Courthouse in Smithville,” said Stanley.

Candidates are reminded there is a 100-foot campaign free zone around every entrance to a voting location during voting hours.

“No political signs are allowed in the tree wells nearest the sidewalk all around the courthouse” said Stanley. “Also, vehicles with candidate signs are now allowed to park near the sidewalk (facing the courthouse).”

Voters are also reminded they are prohibited from wearing campaign material of any kind when entering the voting location.

July 15, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Beefing up school security!

The DeKalb County School District in recent years has taken steps at each school to tighten security including the addition of school resource officers, surveillance cameras, safety sphere balls (at some schools) to guard against someone crashing through the entrance with an automobile, key fobs (high school) and security vestibules.

DeKalb County High School has just completed its new vestibule and one is on the way for Smithville Elementary School. While visitors to the schools are already locked out and must press a button at the front entrance to be allowed inside and for them to sign in, there is no other security barrier or confined area to keep people from roaming the halls before being received by office staff, teacher, or principal.

Director of Schools Patrick Cripps addressed this latest security effort during Thursday night’s regular monthly meeting of the Board of Education.

“I want to give Aaron Young (Maintenance Supervisor) and his crew kudos. We have a vestibule at DCHS which is now completed. We just have to paint it. The vestibule prevents people from just walking into the school. Now when you open the doors you will be setting in a confined area. We have been working on this project for a few years trying to get a design up for that. At Smithville Elementary we have a vestibule plan drawn up by the architect but it has to be sent to the state fire marshal, but we are hoping to get that one completed within the next couple of weeks,” said Director Cripps.

Cripps also praised local authorities for their cooperation toward better school security.

“The great thing about living in a small community is that your emergency personnel are people who are easily accessible, and we are lucky to have a good working relationship with Smithville Fire Chief Charlie Parker, Smithville Police Chief Mark Collins, Sheriff Patrick Ray, and Alexandria Police Chief Chris Russell. We have had meetings with them to talk about security measures we need to put in place and to go over what we already have in place. I know security is a hot topic right now and I want to assure our community that we are looking into everything to make sure our kids are safe. Years ago, we assigned SROs in all schools. The county commission, school board, and sheriff worked together to get that done. We are lucky because not a lot of schools do that (SROs in all schools) but we already have them in place. We have built vestibules and hopefully by the end of August every school will have a security vestibule. We do security audits every year for the state and Chief Collins, Sheriff Ray, Chief Parker, and Chief Russell go through the school buildings and help us with those audits. We are lucky to have the people we do helping protect our kids,” added Director Cripps.

Meanwhile in his monthly report on personnel, Director Cripps provided a list to the school board of those who have been hired, transferred, resigned, retired, or who have been granted a leave of absence since June.

Those employed include the following: Leslie Parsley, teacher; Olivia Neal, teacher; Terri Kilgore, secretary; Lindsey Kennedy, teacher; Kyrsten Johnson, teacher; Morgan Oyster, teacher; Meghan Ford, teacher; Kelsey Kellogg, teacher; Elizabeth Wright, teacher; Kason Wheeler, teacher; Shaunta Cantrell, teacher; Brittany Gard, educational assistant; Maddison Parsley, teacher; Brandy Alley, teacher; Patricia Ward, teacher; and Cole Parsley, teacher.

Leave of Absence: Michael Whitefield, granted leave as requested and Janet Woodward, grant leave as requested

Transferred: Galen Brown from DeKalb Middle School to DeKalb West School; Leslie Moore from Smithville Elementary to DeKalb West School; Stephanie Fuson from DCHS to Northside Elementary; Lorie Isabell from CW to DCHS; Callie Herman from Smithville Elementary to Northside Elementary; Brooke Howard from Smithville Elementary to DCHS; Stephanie Reeder from Smithville Elementary to Northside Elementary; Amber Howell from Northside Elementary to Smithville Elementary; Melanie Crews from Smithville Elementary to DeKalb Middle School; and Brooklyn Shirah from Northside Elementary to CW Gifted.

Resignations/Retirements: Joseph Green, teacher at DCHS resigned; Jessica Griffith, teacher at DCHS resigned; John Sanders, teacher at DCHS resigned; and Logan Vance, teacher at DCHS resigned.

Director Cripps also remembered former educator Sherry Bush who recently passed away as well as Gloria Putty, mother of former teacher and coach Lynus Martin.

“We lost Mrs. Bush, a dear educator who taught in our school system for many years. She was my sixth-grade teacher and was a jewel. We want to send out our condolences to her boys and other family. We want them to know that we appreciate her service to our kids. We also learned today that Coach Martin’s mother passed away. I knew Gloria all my life and we want to send out our condolences to them. We are praying for those families,” he said

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