January 22, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
Someone may be appointed Monday night to fill a vacancy on the county commission in the 1st district.
The regular monthly meeting of the county commission will be Monday night, January 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the county complex auditorium.
Three people, Tom Chandler, Waylon Kyle, and Shaee Flatt, want the position formerly held by Dennis Slager.
In November, Slager gave notice that he was resigning. A position he had held since being elected in 2018. He gave no reason for his decision.
Last month the county commission voted to accept Slager’s resignation although it wasn’t legally required and to move forward with filling the position after a notice of the vacancy had been published in the newspaper.
Although Chandler, Kyle, and Flatt have been the only ones so far to respond to the notice, others can place their name in consideration up until the next regular monthly county commission meeting Monday night.
Anyone on the commission may place a name in nomination but the nominee must receive seven votes to get the appointment. The person selected to fill the seat will serve until Slager’s term expires on August 31, 2022.
In his letter to the county mayor and commission, Kyle, who currently serves as 1st district constable, wrote “I, James Waylon Kyle, am interested in the vacant position of county commissioner. I am a DeKalb County native and have lived in the first district all my life and would like to serve the people of the first district.”
Chandler wrote “Please consider this my official expression of interest in being the replacement candidate for the District 1 County Commission seat vacated by Dennis Slager. As you are aware, I ran for election in the District 1 County Commission race in 2018 and lost a seat by just 5 votes”.
“My wife and I have owned a farm in DeKalb County for almost 30 years and have resided here for 20 years. I am a Mason (Center Hill Lodge #77) and a member of the Scottish Rite and the Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association. My wife and I are members of the Order of the Eastern Star (Smithville Chapter #374) and my wife is treasurer of the FCE of Alexandria”.
“I want to apply my 30+ years of professional experience in budgeting, business development, creating jobs and implementing large projects, while controlling costs, for the direct benefit of District 1 and DeKalb County.”
In his letter, Flatt wrote “ I am writing to ask that you give serious consideration to my request to fill the office of Commissioner for the First District left vacant when Mr. Dennis Slager resigned.”
“This month marks three years since my wife and I decided to move from Mt. Juliet to Alexandria. We have two small children who have made friends here and have known no other home. My wife and I agree that we want to make Alexandria and DeKalb County our permanent home. After talking with family, friends, and other members of the community, I decided to seek the office of Commissioner”.
“As someone who went to school for journalism and ended up working three years as the Managing Editor of the Chronicle of Mt. Juliet, I spent many nights at county commission and city council meetings as well as numerous other similar meetings. I developed an appreciation and fondness for local government as the institution most committed to solving the problems and issues that emerge in the community whether that is education, emergency services, safety and security, or whatever the people themselves think will be important in enhancing the quality of life for them and the County”.
“After leaving the Chronicle, I worked a few years at Wilson Bank and Trust before finally settling into a career as a Special Education teacher and football coach at my alma mater, Mt. Juliet High School. I have always placed a great emphasis on investing in the youth in any community and being able to mentor, lead, and shepherd teenagers through such a critical time in their lives, This is something I deeply value. I feel extremely blessed to be in the position I am in and would love to be able to pursue those interests in DeKalb County”.
“I look forward to meeting and talking with each of you and hope to be granted the opportunity to work alongside you on behalf of the citizens of the First District and DeKalb County,” said Flatt.