VITAL POLICY – Food Truck Operators Get Regulatory Relief with New Legislation
Earning a living as a food truck operator will soon be more rewarding and profitable in Tennessee due to a new law that will streamline fire inspections. Under current law, operators of “mobile food units”, as they are called by legislators, are required to undergo fire inspections in each jurisdiction in which they operate. That […]
VITAL POLICY – Jefferson County Republican Party Makes Resolution Against “Red Flag” Gun Laws
With storm clouds brewing in Nashville for additional gun control laws, the Jefferson County Republican Party Executive Committee made a resolution strongly urging the Tennessee legislature to reject so-called “red flag” gun laws that would deprive a law-abiding citizen of their God-given right of self-defense and gun ownership. The resolution begins with the text of […]
VITAL POLICY – OPINION – Zoning, Economic Development, and Public Engagement, Jefferson County’s Chance to Finally Get it Right
Some of the most bitter public arguments in the history of Jefferson County have been related to zoning, economic development, and lack of public involvement in decision making. When a board or third-party, acting on behalf of the county or city government, or on its own, decides to make policy decisions on zoning or business […]
VITAL POLICY – Jefferson County Republican Party Calls for the Removal of Allied Behavioral Health Solutions and LGBTQ+ Ideology from Jefferson County Schools
A formal resolution has been made by the Jefferson County Republican Party Executive Committee asking the Jefferson County School District to end its business relationship with Allied Behavioral Health Solutions (ABHS) and to remove all their personnel from all schools in the district. The resolution, made on March 24, 2023, also urges the school system […]
VITAL POLICY – OPINION – Nullification Bill Rejected by Senate State and Local Government Committee, Federal Power Remains Unrestrained
The federal government was created by a group of states that decided that a national government was needed for certain vital functions such as national defense and creating uniform currency; but those states wanted strict limits on federal power. This is why such a bitter argument raged in the summer of 1787 concerning the federal […]
VITAL POLICY – Senator Niceley Files Proposed Legislation to Permit Communities to Elect School Superintendents
For the past 30 years, citizens of have longed for the day when they could regain the right to elect their school superintendent. A voting right that was striped from Tennesseans in 1992 by a comprehensive education act that was pushed through the legislature by special interests. Until the Education Improvement Act of 1992 was […]
VITAL POLICY – Jefferson County Schools’ Mental Health Provider Advertising “Affirming Therapy for All LGBTQ+ Clients”
A local grassroots organization was surprised to learn that Jefferson County, Tennessee Schools made a contract with a Nashville-based mental health provider to place at least ten clinical practitioners in Jefferson County Schools, serving kindergarten to 12th grade. Jefferson County Director of Schools signed a $100,000.00 agreement with Allied Behavioral Health Solutions (Allied) on September […]
VITAL POLICY – Transparency, Tourism, Jefferson Alliance, A Convergence of Economic Development Ideology
For decades, citizens have pressed the Jefferson County Government to conduct economic development out in the open, mainly to avoid strife in the county and to give the citizens a seat at the planning table, citizens who would be profoundly affected by development. Jefferson County government has consistently pushed back on motions requiring transparency with […]
VITAL POLICY – Gardenhire Files Bill to Expand School Vouchers in Tennessee, Legal Claims of ESA Opponents Exhausted
After a lengthy court battle, Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), commonly called school vouchers, are available to parents in two Tennessee counties under a pilot program narrowly approved by the legislature in 2019. ESAs provide low and middle-income families with vouchers so they can move their children to private schools. Multiple Tennessee senate members aim to […]
VITAL POLICY – Gentry vs. Speaker of the House, A Citizen’s Quest to Exercise Constitutional Rights and Improve Tennessee Government
John Gentry is asking the Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives to schedule a time for him to orally “address” the house of representatives for a period of fifteen minutes at a time mutually agreed upon when a quorum is present. His aim is to persuade state legislators to make corrections to a system […]
VITAL POLICY – OPINION – Citizen Standing to Participate in Government, A Primer on the Tennessee Constitution
Nothing says your opinion doesn’t count like shutting down citizen comment at public meetings. If citizens wish to speak their mind at county commission, school board, or any subcommittee meeting of local government, they should be able to comment on any public policy issue. When the framers of the Tennessee Constitution included Section 23 under […]
VITAL POLICY – Empowered Jefferson Organized to Advance Conservative Public Policy in Jefferson County, Tennessee
Citizens often assume nothing can be done about taxes, zoning, or left-leaning ideology in our public schools. Empowered Jefferson tackles issues of public policy head-on and aims to advise others on how to be more active in shaping it. “Knowing what’s wrong with our systems in government and how to address and instruct government officials […]
VITAL POLICY – Jefferson Alliance Formed as Economic Development Agent for Jefferson County
Jefferson Alliance will serve as the new economic development agent for all of Jefferson County, an organization whose activities are subject to the open meetings and open records laws of Tennessee. The group was organized as a public benefit non-profit corporation enabling it to employ economic development professionals to recruit industry to the county. According […]
VITAL POLICY – Jefferson County Commission Stands Up for Medical Freedom of Tennessee Guardsmen
When Captain Mickey Shelton signed up to serve in the Tennessee Army National Guard, he made a commitment to answer the call of duty to the state of Tennessee in times of crisis and natural disaster, and to defend the nation if deployed overseas. He never expected to fight his own government for medical freedom […]
VITAL POLICY – OPINION – Jefferson County School Board Rejects Bonus Pay for School Bus Drivers Despite Ongoing Employment Crisis
The Jefferson County School (JCS) system is hemorrhaging employees like a bleeding hog at a slaughterhouse. In a recent 18-month period, JCS turned over 274 employees, teachers, maintenance workers, classroom aides, support staff, and most critically, school bus drivers. Teachers and teachers’ aides are leaving because of the frustration with their jobs, top-down management practices, […]
VITAL POLICY – Political and Legal Climate Ripe for School Voucher Expansion, Controversial Education Practices Causing Shift Away from Public Schools
The stars are in alignment for the expansion of school vouchers across Tennessee. All obstacles have been removed by the court system and broad public support for school vouchers is being driven by a variety of factors. This article examines some of those factors. Currently, school vouchers are limited to Davidson and Shelby Counties within […]
