VITAL POLICY – Dandridge and Jefferson County Governments Line Up to Oppose Unconstitutional Red Flag Laws
Dandridge, Tennessee Board of Mayor and Aldermen, meeting on May 9th, added to the growing list of municipal government bodies across Tennessee that have made formal resolutions opposing “red flag” laws. This follows similar resolutions made by the Jefferson County Republican Party Executive Committee on April 14, 2023, and the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners […]
VITAL POLICY – OPINION – Gun Control Focus of Special Legislative Session
Governor Bill Lee has called for a special session to, in his words, “strengthen public safety and preserve constitutional rights”. In this session, he will be asking the general assembly to enact a “red flag” gun law. If you have the slightest doubt, read the 13-page draft legislation linked here: (Temporary Mental Health Order of […]
VITAL POLICY – The “Ibbetson Plan” for Jefferson Elementary School, Patriot Academy, and Jefferson County High School
Doug Ibbetson is a businessman with extensive experience in banking, finance, and business management, one who thinks outside the box, and one who views problem solving with a unique approach. He was elected to the Jefferson County School Board in August 2022. After four years of struggling to secure funding for a new elementary school, […]
VITAL POLICY – Education Savings Accounts (School Vouchers) Expanded in Tennessee
State Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) expressed disappointment concerning the lack of progress made by certain Hamilton County Schools after more than twenty million dollars had been poured into the school system over a five-year period. The additional money was over and above the BEP and other regular funding that the Hamilton County School system normally […]
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 […]
