After the Bradley County fire truck incident, I realize that Gary Davis simply refuses to operate the budgeting process with transparency and in the open light of day. There is no confusion on my part about the budget. I simply believe in honest open government.

Furthermore, he seems to get very agitated when any commissioner questions his actions. Rather than providing transparent documentation supporting his actions, he dismisses commissioners and labels them “confused, a skirt tail,” or worse “a housewife.”

I’m not buying it. The only confusion here is why on earth the county mayor of Bradley County is continually allowed to “do business” the good ol’ boy way rather than like the rest of Tennessee. Don’t tell the public the details - just make the deal and get it passed.

Eight years ago, as a new “housewife” commissioner from the third district, I was appointed chair of the education committee. I guess he thought that would be a safe place to put me where I couldn’t do any damage. I started asking questions about the renovations of Bradley High School - questions like: why is the cost for retro-fitting the sprinkler system three times more per square foot than the cost for installing the same system in the Bradley county nursing home? Questions like: why are we replacing perfectly good copper plumbing?

I was labeled by the School Board as “confused,” even though I’m a licensed contractor and rum my own construction business. A Former School Board member said under his watch you are not allowed to ask questions in Bradley County.

I took a lot of heat over those questions, but I stood my ground and the renovation took place for millions less than was originally proposed. The school board changed policies on how it bid projects. Consequently, a lot of new people ran for office and were elected to the School Board.

In 2003, six years before announcing my candidacy for county mayor, I informed the county mayor he was not following state law regarding purchasing policy. Back then, just like today, County Mayor Davis told me I was wrong and I didn’t know what I was talking about. After all, what did I know; I was just a “housewife.” We ended up having to amend county policy because we were, in fact, in volition of state law.

The decisions that forced the last-minute sale of Bradley Memorial Hospital were made while the county mayor sat on the board of the hospital. His decisions resulted in the loss of this very valuable asset to Bradley County.

A county mayor who refuses to do business in the light of day needs to go. A county mayor who calls commissioners disparaging names and refuses to provide fellow public servants documentation needed to make vital decisions needs to go. If Bradley County wants to move forward, progress and prosper, we need a leader who knows how to follow the budgeting process and, at the very least, understands state law with regard to purchasing policy.

D. Gary Davis has proven time and time again, he has no idea how to run the county, let alone his own budget. The fire truck issue is just one small example of what commissioners face on a weekly basis with D. Gary Davis.

Commissioner Lisa Stanbery
Lisa@lisaforcountymayor.com