County School Board member Joe Smith said the County Commission should proceed on Wednesday to name an interim House District 26 representative in place of Robin Smith, who resigned after facing federal criminal charges.
He said he was disturbed that the appointment might be delayed.
Chairman Smedley said she does not know yet how the commission will choose to act on Wednesday. She said at least two commission members are expected to be absent.
She also said that the commission got the list of three applicants after the last commission meeting and did not meet last week. She said there may be interest in interviewing them.
They include County Commissioner Greg Martin, who has also announced to run in the August election for the post.
Mr. Smith said in a letter to Chairman Smedley:
I write to request that there be no delay in making the appointment of a state representative for District 26. I’m told you are entertaining the idea of a delay at tomorrow’s meeting, and I find no reason why you are altering the direction you set forth for the appointment on March 9.
There is little difference between the current situation and the actions taken by the Commission in the District 9 appointment of Steve Highlander and the appointment of James Walker to replace Steve on the School Board last year. There was no delay by the Commission then and there should not be a delay now. The process with applications and interviews were done in the same manner as a year ago.
The 73,213 people of District 26 deserve a representative to be in Nashville to cast votes on their behalf on matters such as the budget, the proposed reform of the BEP and the Erlanger realignment. There were 46 active bills before the legislature as of last week.
I respect the fact that the Legislative Delegation is okay with the not making a timely appointment, but the people of District 26 do not accept having no representation in Nashville at this critical point in time. The idea that a supermajority in the General Assembly will pass the legislation whether an appointment is made or not is not the issue. Citizen representation is the issue.
This is a matter of leadership, and I ask you to lead and not succumb to whatever politics are being played at the Commission. It is my belief you should be accountable to the process you established earlier this month.