Today, School Board Member Jill Black and her supporters have chosen the repulsive act of using the fear of school violence for political gain. This type of destructive politics and fearmongering fail to further any productive debate on the serious issues and challenges facing our schools today.
Jill Black and the Democrats are now using an outright lie to support her campaign. At no time has Sherrie Ford ever made a comment on or supported the idea of bringing guns into our schools. In fact, Sherrie has said this is a non-issue in the School Board race since Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett and Superintendent Justin Robertson did not recommend arming teachers in our schools. I encourage Jill Black and her supporters to remove these illegal, misleading yard signs and focus on the reasons why they believe she deserves re-election.
Republican policies make our community safer. We should be working to increase the use of reasoning and experience by electing Sherrie Ford to our School Board, not using lies and fears. Our children, parents, teachers, and administration deserve better.
Mark Harrison
Chairman Hamilton County Republican Party
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Throughout this race, I have focused on my vision for improving Hamilton County Schools and how my background and experience can bring a positive impact to District 11 schools and help find solutions to the critical issues facing our schools and the classroom teachers and students who are attending them.
The facts are that I have never said or supported the idea of bringing guns into our schools. It is not needed as every school in our district has an armed security officer or police officer on site to keep our schools safe.
It’s clear now that my opponent and her supporters are desperate and will use outright lies and propaganda to win an election. It’s time for District 11 voters to stand up and reject these kinds of actions. Our children, our teachers, our parents and our community deserves better.
Sherrie Guinn Ford
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“All politics is local.” The late Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill.
“Why can’t we all just get along?” Rodney King, victim of LA PD brutality in 1992.
Regarding “repulsive campaign signs”, Mr. Mark Harrison, Chairman Hamilton County Republican Party begins: “School Board Member Jill Black and her supporters have chosen the repulsive act of using the fear of school violence for political gain. This type of destructive politics and fearmongering fail to further any productive debate on the serious issues and challenges facing our schools today.”
The hypocrisy of Mr. Harrison’s objection to “the repulsive act of using the fear of school violence for political gain” should be “shouted from the mountaintop.”
If Mr. Harrison truly believes that Ms. Black is attempting political gain at the local level, why does he not espouse that same sentiment about “destructive politics and fearmongering” within his own party? Shouldn’t he be using his position to influence Hamilton County residents away from such? Then, shouldn’t he be using his influence further at the state and federal levels?
My research leads me to understand that “destructive politics and fearmongering” began with Republicans, specifically Newt Gingrich, in the late 1970s. The felon/candidate and extremists like Senator Blackburn, Rep. Fleishman, and most of all, Rep. MTG, appear to exclusively use “destructive politics and fearmongering" as their campaigning modus operandi? Isn’t it time to stop following and call out their “destructive politics and fearmongering?"
It seems as if all Republican candidates across the country have no clue about running a positive campaign.
Why can’t Mr. Harrison, and all Republicans up and down their food chain campaign on their policies and explain how they believe those policies are better for their constituents?
Will they stop the “destructive politics and fearmongering”?
Will they work for, compromising if necessary, and not 100 percent against good policies that they did not conceive?
And yes, the “destructive politics and fearmongering” is on both sides.
Isn’t “all politics local?”
“Why can’t we all just get along?”
Joe Warren
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First, let me state unequivocally that, to my knowledge, no one affiliated with Jill Black’s campaign or the Democratic Party has had anything to do with these signs. In my personal view, tactics like these are wholly unnecessary and utterly corrosive to our democratic process.
Second, the Hamilton County Democratic Party has supported Jill Black through two elections now. We know who she is. We know her heart. We know her character. She has run two campaigns, well above board. There is no way, and I believe this with every fiber of my being, that she had anything to do with these signs and would not have supported them had she known about them beforehand, nor would the Democratic Party. Jill is a tried and true public advocate for public education and has a great record as a school board member: successfully raising teacher wages, providing better mental health resources to students and teachers, and investing in school buildings that have long been ignored by republican leaders of this county. That record is all that she needs to make her case to the voters of District 11 - not campaign tactics that hit below the belt.
Thirdly, the fact remains that the Tennessee Republican Party passed a law that is, in the view of our party (and the views of the parents, teachers, and principals our party has spoken with), dangerous and out-of-touch with the reality of our community’s school safety needs. The Tennessee Republican Party wrote this bill against the cries of parents who were knocking on the door begging for the opposite and the Republican members of the Hamilton County School Board backed them on it when they had the opportunity to take a stance on it last month. Republican policies are not good for public safety - they are dangerous to children, women, and minorities, and are bad for Tennesseans.
Finally, and most importantly, Sherrie Ford’s record on this issue is hazy at best, and dangerous and problematic at worst. At a forum just last month, Sherrie Ford said she had spoken with people who “were supportive of the law.” In an emailed response to a voter, Ms. Ford herself said “it is not necessary for use currently, but it could be useful in the future.” Sherrie Ford, I fear, is not being entirely honest in her characterization of her support for this horrendous and dangerous law - but as evidenced by her refusal to answer straightforward questions to the Chattanooga Times Free Press Editorial Board, Ms. Ford’s stances on issues important to Hamilton County residents is not clear.
Let’s not forget that we are talking about the Republican Party who would proudly endorse Project 2025, a template to corner average Americans out of their basic human rights, and defund the Department of Education. With that in mind, could the Republicans themselves have placed these signs so that they could play the victim? Only Sherrie Ford and Mark Harrison know for sure. At the end of the day, it’s unfortunate this dialogue has to take place under a cloud of controversy over ill-advised campaign signs - but this is not an issue where confusion of ambiguity is acceptable.
Rachel Campbell
Chair, Hamilton County Democratic Party
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Mr. Harrison and Ms. Ford both addressed a misleading sign posted next to Ms. Ford’s campaign sign. So Democrat chair, Rachel Campbell, saw the need to claim Republicans are out to deny average Americans of their basic human rights?
I don’t see how that is connected to someone spending money to match the colors of a candidate’s sign implying a misleading message about that candidate. I’m not sure average Americans in District 11 will see that connection either. The misleading sign, however, may deserve the attention of the DA if it has violated any campaign laws.
It’s also unfortunate Ms. Campbell injected national politics into a local school board race given the chaos her Democrat Party displays before the entire world. Ms. Campbell also highlighted her party’s candidate for local school board’s link to Democrats and Joe Biden.
Ralph Miller
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I say this as a loud and proud Jill Black supporter for several years now: she did not create or place these signs (yet it seems her opponent wants to be on both sides of this issue.)
After decisively winning her last race, Jill has built a terrific and strong record of leadership representing the schools in District 11. She's of course focused on safety, and recognizes that that begins with supporting kids and families both inside and outside schools. If you know her at all, you know this makes sense: she's a career social worker and a public school mom herself. She's running for the right reasons, like improving teacher pay and clearing the enormous backlog of deferred maintenance in our school facilities. All that to say, she has no need to get her hands dirty with the kinds of smear tactics that bear all the marks of a desperate false flag. As my dad used to say, a hit dog hollers.
This is an easy choice for District 11 voters: return Jill Black to the Hamilton County School Board.
Kerry Hayes
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Jill Black is one of the finest people I've ever met. I supported her two years ago and feel she is still the best person to represent my district on the School Board. Mark Harrison and Sherrie Ford's ruthless attacks on her character are unacceptable to me and should be beneath our local politics.
I am firmly against guns in schools - and I want to remind any readers that the Republicans are the ones who forced this bill onto our community's teachers and students.
Lynn Newton