So activist and longtime Democrat party faithful Sidney Chism was installed in the state Senate to fill a vacancy until a special election can be held. He'll only be there a couple of months and he won't be running for a permant place in the senate, so what does he get for his trouble?
Chism will be paid the standard legislative salary, $16,500 per year divided by the number of weeks he serves. Lawmakers also receive a $141 per day expense allowance to cover lodging and meals in Nashville, and 35 cents per mile or airfare for one round-trip weekly to the Capitol.Take care of the Democrat party and the Democrat party will take care of you.Chism will not qualify for the legislative pension -- it takes four full years of service for that -- but his service will qualify him for a potentially more valuable benefit: the ability to buy state employee health insurance at discounted rates for life.
If he opts into the health insurance system while he's a legislator, he will be eligible to maintain state health insurance coverage at 40 percent of its annual cost. The state will pay the other 60 percent.
Democrats don't really know what to do about Jason Hernandez, the young, smart, educated, well-spoken Hispanic that is running on the Republican ticket for the state senate seat left open by the resignation of Roscoe Dixon in District 33.
I recently heard Jason speak. He is passionate and encompasses everything conservative that should appeal to minority communities. His credential are impeccable:
Jason Hernandez has a tough task in front of him. He faces stiff competition during the primary from a field of three other Republicans: former state representative Barry Sterling, Mary Ann Chaney McNeil and Mary Lynn Flood. Even if he wins the primary, he will probably be facing career politician Michael Hooks, who has significant name recognition. Moreover, district 33 is 80% Democrat.
On the positive side, this is a special election with only one item on the ballot -- turnout will be very, very poor. If the Republicans can generate a good turnout they have a chance on picking off a seat that is usually a dead-cert for Democrats. It will be new Shelby GOP Chairman Bill Giannini's first challange when he is elected later this month (which is another dead-cert).
Democrat Roscoe Dixon has been the state senator for District 33 for a couple of decades. But in January he resigned his post in mid-term to become an assistant administrative aide to Shelby County Mayor A. C. Wharton.
That, of course, leaves the seat open until a special election can be held.
The Shelby County Commission got to pick an interim replacement until a special election can be held. Commission chair Michael Hooks pushed for Sidney Chism. Why? Because Chism is a long-time Democrat operative and party faithful. Hooks knows that Chism will dutifully serve until the election without running, allowing Hooks to step in and win himself.
Hooks considered having himself appointe to the interim position but had he done so he would have been prevented from raising campaign funds to cover his run for the seat (government officials are forbidden to raise money while the legislature is in session). With a party loyalist acting as a placeholder Hooks has the advantage over many of his Democrat rivals who also want the seat, current representatives Henri Brooks, Kathryn Bowers, and Joe Towns: he can raise money but they can't.
But Hooks has a little problem in his quest for a seat in the senate: he missed the filing deadline for financial disclosure statements. One would think that he, a career politician familiar with these well-documented procedures, would abandon his quest and return to his commissioner work with grace. One would think wrong: he is suing the state and the Shelby County Election Commission to keep his name on the ballot.
Hooks is basing his suit on the fact that others (including himself) have missed filing deadlines in the past and still had their paperwork accepted.
Drew Rawlins, Director of Tennessee's Registry of Election Finance, says regardless of what Bailey and Bolton got away with in previous elections, the state will still hold Hooks to the standard."We have taken the position that (candidates) are ineligible if they do not file by the qualifying deadline," says Rawlins. "Mr. Hooks' position is he can file his reports by some arbitrary deadline."
This, of course, is the same Michael Hooks that was arrested for drug paraphernalia in 2001. Somehow the two pots of boiling water and plate with traces of cocaine were swept under the rug -- oh wait, that's because county chief deputy Don Wright said not to do a search of the apartment and adjacent office. Wright was, after all, top assistant to Sheriff A.C. Gilless, who ran an incredibly corrupt department.
But wait, there's more: Hooks' residence is listed as 2143 S. Parkway East in Midtown, which is outside of District 33. In December he changed his voter registration to his godmother's house on Hays Road which is in District 33. This isn't illegal, of course. State law (as intrepreted by the state supreme court) says that the person must live in the district by election day.
One thing Hooks won't have to worry about is Democrat State Rep. Joe Towns Jr. running for the senate seat. Towns tried to run but withdrew after being ruled ineligible. It turns out that he failed to file not one, but two campaign finance reports last year and has an outstanding fine of $10,000. [One wonders if a state representative is qualified to help run a state if he can't keep his campaign finances in order.]
The primary election will be held on Thursday, March 24. The general election will be held on Tuesday, May 10.
As an aside, why would Roscoe Dixon resign from the state senate to become a mayorial aide? Why would a career politician take a step down? Truthfully I don't know, but I suspect it has something to do with the struggle for power in the county and Dixon is betting on Memphis mayor Herenton to win. One of the other players in our saga, new senate appointee Chism, has long been allied with Memphis mayor Herenton in a bid to take over the power base in Shelby County, wresting control from the Ford-Farris coalition which has controlled politics here for decades.
I'm hoping commenters will voice some opinions and expand my knowledge in this area.
BTW, Dixon has actually been working for the mayor since last September and drawing a six-figure salary. By delaying his resignation until January he has been collecting a paycheck from both the county and the state, bilking the taxpayers.
Tenneesee Congressman Harold Ford Jr. wants to run for Sen. Frist's seat in two years and thinks that his biggest problem is "overcoming the image about his party", probably because Tennessee is trending Republican.
Strangely enough, he doesn't think the stink of his uncle, state senator John Ford, is going to be a problem. Which is strange, because there's a lot of stink. People in Memphis/Shelby County put up with it because the Fords are the Boss Tweeds of the area and have been for years, in spite of Memphis mayor Herenton's designs on taking over.
But Uncle John is pushing the limits of credibility.
This brings up a question of ethics as John Ford has six children with three women, all of whom collect child support from him.
Republicans want an investigation. The state attorney general has declined to investigate this seemingly open and shut case, probably because the rules on residency are unclear with conflicting attorney general opinions.
On the other hand, the senate ethics committee is preparing to take a look.
Managed Care Services Group, a Pennsylvania-based company that lists Ford as a general partner and paid him $237,000 over two years, was hired by Doral Dental USA as a consultant and lobbyist.At the same time, Doral has a $5.3 million contract to process dental benefits for TennCare children and some adult enrollees with medically necessary dental needs, TennCare spokeswoman Marilyn Elam said.
The Registry of Election Finance, in addition to the senate ethics committee, is preparing to investigate.
He told us not to, "bring him any ****." When we asked him about possible conflicts of interest between his lawmaking efforts and his child support case, he responded, "What's the conflict? Making a *** living?"
When the NAACP came to town to discuss increasing the number of minority children to benefit from lottery scholarships, John Ford told them that he is being attacked by the "white media" and asked them to stand up for him.
The NAACP has wisely indicated that they do not plan on issuing any statements in support of John Ford.