I attended the latest Legislative Breakfast Friday morning and I’m glad I did.
The event was held in the Central Church of Christ fellowship hall where a hearty breakfast was catered and served by Warren County High School culinary students.
Local lawyer and Public Defender John Partin served as master of ceremonies for the program. As I recall, this was at least his 10th time at the helm. With expertise borne of long experience, he did a masterful job of managing what is roughly akin to herding cats, or in this case, donkeys, elephants and independents.
State Sen. Janice Bowling and State Reps. Paul Sherrell and Rush Bricken all showed up as usual to meet and greet their constituents and respond to our questions and comments during the Q&A session. Their faithful attendance and participation at these events stands in stark contrast to our U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn, Bill Hagerty, and our current 4th District Congressman Scott DesJarlais. I’m sure they have many excuses, but few good reasons for their “no show” behavior.
The event was well-attended, especially by those among us aspiring to be elected or re-elected to local, district or state office. The list includes, but is not limited to, our County Executive, Jimmy Haley, and his rivals, Terry Bell and Joseph Stotts; District Attorney Lisa Zavogiannis aka Lisa Z., and her Republican opponent and local attorney, Chris Stanford; Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley and his GOP opponent Scott Horton.
As far as I know, candidate for General Sessions Judge, Ryan J. Moore, is unopposed. So is Public Defender John Partin. That said, the filing deadline is Feb. 17, 2022. and who knows what the future holds when it comes to politics? The oft-quoted “predictions are difficult, especially about the future,” applies here.
The best part of the Legislative Breakfast comes when our candidates tell us what they stand for and why. We need to know where they stand on issues we care about. I commend Sen. Bowling and state Reps. Sherrell and Bricken for doing that Friday. As that great philosopher Aaron Tippin famously sang, “You’ve Got To Stand For Something or You’ll Fall For Anything.”
If you missed the meeting, not to worry. You can read a few highlights in today’s Southern Standard and other coverage will be in future editions. For coverage by Ben Lomand Connect, call 931-668-4131 for details, and for WCPI Radio, 931-506-9274 for airing dates and times.
Retired Army Col. Thomas B. Vaughn can be reached at tbvbwmi@benlomand.net
