Greene County Mayor Kevin Morrison notified County Commissioners Thursday of plans regarding the 5th District County Commission vacancy.
MORRISON STATEMENT
“Following the resignation of Wesley Holt from his 5th district seat on the Greene County Commission, I want to provide clarity regarding the process and timetable for filling the vacancy.
Tennessee law provides that vacancies and elected county offices are filled temporarily by the county commission and requires a commission to make an appointment within 120 days of receiving notice of the vacancy.
After reviewing the circumstances surrounding the vacancy and the requirements of state law, I intend to schedule the vacancy to be filled within that statutory 120 day period.
I believe this approach provides the fairest and most transparent process for the citizens of the 5th district and for any one who may wish to be considered for the appointment.
Mr. Holt was elected by the voters of the 5th district in August and received significant support from voters shortly after taking office, circumstances related to his continued county employment and Tennessee consolidated retirement system requirements resulted in the resignation in his resignation from the commission.
Those circumstances should neither guarantee Mr. Holt’s reappointment nor automatically prevent him from being considered once he is legally eligible to serve. Likewise, any other qualified citizen who wishes to be considered for the vacancy, should have a fair opportunity to do so. For that reason, I believe the appropriate course is to follow the timetable provided by state law, and allow the process to proceed without favoring or excluding any potential candidate.
Most importantly, the decision about who fills this vacancy will not be mine.
Under Tennessee law, that decision belongs to the members of the Greene County Commission. When the vacancy comes before the commission, qualified individuals may be presented for consideration in accordance with state law. The commissioners will make nominations, consider the candidates, and ultimately determine by public votes, who will temporarily represent the 5th district.
My responsibility as mayor and chairman is to ensure that the process is conducted openly, fairly, and in accordance with Tennessee law, not to select the next 5th district commissioner.
The individual appointed by the commission will serve until a successor is elected and qualified as provided by Tennessee law. Because this vacancy occurred early in a 4 year term, voters will ultimately have the opportunity to determine who serves the remainder of the term at the applicable general election. The voters of the 5th district deserve representation, but they also deserve a process that respects both their votes and the law, allowing the statutory process to run its course, gives every qualified person an opportunity to be considered, leaves the appointment where Tennessee law places it with the county commission acting in an open public meeting.
Additional information regarding the date of the meeting, the process for submitting names for consideration and the required public notice will be provided in accordance with Tennessee law.”
Kevin C. Morrison
Greene County Mayor
HOLT RESIGNATION
In a resignation letter dated September 18 and read to the Greene County commissioners during their September 21 meeting Holt explained serving as a county commissioner would void his retirement benefits.
The former Greene County Sheriff had won election to the commission during the August election, and was the leading vote-getter among commission candidates.
