Hunter removed from appointments

Loudon County Commission was involved in heated discussions Sept. 5 before voting to remove Pat Hunter from two county appointments.

Commission voted 7-2 to take Hunter off the Loudon County Solid Waste Disposal and Public Records commissions. Hunter was chair of LCSWDC until she was voted out of the position in April.

Commissioner Van Shaver, who had placed the item on the meeting agenda, made the motion to remove Hunter, which was seconded by Commissioner Bill Geames.

Commissioners Rosemary Hines Quillen and William Jenkins voted against removal.

The action came after several residents spoke in favor of Hunter during the public comments portion of the meeting and during an Aug. 21 workshop. Some even alleged verbal harassment of Hunter.

Before the vote, Shaver said the county has several boards, commissions and committees and county commission is responsible to ensure those groups can accomplish assigned takes.

Jenkins questioned if removing Hunter was legal since Tennessee Code 68-211-905, which deals with solid waste authorities and their management, seems to indicate that is a responsibility of LCSWDC. Monty Ross, a member of LCSWDC appointed by Lenoir City, brought the state code to the attention of commissioners during the public comment period of the meeting.

Shaver said the change was legal, citing how county commission took similar action a year ago when it voted to remove every member of LCSWDC except Hunter.

Jenkins asked Loudon County Mayor Rollen “Buddy” Bradshaw if the move was legal and if Bradshaw gave a recommendation on the removal.

Bradshaw replied that he was not an attorney but that the action mirrored commission’s previous decision.

During the public comment period, Hunter said she was not told what she did or did not do as a member of the two commissions that led to the vote. She said she believes she has a right to know so she can address the situation.

Hunter described how Bradshaw appointed her to the roles and she recalled a conversation in which she told Bradshaw if he was unhappy with her, she would resign. Bradshaw confirmed the conversation.

“I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong other than to do my job,” Hunter said.

Hunter detailed how dealing with Republic Services, the company under contract to run the county’s landfill, required much time and attention and that LCSWDC Chairman Adam Waller needed help to juggle the responsibilities. Hunter offered to help whether she was a member of LCSWDC or not.

She claimed her relationship with Shaver had been adversarial and that he had made negative comments toward her since October 2022 because of a disagreement over public records. She said she hopes the county’s historic records are not destroyed.

Hunter said she was injured during a fall in December and was unable to attend meetings, which delayed some work on both commissions. She suggested since she refused to sign any documentation that wasn’t factual, certain commissioners needed her “out of the picture.”

She also said some commissioners badger other women who work for the county.

Shaver said he has not spoken with Hunter in many months and denied allegations of harassment. He said being a commissioner means making tough decisions and the county must make sure boards and committees are effective and not constrained by a board member working against the interests of the appointed groups.

“I’m not here to try and hurt Pat’s feelings,” Shaver said. “I’ve been working with Pat for 20 years, and I have no desire to impugn her character. All I can say is if you have a board member working that hard against a board that they sit on, that’s a problem, and we have a responsibility to make sure our boards and committees can achieve their goals. I was the one who recommended Pat for both the positions, and so that’s why I felt like it was my responsibility to correct the recommendation.”

Shaver said he was speaking on behalf of others who preferred anonymity.

Resident Michelle Harris Fritz spoke in support of Hunter and to question commissioners about the dismal of an ethic’s complaint she filed regarding a permit with LCSWDC.

The complaint was dismissed following the recommendation of attorney Kyle Baisley, who also represents the county in a lawsuit with Lenoir City.

Fritz said Baisley should have recused himself since he represents commission, which has members on the LCSWDC, including Waller and Bill Satterfield. She said Satterfield was named in the complaint but did not recuse himself and made the motion to dismiss the complaint.

Fritz then held up a photo she claimed to have found on Baisley’s Facebook page. She said she does not know who is in the photo but that it was taken in 2007 and appears to be two white men dressed in black face and wearing women’s clothing.

She said the photo was displayed on Baisley’s page until the previous week.

“In my opinion, this questionable lack of ethics gives me pause in regards to any legal action on behalf of the county taken by him,” Fritz said.

She then questioned why Shaver was not working to remove Baisley after “leading the charge” to hire him.

Bradshaw said he didn’t know anything about the photo nor could he tell if Baisley was pictured. He added that the matter will be up to commissioners to look into.

In an unrelated matter, commission voted 7-2 to approve $3 million in debt for a new school at the north end of the county. Funds are to be used for the design process and for projects at other schools in the district.

Quillen and Jenkins voted against the proposal.

Commission also voted to keep Commissioner Henry Cullen as chair and Satterfield as vice chair.

The following agenda items were also approved:

• A proclamation declaring September as attendance awareness month as part of the #GetYourSelfie2School campaign for Lenoir City and Loudon County schools.

• American Rescue Plan Act funds in the combined amount of $10,000 from Satterfield and Commissioner Gary Whitfield to Greenback youth sports.

• A total of $311,672 in ARPA funds from Whitfield and $36,500 from Waller for paving county roads.

• A combined total of $73,000 in ARPA funds from Commissioners Joe Morrison and Shaver for Beauty for Ashes Ministries to pave a parking lot.

• Application/acceptance of a $2,403 computer grant for the Loudon County Election Commission.

• Application/acceptance of a $675,000 school resource officer grant for the 2024 fiscal year for the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office.