Messy mayoral transition

Peeler did not return multiple requests for comment, but in a previous interview said he was not upset by the loss.

“It was the happiest day of my life, I kid you not,” Peeler said. “It felt like a big ton of weight got lifted off my shoulders.”

Peeler added that he believes false information spread on Facebook may have contributed to his defeat.

Robin Blankenship, a re-elected Greenback alderman and Peeler’s daughter, has made several public Facebook posts accusing the Birchfield campaign of false accusations.

Birchfield denies the claims.

“I have never been on Facebook, never put nothing on it,” he said. “Don’t know how to get onto it. I’m just an ordinary guy who wants everything done for his community, especially the kids in it. A lot of the stuff they’re saying I’m saying, it just kind of gets out of bounds.”

Instead, Birchfield believes negativity on social media began with Blankenship.

Blankenship allegedly encouraged residents to boycott a local business, the Corner Market, after the owner signed Birchfield’s petition for candidacy.

“I have never had anything against (Mayor Peeler) and I would have signed his, too, if he came to me,” Kathy Brooks, Corner Market owner, said. “I didn’t have any reason not to support him until they came at my business.”

Blankenship posted to Facebook after hearing about the petition, saying she no longer would visit the Corner Market, which prompted other members of the Peeler family to call in the comments section for a boycott,” Brooks said.

“I’ve lived here my whole life and this business is my livelihood, so for an elected official of Greenback, where I pay taxes and run a business, to say that was wrong,” Brooks said of the post. “I told (Tom Peeler) ‘is this not America? Can I not vote for who I want?’”

Brooks said she received resounding support from the community and noticed no decline in business after Blankenship’s post.

Blankenship did not return a request for comment.

Birchfield believes negativity on Facebook has “snowballed” and carried beyond the election. For now, he plans to wait things out until January.

“I’m just trying to be nice about it, you know,” he said. “It’s kind of overwhelming to me. A lot of people in this town are wanting to get on with the program. I realize there’s got to be an audit and things have got to be changed over. I did get it fixed to where we’ll change the bank accounts over the last of this month.”

Hopes are that once in office, the strife will diminish and the city can go back to operating normally, Birchfield said.

“The main thing is I just want this community to work together … and I’m sure that’s what any community wants,” he said.

Birchfield had some supporters question whether the returning aldermen will be willing to work with him, specifically Blankenship, but Birchfield said he can only wait and see.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Tom and Norma,” he said. “They’ve been at this a long time. All this stuff has just got out of kilter.”