letter to the editor
Issues with Town’s state representative
For many years I was quiet about my political positions, only voting, and not doing much else. I focused on my career and my family, and I thought there was no way I could make an impact. I was an observer and resigned to the politics of Knox County.
About five years ago that changed. I slowly began to be more vocal about my observations of the way things are and the way they ought to be for the good of society. I believe that government’s first and most important responsibility is for the safety and well-being of the people of our country, states, counties and cities.
We have been faced over the last six months with a period of upheaval, uncertainty, and now, visible and insistent demands for change.
Here in House District 14 we have an elected representative (Jason Zachary) who has participated in the following actions over the past two years. He correctly voted against a voucher bill that has since been adjudicated to be unconstitutional, but then allowed his mind to be changed by the Speaker’s words. He changed his vote after some 40 minutes, allowing the bill to pass.
Government has a responsibility to provide resources for a strong public education system, not to put money in the pockets of those citizens who choose to use private schools.
Recently, he sponsored a bill that legislates agricultural wastewater provisions (House Bill 2206). The bill impacts the rural areas of the State far more than our local more urban community, and it allows for the unwise contamination of fresh water sources. What could possibly be his motivation for sponsoring such a bill, and how does it positively impact the health and safety of constituents here in District 14?
In March, our representative placed the vote for religious release time on the Consent Calendar, which is generally used for non-legislative votes.
Sadly, because representatives didn’t read all the actions, that bill passed the House 94-0, completely misrepresenting and ignoring the objections that many raised in committees and that local LEA’s had expressed this past school year.
Once again, the negative impact on public education was ignored by a representative catering to a small segment of the public.
Release time for religious instruction, which has for hundreds of years been the responsibility of parents, should not be provided at the expense of academics.
Finally (in late June) the District 14 representative voted (present not voting on) a resolution to recognize a Black teenaged girl (Ashanti Posey) who was murdered in Nashville in April.
She was working two jobs, a graduating senior, and set to attend Western Kentucky University. She was loved by her family and community, and hers was one of many such resolutions announced and voted on in the House. Instead, Rep. William Lamberth impugned her character and repeated unsubstantiated charges against her for which she was never tried.
She is dead, and her parents watched as representatives voted against acknowledging her accomplishments and the tragedy of her murder, specifically because their leader uttered bigoted generalizations on the floor of the House of the State of Tennessee.
We have a choice in the primary on Aug. 6 and in the General Election on Nov. 3. We can elect a new representative to serve State House District 14 in Nashville.
We can elect a person who will protect the safety and well-being of our children in public schools, our citizens in need of healthcare, to say nothing of protecting the rights of all to cast a ballot in safety.
Vote for Justin Davis for House District 14 Representative. Be the change we must see.
Marcia Power
Knoxville
