Hamilton County Commission To Vote On Elected Officials’ Hiring Family Members With County Funding

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The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

Hamilton County Commissioners will be considering a measure that would keep the county from being able to use county funds to pay family members of elected officials. They vote on the measure this week.

Commissioner Tim Boyd of East Brainerd proposed the resolution at the Commission’s agenda meeting last Wednesday. He stated that he believes that they would be practicing “good government” in doing so, saying that it would help protect taxpayer money from being misused.

“We have realized over the past year there have been abuses of this opportunity, a loophole if you will,” Boyd said.

The intention of the resolution is not to keep elected officials from being able to hire family members. However, it does prohibit those officials from being able to use county funds to pay for those individuals. Any family member hired would have to be paid through state or federal funding or from donations.

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Boyd stated that the Commission contacted the 26 elected officials to see if they had any family members on staff. Of the 20 who responded, only one employee would be impacted by the change. Sheriff Jim Hammond’s son Jimi is the manager of the IT department for the sheriff’s office. 

Hammond did comment on the resolution except to say that his son was not under his direct supervision and he did not hire him.

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One office that did not respond was the office of District Attorney Neal Pinkston. Boyd has had previous issues with Pinkston, accusing him of nepotism in the past. 

Commissioners Chip Baker of Signal Mountain and Greg Martin of Hixson both agreed with the recommendation.

“I think it’s really important that the constitutional officers are elected by the people and held accountable by the people,” Martin said. “Our focus as commissioners, as Commissioner Boyd pointed out, is county funds.”

Boyd also said that he is aware of at least two who would be affected out of the 6 officials who have not replied.

If approved, the measure will go into effect on July 1.

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About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career.  Most recently, he served as Deputy Directory for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others.  He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com

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