Five members of the school board were sworn into office to begin their new terms Wednesday afternoon at the Board of Education building.
Judge Bratten Cook, II administered the oath of office to first district member John David Foutch, second district member Charles Robinson, third district member Kenny Rhody, fourth district member Billy Miller, and seventh district member Johnny Lattimore.
Miller is the new kid on the block, succeeding Joan Draper who did not seek re-election. The other four board members were re-elected.
Each term is for four years, effective September 1st.
The other two school board members, W.J. (Dub) Evins from the fifth district and Bruce Parsley from the sixth district, are in mid-term. Their terms of office expire in two years.
The next meeting of the school board is Thursday, September 9th at 7:00 p.m. at the board of education building.

A constitutional amendment to guarantee the right to hunt and fish in Tennessee will go before voters in November’s general election.
Voters will see the Constitutional Amendment question on the ballot right after the Governor candidates.
You will be asked to vote either “yes” or “no” to the following question: “Shall Article XI, Section 13 of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee be amended by adding the following sentences at the end of the section:”
“The citizens of this state shall have the personal right to hunt and fish, subject to reasonable regulations and restrictions prescribed by law. The recognition of this right does not abrogate any private or public property rights, nor does it limit the state’s power to regulate commercial activity. Traditional manners and means may be used to take non-threatened species.”
Voters will also be electing a new governor, a new representative for the U.S. House of Representatives from the sixth district. Voters in the 40th legislative district will be choosing a state representative and in the 17th senatorial district, voters will elect a state senator.
The election will be Tuesday, November 2nd. Early voting is set for October 13th-28th.
Candidates for Governor are:
Republican Bill Haslam
Democrat Mike McWherter
Independents:
Bayron Binkley
Brandon Dodds
Samuel David Duck
David Gatchell
June Griffin
Toni K. Hall
Mike Knois
Boyce T. McCall
Donald Ray McFolin
Linda Kay Perry
James Reesor
Thomas Smith, II
Howard M. Switzer
Carl Twofeathers Whitaker
Candidates for the U.S House of Representatives in the 6th Congressional District are:
Republican Diane Black
Democrat Brett Carter
Independents:
Jim Boyd
Brandon E. Gore
Tommy N. Hay
David Purcell
Stephen R. Sprague
Candidates for the Tennessee Senate 17th Senatorial District are:
Republican Mae Beavers
Democrat George McDonald
Candidates for the Tennessee House of Representatives 40th Representative District are:
Republican Terri Lynn Weaver
Democrat James C. Hale
Independent Pleas Ford

The Smithville Mayor and Aldermen are in a race against time to get a new budget passed before the property tax collection season gets underway in October.
The city council, again Monday night, failed to adopt a new budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year. The hang up is over a wage chart for new city employees hired after July 1st, 2010. Should the city adopt a new one or stick to the old one which Mayor Taft Hendrixson says is riddled with pay inequities? Until the aldermen answer those questions, they can’t pass a budget and time is of the essence because Trustee Sean Driver has informed city officials that the state wants a budget and tax rate approved before city tax cards are printed.
Mayor Hendrixson Monday night presented a proposed new wage scale ordinance, which he says would address the problem and only affect new employees hired after July 1st, 2010. This new ordinance would replace three other current ordinances which deal with city wage issues.
Under the current wage scale, city employees with less than four years of service receive a regular step increase in pay until they top out on the wage scale plus a traditional yearly cost of living raise. After four years, these employees usually receive an annual cost of living increase, but nothing more.
Mayor Hendrixson said with the proposed new wage scale, city employees hired after July 1st, 2010 would receive starting hourly pay, comparable to the old wage scale, but they would get a fifty cent per hour step increase each year up to four years, effective on the anniversary date of employment, in lieu of cost of living raises. After four years, these same employees may only get a yearly cost of living increase, if the city aldermen choose to give a COLA raise each year. The pay of salaried employees, secretary-treasurer, police chief, city judge, building inspector, and airport manager would be established and approved by the city council each year. In setting wages for employees, the proposed new wage scale ordinance states that “the mayor and board of aldermen may consider the prior work experience or extraordinary ability of such employee. Any employee hired by the city that requires a certification will be given eighteen months to become certified or they will be subject to dismissal.”
Alderman Aaron Meeks said he wanted to make it “crystal clear” that this proposed new wage scale would only apply to “new hires”. “It does not apply to any present city employee that’s working for the city.”
Alderman Shawn Jacobs then asked “So a person that would be supposed to get their step increase this year, (will they get it)?”
Mayor Hendrixson answered, “They will get it”.
Alderman Jacobs asked, “Will they get their COLA as well”?
Mayor Hendrixson replied, “Well, not under this (new) ordinance, unless you all (aldermen) want to do it.”
Mayor Hendrixson continued, “The old wage chart is a little bit inequitable, some people (employees) are going to get 34 cents (increase) and some people are going to get a $1.70 or $1.80 cents (increase). You’ve got to remember that every dollar you get is over a $2,000 a year increase. If you’re making ten dollars per hour, which we don’t have many employees making that low but there are some who maybe have just started, fifty cents (per hour) per year at ten dollars per hour is a five percent increase; eleven dollars is a four and a half percent increase; twelve dollars is a 4.2%; thirteen dollars is 3.8%; fourteen dollars is 3.6% and if you’re making fifteen dollars it’s a 3.3% increase.”
Alderman Meeks also pointed out that city employees receive close to eight thousand dollars in benefits which is not reflected in their hourly wage.
Mayor Hendrixson agreed, “Every employee in the City of Smithville that’s been here for more than sixty or ninety days is getting over seven thousand dollars worth of free, paid (health, life, and dental) insurance. And whatever they’ve made from December 1st last year to November 30th this year, they will get a one percent bonus during the first week in December. If they’ve made $25,000, they’ll get a $250 bonus. So with the perks and the health insurance, to my knowledge no where else does that. We pay the total of it and it’s going to push $8,000 and it’s probably going up in January.”
Alderman Jacobs said some city employees have expressed concerns about this proposal. “Well I’ve had employees call me, concerned. They think that the rug is sort of being pulled out from under them because they’ve not had any notice that this is changing. But I’ve also had people tell me, ‘well you all are crazy for giving fifty cent raises to begin with.'”
Jacobs added “My only concern is I think that some of the employees (with less than four years of service) feel like they have been depending on the step raises and the cost of living they’ve been getting, now here we are later than normal and they’re finding out they’re not getting it and I certainly understand that.”
In response, Mayor Hendrixson said some of these increases have been quite substantial. “For instance, take someone making twelve dollars per hour. The step raise is 4.2% and the COLA is 3.4%. That’s almost an eight percent increase.”
Alderman Steve White said he believes the new wage scale might discourage some people who want to make working for the city a career. “One of my concerns is the fifty cents (a year) for the four years. Say for example, you had someone start out at ten dollars an hour, twelve bucks an hour is where you’re going to be (after four years) other than the cost of living increases. I like the old pay scale a lot better in that respect because it does jump you up a lot faster. I’m afraid that these lower rates will cause a bigger turnover of employees.”
“I personally still like the old chart. Of course I think we need to do some of these other things that we’ve talked about like voting on the cost of living each year, setting salaries yearly, and maybe adding the certification”, said White.
Mayor Hendrixson again reminded Alderman White of pay inequities under the old or existing wage scale and gave a specific example. ” I won’t say who it is but two people under two different categories had starting pay the same, and it was supposed to be the same thing. Well in the second or third year, one (employee) jumped to a $1.40 something cents more than the other one. The same amount of time and starting pay the same.”
Alderman Jacobs then asked, “What was there in the scale that caused that aberration and what is going to keep it from happening in this (new) scale? Why haven’t our auditors caught it? I’m about to blow a gasket over this. Somebody should have spotted this. This should have been on somebody’s radar. That’s what auditors do.”
Mayor Hendrixson replied, “I can’t tell you. I don’t know why it happened. This is the scale that’s been in effect since 1986 the best I can tell. It was just not equitable for every employee. That’s what I was trying to fix.”
Alderman Steve White said he still believes the proposed new wage scale could be unfair to city employees with less than four years of service who have not yet topped out on the current pay scale. White suggested that the city stick to the old pay scale for another year and look at changing it next year..
The aldermen later took a vote on passing a new budget with the current pay scale and it was defeated 3-2. Aldermen Steve White and W.J. (Dub) White voted for the budget with the old wage scale but Aldermen Shawn Jacobs, Aaron Meeks, and Cecil Burger voted against it, apparently preferring to address the pay inequity problem now.
Mayor Hendrixson suggested that the aldermen re-convene next week to try again to resolve the matter. So another special meeting will be held Tuesday, September 7th at 7:00 p.m. at city hall.
Several city employees and others attended Monday night’s meeting but no one was given an opportunity to speak. The city has a resolution which authorizes citizens to make comments at the beginning of each regular or special called meeting of the board.

The Smithville Police Department made arrests at three businesses Friday after conducting an undercover investigation into the illegal sales of alcohol to minors.
Police Chief Randy Caplinger says 29 year old Kira G. Clouse, a store clerk at Jewel’s Market on South Congress Boulevard (Highway 56) and 24 year old Hardik Pravinbhai Patel, a clerk at Village Market on North Congress Boulevard were each charged with sales of alcohol to a minor; while at El Mariachi (BP Station) on West Broad Street, 33 year old Susana Jasmin Saldivar was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor for allowing a sixteen year old female store clerk to sell beer. The underage clerk was also charged in a juvenile petition with selling alcohol to a minor.
Bond for Clouse, Patel, and Saldivar is $1,000 each and they will appear in General Sessions Court in September.
Chief Caplinger says he and Detective Matt Holmes conducted the undercover operation using a confidential underage informant.”This took place on Friday, August 27th here in the city limits of Smithville. We’ve been receiving complaints from some of the citizens with concerns of underage sales of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products to minors. With a confidential underage informant, we entered eight locations that sell beer in Smithville. He (underage informant) presented his ID at these locations and he was able to purchase alcohol at three of these locations. At one of the locations (El Mariachi), the salesman (female clerk) was actually a minor and she was selling alcohol (in violation of the law) and she did sell to him (underage informant) which is also a violation of the law. The five other locations where the informant presented his ID, the clerks there did an outstanding job. They did exactly what state law requires and he (informant) was turned down and not allowed to purchase alcohol.”
In addition to Jewel’s Market, El Mariachi, and Village Market, the undercover informant was sent in to all other city establishments that sell beer including Food Lion, Kwik-N-Ezy, Mapco Express, Eastside Citgo, and Wal-mart
Chief Caplinger says police are also concerned about the sale of tobacco products to minors. He adds that while store clerks can’t legally sell beer or tobacco to minors, adults who make these purchases for minors can also be charged with a crime. “In addition to the underage purchases of alcohol, we’ve also had a concern about the underage buying of tobacco products. Those concerns will be addressed and we will be checking those (businesses) periodically. Under state law if an individual (trying to make a purchase of tobacco) appears to be under 27 years of age, they are to be ID’ed. Even the purchase of an alcohol or tobacco product for a person under the age of 21 for alcohol and 18 for tobacco is against the law and those people (making the purchase for a minor) will be cited with a class a misdemeanor.”
In the complaint against Clouse, Police say that on Friday, August 27th at 3:27 p.m. Detective Matt Holmes and Chief Randy Caplinger were present at Jewel’s Market on Highway 56 with an 18 year old confidential source, who entered the business, purchased beer from the clerk (Clouse), and then exited the store at 3:30 p.m. with a six pack of Natural Ice beer. Clouse was positively identified as being the suspect who sold the beer to the minor. Clouse was later placed under arrest for sale of alcohol to a minor. Her bond is $1,000 and she will appear in General Sessions Court on September 9th.
In the complaint against Saldivar, police claims that on Friday, August 27th at 4:12 p.m. Detective Matt Holmes and Chief Randy Caplinger were present at El Mariachi (BP Station) at 517 West Broad Street with an 18 year old confidential source, who entered the business, purchased beer from the clerk, and then exited the store at 4:17 p.m. with a six pack of Busch beer. The female clerk who sold him the beer was later found to be a sixteen year old minor and she was placed under arrest for juvenile delinquency (selling alcohol to a minor). Saldivar, who was also in the store at the time, later told police that the sixteen year old clerk was helping her run the store. Chief Caplinger says it is illegal for a minor to sell alcohol to anyone. Saldivar is under a $1,000 bond and she will be in General Sessions Court on September 16th.
The complaint against Patel alleges that on Friday, August 27th at 4:32 p.m. Detective Matt Holmes and Chief Randy Caplinger were present at the Marathon gas station on North Congress Boulevard (Village Market) with an 18 year old confidential source, who entered the business, purchased beer from the clerk, (Patel), and then exited the store at 4:38 p.m. with a six pack of Busch beer. Patel was positively identified as being the suspect who sold the beer to the minor. Patel is under a $1,000 bond and he will appear in General Sessions Court on September 16th.

The Smithville Municipal Golf Course and Swimming Pool may soon change hands again.
After only two years as a tenant, Farron Hendrix, doing business as Smithville Golf Management LLC has given notice to the mayor and aldermen of his intentions to terminate the lease agreement with the city, effective October 23rd.
In a letter to city officials, Hendrix writes that the golf course is no longer economically viable for his operation. “Smithville Golf Management, LLC entered into the lease with the intent to improve and maintain a beautiful city asset for the benefit of the citizens of Smithville, our school and community golf leagues, and to attract visitors and industry to our community. We also entered into the lease, not for personal gain, but with the hopes of maintaining the golf club as a non-profit entity. However, due to the downturn in the economy, extreme weather conditions, increased competition from surrounding courses, and increased expenses, we can no longer manage this city property at our own personal expense.”
“We are very proud of the many improvements that we have made during our lease agreement; improved fairways, additional tee boxes, new trees, cleaner pond, refurbished sprinkler system, and updated facilities, just to name a few. However, our tax records prove that we have lost and continue to lose money each year in the management of the property. Therefore, it is with regret that we terminate our lease agreement with this sixty day notice.”
Hendrix goes on to state in the letter that the Smithville Golf Management, LLC is willing to sell equipment and supplies to the city at a reduced assessed value for continued management of the golf club. He adds “Smithville Golf Management, LLC also agrees to assist the city in the management of the golf club until the new management can be secured.”
In August, 2008 the Smithville aldermen, by a vote of 3-2 voted to accept Hendrix’s bid to become the new tenant at the golf course and swimming pool, effective September 1st, 2008.
Hendrix bid $750 per month for the term of the lease, which was to be for a five year period from September 1st, 2008 until August 31st, 2013.
Smithville Alderman Stephen White, who is also the city’s representative on the golf course board, told WJLE Saturday that it’s unfortunate that yet another tenant at the golf course is giving up the operation for economic reasons. “We’ve had four tenants at the golf course over the last few years and it’s sad that due to the economy, they’ve not been able to make money.”
White says the city must come to a decision soon on what course of action to take concerning the golf course and pool, whether to try leasing it again, or for the city to assume the operation of it. “I’m inclined to think it would be best for the city to take it back over. Our residents deserve recreation that the golf course and swimming pool provide, it’s vital to our community and industries, and we need to keep it going.”