JOHN COFFELTEditor

Voters in Coffee County district whose precinct is precinct is 3-1, the Coffee County Rescue Squad headquarters will remain at that location for the upcoming election.

The Coffee County Election Commission voted at the Jan. 4 meeting to keep the precinct there after being informed that the rescue squad has additional buildings besides the one damaged in the December fire.

Election Administrator Andy Farrar told the board that he contacted the Rescue Squad to see if the building would be available for the March Primary.

The Rescue Squad building that burned will not be available, but the rescue squad offered the building beside it that they own.

Administrator Farrar said he did a walk-through of the facility and provided a written review of this location, along with details on the Noah Community Center.

The board unanimously approved using the polling location.

Local primary exclusively Red

Voters looking to vote for in the Democratic Primary will have a very limited local ballot for the March Primary.

Coffee County Republican Party Chairman Greg Sandlin said. “No Dems or Independents qualified for March Primary, therefore will not be on general election ballot.”

The party called the situation a watershed moment.

Coffee County Democratic Party assessed it as lack of political diversity.

“I think that it speaks volumes about the local political climate,” said Democratic Party Chairman Michael Stein.

Coffee County’s political climate has become toxic. Citizens realize that the current elected officials do not represent their long-held values of independence, common-sense, tradition, frugality, and hard work–values that the Democratic Party has always held at its core.

He added that “putting yourself out there as a political candidate–especially of a minority party in this county–is risky in this toxic environment. Candidates are concerned about their safety, in addition to the safety of their families, and they’re also worried about their jobs.”

The Democratic Party at large bears some responsibility, Stein said, for a lack of candidates running in rural counties.

“While Democratic policies definitely help rural communities, those same communities tend to feel ignored by the Democratic Party due, in part, to poor messaging. That feeling of being ignored, in turn, makes it less likely that citizens will run openly as Democrats in rural counties like this one,” Stein said.

Races to watch

Races on the March 5 ballot locally are primaries for the Coffee County Property Assessor, one seat for the County Commission District One and one for District 2 and County and City School Board seats as well as races for the Coffee County Road Commission and Constable.

Contested primary races are for the Property Assessor with Republicans Jenna Amacher, Elissa Keele Fletcher and William Huel Goldston vying for the nomination, and the County Commission District 2 race with candidates Benton Brown, Roger Chambers and Lee Sullivan vying for the seat left vacant by the passing of Commissioner Claude Morse. Seeking the one seat on the Coffee County School Board for Seat one (Representing Districts 1, 3 and 4) are Holly Matthews, board member Gary Nester and Sherie Petty.

The District 1 seat nomination is being sought by the wife of late County Commissioner Benny Jones. His daughter, Commissioner Holly Jones who currently holds the position is not seeking reelection.

County School Board Seat 2 (with two open seats) is being sought by Board Member Gary Cordell and Scott Hansert, representing Districts 2, 6 and 7. Seat 3, representing Districts 5, 8 and 9, has two positions open, being sought by Board Member Robert Gilley and Beth Yentsch.

Manchester City School board has two seats up for grabs, with both Susan Parsley and Lee Sullivan seeking reelection. Tullahoma City School seats are contested also.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.