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TELLICO VILLAGE, Tenn. — The buzz of democracy at work could be heard coming out of a conference room in the Chota Recreation Center in Tellico Village on the evening of March 3 … as the first official forum between Loudon County Commission incumbent Chase Randolph and candidate Blake Moore (joined by the unopposed Sheriff Jimmy Davis) took place as a signal-starter for the 2026 primary election.

Hosted by the Fort Loudoun Area Republicans, the forum participants fielded questions from both concerned voters and program moderators alike, as the questions and concerns regarding what’s next for Loudon County’s 1st District began to get more concrete definition and solidified stances from its two Republican candidates.

OPENING REMARKS AND $90 MILLION SCHOOL PROJECT

When delivering their opening remarks, both Moore and Randolph made a point to display their disparities as candidates while they compared and contrasted the list of priorities each of them had in mind for the next four years of Loudon County.

Whereas Moore criticized what he saw as erratic and ill-planned spending by current county officials, Randolph used his two-minute window to emphasize the progress in stricter zoning policies and an increased budget for the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office as some key highlights to consider when voters see his name at the ballot box.

With the forum being hosted in Tellico Village, an area where many residents voiced their opposition to the now-under-construction Ridgeview School, many of the questions revolved around the planning, budgeting and subsequent tax increase of the nearly $90 million Loudon County project.

Randolph, who voted in favor of the project, insisted that a combination of anecdotes of overcrowding from administration, a lack of portable classrooms that once housed students in overflow space and a continuous steady stream of in-county students painted a much clearer picture than the slight dip in enrollment numbers that the Comptroller reported … and the critics of the Ridgeview project continue to cite.

Randolph also addressed concerns over a traffic study and feasibility study, the former of which he stated was completed by the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the latter being an in-house assessment from Loudon County Board of Education officials.

“We didn’t feel like we needed someone from the outside to tell us what we needed,” Randolph said. “I spoke with principals and teachers at all of our schools.

“They’re absolutely packed.”

In response, Moore’s opinion on education strayed from blanket criticisms of the project — focusing the microscope on his potential constituents.

“Instead of spending $86 million on schools in the north end, I would have loved to have seen some of that money come to District 1 and do a little better with those students,” Moore said.

“I mean, they’re struggling. When you have a ‘D’ rating, that’s scary.”

Currently, both Loudon Elementary and Fort Loudoun Middle School have “D” letter grades from the Tennessee Department of Education.

According to Loudon County Sheriff Jimmy Davis, his school resource officers had seen five calls in the last three days regarding assaults and other similar offenses on school grounds across the entire county. Sheriff Davis later stated that the aforementioned number of calls is fairly standard for his office.

LOCAL IMPLICATIONS TO NATIONAL LEGISLATION

Questions surrounding education made up a large portion of the session … with more inquiries about local implications to national legislation being another key talking point.

With the looming potential for school systems to be relieved of their requirements to educate all students in their district regardless of immigration status, one question that arose was of any effect that future Supreme Court repeals may have on local education.

“We can’t base our school system on House bills that haven’t passed or may not pass,” Randolph said. “We have to educate the kids that we have now.

“Illegal or not, we have to enroll them; that’s the law,” he said.

“We’re not going to build schools or not build schools based on things that haven’t happened yet or may never happen.”

Moore’s answer, while taking a more hardline stance on immigration and starting off by saying “illegal means illegal,” wasn’t dissimilar to his opponents.

“We have to make sure that we’re taking care of all students and all the people in our community,” Moore said. “And if 30% of the students in our county are Hispanic, then they deserve the same level of support for their education.”

DEPORTATION AVERAGES, I.C.E., 911 AND SCAMS

The Loudon County Sheriff’s Office currently has a partnership with the 287(g) program, and averages about 17 deportations of undocumented immigrants a month, according to Sheriff Davis. If the county agency makes an arrest and the person in custody cannot provide the proper documentation, LCSO contacts Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) to retrieve the individual while they are still in police custody.

The sheriff fielded a few more questions regarding law enforcement in regards to its relevance to Tellico Village and some of the patterns and procedures used on a county-wide basis.

Some residents asked why Jerry Dougherty, Tellico Village’s fire chief, wasn’t granted a seat on the 911 Board — something none of the speakers could answer with a few stating that 911 Board members were nominated by the county mayor.

Commissioner Randolph, Sheriff Davis and Moore all seemed to agree that Dougherty would be deserving of a spot. The forum’s moderator did mention that, in total, Tellico Village contributes to roughly a quarter of all 911 calls made in Loudon County.

Sheriff Davis also touched on the frequency of calls his office receives in the Village, the majority of which he stated pertain to cases of online financial scamming.

Davis said that the LCSO is planning to have one of their detectives, with accreditation and guidance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, specialized in this specific and relatively modern mode of crime.

OTHER ASPIRATIONS AND A FEW TENSE MOMENTS

Other aspirations for the next four years included hiring a full-time grant writer proposed by Moore, Commissioner Randolph continuing to push for more stringent zoning that prevents overgrowth in rural areas, and Sheriff Davis stating an intent to start more rehabilitation programs for jail inmates in the Loudon County Jail System.

While moderators attempted to abide by Robert’s Rules of Order throughout the forum, several tense moments boiled over as a result of impassioned questions and equally emotionally charged answers given throughout the event (with Commissioner Randolph, after one guest cut off his answer to a question, stating “I was aware of how this would go.”) interruptions were made during answer periods, questions were prolonged by complaints … and one guest was even asked to leave the room (which he didn’t do) after continuing to speak over candidates.

The moderator stated that the lack of decorum was unprecedented in some instances.

A larger forum will take place on Thursday, March 26, at 6 p.m. at Loudon High School, when the Loudon County Republican Party hosts a meet-and-greet slated to include every GOP candidate on this May’s primary election ballot.

Fort Loudoun Area Republicans will be hosting another forum on April 7 — back in the Chota Recreation Center at 6 p.m. This scheduled event is set to include Loudon County Mayor Buddy Bradshaw, District 7 incumbent Henry Cullen, District 7 candidate Rick Dramm, District 1/Seat B incumbent Bill Geames and District 1/Seat B candidate Bob Gross.

Election Day for the Loudon County Commission Primary Race is set for May 5. Early voting will take place between April 15 and 30.