December 6, 2007 This 'n That: Cooper/Ford/Neeley

Tennessee State Senator Jerry Cooper will not seek re-election. Cooper was recently fined $120,000 by the Tennessee Registry for Election Finance for multiple of violations of campaign finance laws.

Cooper's violations included diverting $95,000 of campaign contributions to his personal bank accounts.

The fine was just the last in a series of problems for Cooper including a fraud trial, in which he was found not guilty but where testimony revealed his conversion of campaign money to personal money, and a wreck due to DUI.
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Former State Senator John Ford will not have to report to prison in December to start serving his 5 -1/2 year sentence for bribery in the Tennessee Waltz scandal.

Instead, Ford will remain free so he can care for his four children by ex-wife Tamara Ford-Mitchell. Tamara is serving a DUI sentence and has another DUI pending.

So John, who has already been convicted of bribery and who has another bribery trial set for March 2008, gets to tend to the children.

Ford's court-appointed attorney pointed out that in addition to caring for the children, Ford will be free to help prepare for his next bribery trial and for the appeal of his current conviction.

Tamara's timing is lousy. She really needs to ask a Judge to let her out to be the parent and let John go to prison. Or how about a jail-sharing arrangement? She serves six months and then John serves six months. Whoever is not in jail takes care of the children! [Remove tongue from cheek]

The online comments at the end of the Ford article are as interesting as the article.

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A few weeks ago, Channel 5 in Nashville reported another ticket-fixing for a prominent politico. This time the recipient of a dismissed speeding ticket was Tennessee Labor Commissioner James Neeley.

The Judge who was to hear the case said he dismissed the speeding ticket because the Trooper didn't show up at court.

But reporter Phil Williams pointed out to the Judge that he had dismissed the case a week BEFORE the court date at which the Trooper was to appear!

Neeley won't say who took care of the ticket for him, but after Channel 5 started looking at his dismissal, Neeley decided to go ahead and pay the fine for the already-dismissed ticket.

Of course, one can't discuss ticket-fixing in Tennessee without at least mentioning the saga of Dep. Governor Dave Cooley.

December 9, 2006 Bredesen: Brunson Selected as New Dep. Governor

Gov. Bredesen has selected Stuart Brunson, manager of Bredesen's 2002 and 2006 gubernatorial campaigns, as his new Deputy Governor.

Brunson will be in charge of political and constituent concerns.

Brunson replaces former Dep. Governor Dave Cooley who recently resigned.

December 2, 2006 Dep. Gov. Dave Cooley Resigns

Tennessee's Deputy Gov. Dave Cooley has submitted his resignation. Two weeks ago, I predicted this was coming in a Nov. 16 post. See other recent posts on Cooley: Part I and Part II. [This blog post has been updated with more information and more links on Cooley]

Actions by Cooley that likely led to this departure are included in the above posts and are also mentioned in the News-Sentinel article. Most problems stemmed from Cooley's close connections to the Tennessee Highway Patrol. THP and other problems are also mentioned here in a Tennessean article from December 2005.

Cooley was a consultant in regard to THP promotions. The N-S article notes that this "role [] came under closer scrutiny after Cooley had a speeding ticket fixed by a lieutenant in late 2004."

Later, the THP's top two officials and the Safety Commissioner resigned as reports came out of troopers with criminal backgrounds, additional allegations of ticket-fixing, rampant cronyism, conflicts of interest, and political arm-twisting.

Cooley's official resignation was simple. Conflicts of interest are simple, too.

Today's News-Sentinel article is here. A good review of Cooley's four years as Dep. Gov. is also found here in the Nashville Tennessean.

November 16, 2006 Dep. Gov. Cooley: Report from Knox Hearing

A federal judge will have to decide whether to open the TBI investigative file on Tennessee Dep. Governor Dave Cooley to an attorney for a THP officer who was fired. The file is said to contain 300+ pages.

One official who has looked at the file---and read every word---says that it contains nothing connected to the suit filed by Sgt. Farmer.

The attorney for Farmer maintains that the file still might be important because it may show a pattern of corruption and political retribution connected to Cooley and the THP.

Whether Cooley's file does or doesn't have a direct connection to the Farmer case, just the fact that the THP and Cooley are in the news again is not good for Gov. Bredesen. All this may lead to Cooley's resignation---at last.

Click here to read the N-S article. Click here, here, here, and here for my previous posts on Cooley and family.

November 15, 2006 Dep. Gov. Dave Cooley on the Way Out (Part I)

The latest saga on Tennessee Deputy Governor Dave Cooley is complicated and will take two posts. This is Part I. Scroll down to Part II.

I blogged on this story back on February 26, 2006 in State Conflicts of Interest: Money and Influence

COOLEY (PART I)

In the politically correct way of starting the ball rolling to get rid of someone tainted with scandal, Gov. Bredesen is quoted in a November 9th article in the Nashville Tennessean as saying that Dep. Gov. Dave Cooley is considering returning to private life though the governor would love to keep him.

The Tennessean article notes that Cooley has been a "controversial" figure during Bredesen's first term but Bredesen has stood by Cooley for four years.

Cooley has been a controversial figure during Bredesen's first term. He had a speeding ticket fixed with help from a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer, and he was involved in the politically charged promotions process at the patrol. Throughout the controversies Bredesen stood by Cooley, but there has been speculation for months that Cooley would leave after the election.

Cooley said Wednesday that he has not made a decision on his future but hopes to make one after getting some rest and talking to his family and the governor.

After less than a week of "rest" and "talking," another Tennessean article pops up. Guess what? Scroll down to Part II!

November 15, 2006 Dep. Gov. Dave Cooley on the Way Out (Part II)

Today's Tennessean has an article that may have a clue about the real reason that Tennessee Dep. Gov. Dave Cooley is now thinking about resigning his office and returning to private life. See Part I (above) and click on the link to the Tennessean's November 9th article about Cooley.

It looks like Cooley's real reason for thinking about resigning may be related to a federal hearing in Knoxville this morning concerning his infamous ticket-fixing episode.

Cooley is probably not "resting" and "talking" today because the ticket-fixing deal was only one of many instances where Cooley used and abused his office for personal and family gain. Click here for my February 11 post about Dave and Melanie and their actions. And here for another post on February 26.

What prompts all this?

Well, it seems that the TBI case file of Deputy Gov. Dave Cooley's fixed ticket investigation will be the topic of a federal hearing in Knoxville today.

A former Tennessee Highway Patrol officer, who is suing Cooley, the department and several of its former top leaders, wants access to the file. Bryan Farmer, a former lieutenant, claims in a federal lawsuit that he was harassed and forced from the department by the Democratic administration because he supported the Republican party. His attorney, Arthur F. Knight, wants to review the file to search for evidence that may bolster Farmer's case.

The state is withholding the file, claiming it is not a public record. State law says TBI investigative files are closed and not subject to inspection, except in a few narrow exceptions. One of those is in the face of a subpoena or court order. Cooley said last week he is considering leaving his position as Gov. Phil Bredesen's top deputy to return to the private sector.

Connect the dots....

Read the full text of today's November 15 article for more background on how Cooley's first act under Bredesen was to push to get his wife hired by the Department of Safety. And then she pushed to get her brother hired on. And then the ticket-fixing. And campaign donations for promotions. And then...

Conflicts of interest and personal and family gain are the driving forces behind far too many elected officials. In fact, they have become such a staple of government that the public---and elected officials--- just nod and go on.