MNEA takes a Beating in the Election
Round 1 Looks Bad
Clement-Dean situation
The endorsed candidate of MNEA-PACE came in 5th. Worse, David Briley did not mention the teachers' endorsement in his campaign material or television commercials. This, in spite of the fact that education and safety seemed to be the most popular issues of the campaign.
Admittedly, teachers had two good candidates in Briley and Bob Clement. Briley seemed better prepared to stand up to the right wing propaganda of the Tennessean. This turned out to be an error. Probably more than the print media, the money invested in television commercials probably made the biggest difference. Clement had it, Briley did not.
For Vice-Mayor, the MNEA faced a difficult decision. Not because of two bad candidates, but because of two good ones. Because of her past outspoken advocacy for teachers and the MNEA, Carolyn Baldwin Tucker won the endorsement. But Diane Neighbors had been our favorite in past races, had done good work on behalf of the school budget, and also showed promise to be good for teachers. Again, the MNEA may have not made a political decision, because the money for television was clearly on Neighbors' side.
Tim Garrett won a county-wide race outright. Of all the candidates for the at-large position, he was the only one who spent significant television money. Based on past experience, this is bad news for teachers and students. However, as explained below, this may not matter now because even with highly favorable council members in the past eight years, teachers and students have suffered more injustice than any time in the history of Metro.
Of the other four positions open, two candidates in the runoff have been hostile to the MNEA in the past. The other six have ranged from favorable to very favorable. From the point of pure politics, however, only two were endorsed in Round One. This makes our endorsement look unnecessary.
District Commentary
Outright winners in Round 1
2. Frank Harrison¹
3. Walter Hunt¹
4. Michael Craddock²
5. Pam Murray¹
6. Mike Jameson¹
7. Erik Cole¹
9. Jim Forkum²
10. Rick Ryman¹
12. Jim Gotto²
13. Carl Burch¹
14. Bruce Stanley¹
15. Phil Claiborne²
16. Anna Page¹
18. Keith Durbin³
19. Erica Gilmore¹
20. Buddy Baker³
22. Eric Crafton²
23. Emily Evans¹
25. Sean McGuire³
26. Gregory Adkins³
27. Randy Foster¹
28. Duane Dominy²
29. Vivian Wilhoite¹
30 Jim Hodge³
31. Parker Toler¹
32. Sam Coleman¹
34. Carter Todd³
35. Bo Mitchell³
¹ Favorable in past or endorsed candidate; ² Unfavorable in past; ³ unknown opinions
Twenty-eight persons elected outright, Fifteen are favorable to the needs of students based on past history.
Runoff possibilities
1. Ken Jakes & Lonnell Matthews¹
8. Karen Bennett³ & Randy Reed³
11. Darren Jernigan³ & Rick McClintock³
17. Frank Stevenson¹ & Sandra Moore
21. Edith Langster¹ & Harold Love
24. Jason Holleman¹ & Katherine Beasley
33. Robert Duvall³ & Page Turner³
We see the possibility of four more favorable candidates being elected in the runoff. Some of the persons not endorsed were still favorable; we just could not endorse all of the good ones.
Except for 1999 which was an anomaly, a "good" year for education would see about 25 or 26 favorable candidates elected. A "bad" year would see less than 20 favorable candidates elected. This year, the number of favorable councilpersons after the runoff appears to be 20 or 21. If we consider endorsed candidates, the number is less than 20. This was a bad year in Round 1. Unless teachers are unified and motivated before September 11, it could be a disaster in Round 2.
How could this happen?
The basic analysis has been done by John Summers here. The discouraging thing about his thesis is that things have gotten worse. Money for television had more impact on the county-wide races than anything else. People power, both from the educators and the other government employees was almost completely missing. So much has been done to discourage individuals from participating in politics that money is the only thing left. Unfortunately, progressive politicians usually come up lacking when it comes to the moneyed interests.
Round 2 Bob Clement
While the future looks most discouraging, life has a way of throwing unpredictable surprises. The new mayor has great potential to set an agenda that would change the direction of the school system. For that reason, the decision between Bob Clement and Karl Dean remains the most important decision for Metropolitan Government for the next four years. Neither is as inspiring as David Briley, but that does not mean that an enthusiastic decision can be avoided.
Both men are cautious and both have inclinations to support the Chamber of Commerce vision of bricks and mortar rather than people. But Karl Dean stands way ahead of Bob Clement in being the enabler of Pedro Garcia.
More than any other local official, aside from school board members who hoped to get an education job, Dean's activity in the Metro Legal Department allowed and encouraged the California crowd to mistreat employees at every turn.
1. In meetings at the school board, Metro Legal attorneys actively entered policy debates slanting their advice to the board in the direction advocating doing as little as possible to get along with the MNEA and the SEIU rather than limiting their input to the legalities of the issue at hand.
2. In grievances, Metro Legal attorneys unfailingly sought to use the most expensive form of arbitration rather than accept the abbreviated form which would save money for both sides. Further, when the Jim Fuller arbitration went against Garcia, Metro Legal used delaying tactics in both the Chancery Court and the Court of Civil Appeals to run up the costs for the TEA. In every case, the union prevailed, but the delay continues all the way now to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Karl Dean could have stopped this abuse long ago. The whole purpose of arbitration is to solve small problems before they grow into big problems. But when it comes to rights of employees under their negotiated contract, Dean has tried to beat back the little guy at every turn.
Bob Clement has plenty of history of helping the rich and the powerful. But Clement has never forgotten the common people and their union representatives. Considering the direction of Nashville's agenda for the next four years, Bob Clement is our best hope.