County Goes From Bad To Worse
Contact: Jim Hutchins, Christian Citizens against Corruption, 423 442-9248
MONROE COUNTY, Tenn., August 6 /Christian Newswire/ -- Individuals residing in East Tennessee are extremely upset with corrupt county and state authorities.
Tennessee Mayor Allen Watson has been reelected despite local controversy in connection with an election which was contested. Mayor Watson of Monroe County, Tennessee removed a display of the Ten Commandments in July, 2005. An act which prompted 2,000 citizens to protest in the form of a petition to the county commission.
In July, 2006, Watson’s daughter Tracy Staff was arrested by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for allegedly fixing a ballot in favor of Watson. Watson subsequently won a new term to office. However, the Election Commission received a complaint from the Reverend Jim Hutchins, an evangelist in East Tennessee. Hutchins, who was attempting to request a hand count of ballots, was told by the members of the commission to leave the premises. A state probe into the incident was inconclusive. Police observed several members of the Democratic Party including the chairman, publicly intoxicated and on the verge of a drunken brawl the night of the election. No action was taken. According to election attorneys with the Secretary of State’s office in Nashville, there is currently no way to track individual votes on the electronic balloting system. Hutchins reported these irregularities to “Christian Citizens against Corruption”, a watchdog group in Monroe County recently formed due to numerous complaints filed with the state concerning corruption in Monroe County.
Recently a Monroe County Sheriff's Department Employee was arrested for molesting a 13 year old female foster child in his home and two other police officers were fired this past week after the Department was sued for 15 million dollars. It was reported that these two MCSD officers repeatedly tortured two victims at the scene of an auto accident with their taser guns. Hutchins has led patriotic rallies in front of the county’s courthouse in Madisonville seeking to restore The Ten Commandments back to its original previous historical setting. So far, county commissioners have not responded to the inquiry. Christian ministries, businessmen and Individuals are joining together to pray for their county and state governments even though authorities within county and state governments appear not interested in the issues.
