Public Comment Period Open for Constitutional Offices

ANDY MEEK | The Daily News
December 23, 2008

Now that Republican lawmakers have grilled several applicants for Tennessee’s state constitutional offices of treasurer, comptroller and secretary of state, legislators are encouraging the public to provide feedback about the candidates and the process.

The legislators will accept comments from the public until Jan. 5, one week before Tennessee’s General Assembly reconvenes and welcomes a Republican majority for the first time since the late 1800s. Tennesseans may call or e-mail lawmakers such as state Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, whose district includes Shelby County and who said the public appears to have welcomed the change put in place this year for selecting the state officials.

And it’s a big change. Last week, a Republican panel led by Norris ignored the traditional closed-door interview process for the constitutional office-seekers and made the process public. The sessions also were broadcast over the Internet, archives of which still are available at http://www.tnsenate.com and http://www.tnhousegop.org.

Hard work ahead

Lawmakers regard feedback from the public as an important part of the process, which is a result of the political fallout from the Nov. 4 statewide election results. One of the results of the new GOP majority is the ability to tap candidates for the treasurer, comptroller and secretary of state jobs, a choice Norris said won’t be made until Jan. 14 at the earliest.

“We’ve very pleased, and the response has been very positive,” Norris said. “And the media seems appreciative. Several editorials have been written in other parts of the state. The Tennessean, The Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle and The Jackson Sun have written extensively about it. And the public just seems to be appreciative that they’ve been included and invited to participate, really.”

Several residents of Shelby County, some of them former legislators themselves, were among those who put their names into the hat for the statewide positions. The interviews of those candidates ranged from recitations of resumes to comfortable bantering with members of the panel charged with sifting through the applicants.

“You’re my favorite applicant today,” said Tennessee House Republican Leader Jason Mumpower to Germantown resident Larry Scroggs, a candidate for secretary of state. “You’re the last one.”

Mumpower also made a point of telling each candidate for each office that those who are selected would be expected to put in “more than 60-hour work weeks” when the Legislature is in session.

“We’re going to work you to death,” Mumpower told the hopefuls.

Forget the honeymoon

The significance of the fact that Republicans get to pick the new officers because of their new political majority in Nashville includes, as Norris puts it on his legislative Web site, “an opportunity to restructure state government in ways most Tennesseans have never considered.” Among other changes, Republicans also have the authority to alter the makeup of the state’s election commissions.

“I think (the interview process) went very well,” said state Sen. Paul Stanley, whose district also includes Shelby County. “We obviously wanted to open (the process up) and let people in.”

One person taking part in that process included Shelby County resident David Shirley.

A candidate for secretary of state, Shirley told his interviewers last week that he’s got the business and political skills for the job, as well as a strong ethical code.

“When I came to the Legislature (in 1980), I was the only one I know of at the time who wouldn’t let a lobbyist pay for meals or expenses or anything. And people thought I was crazy,” Shirley said.

When Scroggs was asked for his view on the secretary of state’s job, he mused that for whomever was tapped to fill the office, the work would begin right away.

“One thing that occurred to me, as I was thinking about this whole process you’re going through,” Scroggs said. “Whomever you select, whomever is appointed to the position, the very next day the business and legal community across the state of Tennessee will expect to have their corporate charters filed, they will expect to protect their security interests, they will expect to have their cases heard before administrative law judges – so you’re dealing with an ongoing enterprise here. One that is functioning and is expected by citizens to function.”