Friday Recap for March 7, 2025

The 2025 Williamson County Reorganization Convention is over. The Elevate 2025 won every position by very narrow margins:

There was a recount for chairman and the final results were Steve Hickey 798 and Brian Clifford 750.

I have a lot of thoughts about the way the WCC conducted their campaign and could probably fill several pages with cathartic rhetoric, but, alas, the tire is fixed, and I'm not interested in talking about the nail that flattened it. It's time to move on.

I will link you to an article written by a friend of mine, that I think, captures the truth about what has happened over the last few months.

I want to highlight a section on the Williamson County Election Commission below

Two representatives of the Clifford campaign spoke, implying there were a myriad of problems at the convention.

• Campaign Manager Brian Floyd and Aaron Gulbranson presented a list of grievances to be addressed by the WCRP. Because the WCC is challenging the conduct of the election, I am not commenting further. If you want to understand what they are doing, you can check out this article in the Tennessee Star. In addition, here is an interesting interview with Michael Patrick Leahy who admits that he "spoiled" his ballot and got a new one. Go to the 35:00 mark.

Enjoying Friday Recap? Take a minute now and forward it to 3 people.

Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Subscribe now. 👇

Williamson County School District

Next Week: Nothing scheduled.

The Policy Committee met on Monday agenda Audio

The School Board Work Session met on Thursday agenda Video This was a 5 1/2 hour meeting where they discussed a variety of topics, as you can see on the agenda. They discussed the budget and a number of policy changes, including the library policy. The discussion on approving the science books was very long and got a little heated at times, but well worth watching. It starts at 4:20 and goes for a little over an hour. The summary below misses a lot of detail, as you might imagine. They really get deep into the weeds during the 5+ hours of discussion.

Williamson County Commission

Budget Committee met on Monday Video All resolutions passed unanimously

The Highway Commission met on Wednesday agenda Since this meeting was not recorded, I don't know what transpired.

Parks and Recreation Committee met on Wednesday. All resolutions passed unanimously except 3-25-10 that went 3-2 with Ricky Jones, Jennifer Mason, and Steve Smith voting yes and Bill Petty and Chris Richards voting no.

The Public Health Committee met on Thursday. Resolution 3-25-14 to support SB1141/HB894 which is working its way through the General Assembly. This bill will require all water providers in the state to remove fluoride from our drinking water. Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Alvarado was there and defended the practice. Chris Richards, Pete Stresser, Gregg Lawrence, and Bill Petty brought up objections, and in particular, the concept of informed consent. The vote on this resolution was Chris Richards and Pete Stresser yes, Steve Smith no and Jeff Graves and Ricky Jones abstain. Gregg Lawrence and Bill Petty are not on the committee and had no vote.

This resolution will be on the agenda for the County Commission meeting this coming Monday the 10th. I encourage everyone who feels strongly about this, whether for or against, to come and speak out and/or listen to the debate.

All other resolutions were passed unanimously.

Board of Mayor and Aldermen

There were only three meetings this week and you can go here to check them out

Next Week:

Both the BOMA work session agenda and board meeting agenda will be meeting on Tuesday the 11th starting at 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm respectively. Both meetings will be held at the County Building Auditorium at 1320 W. Main St., Franklin. You can watch online by going here and clicking on the meeting you want to watch.

There are three more meetings next week and you can go here and click on the meeting you are interested in.

Williamson County Election Commission

The election Commission met on Friday agenda

Report from Frank Limpus of Tennessee Voters for Election Integrity

The meeting opened with Chairman Jonathan Duda explaining three undervotes from Tuesday’s Williamson County Republican Party (WCRP) convention. 

• All three were not counted at first by the machines because of how the voter marked the ballot for Steve Hickey. 
• Duda presented copies of the three ballots.  (Ballots #290, #1045 and #1433). 
• Each voter didn’t follow instructions in filling in the circle besides Hickey’s name.
• Duda said there were 130 ballots (8%) that were “spoiled” because they were filled out incorrectly; election workers gave them new a ballot to vote correctly. The spoiled ballots have been kept.
• All three ballots were later counted in the recount, which is how Hickey gained three votes.
• The votes for Hickey were allowed because judges in the hand recount could correctly interpret voter intent.  An excellent benefit of hand counting ballots.
• The WCEC did not orchestrate the recount.  They merely handled the vote for the WCRP and then gave the tally and ballots to the WCRP.
• The Tennessee GOP executed the recount with Hickey and the WCC campaign manager, Brian Floyd, as well as other election workers present.
• Clifford did not remain for the recount.
• Every ballot was reviewed and verified by a representative of each campaign.
• The result:  Hickey gained three votes (new tally 798) and Clifford lost a vote (new tally 750).
• Duda did not address in the meeting the fact that – and how – Clifford lost a vote.  

Frank Limpus questioned the differences between the machine total and the hand-marked ballot total at the convention.  How could differences happen?

• His conclusion:  Three voters lost their vote because the machine did not correctly ascertain the voter’s intent on the ballot, which the hand recount did. 
• The machines are not trustworthy and can produce a false tally if they are the only thing election officials depend upon.   A hand count of ballots is better, safer.
• We learned that lesson once before in the Franklin 2021 election when 7 of 19 tabulators stopped counting votes on the tabulator tape and a hand recount had to decide the correct result the following day.  It was the hand recount that was named the official result of the election per the Secretary of State.

Two representatives of the Clifford campaign spoke, implying there were a myriad of problems at the convention.

• Campaign Manager Brian Floyd and Aaron Gulbranson presented a list of grievances to be addressed by the WCRP. Because the WCC is challenging the conduct of the election, I am not commenting further. If you want to understand what they are doing, you can check out this article in the Tennessee Star. In addition, here is an interesting interview with Patrick Leahy who admits that he "spoiled" his ballot and got a new one. Go to the 35:00 mark.

Other business

• The early voting locations and hours for early voting and election day in the Brentwood Municipal election (May 6) were decided.
  • There will be two locations:  the Brentwood library and Brent haven Church.
• The Republican machine technician that the WCEC uses for all elections has resigned and the WCEC will begin looking for a replacement.  There are two technicians, one Republican and one Democrat, who sets up all elections and prepares the machines.  NOTE:  They DO NOT inspect inside the machines when they do this.  No one is allowed to inspect inside to be sure there are no nefarious components in the machines before the election!  A huge process flaw that we have complained about to officials and which no one will address. 
• There was a discussion about the WCEC’s budget, but attendees at the meeting were not given copies.  We will be issuing an open records request for this information so we can do more in-depth study.

If not me, who?

If not now, when?

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb. 11:1)

“We work hard with our own hands. When we are vilified, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer gently.” (1^st Corinthians 4:12-13)

Blessings,

Bill

pettyandassociates@gmail.com

Community resources

If you like Friday Recap, check out these other grassroots conservative projects!

• Williamson County Citizens is a volunteer network of local voters that elect grassroots conservatives to public office.
• TruthWire News covers a broad spectrum of political and governmental issues, from the actions of your local school board and county commissioners to the machinations of city councils and state government officials.
• Tennessee Voters for Election Integrity is helping restore confidence in Tennessee Elections.
• Williamson County Republican Party is one of the most active parties in the state and captures the conservative heart of Tennessee.
• Mom's For Liberty Williamson County is dedicated to fighting for the American family by unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.
• Tennessee Stands produces video media, podcasts, and live events, and provides social commentary on relevant issues in our state.
• M4LU is a new site developed by the national Mom's for Liberty but generated right here in Williamson County. The mission of M4LU is to to inform, equip, and empower parents with knowledge, understanding and practical tools.
• WCSB Substack. This site reports on the Williamson County School Board meetings. It provides accurate summaries of all WCSB meetings.

Help educate citizens of Williamson County

Want to support Friday Recap? Forward this newsletter to 3 people and invite them to subscribe.

Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Subscribe now by clicking below.