| Defeated Greenback mayor and family accused of hampering transition
of power
Sarah Grace Taylor-thedailytimes.com
After losing his re-election campaign, longtime Greenback Mayor Tom
Peeler and his family are being accused of inhibiting the transition
of power to Mayor-elect Dewayne Birchfield.
Greenback, a Loudon County town of about 1,100 people, voted to
replace the mayor of 44 years on Nov. 6. Birchfield, an alderman
from 2010-16, won the race with 62 percent of the vote.
Following the November election, Peeler told The News-Herald in
Lenoir City that losing was the “happiest day of my life” because
“it felt like a big ton of weight got lifted off my shoulders.”
Later in the month, the regularly scheduled November meeting of the
Greenback Board of Mayor and Aldermen, at which Birchfield had
expected to be sworn in, was canceled.
According to Birchfield and some residents of the town, the former
mayor is clutching onto his position with assistance from his family
— his wife, Norma, the city’s only employee, serving as city
recorder, treasurer and director of human resources; and his
daughter, Robin Blankenship, one of the city’s four aldermen.
Birchfield said these same intergovernmental family ties encouraged
him to oppose Peeler but now are obstructing him from assuming his
rightful office.
“It’s time for change and I have been elected and am the mayor,”
Birchfield said. “But (Tom Peeler) canceled this meeting and they
don’t have a December meeting because of the Christmas party, so
they are just stalling me until at least January.”
On Nov. 20, after election results were certified, Loudon County
Mayor Buddy Bradshaw swore in Birchfield as mayor of Greenback.
Birchfield then went into Norma Peeler’s office, with Loudon
County Commissioner Van Shaver in tow, to seek guidance on what
to do next in the transition.
“He was nothing but magnanimous,” Shaver said of Birchfield.
“I’ve never seen anything like this, where one official refuses
to move over for another, and I know elected officials who
wouldn’t have been as nice.”
According to Shaver, Norma Peeler was very concise in her
conversation with Birchfield, during which the two scheduled an
appointment for Dec. 27 to switch over the city’s financial
information.
“She was succinct, there was no jocularity, and told him nothing
would happen until January,” Shaver said, noting that Tom Peeler
was present but never acknowledged Birchfield. “He was rifling
through papers. I don’t know if he was looking for something or
what, but he didn’t say anything.”
When asked about the canceled meeting and her role in the
transition, Norma Peeler refused to comment, telling The
Daily Times that reporters “don’t need to talk to me” but
rather needed to talk to her husband,” adding that “there
has been so much nonsense and lies and we will not be
getting involved.”
When contacted, Tom Peeler told The Daily Times that “the
whole thing has been such a headache” and that he “will not
answer any questions about this at all.”
While Birchfield tried to get it resolved that day in the
office, he says he has not reached out to Tom Peeler
directly since the election.
“We had definitely had our disagreements before, like
everyone does, but maybe a little more,” Birchfield said of
his relationship with the Peelers. “I am not surprised by
this because we have had our controversies.”
According to Birchfield and some locals, the hostility
from the Peelers began well before Election Day.
“When you have kinfolk involved in the city like that,
there are going to be problems,” Birchfield said. “I’m
just not for nepotism at all, but also not for the way
members of this family acted during the campaign.”
While an alderman, Blankenship reportedly encouraged
residents to boycott a local business after the owner
signed Birchfield’s petition for candidacy.
“I have never had anything against (Mayor Peeler) and I
would have signed his, too, if he came to me,” Corner
Market owner Kathy Brooks said. “I didn’t have any
reason not to support him until they came at my
business.”
According to Brooks, Blankenship posted to Facebook
after hearing about the petition, saying she no longer
would visit the Corner Market, which prompted other
members of the Peeler family to call in the comments
section for a boycott.
“I’ve lived here my whole life and this business is my livelihood, so for an elected official of Greenback, where I pay taxes and run a business, to say that was wrong,” Brooks said of the post. “I told (Tom Peeler) ‘is this not America? Can I not vote for who I want?’”
Brooks said she received resounding support from the
community and noticed no decline in business after
Blankenship’s post.
Blankenship rebuffed questions from The Daily Times
on the incident.
“Most everyone has had some run-in with them about
something and was ready for a change,” Birchfield
said of issues between the family and different
Greenback business owners. “They are just evil.”
While Bradshaw, the highest-ranking elected official
in the county, legally swore Birchfield into office,
the county cannot intervene in the transition
process.
“It is strictly up to each town’s charter,” Bradshaw
said.
To Birchfield’s chagrin, the protocol for transition
into his newly elected office is only vaguely
described in Greenback law.
“They are going to carry this thing out to the first
of the year because there’s no way to make them get
it done with,” Birchfield said. “There’s been the
same mayor for so long, I don’t think this ever
happened, and there just is no way to get around
it.”
The following from section 6-3-105 of
Greenback’s charter offers protocol for a
mayoral oath of office, but does not specify how
or when a sitting mayor is to step down.
“The mayor, after the mayor’s election, shall
take an oath of office to support the
constitution of the state and faithfully
discharge the duties of the mayor’s office,
before any officer authorized to administer
oaths,” the charter reads. “This officer or the
mayor shall then induct the aldermen into office
by administering to them a similar oath of
office. Oaths of office shall be filed in the
archives of the municipality. (Acts 1991, ch.
154, § 1.)”
According to Birchfield, he filed his oath of
office on Nov. 20 and is optimistic that he will
be sworn in at the January meeting of mayor and
aldermen.
“I just hope we can all work together once I’m in office, despite relationships and history,” Birchfield said. “We need to focus on the city of Greenback and the future, not the old mayor and stuff of the past.” |
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12/3/18