Friday, May 27, 2005

"Waltzing" school board member

Hamilton County School Board member Charles Love was missed at last evening's board meeting according to this News Channel 9 (Chattanooga) report.

"The board members sat facing the crowd in their assigned seats.
All were present but one. Charles Love's empty seat confirmed what folks had been hearing all day long.
(snip)
The board can't say what will become of Love's school board seat.
(snip)
The school board says they realize the scandal may hurt their credibility, but they hope and pray the allegations against their fellow member won't prove true. "

Ummm, those'll have to be private prayers, I'm sure.

And from the Knoxville News-Sentinal comes the first person account by Rep. Joe Armstrong of the moment Sen. John Ford was arrested. And also this:

"Armstrong said he has also known "for years" Charles Love, also indicted in the TBI-FBI sting, and had signed on as a co-sponsor at Love's request.

Love, who serves on the Hamilton County Board of Education, has registered as a lobbyist for several years with clients ranging from Memorial Hospital of Chattanooga to Homebuilders of Tennessee, according to Drew Rawlins, director of the Registry of Election Finance."

Here's a .pdf of the charges against Mr. Love courtesy of Nashville's WTVF television.

If true these actions will have an impact on these people, their families and their communities that far exceeds the cheap payoffs made. Corruption is sad, but to sell yourself, your family and your community for so little money is beyond that. What were they thinking?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Since Love made statements that he had "helped bear gifts" to other legislators in the past, I could see a plea deal getting real interesting.

Eric Holcombe