Ethics? How about elected state offices

By Greg Little, Managing Editor The Covington Leader
April 5, 2005

Last week a news release came across my desk that really drew my attention.

The release was from Sen. Rosalind Kurita, D-Clarksville, who is advocating for government to be “more open and more accountable to the people.”

Now that’s right up my alley.

Kurita is calling for the officers of state treasurer, comptroller, secretary of state and attorney general to be elected positions.

“We can no longer tolerate a government where insiders make the rules and the people are left out of the process,” she said.

Game, set, match, I say.

I had actually not realized that these offices were not elected. I didn’t know the attorney general of the state is hired by the Tennessee Supreme Court.

“Imagine having a case before the Supreme Court and the lawyer for the opposing side was chosen by the justices who are hearing the case. It’s simply unfair,” said Kurita.

How can anyone argue against that statement? I’m sure some can, but they are simply wrong.

The good old boy network of government in Tennessee hides in every nook and cranny in this state. Backroom deals remain as common as mosquitoes in the summer. It’s not right.

“The current process is a vestige of a bygone era,” she continued.

Kurita is correct in that those who hold the highest offices in government should be selected by the people. We choose a governor and all of our representatives and senators. Why shouldn’t we choose the others who hold so much power in their hands?

The attorney general, for example, is the highest ranking law enforcement officer in the state. Seems to me the people should be able to select the person they want in such a powerful position.

I would take her suggestion even one step more and say the lieutenant governor should also be elected. There are many states where the lieutenant governor is elected by the people and in some case that person is from the opposite party as the governor.

Again, it seems to me the people should have the right to select the person they would want in charge of the state should something happen to the governor they elected.

I don’t understand what the big deal is about all of this.

But apparently it is, according to Kurita.

Kurita tried to introduce the same legislation last year and it never made it out of committee.

“I’m going to continue fighting for a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people rather than a government of, by and for the insiders,” she said.

It seems ironic to me that those who hold the power in Nashville are often the ones who make sure bills like Kurita’s never make out of the committee hearings. That fact alone points straight to why Kurita’s bill is logical and should gain more attention that it does on a statewide level.

Not too long ago, Sen. Mark Norris of Collierville made a statement that has drawn a lot of attention from our readers. Norris said that in many cases, “if you give government an inch, it will take a mile.”

That statement by Norris strikes at the heart of the issues raised by Kurita. Closed government is being practiced all over Tennessee and it’s because of the good old boy network.

It’s time for that network to be dismantled and for the people to have a government which serves their needs, not those of the people in power.