Commissioner of Agriculture Named

Last night, at the TN Farm Bureau Convention, Gov-Elect Haslam announced his cabinet appointee for the position of Commissioner of Agriculture. He named Julius Johnson, CAO for the TN Farm Bureau for the last 15 years, to lead the Department. Governor-elect Haslam stressed the importance of having a Commissioner of Agriculture that understands farming and the role agriculture can play in job creation, especially in the rural parts of our state that remain the hardest hit by unemployment.

For more on this appointment, go to the Nashville Post site here.

Haslam has named his legal counsel (Herbert Slatery), special assistant (Mark Cate) and deputy governor (Claude Ramsey). Johnson is the first commissioner named in the new Haslam cabinet. For more information on the Haslam transition, you can follow his administration at http://www.billhaslam.org/

Familiar Faces Coming to New Positions in Nashville

Late last week there were reports of two high-profile appointments. One was the announcement of Claude Ramsey as Deputy Governor in the Haslam administration. Claude was recently elected to his fifth term as the Hamilton County mayor. He was an essential player in the efforts to recruit Volkswagen to Tennessee and has experienced tremendous sucesses in recruiting business and industry to his region during tough economic times. Prior to serving as mayor, Claude served a stint in the General Assembly in the 1970's, was a county commissioner in Hamilton County and the assessor of property.

Meanwhile, the Comptroller of the Treasury, Justin Wilson, announced the appointment of former Representative Jason Mumpower to his staff. Rep. Mumpower did not pursue re-election this year after serving as Republican Majority Leader. Mumpower will serve as the Executive Assistant to the Comptroller. His duties will include serving as a liaison to the General Assembly, representing the Comptroller on several boards and commissions and dealing with the overall management of the Comptroller’s office.

Commissioners Compensation and Benefits Survey Going Out

Each year the Tennessee County Commissioners Association surveys its membership about a number of things pertaining to the compensation and benefits provided to members of the legislative body in all 95 counties. These surveys also ask for updates on who is currently serving as chair of the commission and when the commission's regular meetings are scheduled. The surveys are going out to county mayors and chairs of commissions today. Once we compile the information, it will be available on the main TCCA website. Last year's survey is currently available here.

High Unemployment Streak Could Exceed 1980's

With November's rate expected to be 9.6%, that will mark the 19th consecutive month that the unemployment rate was over 9 percent. That would exceed the length of high unemployment during the 1980s recession. The Federal Reserve forcasts that the rate will still be near 9% at the end of 2011. For more, see this article from USA Today.

Delays Again in School Systems Reports

According to this article in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, the release of Adequate Yearly Progress reports for school systems has been pushed back again. Now, Department of Education officials expect to release that report and the official report card for the state and school systems around mid-December. Click on the link above for more information.

Tennessee Improves High School Graduation Rate

According to an article in the Commercial Appeal (click here for the link), Tennessee has made dramatic gains in its high school graduation rate. In 2002 we had one of the lowest rates in the country at 59.6%. By 2008 that had improved to 74.9%. This 15% improvement led the nation. This article is reporting findings from a study by Johns Hopkins University and America's Promise Alliance, founded by Gen. Colin Powell. The website for that organization and a link to the full report can be found at http://americaspromise.org/ and at full graduation rate study report.

Busy Times

Over the last couple of weeks, we had a tremendously successful TCSA fall conference, announced a new training program for county commissioners in conjunction with CTAS, welcomed several new members to the TCCA board and saw an election that had dramatic results. All these developments have made for a busy work schedule. I hope to update you soon on all these developments, as time permits.

Today, I'm at a hearing of the business tax study committee which is considering several issues today and tomorrow that impact county governments. Tomorrow afternoon I hit the road to Oak Ridge to teach the first training class in a new program designed to provide county commissioners with evening training opportunities to help make them better informed about their job. Three more classes will be taught across the state this month in Cookeville on the 8th, Gallatin on the 16th and Jackson on the 18th. I hope to see you at one of these classes. We hope to hit at least three more locations in the future if one of these locations is not convenient to you. This first class is a basic overview. More classes are planned on budgeting, capital planning, parliamentary procedure, education funding and several other issues.