Hamilton County commissioner takes stand on nonprofit spending

Hamilton County Commissioner Joe Graham
Hamilton County Commissioner Joe Graham

A rare thing happened Wednesday at the Hamilton County Commission. A commissioner voted against some of his colleagues' discretionary spending requests - three of them.

The commission easily passed more than $72,000 in discretionary spending requests, but Commissioner Joe Graham had issues with three of those resolutions, which amounted to about $12,000.

Graham voted against two spending requests from Commissioner Greg Beck, one $6,000 allocation to the Mary Walker Historical and Education Foundation and one $5,000 item to purchase tables at the Night to Remember fundraising event.

He also voted against a $1,000 donation to Girls Inc. by Commissioner Chester Bankston. That money will go toward the group's summer camp scholarships, according to the resolution.

Commissioners have a combined $900,000 a year in so-called discretionary spending for special projects in their districts. Discretionary funds came to the forefront of debate in June after six commissioners voted to pull the project funds from the county's savings and insert them into the budget. Mayor Jim Coppinger originally had left the funds out of the 2016 financial plan, saying there was no revenue stream to support the cost.

He eventually vetoed the budget that included the funds, but commissioners overruled that veto.

Graham, Beck and Marty Haynes were the only commissioners to vote against the veto. And only Graham ultimately voted against the amended budget.

Graham said Wednesday he's decided he can't support any discretionary projects he wouldn't do himself.

"I put most of my discretionary money I spend in bondable projects. We have many great 501(c)3 organizations in Hamilton County, but I just don't spend my discretionary money that way. So I don't feel I can support that," Graham said.

Beck's donation to the Mary Walker foundation will go toward paying for an African-American inventions exhibit at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center from February to April next year. And it will go toward media promotion for the organization through May 2016, according to a letter to Beck from foundation President John L. Edwards III.

The Night to Remember expense will pay for Beck to sponsor a table at the group's 2015 fundraising dinner, and it will cover the cost of Beck's table in 2014 as well, documents show.

Beck said there were no hard feelings about Graham not supporting his donations.

"He told me that he was not going to be able to support it," Beck said. " It was no controversy, he's just got a principle he's got to live by."

But Beck added that Graham voted for a $10,000 expense to pay for a restored fighter jet in a Collegedale veterans memorial, which is run by a nonprofit organization.

"I don't know what the difference is," Beck said.

But Graham said the Collegedale park was "brick and mortar," and it's bondable.

Meanwhile, Bankston said he didn't know why Graham didn't support his Girl's Inc. donation.

"It was to help them with their summer camp. I don't know, you'll have to ask him about it," Bankston said.

Graham was the only commissioner to vote against any of the discretionary funding.

Commissioners unanimously passed $60,000 in expenses for a greenhouse expansion at Hixson High School, renovations at the Signal Mountain Public Library, batting cages for Signal Mountain Middle/High School, the veterans park in Collegedale and an allotment to the Highway 58 Volunteer Fire Department.

Contact staff writer Louie Brogdon at lbrogdon@timesfreepress.com, @glbrogdoniv on Twitter or at 423-757-6481.

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