Some state lawmakers are seeking to overhaul Tennessee's Alcoholic Beverage Commission after multiple audits noted failures by the commission stretching back more than a decade.
Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge, sent a letter to Gov. Bill Haslam on Jan. 6 asking the state's top official to consider replacing at least one commissioner after audits found mismanagement dating back to 2001.
A spokeswoman for Haslam said last week the letter was being reviewed. She would not say if the governor is seriously considering ousting any commissioners.
The move comes six months after TABC oversaw the introduction of wine in grocery stores across the state, but the latest audit revealed major, continued failures by the commission in some of its most basic duties.
The audit found the commission failed to put proper policies in place to oversee licenses, did not properly track or handle confiscated evidence and did not have proper conflict-of-interest policies in place, among other failures. Auditors noted several of the failures were repeated findings from a 2007 audit. It was presented Dec. 14 to the House Education, Health and General Welfare Subcommittee, of which Ragan is the chairman.
"The Subcommittee respectfully requests that you consider whether the continued service of members who were unable to resolve significant findings during a period spanning nearly a decade best serves the Commission's statutory responsibilities and the public interest," Ragan wrote in the letter to Haslam and ABC Executive Director Clay Byrd.
The commission consists of Chairwoman Mary McDaniel, John Jones and Bryan Kaegi. McDaniel and Kaegi were appointed on the same day in 2011 while Jones replaced his father in 1992. Jones' father had served since the commission's inception in 1963.
Although the letter didn't mention Jones by name, it asked the governor to consider replacing those who served on the commission since the 2007 audit.
In a phone interview with the Times Free Press, Jones said he will resign if the governor asks him to, but he hopes he can at least finish out the rest of his term, about two more years.
"What I have tried to do is an honest and a forthright job as a commissioner in both the management of the agency, in enforcing alcohol beverage laws, and in trying to have a good working relationship with the industry," Jones said. "I feel like I've put an enormous amount of time into it. I have no apologies. I feel like I've done the best that a single individual commissioner can do."
Jones said TABC worked to correct failures noted in the 2007 audit, and he believes leadership added policies that corrected the findings. However, he believes that when a new commission was appointed and the executive director at the time left, those corrective measures failed to continue.
Like Ragan and Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville - who recommended in December the subcommittee send the letter - Jones was complimentary of new management within ABC and is hopeful about the commission's future. All three men said they believe in the work and vision of Byrd and new Assistant Director Zach Blair.
"I do have a lot of confidence in Director Byrd and his staff," Jones said. "He's a fairly young man, but when he bites on to something he doesn't let go of it, in a nice way. He spends a lot of time and is very thorough and careful. He's very meticulous about what he does, and he doesn't just start something and abruptly stop it. He carries that effort through, and I have been very pleased with his performance."
Byrd and Blair were hired last summer as part of a larger overhaul that also brought in a new chief law enforcement officer and administrative services director, Byrd said. Jones said the commission also hired a second staff attorney.
The Education, Health and General Welfare Subcommittee voted in December to recommend the committee continue for another four years.
Contact Mark Pace at 423-757-6361 or mpace@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheMarkPace and on Facebook facebook.com/TheMarkPace.