The husband of a fired member of the Marion County Election Commission was appointed Thursday as the county’s elections administrator.
“We looked at our applicants and (Gary Reames) was the best suited for the job,” election board member Robert McVey said. “His wife didn’t have anything to do with this; she was out of the picture.”
Mr. Reames’ wife, Dean, filed a complaint with the state Division of Elections on Feb. 1, accusing County Elections Administrator Holly Henegar of fraudulent payroll transactions and of hiring family members.
The complaint led the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to launch a probe into the allegations. The election office is still under investigation, TBI spokesperson Kristin Helm said Friday.
Mrs. Henegar resigned April 8, citing “harassing behavior to such an extent that it has seriously altered the conditions of my employment,” according to newspaper archives.
Mr. McVey said three Republican commissioners voted for Mr. Reames and two Democrats voted against him.
Attempts to reach Mr. Reames and Mrs. Henegar were unsuccessful Friday.
County Mayor Howell Moss said he estimated there were about 27 applicants for the administrator position. He said the board chose to interview several who applied.
Mr. Moss said that, because the election commission is separate from the county government, he wasn’t aware of everything going on.
The appointment comes after three staff members running elections in Marion County announced plans to quit their part-time jobs Friday, saying they were tired of the controversy swirling around the office.
On Friday evening, Mr. Moss said “two of them turned in their keys but they didn’t say they quit, so I don’t know what you’d call that.”
As the new administrator, Mr. Reames will decide how to fill the positions if the staff members quit as they said they would, Mr. McVey said.
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