A Red Bank resident has criticized a campaign flyer for three of the candidates running for the city's Board of Commissioners in the November election, as the flyer does not include a disclosure stating who paid for it — which he thinks lacks transparency and violates state law.
The resident, Davis Guedron, said the husband of former Commissioner Carol Rose came to his property to hand deliver the flyer, which advocates for the election of Jeff Price, Jamie Fairbanks-Harvey and Dari Owens and advertised a meet-and-greet event earlier this month for the three candidates.
"Tennessee Code Annotated states that there should be a disclosure regarding who funds the production of electioneering materials such as this one," Guedron said during the public comments portion of the Sept. 20 Red Bank City Commission meeting, in reference to Tennessee Code 2-19-120. "This flyer clearly advocates for the election of certain candidates, yet has no such disclosure as required by state law.
"Unfortunately, none of the candidates on this flyer have yet provided financial disclosures, so that avenue provides no answers as to who paid for it. This slate of three candidates would represent a majority on the board. Whether an oversight or callous disregard, a City Commission board with a majority who share real estate on this potentially unlawful flyer is concerning to this Red Bank taxpayer."
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He also criticized the Hamilton County Republican Party's "overt endorsement" of Fairbanks-Harvey, Price and Owens in the nonpartisan commission race, which he said was evidenced by the party's social media account and presence at the candidates' campaign launch.
The party advertised a Sept. 24 "meet-and-greet" event for Owens with a Sept. 23 post on its Facebook page and encouraged people to vote for Owens in a Sept. 24 Facebook post.
An Aug. 27 post on the party's Facebook page included a photo of a relative speaking on behalf of Fairbanks-Harvey at an event.
"We need to help Jamie get elected and send the woke Dems packing!! Let's take back Red Bank!!" the post says.
At a Sept. 1 meet-and-greet event for Owens, Price and Fairbanks-Harvey, Hamilton County Republican Party Secretary Mark Harrison solicited donations for the three candidates.
A flyer advocates for the election of Red Bank Board of Commissioners candidates Jamie Fairbanks-Harvey, Jeff Price and Dari Owens. / Contributed photo"I'm sorry that that flyer has offended someone," Fairbanks-Harvey said during the public comments portion of the Sept. 20 commission meeting, in response to Guedron's comments. "That is being purchased by the three of us in the campaign that we want to go there. Don't accuse us of something that may not be true. I'll sit down with anybody at any time and talk about it, the reason.
"The flyer was paid by us, if anybody wants to know," Price said at the same meeting. "No citizens' money. It'll be disclosed. We're trying to do everything the right way. We didn't put any signs out until the 60 days prior to (the election), but other candidates did. We didn't say a word about it. But if we're in a city that goes tit for tat for such silliness like that over a flyer, we've got a problem, a serious problem -- the city -- if that's what we're about. We need to just vote on what matters, right?"
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Resident Drake Pertuit echoed Guedron's concerns about the omission of the disclosure on the flyer.
"Campaign disclosures and routine disclosures and transparency -- this is exactly what everybody's been asking for, that's what some of you ran on, that's what we want, and that's a good thing," he said at the same meeting. "It's not tit for tat; it's the law, and it should be respected."
In a phone interview, Price said he and the other candidates paid for the flyer out of their personal funds to announce their candidacy before they had raised any money for their campaigns.
"Obviously, none of us are politicians," he said. "There was no malicious intent. If there's a problem, we'll quit using it. We just printed a bunch out when we first introduced ourselves. We were just trying to use them to be frugal. There's nothing secret about it."
Price said all the signs and materials they've printed since then were paid for by the candidates' campaigns, and they included that information on the materials.
He said he has no financial connection to the Hamilton County Republican Party.
A flyer advocates for the election of Red Bank Board of Commissioners candidates Jamie Fairbanks-Harvey, Jeff Price and Dari Owens. / Contributed photo(READ MORE: Red Bank hopes to guide development of commercial zone by limiting residential use)
"This is a nonpartisan election for commission," Price said. "I'm just running to help my community. If I get elected, fine; if I don't and they find another candidate, I'll still love my city. We're supposed to be trying to be united, not divided. I just don't get it. Local politics shouldn't be this way."
He said the three candidates haven't received an invoice for the flyers yet.
When asked about her relationship to the Hamilton County Republican Party, Fairbanks-Harvey said she is a member of the Hamilton County Pachyderm Club.
"It is a nonpartisan race, I get that," she said by phone. "I don't have any money from the Republican Party, or the GOP, not even the Pachyderm."
Efforts to reach Owens for comment were unsuccessful.
"We believe in low taxes and sound judgment, and while these are nonpartisan races, I believe that it is our job to put the best fiscal conservatives that we can in office, so that's what we're trying to do," Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Arch Trimble IV said by phone.
Two candidates are vying for each of the three open seats on the Red Bank City Commission in the Nov. 8 municipal elections.
Owens is running against incumbent Mayor Hollie Berry in District 1; Fairbanks-Harvey and Lawrence Miller are running for the District 3 seat vacated by Ed LeCompte, who is not running for re-election; and Price and Hayes T. Wilkinson are running for the at-large seat vacated by Ruth Jeno, who is not seeking re-election.
The last day to register is Oct. 11, and early voting is from Oct. 19 through Nov. 3.
Contact Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6508.