Monday, April 03, 2006

Testing support

Quite a few folks have inquired of me whether I am willing to run for one of the Knox County Commission seats that may be forcefully vacated as a result of the Tennessee Supreme Court ruling last week. As locals are now quite aware, there is mass confusion among certain elected officials as well as the voting public, as evidenced on the local Sunday talk shows, as we now know the ballots can't be changed in time for the Primary, and because of early voting, polling will actually begin nine days from now.

If anyone happened to see Inside Tennessee or Tennessee This Week yesterday, you know exactly what I mean about the officialdom being in a confused, even dazed, state of mind. For once, I believe them all when they say that they do not know what to do next, I am not sure that I would know either.

There are some things that anyone interested in seeing me stand for a Commission seat need to know, and I am all for being completely frank with both the Party and the electorate:

1. At present, I have absolutely zero money with which to begin a political campaign. If some of you Republicans and others in Knox County really want to see me run, I need help, and I need it big-time. Having worked on political campaigns before, I have a real understanding of what it takes to run a successful campaign, and unfortunately, one thing it does take is a lot of money and not a few volunteers. Nicole and I don't have the money to fund a campaign-if people really believe in me, they'll need to fund that campaign, because I can't. Now if I actually get elected and have a bit of a war chest, perhaps I won't need as much help next time around (but of course, help would always be appreciated anytime).

2. As many of you who read this blog regularly are probably aware, Nicole and I are looking for a house, and we have been looking for some time. I have not limited that search to the 2nd Commission District, largely because the price of real estate in this general area is sky high campared to other places in Knox County and surrounding counties. Nicole and I do not own a home at present, and we want one badly-at a payment we can actually afford. We don't even care if the house needs a little work, if we can afford the payment (our credit is fabulous and we don't want to ruin it) we are interested. We've found several places in East Knox County, Jefferson County, and Hamblen County for $70,000 or less-the biggest issue with some places has been accessability for me. We have yet to find a house that is reasonable that is actually worth buying here in the 2nd District-and that is the one thing I won't do is hold up buying a home to run. However, if anyone knows of a house in the area that I don't know about, feel free to let me know.

3. I'd like to hear from two groups of people:

Residents of the 2nd Commission District-What issues are important to you, and what are you looking for in a candidate for County Commission? What things would you like to see your County Commissioner address? If I were elected, how could I help you deal with things that affect your life every day that Knox County should be addressing? How many of you would support me if I ran?

Local Republicans-I've heard from a few of you telling me that I ought to run. How many of you actually think this and are willing to back me up? I want to find out just how much support inside the Party there would be for an Oatney candidacy-call this a sort of internet straw poll.

2nd Commission District residents as well as Knox County Republicans can either comment below, or send me an e-mail at oatney@gmail.com-I want to hear from you whether it is positive, negative, or in-between.

1 Comments:

At Monday, April 03, 2006 5:23:00 PM, Blogger The Sen. said...

call me abt. run. 6157412287.

 

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