RIGHT2VOTETN INVESTIGATING TAXPAYER FUNDING OF TML LOBBYING ACTIVITIES

Requests Submitted to 10 Cities

OOLTEWAH, Tenn. (Nov. 12)-Right2VoteTN, a coalition of 18 grassroots citizens groups across Tennessee, has submitted Tennessee Freedom of Information Act requests to 10 cities to disclose payments to the Tennessee Municipal League’s Risk Management Pool.

The TML’s Risk Management Pool provides liability insurance products and related services to Tennessee cities. An Oct. 17, 2010 story in the Tennessean, “TN Municipal League Risk Pool diverts insurance premiums,” exposes a problem with TML not separating taxpayer revenues for city liability insurance from extravagant spending having nothing to do with insurance coverage.

Our question: Is TML spending taxpayer dollars to actively lobby against the interests of a significant portion of Tennessee’s rural and suburban citizens?

“Last year when voter consent for annexation bills were debated, TML had multiple lobbyists trying to strong-arm legislators to deny Tennessee residents a voice in whether or not their property gets annexed,” said Chris Matthews of FriendsOfHamilton.org.  “The average property-owning citizen can’t compete against TML’s lobbying and fundraising for politicians. Our coalition thinks that’s wrong and that taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be used against citizens’ own interests.”

“Property owners are virtually deprived of having a voice in the process,” said Bill Haupt of Tennesseeans Against Forced Annexation. “Lobbyists who work in the best interest of cities have taken over the annexation process and have more influence than property owners have.”

Right2VoteTN is a coalition of 18 state-wide non-profit organizations that believes all citizens of Tennessee have a right to own private property, and, with that, the power to responsibly govern the use of that private property, with due respect to nature and community standards and without undue interference from governments. Our coalition members include:

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