Brian’s Blog Confirms Yesterday’s Speculation, Recall Groups Violate State Election Finance Law

Yesterday, we posted the following blog post. Today, we called back to the Knox County Election Commission and asked the following. “Have the Lockett Recall or the Recall Bill Phillips groups filed Treasurer Appointments?” The answer from a longtime employee was “NO. But you will have to talk to Greg about it.” The longtime employee asked if we “wanted to be connected to Greg Mackay” We stated and confirmed “No, his direct line number is 2483? Correct?” The longtime employee said “Yes.” We thanked the employee for the information. We attempted to contact Greg Mackay, he was not available.

So, our speculation was accurate. Earlier today a commenter on our earlier post shared with us a comment that Tamara Shepherd, an organizer and Core member of The Lockett Recall Initiative had posted at knoxnews. She said “Meanwhile, we’ve committed to a reorder on those yard signs.” So, the group is now on record as intending to violate state election finance laws?

As for the Recall Bill Phillips Group, they too according to the longtime Election Commission employee have not filed an appointment of Treasurer form. They have a website, at least one large sign that has been seen mounted in the back of a pick up truck in the Gibbs community. They have also mailed out some letters. All items that will need to be recorded as bought or given as an in kind contribution. Keep in mind that state election law forbids solicitation and acceptance of any monetary value until an appointment of Treasurer is filed.