More than 70 people packed into a side of O’Charley’s in Turkey Creek for an AFP-TN West Knox Town Hall. State Representatives Roger Kane and Jason Zachary were present. It was originally promoted that State Representative Jimmy Matlock would attend, however, a previous commitment prohibited him from attending. AFP corrected the line-up a week or two ago, so no one was expecting Rep. Matlock.
AFP is a group that focuses on more economic issues than social issues. This legislative session, opposing the gas tax was one of their highest priorities. Representatives Kane and Zachary were the only two Knox County legislators to vote against the gas tax. The only issue where the crowd was mixed was on the issue of school choice. An audience member challenged Kane on having accepted money from an organization chaired by now Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. She challenged Kane on polling his district for the views on school choice. She said that she was one citizen in his district opposed dividing the pie for education funding. Kane said you are one of 65,000 and that was the last question and answer.