WBIR reports here that John Baskette, Hamblen County, TN Trustee has been indicted by a Grand Jury, Arrested and Booked on theft of tax payer dollars. He supposedly repaid it once the TN Comptroller started investigating.
From this Citizen Tribune we find a story about Baskette and his opponents at the time.
For the trustees race, Baskette led the way talking about how over his last eight years of being County Trustee he has helped modernize the office into the 21st Century.
He talked about how citizens can now do online payments and how his office has taken steps to help disabled veterans.
Baskette said his office was open to anyone.
Baskette was re-elected last year amidst rumors circulating about this controversy.
“I feel like my office is the window for the county,” he said.
Eversole, the next trustee candidate to speak, talked about his experience as a businessman and told the audience about how that served as a teaching platform for him on how to run a business.
He went to Mercer University and East Tennesse State University then started Eversole Fencing in 1998. He said his business has been successful in good times and bad. He said it was because of one thing.
“I was taught at an early age very good conservative family values,” he said.
The last trustee candidate was 24-year-old Aaron Rice, who said to not let age be a factor in voting. He talked about how he is a member of Young Republicans and raised in Hamblen County.
He said his campaign promise would be transparency in the office. Rice said he would take calls from constituents anytime, day or night.
“It’s not about being a politician,” he said. “It’s about being a public servant.”
