Hilly Boy's Deception (as in the Lovely Tennessee Rep. Matthew Hill)

In the Oct. 31 Johnson City Press, recently defeated Carter Countian Jerome Cochran encouraged the 7th District to vote for Matthew Hill. Hopefully the 7th District will give Hill the same treatment that Carter County gave Cochran by ousting him from office.

In other news, Hill's radio station is allowing people to call in and make false statements about Hill's opponent, while the host called Hill a prophet. Strange and scary stuff indeed.
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According to the Oct. 30 Johnson City Press, the Rolling Thunder Inc., Chapter 4 Tennessee, has endorsed Fred Phillips instead of Matthew Hill.

In its endorsement, the chapter cited Phillips’ military experience. Phillips served in Korea with the Army’s 24th Infantry Division.

The chapter also noted his many years of service in Nashville developing respect and contacts, his personal friendship with Commissioner John Keys of the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs, and his friendships with many others, including Gov. Phil Bredesen and former Gov. Ned McWherter.

The paper also reported that, both Matthew Hill and Fred Phillips attended a flag retirment ceremony hosted by the Daniel Boone High School Marine Corps JROTC, the David Crockett Navy JROTC and the Jonesborough Flag Committee.

Hill said attending the ceremony made him think of friends and family who have served in the military.

“It helps bring their sacrifice home ...,” Hill said, “and reminds me of how grateful I am to be an American.”

Phillips served in Korea with the Army for 16 months. He said the flag is important to every man, woman and child in this country and everyone should revere it.

“I think those that would desecrate the flag of the United States don’t deserve to live in this country,” he said.

I wonder what Phillips thinks of Matthew Hill protesting against his friends and family in the U.S. military? Hill was photographed and named in the caption in the Bristol Herald Courier. And don't forget, Matthew Hill said in Jonesborough that it was not his "calling" to enlist in the military. Good thing it was the "calling" of people like Fred Phillips.
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The following letter ran in the Oct. 29 Johnson City Press. Remember, Matthew Hill protested against the U.S. military and has yet to explain why he calls anyone who protests the Iraq war as unpatriotic.

Phillips is honest, caring
This election cycle has brought its share of negativity, especially the episodes of questioning Fred Phillips’ character and truthfulness.

Without hesitation I can say I have never found him to be dishonest in any of my associations with him. When I was Jonesborough’s town administrator, the former Washington County sheriff allowed the Community Service Units to assist the town in manual labor positions, which netted a $250,000 savings that enable us to meet unexpected operating expenses.

Then, as a member of the Veterans Park Project team, he was instrumental in allowing us to construct the Veterans Park with only a fraction of the estimated labor cost of the project. He committed the Community Service Unit assigned to the town, to laying the block for both the planter walls and the fountain in the center, pouring and dressing the concrete for the walks, installing the flagpoles, mixing concrete and painting the lettering for the granite bricks, on which veterans’ names are inscribed. Without Fred’s dedication, we simply could not have raised the funds necessary to complete the Veterans Park in its present condition.

You may not agree with him, politically, but he is not dishonest, untruthful or uncaring. I know.
MARION L., Jonesborough

I'll just add that plenty of us do agree with him politically.
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1. Matthew Hill continues to push for fire fighter unions. It is an idea Harold Ford Jr. supports. (Though everyone else in the state, including his opponent, opposes this)
2. Matthew Hill voted to raise his legislative pension.
3. Matthew Hill protested against the U.S. military and then said that anyone who doesn’t support the Iraq war is not patriotic, while claiming it was not his “calling” to enlist (His opponent served in the U.S. military)
4. Local veterans endorsed his opponent, not Matthew Hill.
5. Matthew Hill has been inaccessible to the 7th District.
6. Matthew Hill has angered and ignored almost every leader in the 7th District: here's another;
7. Matthew Hill is not even from the 7th District (His opponent is)
8. Almost all of Matthew Hill’s money and supporters are not from the 7th District (His opponent’s are)
9. Matthew Hill wants to be a lobbyist
10. While Matthew Hill has been in office, the 7th District has seen a decrease in funding from Nashville
11. Matthew Hill lied about his role in bringing the pharmacy school to ETSU (His opponent helped make it a reality)
12. Matthew Hill refused to return money he received from former Republican representative Chris Newton, the only politician in the Tennessee Waltz sting to plead guilty.
13. Matthew Hill allied with liberal Democrat Johnny Shaw on a bill that would financially benefit Hill.
14. Matthew Hill does not support open government (His opponent does)
15. Matthew Hill is pro-litter and pro-beer.
16. Matthew Hill does not want to preserve the beauty of Washington County’s outdoors.
17. Matthew Hill was not endorsed by the Johnson City Press (His opponent and Bob Corker were)
18. Matthew Hill stated that he would support an income tax if the U.S. was at war (We are)
19. Many local voters do not support Matthew Hill: here's one; and another; another; another; another; another; another
20. Matthew Hill is not interested in bringing more jobs to the 7th District
21. Rusty Crowe has a lot of good things to say about Matthew Hill’s opponent.
22. Matthew Hill’s only accomplishment has been described as weak and ineffective and it allows legislators to break the law.
23. Matthew Hill’s main financial donor made a lot of money by overcharging tax funded programs.
24. Matthew Hill wants schools to take money out of their budgets to pay citizens who don’t have children in school.
25. Matthew Hill’s campaign staff includes a large number of homeschool children from Cleveland and Chattanooga
26. Matthew Hill’s campaigns are run unethically, as are his daddy’s organizations: here’s more; and more; more; more; more; and more

Trust me, there are plenty of other reasons not to vote for Matthew Hill.





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If you go the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Web site, you will find that while Fred Phillips supports open government, Matthew Hill doesn't care. The TCFOG sent a survey to candiates in late September and the answers can be found here. Phillips answered each question, while Hill answered none.

The Oct. 26 Johnson City Press had this to say about the topic:

Voters should take note of those incumbents and challengers on the Nov. 7 ballot who have decided open government is not an issue worthy of their comment.
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Well, Matthew Hill has been spreading lies about convincing Governor Phil Bredesen to approve a pharmacy school for ETSU, but Bredesen says otherwise. In the Oct. 19 Johnson City Press, Bredesen had this to say at a campaign stop in Johnson City:

“You can thank (ETSU President) Paul Stanton and Fred Phillips — two men who really made the pharmacy school happen. Saying that they haunted my door in Nashville about the importance of a pharmacy school at ETSU would be an understatement.”

In other news, Matthew Hill, not Al Gore, "invented" the internet.
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Also, don't forget to go VOTE! Early voting is now open at the Washington County Courthouse in Jonesborough.
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Well, Hilly boy is burning bridges as fast as he can in the 7th District. "Don't be Misled!" That's funny. In the Oct. 19 Johnson City Press, Johnson City Chamber of Commerce President Gary Mabrey said one of Hill's ads that appeared in the Johnson City Press was run without the Chamber’s permission and was against its policy. In the ad (located to the right), Hill claims Gary Mabrey and the Chamber strongly support Hill's vote on minimum wage. This is another in a long line of stupid things Matthew Hill has done during this campaign. Sometimes it does seem like he is trying to lose.

“The Chamber does not allow board members or employees to be used in campaign advertisements,” Mabrey said. “And the Chamber does not raise money or use any to endorse candidates.”

“This was done without our permission,” Mabrey said. “Mr. Hill and I talked about it and we’re moving on, so I think that’s about all there is to say about it.”

“We don’t endorse and we don’t raise money for any campaigns and in any event that it is done, it’s done without our permission, or without the knowledge of the Chamber,” Mabrey went on to say.

What's even more sad is that Hill doesn't seem to care. And, it looks like he is going to use the Chamber's name again:

Hill says he was just clarifying his position on a statement of fact. ...Hill said that though he does plan to run the ad again, he will remove Mabrey’s name from it.

Also, don't forget that Matthew Hill said, unlike Jason Mumpower, it's not government's place to create jobs. Good thing he's a part of government.
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Update: 10-20-06
The Johnson City/Washington County Chamber of Commerce was so annoyed with Matthew Hill that they released the following letter to the editor in the Oct. 20 Johnson City Press:

Chamber policy
The Johnson City/ Jonesborough/ Washington County Chamber of Commerce does not endorse candidates for elected office. We do not raise or provide funds for candidates. We do not allow candidates to reference our board, officers of our board, employees of the Chamber, or the Chamber in their advertisements in either print, audio or video.

Any mention in an ad would be without our knowledge or permission, either organizationally or personally.

We do encourage you to vote. Early voting is underway through Nov. 2, with Nov. 7 as the date of the General Election. GARY MABREY President/CEO Chamber of Commerce

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This letter to the editor ran in the Oct. 18 Johnson City Press.

Hill distorts facts
The latest fact distortion from Fred Phillips’ opponent appeared in my mailbox today. He attempts to manufacture talking points, but state Rep. Matthew Hill sorely misses his goal.

“He wants to end the practice of issuing driving certificates to illegal aliens.” I understood Phillips introduced the process to end that practice and was copied by several other states. Several illegal immigrants have been apprehended because of that process.

“Wrote law to crack down on drag racing and make it a criminal act punishable by jail time.” He forgot to mention that he personally withdrew Amendment 2- (HA-1094) to House Bill 2671 that created a Class D felony offense of injuring another while using nitrous oxide. By the way, some of his [Hill's] major contributors market nitrous oxide.

“End the sales tax on food.” He thinks that is a great idea, but how does he replace the revenue that is shared with local governments used for education? So he actually would be taking money from Washington County, Johnson City and Jonesborough students.

He also states Phillips is backed by the Washington County political machine. I suggest reviewing his contributors listing if you really want to know who’s backed by special interest groups. As far as his assertion of a state income tax, I believe it was a Republican, former Gov. Don Sundquist, who wanted that tax.

He states that “Fred Phillips is a nice man and his intentions are good.” At least he’s right on that point.
KEN B., Limestone

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Here are some highlights from the Oct. 15 Johnson City Press:

…Fred Phillips has been known as someone who looks out for the people he serves. It was a trait Phillips began exhibiting as a teenager when he joined the Army. While serving in Korea, Phillips sent his pay back to his family in Washington County.

…He was later elected sheriff of Washington County. Although Phillips is a Democrat, he built a coalition of supporters that crossed party lines. He demonstrated his bipartisanship and talent for consensus building while serving three years as safety commissioner under Gov. Phil Bredesen.

…We believe Phillips is the right choice for Washington County. He has the experience and know-how to see that the wishes of the people of the district are represented on Capitol Hill. He also has the respect and contacts in Nashville to help him bring home state dollars for needed projects in Jonesborough and Johnson City.

…We believe Phillips will be able to go to Nashville and work on the projects and issues that Washington County residents say are important to them. Phillips has an impressive resumé when it comes to looking out for the people he serves.

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According to the Oct. 15 Johnson City Press, Matthew Hill has been lying, again. Fred Phillips has called out Matthew Hill for claiming that he met face-to-face with Gov. Phil Bredesen to lobby for the creation of the pharmacy school at ETSU. Looks like Hill is busted:

According to Mark Brown, a former legislative staffer for Bredesen, there is no record of Hill ever having had such “a sitdown with the governor.”

Also, in the Oct. 12 Johnson City Press, Matthew Hill accused Fred Phillips of running a campaign that was funded by special interest groups outside of the 7th District. This was one of the dumbest things I have ever seen a politician do, and the Oct. 13 Johnson City Press demonstrated that Matthew Hill was lying (an excerpt can be found at the end of this post). Hill received $46,620 in donations from 16 people or groups (including one in Atlanta!), but only two people from the 7th District gave Hill a total of $7,000. It’s pretty clear Hill does not serve the 7th District.

Phillips, on the other hand, received $13,000 from 15 people, with only two of those people living outside of the 7th District. It’s pretty clear that people in the 7th District don’t want Hill.

What I find even more comical is that Hill’s campaign mailers accuse Phillips of being “funded by the Washington County political machine.” According to an article the Oct. 15 Johnson City Press, the Republican Party is the political machine in Washington County.

For Hill, a Republican, $1,000 contributors to his general election campaign included Barbara McAndrew Iris Fund of Memphis, Rep. Jimmy Eldridge of Jackson, John and Joan Gregory of Bristol — $1,000 apiece, Rep. Steve McDaniel of Parker Crossroads(West Tenn.), Rep. Richard Montgomery of Seymour, Rep. Jason Mumpower of Bristol, the National Health Corp. PAC of Murfreesboro, the Volunteer PAC of Nashville, VOTEKELSEY.com of Memphis and Justin Wilson of Nashville.

Contributions in excess of $1,000 for the Hill campaign came from the Git R Dunn PAC of Knoxville for $2,000 and $2,500, the Johnson City Professional Firefighters PAC for $5,000, the United Parcel Service PAC-Tn. out of Atlanta for $1,500 and the Washington County Republican Executive Committee for $2,000.

Hill’s in-kind contributions came from the House Republican Caucus of Nashville for field staff, polling and mail in donations of $1,500, $7,000 and $7,120.

Phillips, the Democratic nominee, received $1,000 contributions for the general election from Bo Deaton of Johnson City, Cathy Essin of Johnson City, William Kincaid of Johnson City, John G. Love of Johnson City, Kenneth Nelson of Limestone, Doug Phillips of Johnson City, James and Sandy Powell of Johnson City as well as James Powell Jr. of Brentwood, Seth and Helen Tallman of Johnson City, Mudge Tallman of Limestone and Allen Wolfe of Kingsport.

In-kind contributions came from D.J. Jesse and Thomas Jesse of Johnson City.

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A great article in the Oct. 12 Johnson City Press pointed out that Matthew Hill received $35,000 in campaign money from outside the 7th District. The donations came from House Republican Leader Bill Dunn and the Tennessee House GOP Caucus, which is clearly afraid that Hill is going to lose. Hill's response was to state that Phillips' campaign money mostly consisted of donations from outside the 7th District. Hill must be dyslexic because it is him, not Phillips, who has received almost all of his money for every election from outside the 7th District. What a dumb statement to make when people can look up the numbers on the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance Web site.

In response, Phillips said Hill’s campaign finance statement shows that Hill’s support is coming mostly from outside the county.

“Ninety eight percent of my contributions are Washington County and 98 percent of his is outside Washington County from people who don’t vote. Who’s he representing?” Phillips, Tennessee’s former safety commissioner and ex-Washington County sheriff, said of Hill.

...Phillips said he is pointing to state documentation that Hill produced no specific highway projects for Washington County and had no face-to-face meetings with Bredesen to generate support for East Tennessee State University’s newly created pharmacy school.

“My opponent is trying to claim credit for everything within the last three or four years,” Phillips said of Hill. “There was nothing during his two years. All he has done is occupy a seat and he hasn’t brought a lot back. It bothers me that he has taken credit for everything.”

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Here's a great letter to the editor from the Oct. 13 Johnson City Press:

Rep. Hill doesn’t understand how programs work
I noticed in a recent interview with former Washington County Sheriff Fred Phillips’ opponent, state Rep. Matthew Hill, said he brought back “hundreds of millions of dollars to Washington County for schools and various projects including roads. Tens of millions have been brought back for roads.”

Surely he’s not claiming credit for school and road money routinely budgeted by Gov. Phil Bredesen for local governments. Since he claims all these millions of dollars, he should be more specific and state project numbers and dates of issue. To be certain, a person might want to request that information from local government officials.

He also wants to eliminate the sales tax on food and make up the lost revenue from the $300 million surplus. Since the surplus is a onetime issue, what happens next year and the next year and so on? How do state and local governments replace that lost revenue?

He also states his first priority “is ending the driver’s certificate program. The program is being used as a tool to circumvent the law and is being given to illegals.”

Being familiar with the program, it is designed to issue a driving certificate, (not a license) to legal immigrants only. If an applicant cannot produce documentation, such as a work or student visa or passport, then his application is rejected and his name is submitted to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

It’s evident that Hill does not understand how the state’s budget process or driving certificate program works.
SAM M., Jonesborough

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The Oct. 10 Johnson City Press rightfully criticized the Northeast Tennessee members of the Americans for Tax Reform group, including Matthew Hill. These legislators were criticized, not for being anti-tax, but for not vowing to do a thing about deficit spending. Doesn't Hill's radio station carry the Dave Ramsey Show?

Perhaps anti-tax pledges also should come with a caveat stating that in addition to not raising taxes, elected officials also promise not to engage in deficit spending. Such a pledge would be refreshing, especially in Washington where the Republican-led Congress has erased all the gains made in the 1990s to lower the national debt.

Anti-tax pledges are generally a lot of political hooey. While it may sound good for a candidate to announce he or she has vowed never to raise taxes, it is often a hollow promise. State and federal officials have, for many years now, escaped tax increases by saddling local governments with unfunded mandates. Simply put, local taxpayers are being made to pay for all those promises.

Shifting the tax burden from one level of government to another is disingenuous. So is misleading voters into thinking that they are not paying more in other ways to cover the government’s cost of doing business. How many times have legislators increased existing fees for doing business with the state, or created new ones just so they can tell the voters they have not raised their taxes?

Elected officials should be completely honest when dealing with their constituents on the issue of taxes and spending. Arbitrarily signing a pledge is not the way to do it.

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Again, I was looking at some old issues of the Johnson City Press and I found many stories that highlighted Matthew Hill’s incompetence. The following are some examples:

In the June 4 Johnson City Press, Matthew Hill is sharply criticized for his lack of leadership:

You can’t trust legislators who only look out for themselves
A couple of questions have nagged me in the past week, such as how can a conservative Republican lawmaker from Upper East Tennessee carry legislative water for big labor, and how can we be expected to trust the state General Assembly when it hikes the pensions of its members in the final hours of the session?

Let’s start with the first question, which also has perplexed and infuriated municipal leaders here for two years. In particular, local government leaders have been wondering why Rep. Matthew Hill, R-Jonesborough, lent his name to a bill that analysts for the Tennessee Municipal League said would give organized labor a foothold in local government. State law presently prohibits municipal employees from joining labor unions.

Last year, Hill signed on to a bill (pushed by one of the House’s most liberal members, Rep. Sherry Jones, DNashville) to allow full-time firefighters to bargain collectively on matters concerning pay and benefits.

The freshman lawmaker has balked at suggestions he was backing a union bill, and instead claimed the legislation simply would give firefighters an exclusive audience with city officials on such issues. Why wouldn’t Hill want to grant sanitation workers, police officers and other city employees the same collective-bargaining perk?

Perhaps he would, had they been members of a professional association that gave him a campaign contribution and a public endorsement in the 2004 election.

That’s certainly what happened in the case of the Johnson City Professional Firefighters Association. It’s interesting to note this same group backed City Commissioner Pete Paduch in his last re-election campaign.

Administrators in Johnson City say firefighters, like all municipal employees, already have access to City Hall. Hill’s support of the union bill has left many local government officials suggesting he is more of a hindrance than a help to them on Capitol Hill.

The firefighter union bill was killed in the Senate on the last day of the 104th General Assembly, which ended late in the night May 27 after lawmakers rewarded themselves with a pension hike. Granted, the pension increase was modest, but that doesn’t excuse the backroom politics it took to grease its passage.

Many attacked the news media for making a mountain of what they considered to be a mole hill. If that was truly the case, why were they so sneaky about it? And, as I asked earlier in this column, how can we trust the General Assembly when it takes up such matters hours before adjourning for the year? We can’t.

According to a story in the May 27 Johnson City Press, many local officials were completely sideswiped by Matthew Hill and his firefighters unionization bill:

Notified of the bill only Monday, County Mayor George Jaynes said he believes many commissioners may have been “mixed up” as to the purpose of the vote. Commissioners actually took a vote to “opt out” of the agreement, which failed.

“This (bill) is something I was unaware of until Monday,” Jaynes said. “I was never contacted by Sen. (Rusty) Crowe, RJohnson City, or Rep. (Matthew) Hill, RJonesborough, on the matter.”

There was also the possibility that the commission might have been misled about certain aspects of the bill. Jaynes said he was even told that the bill had already been approved by the Senate when, in actuality, the bill didn’t go before that body until Friday evening.

Johnson City Manager Pete Peterson said city officials [were troubled by] the lack of support for Johnson City from its state representatives.

“Over half the counties in Tennessee and several cities have amendments attached opting them out of this thing,” Peterson said. “It’s especially troubling to us that we have communicated to Reps. (David) Davis and Hill and Senator Crowe that we wanted to be excluded from this bill and yet none of them have introduced an amendment that would do that.”

Peterson said talk of this bill is “creating animosity” among other city employees.

“I’ve had several police officers approach me already about this,” Peterson said. “This will create a lot of animosity between firefighters and other city employees.”

In addition, Peterson said this legislation is already “costing the city money” because he and others have had to devote many hours during this week alone to the topic and it will force the city to add at least one position or retain a special attorney.

“This will force us to hire a special labor lawyer to address the issues that come out this,” Peterson said.

Another aspect of this legislation, Peterson said, is that it would jeopardize the ability of those cities and counties included in the bill to attract, and keep, businesses.

“One of the things that allows Tennessee to remain competitive, when we have a lot going against us such as being ranked at the bottom when it comes to the health of our population, is that this is a no income tax and right to work state,” Peterson said.

“This is a vote against business,” Peterson said. “If we allow labor unions to get a foothold in this state it would not only be bad for local government but also for business in general.”

Even Jonesborough Town Administrator Bob Browning voiced his opposition to the measure, though the bill wouldn’t affect his town.

“It’s supporting unionization. I mean, what’s the purpose, to ensure that firefighters have good communication with the city? We have an open door policy,” Browning said. “Why single out a department saying they need more communication? We have great communication here and myself or Safety Director (Craig) Ford have never turned down a chance to sit down and talk to our employees.”

Overall, Browning said he felt the whole thing was “a slap in the face” to the town of Jonesborough and its taxpayers.

“Our firefighters even say that we don’t need something like this,” he said. “And what would we do with our public safety officers, who are trained to be firefighters and police officers?”

Hill, who represents Jonesborough, didn’t escape the ire of Browning, either, for his lack of communication.

“The thing is, he co-sponsored the bill and he’s our representative, and he hasn’t even bothered to communicate with us about the bill,” Browning said. “It really smells of politics and pandering of votes, especially during an election year.”

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Well, the Oct. 5 Johnson City Press had two articles on the 7th District race, one each for Matthew Hill and Fred Phillips. It was probably a draw, but I felt that Phillips looked better, while Hill seemed quite defensive, almost nervous. Here are some highlights from Phillips:

“I don’t believe that the county is getting the best return on its tax dollar,” [Phillips] said. “And there is a general feeling that we are not being represented as well as we could be in Nashville.”

Phillips points specifically to Washington County’s lack of state money issued for new roads during the past two years, unlike neighboring counties such as Greene and Hamblen.

“My opponent has said that he brought millions of dollars in road money to Washington County, when in actuality it’s for access roads, bridge work that is appropriated out of state infrastructure ... funds we get yearly,” he said.

…I would try to secure more funding for classroom space in the county as well as additional funding for teacher pay,” he said.

…On working with his Republican counterpart, newly elected 6th District Rep. Dale Ford, Phillips said he didn’t anticipate any problems.

“I’ve known Dale for 30 years,” said Phillips, who would be serving his first term as a legislator.

…“A regional jail can work if everyone can get together on one,” Phillips said, pointing to such counties as Washington, Carter, Unicoi, Sullivan and Greene.

“I definitely think it’s the way of the future…
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In Hill's interview, he was completely deceptive, as usual. Check out this stupid statement by Hill:

If it were up to incumbent Rep. Matthew Hill, R-Jonesborough, his reelection campaign would have been conducted solely on the issues.

Matthew Hill doesn't know how to run a campaign on issues. He ran against Bob Patton with absolutely no issues at all. Hill spread lies about Patton and used scare tactics to make people think a vote for Patton was a vote against Christianity.

Then Hill went on to say that his biggest accomplishment was Courtney's Law:

“Being a freshman legislator and being able to pass Cortney’s Law, which makes illegal street racing a Class B felony, is at the top,” he said.

This is a puzzling statement since many in the Tri-Cities, including the Johnson City Press, were disappointed with Hill's inability to work with people in Nashville to get a law that actually had teeth.

And lastly, Matthew Hill demonstrated his excellent English skills once again with the following quote:

"Hopefully, local officials can sit down with myself and others and address this idea."

I am just hoping that 7th District voters will reject himself on election day.
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Yesterday's Johnson City Press featured the following letter to the editor, which was not supportive of Matthew Hill:

Vets should back a vet
I read in the newspaper that someone has started an organization for veterans who support state Rep. Matthew Hill, R-Jonesborough. It strikes me as odd that Hill — not being a veteran — is getting support against someone who proudly wore the uniform and showed his patriotism for our country.
I urge veterans to vote for a man (former Washington County Sheriff Fred Phillips) who was brave enough to serve his country over someone who wasn't.
CRAIG D., Jonesborough
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Also, I find it interesting that Harold Ford Jr. was endorsed by the Professional Firefighters Association of Tennessee primarily because he is one of about two people in Tennessee who support Matthew Hill’s firefighter unionization agenda.

"It was a no-brainer for us," said Gary Moore, who is with the Professional Firefighters Association of Tennessee.

Moore cited Ford's support of federal legislation to give firefighters and law enforcement officers the right to collectively bargain with their employers.
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And lastly, I want to point out that Matthew Hill has been throwing a big fit about Fred Phillips not being endorsed by the NRA, even though they did give Phillips an “A” rating. In the 21st District Tennessee State Senate race, Republican Bob Krumm is doing exactly the same thing as Fred Phillips. Krumm is proudly advertising his “A” rating even though his Democratic opponent has been endorsed by the NRA. I really believe that Matthew Hill isn't smart enough to realize that while an "A" rating is good to the NRA, it's not the same as an endorsement.
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Again, I was looking at some old issues of the Johnson City Press and I found many stories that highlighted Matthew Hill’s incompetence. The following are some examples:

In the June 4 Johnson City Press, Matthew Hill is sharply criticized for his lack of leadership:

You can’t trust legislators who only look out for themselves
A couple of questions have nagged me in the past week, such as how can a conservative Republican lawmaker from Upper East Tennessee carry legislative water for big labor, and how can we be expected to trust the state General Assembly when it hikes the pensions of its members in the final hours of the session?

Let’s start with the first question, which also has perplexed and infuriated municipal leaders here for two years. In particular, local government leaders have been wondering why Rep. Matthew Hill, R-Jonesborough, lent his name to a bill that analysts for the Tennessee Municipal League said would give organized labor a foothold in local government. State law presently prohibits municipal employees from joining labor unions.

Last year, Hill signed on to a bill (pushed by one of the House’s most liberal members, Rep. Sherry Jones, DNashville) to allow full-time firefighters to bargain collectively on matters concerning pay and benefits.

The freshman lawmaker has balked at suggestions he was backing a union bill, and instead claimed the legislation simply would give firefighters an exclusive audience with city officials on such issues. Why wouldn’t Hill want to grant sanitation workers, police officers and other city employees the same collective-bargaining perk?

Perhaps he would, had they been members of a professional association that gave him a campaign contribution and a public endorsement in the 2004 election.

That’s certainly what happened in the case of the Johnson City Professional Firefighters Association. It’s interesting to note this same group backed City Commissioner Pete Paduch in his last re-election campaign.

Administrators in Johnson City say firefighters, like all municipal employees, already have access to City Hall. Hill’s support of the union bill has left many local government officials suggesting he is more of a hindrance than a help to them on Capitol Hill.

The firefighter union bill was killed in the Senate on the last day of the 104th General Assembly, which ended late in the night May 27 after lawmakers rewarded themselves with a pension hike. Granted, the pension increase was modest, but that doesn’t excuse the backroom politics it took to grease its passage.

Many attacked the news media for making a mountain of what they considered to be a mole hill. If that was truly the case, why were they so sneaky about it? And, as I asked earlier in this column, how can we trust the General Assembly when it takes up such matters hours before adjourning for the year? We can’t.

According to a story in the May 27 Johnson City Press, many local officials were completely sideswiped by Matthew Hill and his firefighters unionization bill:

Notified of the bill only Monday, County Mayor George Jaynes said he believes many commissioners may have been “mixed up” as to the purpose of the vote. Commissioners actually took a vote to “opt out” of the agreement, which failed.
“This (bill) is something I was unaware of until Monday,” Jaynes said. “I was never contacted by Sen. (Rusty) Crowe, RJohnson City, or Rep. (Matthew) Hill, RJonesborough, on the matter.”

There was also the possibility that the commission might have been misled about certain aspects of the bill. Jaynes said he was even told that the bill had already been approved by the Senate when, in actuality, the bill didn’t go before that body until Friday evening.

Johnson City Manager Pete Peterson said city officials [were troubled by] the lack of support for Johnson City from its state representatives.

“Over half the counties in Tennessee and several cities have amendments attached opting them out of this thing,” Peterson said. “It’s especially troubling to us that we have communicated to Reps. (David) Davis and Hill and Senator Crowe that we wanted to be excluded from this bill and yet none of them have introduced an amendment that would do that.”

Peterson said talk of this bill is “creating animosity” among other city employees.

“I’ve had several police officers approach me already about this,” Peterson said. “This will create a lot of animosity between firefighters and other city employees.”

In addition, Peterson said this legislation is already “costing the city money” because he and others have had to devote many hours during this week alone to the topic and it will force the city to add at least one position or retain a special attorney.

“This will force us to hire a special labor lawyer to address the issues that come out this,” Peterson said.

Another aspect of this legislation, Peterson said, is that it would jeopardize the ability of those cities and counties included in the bill to attract, and keep, businesses.

“One of the things that allows Tennessee to remain competitive, when we have a lot going against us such as being ranked at the bottom when it comes to the health of our population, is that this is a no income tax and right to work state,” Peterson said.

“This is a vote against business,” Peterson said. “If we allow labor unions to get a foothold in this state it would not only be bad for local government but also for business in general.”

Even Jonesborough Town Administrator Bob Browning voiced his opposition to the measure, though the bill wouldn’t affect his town.

“It’s supporting unionization. I mean, what’s the purpose, to ensure that firefighters have good communication with the city? We have an open door policy,” Browning said. “Why single out a department saying they need more communication? We have great communication here and myself or Safety Director (Craig) Ford have never turned down a chance to sit down and talk to our employees.”

Overall, Browning said he felt the whole thing was “a slap in the face” to the town of Jonesborough and its taxpayers.

“Our firefighters even say that we don’t need something like this,” he said. “And what would we do with our public safety officers, who are trained to be firefighters and police officers?”

Hill, who represents Jonesborough, didn’t escape the ire of Browning, either, for his lack of communication.

“The thing is, he co-sponsored the bill and he’s our representative, and he hasn’t even bothered to communicate with us about the bill,” Browning said. “It really smells of politics and pandering of votes, especially during an election year.”

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