After a two-week investigation by internal-affairs, we can confirm from our sources within the BCSO command staff that Sheriff’s Deputy Tom Wasson has been demoted from the position of Captain in charge of training to that of Lieutenant. This action comes as a result of sexual harassment of a female office clerk.

Bradley County and the sheriff’s office have strict zero-tolerance policies for sexual harassment (Bradley County Handbook Section 703). Inside sources tell us the reason Wasson was not terminated is because he is a campaign supporter of Jim Ruth and “a member in good standing” of the sheriff’s inner circle.

Wasson is in Jim (Major Hawg) Hodgson’s Administrative Bureau and reports directly to him.

Lt. Wasson’s career in law enforcement started 23 years ago as a reserve officer for the Cleveland Police Department.  Wasson has been at the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office for the past 18 years where his most recent appointment was as a Captain in the Training and Support Services Division.

All Henry B. wanted to do was park to go into the courthouse to visit the Veteran’s Affairs Office. That may sound simple, but not for the Iraq War vet, whose time in the Army left him with a disability. Henry relies on handicapped parking spaces to do even the simplest things, that have now become difficult. He said he felt slapped in the face, to find the reserved handicapped spot taken up by a Bradley County Sheriff’s Department patrol car.

“Shame on you, shame on you, Sheriff Jim Ruth,” was his response.
“It is just disrespect,” Henry said, adding, “Having to have a (handicapped parking) placard is not a choice. I didn’t choose to be wounded, in service to my country I need it.”

When we wrote of the Deputy N-word problem, we stated that it was Sheriff Jim Ruth himself who had hired Deputy N-word in the first place and that the two were friends. Of course, the sheriff denied all that. Since we are weary of being called liars by actual liars, we wanted to call attention to something Deputy N-word said about his relationship to Jim Ruth.

An article published at timesfreepress.com (Feb. 26, 2013) presented a video taken by WRCB-TV 3 of an exchange between Deputy N-word and Rev. Teresa Oglesby of Price Memorial AME Zion Church.

In the video, Deputy N-word explained why he felt he was being accused of using racial epitaphs, saying: “Well, if you wanna know the truth, it all come from the Sheriff’s Department. There’s two guys running (for sheriff) over there and one tries to get something on the other. And whatever they can do ~ and I was friends with the sheriff that was in. He hired me.”

We will repeat: “I was friends with the sheriff … He hired me.”

So, for Sheriff Jim Ruth, Chief Deputy Wayne Bird and anyone else in denial, the video accomplishes three things: 1). It presents Deputy N-word candidly explaining his relationship with the sheriff (they were friends), 2). It validates HTC’s reportage, and 3). It proves that Sheriff Jim Ruth is being dishonest when he says it wasn’t him who hired Deputy N-word.

We are happy to have clarified. Thank you and good night.

The recent flap over a routine traffic stop by a Bradley County sheriff’s deputy, is proof that the Deputy N-word problem has legs. It’s not going away anytime soon. Ever since the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office dropped Deputy N-word like a mangy cat into the lap of the Cleveland City Council, we’ve been trying to convince them to deal with the matter and deal with it decisively. Alas, like so many others, they fail to heed our advice.

As a result, even the smallest infraction, real or imagined, involving the BCSO and any/all African-Americans is fodder for a scandal-hungry media. The traffic stop video is a clear indicator that the City Council ~ and all elected leaders ~ should lend an ear: Cleveland/Bradley is being set up to become the 21st century Forsyth County.

You never heard of Forsyth County? Back in the bad old days, Forsyth County, Georgia was a hotbed of KKK activity. Legend still whispers of the notoriously racist sign posted at the county line that read, “Ni–er, don’t let the sun set on you in Forsyth County.” That community became an international disgrace back in the 80s because of an ugly racial incident there that attracted global media attention. In fact, in February of 1987, Oprah Winfrey even took her whole crew down there to do a show. (Google “Oprah Winfrey, Forsyth County Georgia.”)

Now, Bradley County, and the city of Cleveland, is poised to accept Forsyth County’s racist mantle; and for that, we blame one guy. No, not Deputy N-word, he was just being Deputy N-word. We blame the guy who brought him into the spotlight: his good buddy, Sheriff Jim Ruth.

Jim Ruth is unarguably the most incompetent, destructive and divisive person to ever wear the sheriff’s badge. The number of lawsuits brought against him and his department is unprecedented. In fact, all the money allocated by the County for litigation has long since been depleted because of him. That’s one of the reasons Ruth goes before the Bradley County Commission so often begging for more dough. If he hadn’t promoted so many knuckleheads into supervisory positions and given so many huge raises to his friends and family, he might not would have needed the extra money. As it is, why give the BCSO more money when it just goes into some good ol’ boy’s pocket?

But ~ and this may surprise you ~ we don’t believe the fault rests on Jim Ruth alone. He is just a puppet … a slow-witted lunkhead who follows the dictates of three brothers: Doug, Don and Wayne Bird. The Birds are Jim Ruth’s handlers, they’re the ones in control.

Brother Wayne Bird, as you should all know by now, is Ruth’s chief deputy. Brother Doug Bird ran Ruth’s campaign and (we strongly suspect) is the one who writes his weekly column in the Banner, and brother Don Bird lurks in the shadows performing much of the dirty work.

These three guys comprise the destructive force behind the Jim Ruth administration. They’re the ones who set the agenda, stacked the organization with supervisors, and developed the notorious BCSO hit list (and Lord, it’s a long list). All Ruth really does is collect an exorbitant amount of cash and take the heat from guys like us. In fact, as one insider told us, “Honestly, most of the staff meetings, we’re not even sure if the man’s awake.” We hear Chief Deputy Wayne Bird does a lot of the talking.

If you read our report on Wayne Bird’s “black box,” you already know he has a history of sneaky, low-dealing subterfuge. Before he came to Bradley County, he was fired from two different high-ranking law enforcement positions in Florida for secretly gathering personal and/or sensitive information on people and filing it away in a dark green footlocker he called his “black box.” No less than the governor of Florida ordered a covert investigation into Wayne Bird’s unprincipled conduct. Bird ran for sheriff in Orange County, Florida three times as a Democrat and lost all three times. In 2010, when Jim Ruth became sheriff, Wayne Bird packed up his bindle bag (and his black box) and moved up here to become Ruth’s chief deputy, at the expense of a lot of qualified, hard-working local deputies who had already proven themselves and deserved the position more. He also quickly registered as a Bradley County Republican because … well, that’s what charlatans do when they want to fool some of the voters all of the time. Or all the voters some of the time, whichever serves their needs.

Don Bird ran for Bradley County sheriff and for the Tennessee House of Representatives in District 24 as a Democrat. He lost those races. Before that, he served two terms as a state representatives as a Republican.

We’re not too sure about Doug Bird’s party affiliations, but we assume he is a registered Republican, also. (Editor’s note: We don’t want to appear partisan; we really don’t care what party people belong to ~ what concerns us is the duplicitous nature of those who jump back and forth between parties for the sake of political expediency … at best, we feel that demonstrates a lack of conviction.) As far as we can tell, Doug Bird’s claim to fame was running Choctaw Willy’s BBQ down in Orange County with brother Wayne. That’s probably where they should have stayed. We suppose the BCSO offers more prestige, influence and moolah than pulling pork under the hot Florida sun.

But the Birds didn’t stay in Florida. They came up here. And now they’re our problem. And the sad fact is, the Birds are dismal failures. It is their actions, fronted by Sheriff Jim Ruth, that has placed Bradley County ~ one of the most desirable places to live anywhere in the country ~ squarely on the media radar as a divided, inept, unethical hotbed of racial profiling and good-ol-boyism.

Not only that, but now, any black guy with a chip on his shoulder knows where to go for a quick lawsuit. Just cruise through Bradley County with a tail light out ~ especially with Ludacris or 50 Cent on the box with the bass set to 10 ~ and then wait to get pulled over. (Although we will warn them now, if the Drug Task Force are the ones pulling them over, they just might not survive to sue anybody.)

Reminds us of that old Everly Brothers song, “He’s a bird dog.” With Sheriff Jim Ruth, that ought to be, “He’s the Birds’ dog.” Cause Jimmy comes when the Birds call, rolls over when they say to, fetches the stick when they throw it, and gets up on his behind legs and begs when they offer him a bone. Good boy, Jimmy, good boy. Now get back under the porch.

Dear HTC crew,

You all must be giving Maj. Hawg Hodgson the blues. He was in his office strumming a guitar the other day. Now in addition to playing solitare and making comments on face book all day he’s also practicing the guitar. Bewteen those 3 things and talking on the phone I guess he will get another raise. He was making $58,350 when Jim Ruth became sheriff in 2010, now he’s making $64,300. There are alot of us who sheriff Ruth hasn’t given a raise to at all. But I guess that’s because we work for a living.

- The Unknown Deputy

(The above comment and all “Ear To The Ground” articles are submitted by our readers and in no way reflect the views, opinions or flavor preferences of HTC. Anyone may submit an “Ear 2 The Ground” — simply email your comments to admin [at] hometowncleveland.com)

Dear Home town,

When are you going to write about the situation in Corrections. Officers are spread so thin people are making mistakes. Somebody will get hurt. And so many good people have been fired.Sheriff Ruth took all the money intended for Corrections officers and the patrol officers and gave it to his wife and supervisors in adminsitration. and then he goes to the County Commision and begs them for more. He should use the money more wisely and fair.

Plus the people running Corrections go after officers they don’t like or who don’t suck up. Last year Lt Allan Walsh ordered that a inmate in booking who was restrained and strapped in the restaint chair to be tasered. There were almost a dozen peop-le who saw it happen including your person. The inmate was helpless and they tasered him any way.That is not neccessary and will lead to another death like what happened when Sheriff Dan Gilly was sheriff. Anybody remember McCargo?

Please don’t use my name. Anyway I speak for many. I can tell you stories that will curl your hair and many others can too. I’m nervous to write this. Please don’t use my name or email.

(name withheld by request)

Riding the Lightning: HTC Responds

The editors of HTC wish to respond to the letter writer’s assertion: “Last year Lt Allan Walsh ordered that a inmate in booking who was restrained and strapped in the restaint chair to be tasered. There were almost a dozen peop-le who saw it happen including your person. The inmate was helpless and they tasered him any way.”

We contacted “your person” to get their version of this incident. Although “your person” refused to elaborate, they did verify the incident did happen. The only statement “your person” would make was to say: “Yeah, I remember it. Don’t know exactly how many people were there, but there were quite a few witnesses. Yes the guy was restrained, yes he was helpless to resist, and yes Walsh did order him tased. In fact, his words were, ‘Hit him!’ And they all scattered when the officer shot the man. The inmate was being loud and obnoxious, but that’s not uncommon in Booking.”

We asked “your person” if they thought it necessary for the inmate to be tased, and were told, “I just said the guy was restrained and helpless to resist. Whoever sent you that email said the same thing. You tell me if it was necessary to taser him.”

Beyond that, “your person” would not comment further.

Wake up, Sheriff Jim Ruth, get control of your people. Your gross lack of leadership is going to bankrupt the county with unnecessary liability and lawsuits.

(The above comment and all “Ear To The Ground” articles are submitted by our readers and in no way reflect the views, opinions or flavor preferences of HTC. Anyone may submit an “Ear 2 The Ground” — simply email your comments to earwax [at] hometowncleveland.com)

by J. Michael Leonard

America is dying. Ten years from now, our country will no more resemble the America of 2000, than modern day Rome resembles the Rome of the first century.

It’s sad but it’s coming, and watching its approach over the years ~ like black storm clouds rolling in off the ocean ~ I’ve thought often of the observation-slash-prophesy of Alexander Fraser Tytler (1747-1813):

“(A democracy) can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over lousy fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average of the world’s great civilizations before they decline has been 200 years.”

Tytler, certainly not the first to recognize the inherent flaw of democracy, went on to lay out the road map a democracy follows to its own tragic end: “From bondage to spiritual faith; from faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back again to bondage.”

Basically, the shelf life of a democracy is equal to the gestation period of the next ruthless dictator. Google “dictator” and tell me one good quality they possess. Tell me one way people benefit under their boot. Continue Reading

from the archives

Vice Mayor Speaks of City’s Racial Past

(The following is an article J. Michael Leonard wrote about Vice Mayor Avery Johnson in 2003. Born October 25, 1942, Avery Johnson was a child in the 40s and a teen in the 50s, back when racism was an institution in America. In light of racially-motivated allegations coming from the BCSO, and in honor of Black History Month, we at HTC felt it would be helpful and informative to reprint this article and reflect on the struggle local men and women of color faced 50 years ago with the emerging Civil Rights movement.)

Last week, Cleveland City Councilman Avery Johnson spoke before a crowd at the 5ive Points Museum about black history, “from the corner of First and Dooley Street.”

First and Dooley is where Johnson lived as a kid growing up and “observing everything that was going on in this beautiful community.”

Johnson ~ vice mayor, city councilman, Gideon and life‑long servant of the people ~ spoke fondly of his childhood in Cleveland/Bradley and the thriving Inman Street community of that day, the so‑called 6th Ward.

“There was a time when we had dry cleaners, we had drug stores, we had restaurants,” Johnson told the crowd. “My grandmother ran the Ever Ready Café … There was a time when I didn’t know Continue Reading

After all was said and done, the only thing Tim Gobble’s own personal $35K-per-year Jedi Knight-slash-spiritual advisor could do for him was give him a ride out of town.

Tim Gobble ~ the bane of every employer who has ever hired him ~ is once again been shown the door. Rather than wait and be fired as East Ridge city manager, Gobble quietly tendered his resignation, cleaned out his office, parked his city-owned Passat and had his “Jedi Knight,” 19-year-old Chris Clabough, drive him off into the sunset before the media could lay into him.

Yeah, nobody saw that one coming, huh? There’s no need to go over all Gobble’s screw-ups, as they’re so well-documented here at HTC, he warranted his own heading on our opening page. Instead, we’ll just briefly recap Gobble’s work history since he was booted from the Secret Service back in 2004:

• Secret Service agent ~ goverment position; fired
• Cleveland city councilman ~ goverment position; forced to resign within his first year for violating the Hatch Act
• Bradley Co. EMA director ~ goverment position; under fire for once again violating the Hatch Act, quit within his first year to run for Bradley Co. sheriff
• Bradley Co. sheriff ~ goverment position; quit after one term to run for U.S. Congress (lost)
• Interim Hamilton Co. jailer ~ goverment position; quit after several months to take position as East Ridge city manager
• East Ridge city manager ~ goverment position; quit after two years to avoid being fired

Gobble can teach the entitlement hounds a thing or two about suckling at the goverment teat. Every job he‘s had ~ and pissed away ~ has been funded by the taxpayers. Now he’s back out there again looking for work. Our advice to T.V. Timmy: do what you want, pal, but please stay the heck away from Bradley County!

Dear Home Town Cleveland,

In one of Sheriff Ruth’s newspaper columns, he talked about political hirings and how he does not do that. Here is one that you need to look into.

Look at his campaign treasurer, Jeff Choat. He was hired 2 years ago to work in Maintenance, I believe in a part time position for about $10.00 per hour. Shortly after, he was made full time, and received a full time salary. He is now making Corrections Officer Pay. He comes in around 8:30, takes lunch from 11:00 – 12:30 and leaves at 4:30 working about 6 hours a day. Pretty good hours for $27,000 salary.

Jim Ruth Campaign Treasurer and BCSO Cushy Job Occupier

He has no job description, no assigned duties, no supervisor. Comes and goes as he pleases and reports to no one. Mike Boggess is supposed to be his supervisor but he doesn’t know where he is or what he does.

Other officers have been fired for taking money for the citizens for work they did not perform. It is the same a theft, he draws a regular check but does not have a job assigned to perform.

(The above comment and all “Ear To The Ground” articles are submitted by our readers and in no way reflect the views, opinions or flavor preferences of HTC. Anyone may submit an “Ear 2 The Ground” — simply email your comments to admin [at] hometowncleveland.com)

Folks, there’s a crisis at the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office. A crisis of leadership. There is none.

Since taking office, Sheriff Jim Ruth has incurred more multi-million dollar lawsuits against the county than any other BCSO sheriff. Worse, the multi-million dollar lawsuits haven’t stopped. As of this writing, there are at least two more in the pipeline.

Jim Ruth has packed the BCSO with so many top-heavy positions, that currently there is approximately one supervisor for every two-and-a-half employees; yet, even with all that brass, there is no leadership.

And now, as if to prove our point, the entire Cleveland/Bradley community has been thrust unfavorably into the media spotlight by the antics of one of Sheriff Jim Ruth’s “good ol’ boy” buddies, Charlie McKenzie.

Charlie McKenzie is a Cleveland City Councilman who was brought onboard the BCSO by Jim Ruth personally because of political patronage, and given a job as sheriff’s deputy. Problem with Charlie, though, he’s not shy about using the N-word in casual conversation. As well as a lot of other low words and mean slurs. His fellow officers had been complaining to the sheriff and chief deputy, in writing and face-to-face, but neither Ruth nor Bird did anything about it until it became a media event. By then, it was too late ~ they were caught with their pants down again and it will probably end up becoming another multi-million dollar lawsuit.

More troubling, was the response of Sheriff Ruth and Chief Deputy Bird when this latest scandal went public. Ruth said he didn’t know about the McKenzie problem, and Bird said it was under “investigation.” But how could the sheriff not know about the McKenzie problem if Bird was investigating it? Could it be because, perish forbid, they’re lying?

But hold that thought … we want to talk for a minute about Wayne Bird and his “investigations” …

Where did Wayne Bird come from? In 2010, Wayne Bird arrived in Cleveland/Bradley from his home in Orange County, Florida, where he’ll always be remembered for two things: 1) the tenderest pulled pork ever to come out of Choctaw Willy’s, and 2) amassing secret files on elected officials, prominent citizens and law enforcement officers, and keeping the files hidden at his home in a dark green foot locker he called “the black box.”

Bird was able to leverage all that personal information by virtue of his position as a captain with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Over the years, he and his cronies filled the foot locker with sensitive documents and potentially compromising information on those he decided to “investigate.”

But the black box was eventually discovered, the media picked up the story and it became a scandal that would eventually end Bird’s career. The Florida governor at the time, Reubin Askew, called for a full investigation of Wayne Bird’s black box and the secret files contained within.

Some of the people Bird was secretly gathering information on included a bank president, a state senator, a successful car dealer, an Orlando restaurateur, the Florida Center Bank and a former state attorney general. The governor’s investigation cleared all these people and institutions of wrong-doing.

Bird claimed the governor’s investigation was a fix and the “heavy information” he had gathered on those in his secret files “was quashed.” However, his boss, Sheriff Mel Colman, fired him anyway, saying, “(Wayne Bird) had become obsessed with secret probes.”

Secret probes. Yikes.

Over the next decade, Wayne Bird ran for sheriff of Orange County on the Democratic ticket no less than three different times and lost each time.

After knocking around for a while as an insurance investigator, Bird finally went to work as a sheriff’s captain for his old friend Geoffrey Monge, sheriff of Sarasota County.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before Bird’s obsession with “secret probes” got the better of him once again and he launched a secret criminal investigation of two local prosecutors.

News of Bird’s secret investigation reached the ears of the Florida attorney general and he ordered his own secret investigation of Wayne Bird. Orlando County sheriff’s captain Mike Mayer, who headed up that investigation, said he “detected a pattern” of abuse in Bird’s law enforcement philosophy.

Capt. Mayer was quoted by the Orlando Sentinel as saying, “It would appear to me, that Mr. Bird is the type of individual who targets public officials, targets high-profile people. There was not one shred of evidence to show those two prosecutors had done anything.”

Eventually, thanks to political patronage and the kindness of strangers, Wayne Bird arrived in Cleveland/Bradley just in time to became Jim Ruth’s chief deputy at the BCSO. That was a little over two years ago. Today there’s a crisis of leadership at the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office. There is none.

State auditors found that for the fiscal year 2011-2012, sheriff Jim Ruth and his chief deputy Wayne Bird are playing fast and loose with cash coming into the Sheriff’s Office. This is the second time in two years the state has had to warn the sheriff that he needs to deposit work release cash “in a timely manner.”

According to the audit, the sheriff’s office continues to mishandle cash money collected through prisoner work release funds. The sheriff is required to deposit all cash received from work release funds within three days, but he consistently fails to do so. According to Bradley County finance director Lynn Burns, that failure is a violation of state law and “increases the risk of fraud and misappropriation.”

Auditors discovered the same problem in the BCSO’s 2010-2011 audit, but so far Ruth and Bird refuse to comply with the law, or to explain why the cash moves so slowly through their hands.

Anyone interested in an in-depth reading of the state audit can download a PDF copy at www.bradleyco.net/acct_summary.aspx

Bradley County attorney Crystal Freiberg has verified that earlier this month an unidentified female employee with Bradley County Fire and Rescue filed a formal complaint against her boss, Battalion Chief Don Tankersley, when he texted her lewd photos of his genitalia.

This is not the first complaint of this nature made against Tankersley. According to reports, in addition to sending the unwanted photos of his penis to the female employee, Tankersley allegedly offered to undress and help another female employee into her uniform.

In fact, there have been numerous complaints made against Tankersley by both current and former female employees. Two women are on record saying they quit their jobs because of Tankersley’s sexual advances and a lack of action or concern by the county when they complained. None of the women want to be identified, but all claim the harassment must end and they want the public to be aware of the problem.

At least one of the women claims to have filed a sexual harassment complaint with the Human Resources Department, but no one from that office, or the office of the county mayor, ever responded. She has hired an attorney and is currently in the process of filing a civil case. She has been quoted as saying, “Bradley County has a big rug and a big broom.”

Tankersley has neither denied nor confirmed the charges and refers all questions to Interim Chief Troy Spence. Spence, in turn, refers all questions to Bradley Co. Human Resources and the county attorney. HR has responded by saying it is against policy to comment on open investigations.

In spite of the liability Tankersley’s actions has created for he county, he was promoted last month from the position of Station 10 Lieutenant to that of Battalion Chief.

When the latest allegations came to light, Tankersley was said to have been suspended for two days without pay; although he is not on suspension at this time and, as far as we can determine, the only other disciplinary action taken was requiring him to attend sexual harassment classes. No word on whether he has complied. And although county attorney Freiberg was quick to point out that Tankersley did not use a county-issued phone to send his sex pix, we understand he lost his county-issued phone privileges for one year.

An ugly incident of racism by a Bradley County sheriff’s deputy is just the latest in what some feel is a pattern of systematic discrimination under sheriff Jim Ruth and his chief deputy Wayne Bird.

According to written statements by BCSO deputies who witnessed the incident, BCSO deputy Charlie McKenzie referred to a black man as a “nigger” and a “coon” while McKenzie was in uniform and during the performance of his official duties as a sheriff’s deputy. The incident was witnessed and sworn to by two of McKenzie’s fellow officers, Dep. Anthony Liner and Dep. Kristie Barton. A number of McKenzie’s co-workers have also complained they’ve heard him use the N-word on many occasions.

In addition to being a BCSO deputy, Charlie McKenzie also serves in an elected position as Cleveland City Councilman for District 1.

Earlier this week, Sheriff Ruth and Chief Bird called a closed-door meeting with McKenzie which ended in McKenzie’s quiet and private resignation from the BCSO, with no disciplinary action whatsoever.  It was the sheriff himself who originally hired McKenzie because of political patronage.

It’s too early to tell how McKenzie’s display of racial intolerance will affect his City Council seat, but it’s hard to imagine him at the next council meeting sitting alongside Vice-Mayor Avery Johnson; who, as a young, 20-year-old black man, helped form the first chapter of the NAACP in Cleveland, and was at the forefront of Civil Rights in this region.

The allegation of unfair treatment of minorities has been a sore spot for sheriff Ruth and his chief deputy since they assumed office.

Following is an unofficial list of BCSO minority officers terminated over the past two years:

• Sept. 1, 2010 — The day Ruth took office, he demoted Capt. Gabe Thomas (Afr-Amer), from head of the Corrections Division to a slick sleeve deputy, and cut his pay by $24,000.
• Sept. 10, 2010 — Lt. Antonio L. Simpson was terminated (Afr-Amer).
• Dec. 20, 2010 — Dep. Daphney A. Dunn was terminated (Afr-Amer).
• Dec. 20, 2010 — Dep. Calvin K. Thompson was terminated (Afr-Amer).
• Dec. 19, 2011– Sgt. Sharon L. McBride was terminated (Afr-Amer).
• Jan. 26, 2012 — Eduardo B. Choate Jr. was terminated (Brazilian).

$1.5 Million Dollar Law suit filed against Sheriff Jim Ruth of Bradley County

Another wrongful termination suit has been filed against Sheriff Jim Ruth in the Circuit Court of Bradley County. Former Deputy Sheriff Adam Beard is suing for wrongful discharge, breach of contract, intentional interference with a contract and for cause of action.

Adam Beard became a member of the Bradley County Sheriff’s office in July of 2008 and was terminated on March 29, 2011.

Mr. Beard would show that he had supported the other candidate for Sheriff (Steve Lawson) and the present Sheriff Jim Ruth has systematically set about to demote, fire or retire those officers who supported his opponent.

Attached is a copy of Court Docket #V-11-771

Beard Law Suit

On July 16, 1997, Episcopal priest, the Rev. Charles Martin “Marty” Davis, was brutally murdered in his Brainerd home, severely beaten and shot “six or seven times.” An autopsy found no evidence of drugs, alcohol or sexual assault. Robbery was ruled out as a motive as there was money in the house. To this day the crime remains unsolved.

Fast-forward …

Sometime in 2004, maybe earlier, 10th Judicial District Circuit Court Judge John Hagler of Cleveland asked his personal secretary, Nona Rogers, to transcribe an audio cassette he had dictated regarding a legal matter he was working on. It was a common enough request and routine in her duties, and when Nona Rogers finished transcribing side A of the tape, she flipped it over to listen to side B. She would later testify in open court that when she heard what was on side B of the tape, “I shook all over. I was just numb.” She described side B as “heinous.”

According to Nona, the voice on the tape was that of her boss of 18 years, Judge John B. Hagler, and as she listened to the “depraved” things her boss was saying, she immediately thought of the brutal killing of Marty Davis back in ’97. She said Judge John Hagler went to church with Marty Davis and even taught a Bible class there. She testified that the young priest would often visit the judge’s office and call him on the phone. In fact, Nona admitted that because of the “male topic” of Hagler’s tape, Marty Davis “was the first person who came to mind.”

When asked if she had discussed her discovery of what was on side B of the tape with Hagler, Nona testified, “I could not discuss it with the person that may have committed the crime.” She took the tape home and hid it. She said her husband didn’t want to listen to Hagler’s tape, so “I just told him that it was evil.” The only person Nona played Hagler’s tape for was a co‑worker, Gladys Floyd. She let Gladys hear a small portion of the recording and then warned her “to never let herself be alone with (Judge Hagler).” Nona is even quoted as saying, “I told my family if anything happened to me, look to Judge Hagler first.”

Business at the judge’s office continued as usual until around November, 2005 when Nona and Hagler had a falling out over her husband’s decision to run for Circuit Court Clerk and Hagler fired her in a fit of pique. The day after she was fired, Nona turned the Hagler tape over to the Chattanooga police department and, in turn, the FBI, and eventually news of  the tape was “leaked” to the media.

The Chattanooga PD testified that Hagler’s tape contained “shocking” dialogue relating to a murder and torture. When asked in court if Hagler’s tape described the Marty Davis murder, CPD Sgt. Alan Franks replied, “Yes it did, in detail.” He went on the say, “(The tape) sounded like someone being tortured. The content was so shocking. I have been a police officer for 24 years …” No one knows what Sgt. Franks was going to say next, because defense counsel objected before he could finish his statement.

In 2007, Mike Hall, who was head of the 10th Judicial Drug Task Force at the time, told HTC the Hagler tape “contains talk of torture and murder,” and “was like listening to Hannibal Lecter at mealtime.”

But while Hannibal Lector wanted to eat your liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti, if all the people who listened to the tape can be believed, it wasn’t Davis’ liver Hagler wanted to eat. But, being ever mindful of their family audience, the media simply referred to the torture tape as depicting Hagler’s “graphic fantasies.” Hagler conceded the media’s description, “graphic fantasies,” was “accurate and sufficient … and all any decent person would want to hear of it.”

But decent people should want to hear of it. John Hagler was on the bench in 1997 when Marty Davis was murdered. He knew the guy, went to church with him, talked on the phone, was in his office and the first thing Nona Davis thought of when she heard Hagler’s tape was the murder of Marty Davis. Furthermore, when this story broke in 2007, an eyewitness told HTC that he had seen a “briefcase or satchel” on the floor of Hagler’s office containing “dozens of tapes” similar to the torture tape.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press and other media demanded copies of Hagler’s tape and Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield was ready to order Police Chief Freeman Cooper to release it. Facing the very real possibility that his “graphic fantasies” would go public, Hagler had no choice but to admit that yes, it was him on the tape and yes, the content was indeed as vile and egregious as reported. He described himself as “an evil old man,” and resigned in humiliation.

But just when it looked like Hagler was going to take the fall, District Attorney Steve Bebb stepped in to once again save the bad guy and pervert justice.

Bebb saw to it that Hagler was never censured for his behavior while on the bench and the homo-erotic cannibal murder fantasy tape, or whatever it was, was returned to him. Instead of being the villain, District Attorney Steve Bebb portrayed Hagler as a victim, claiming the real villain was the person who leaked the tape in the first place. Bebb decided that since Hagler had resigned, “there would be no need to forward the tape to the Court of the Judiciary that oversees judges in Tennessee.” He also rallied members of the Bradley County bar association to go public with their support. They passed three resolutions in support of Hagler, expressing “complete confidence,” and requested the U.S. Marshall’s Office and the FBI turn their attention away from Hagler and go after the person who leaked the tape.

Emboldened by Bebb’s actions and the encouragement of his peers, Hagler launched a media campaign of his own, taking out full-page ads in the Cleveland Daily Banner defending himself and attacking Tom Griscom, publisher and executive editor of the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Eventually, in January of 2008, Hamilton County Chancery Court Judge Frank Brown ruled that Hagler’s torture tape would remain the private property of John Hagler and would not be made public. Suddenly, instead of facing disbarment, disgrace and possible criminal charges, John Hagler was gold once again. In fact, according to their website, Hagler is still teaching Sunday school at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland.

As we’ve said before, Steve Bebb has never met a scoundrel he didn’t like.

We mentioned earlier that when this story broke in 2007, an eyewitness described first-hand of having seen a briefcase on the floor of Hagler’s office containing “dozens” of tapes similar in appearance to the torture tape. That eyewitness was none other than District Attorney Steve Bebb himself. He also told us that he had listened to as much of the Hagler tape as he could stomach. “I couldn’t listen to the whole thing,” he said, “cause halfway through I had to go in the bathroom and be sick.” He went on to say, “(Hagler’s tape) would disturb any human being who heard it … My thought was ‘John’s sick.’”

Given his nausea and distress over John Hagler’s bizarre torture-murder fantasies, it is inexcusable that the DA didn’t at least take the case to the Grand Jury. As the top prosecutor in the 10th District, Steve Bebb should have secured the torture tape when he had the chance, as well as the “dozens” of tapes he reported seeing on the floor of Hagler’s office and held them as exculpatory evidence in a murder investigation and for judiciary ethics violations. Instead, he allowed Hagler to keep all the tapes, offered his sympathy and support and left his office.

But not before the two bonded in a creepy display of judicial man love. Maybe it was the tortured screams on the tape, maybe it was the musty smell of the law books lining Hagler’s office, maybe it was just the prurient nature of a corrupt judiciary, or maybe there’s simply a little cannibal judge in both of them, we don’t know, but as Steve Bebb himself said, before he left John Hagler’s office, “We hugged there in that room.” Wonder if Hagler felt an urge to nibble on the DA’s ear? Only thing missing were the fava beans and Chianti. And, of course, Marty Davis.

“I continue to be appalled at just how blatantly bias some local media are in this upcoming 2011 Third District Congressional race”,  says Lady “J” – Dr. Jean Howard-Hill who was the first to announce her candidacy September 2, 2011.

“First the Chattanooga Times Free Press front page coverage of Weston Wamp one month after I announced my candidacy and was ignored, and a subsequent article which made very little mention of the position I took in dealing with the economy, now the October 20, 2011 article in the nooga.com which seeks to make the race a two person Fleischmann-Wamp race.”

Lady “J” is referring to the October 20, 2011 nooga.com article, Fleischmann cites personal experience in speech to business leaders – Experience likely to be factor in upcoming primary. 

“I did have to chuckle when I saw the emphasis now change from money to experience, because in that case, I challenge either the incumbent or other candidate to trump my qualifications, GOP service or experience or local, national and international leadership.”

She says that it is interesting how the article was hard pressed to come up with experience for  Weston Wamp, who has yet to reach the legal age requirement to run for Congress, yet the article dubbed him as a “serious opponent”.

“Since when does hanging out with your dad, give you the experience or qualifications to be a congressman?”

Howard-Hill adds that Fleischmann before becoming congressman, also did not have the experience or GOP political service and history she has.

“I believe voters will recognize that something is wrong with this picture. I also have confidence that the people of the third district understand the seriousness of what is going on in Washington, D.C. and  the need to make their selection based upon maturity, experience, qualifications, political involvement and service to the party, and a genuine love for the people.”

“I have  32 years of experience as a Republican with 25 of those years serving in national positions,  and presently I am the national chair for the National Republican African American Caucus [NRAAC]. I have taught American Government, State and Local Government , and an  international class on the Politics and Cultures of Non-western Countries at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga;  was voted Outstanding Professor  of the Year 2005-2006 –  Political Science Department  (with my picture hanging in the University Center  among other distinguished colleagues); and awarded two proclamations from the State of Tennessee for outstanding  academic work.  I am a member of the American Political Science Association and National Conference of Black Political Scientists. I am also a published researcher and research consultant. Have had my political science research presented at the NCOBPS conference. Additionally I created and implemented  Democracy In Action, a Civics program in the schools that ran for several years. I am a political commentator and analyst and nationally well  known – have spent time on the hill.  I sit on the Tennessee Advisory Board to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, have numerous national and international awards for outstanding service. Oversee 47 ministries in Africa and head an international organization, and the list goes on. So I am happy to see the emphasis now be on experience. This is what it should be about, qualifications and experience. Not how much money can be raised and spent while there are people within the third district who are out of work and barely making ends meet. Nor is it about whose daddy was a former congressman. None of this matters, if you are not equipped to serve in Congress and do not have a heart for the people.”

“Clearly I have been sending out press releases that also are posted at http://newsladyj.blogspot.com, as well as information on me as a candidate. It is just unfortunate that my experience and qualifications were not mentioned in the article and seems to get  omitted, while the little that the others have done seems exaggerated. What this does is deny the people the right to know there is a more than qualified candidate in the race. Whether this is intentional or not, it is the case.”

“The local media should not have its own dog in the race. Nor should it intentionally make it a two-person race while excluding qualified candidates. This is wrong. It is a disservice to the public and it is just not good journalism or reporting with integrity.”

Howard-Hill says that it is not just the political culture in Washington, D.C. that needs to change. It also is the political media culture that crosses the line and goes from unbiased, fair and balanced reporting to blatant favoritism and ignoring of candidates. However, she remains appreciative of those within the local media who have not shown bias.

“You learn to take the good with the bad, and hope the bad will be moved to do what is right. What does not kill me, will only make me a stronger candidate and congresswoman.”

“Nevertheless” she says, “Regardless of what happens, I am still in this race this time to win and I refuse to allow this or anything else to dampen my resolve. It just means that I have to work much harder, pray even more, and get my message out to the good people of the third district with or without media help. That I will do, …and you can count on it.”