Recently, investigative reporters at The Tennessean have confirmed my belief that local news gatherers are vital to the democracy of our nation.
Over the summer, reporters from The Tennessean began investigating the activities of a certain state representative who was accused of having sexually harassed multiple lobbyists, interns, and staff members at the Legislative Plaza.
They found that the complaints registered by these women were often ignored, and that many of the affected women feared their future job opportunities would be harmed if they came forward with allegations against the representative in question.
An investigation by The Tennessean forced reluctant leaders of the General Assembly to address Rep. Jeremy Durham's behavior, and as a result he was ousted from the state legislature in September. But that's only the tip of an iceberg that the investigation has exposed.
An investigation into how the state representative handled his campaign funds has revealed a gaping hole in the requirements we place upon our elected officials. Durham has been suspected of having misappropriated campaign donations for personal use, including investments made in a business that has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPCL).
According to the articles, auditors have discovered a $191,000 discrepancy in Durham's campaign accounts. Some of that money was apparently invested in a business called "The Tennessee Freedom Coalition", which is run by Andy Miller, a tea party money man and Republican campaign donor. The SPCL considers The Tennessee Freedom Coalition to be a hate group "responsible for cultivating a toxic climate of anti-Muslim bigotry in the state of Tennessee."
Apparently, there are no requirements preventing Tennessee's elected representatives from investing campaign funds into various businesses, as long as that money isn't given to a lobbyist, or the employer of a lobbyist. Since Andy Miller isn't a lobbyist and doesn't employ one, there are no restrictions on state representatives who want to toss a little of their campaign money his direction. Of course, it would look really bad if it turned out that those "investments" were in direct return for some benefit an elected official might gain... such as an all expenses paid trip to various European cities as part of a "fact finding mission" to study the effects of "radical Islam".
It turns out that Durham and five other state officials (four Republicans and one Democrat) were part of an educational trip financed by Miller. The politicians were treated to airfare and hotel accommodations in London, Brussels, Antwerp, and Amsterdam, where they were introduced to locals who could detail the problems those cities have had with their local Muslim populations. Those same elected representatives then returned to Nashville and either sponsored or voted on several matters related to Muslim refugee issues for the state of Tennessee.
The reason I point out this ongoing investigation is twofold. First, it's yet another example of why Tennessee has the worst state legislature in America.
Not only are our elected officials often ethically challenged, but our laws requiring detailed disclosure of campaign finances and potentially questionable benefits received in return for "investments" are obviously in need of further examination. The second reason I bring this matter up is to underscore just how important it is for communities to have local reporters willing to spend the time necessary to dig into situations that might otherwise go unnoticed by the public.
Newspapers are folding and local news offices are closing their doors all over America, as more and more of our news content is concentrated in the hands of four or five major media conglomerates. Even under the best of conditions, those media empires are unlikely to have the resources (or financial motivations) necessary to delve into local issues worthy of our attention.
Without local news reporters doing the legwork of old fashioned investigative reporting, we might never be made aware of situations like the one unfolding at the Legislative Plaza in Nashville.
Hats off to the reporters from The Tennessean who managed to expose the sexual harassment case against our ousted state representative, and for the ongoing investigation into our state's lack of transparency for those elected officials whose legislative efforts might be influenced by unreported junkets and "fact finding" trips overseas.
Bob Timmerman is retired member of the United Steelworkers Union and nature photographer who lives in Murfreesboro.
