Political Notes
District Attorney Torry Johnson’s cautious approach to becoming a mayoral candidate is getting a push from the rear.
A small gathering of supporters—fewer than 100, we hear—has organized a luncheon to move along the district attorney’s potential mayoral candidacy. “There’s going to be a gathering of people whose opinions are important to Torry, who have expressed support for his candidacy,” says Democratic political strategist John Denson, who plans to attend the June 13 event at Swett’s Restaurant. Denson cites “leadership and competency” as the reasons he’s encouraging Johnson to enter the race. “A lot of people want him to run,” Denson says.
Johnson’s Tennessean op-ed piece earlier this week, about DNA testing related to convicted Shelby County murderer Sedley Alley, might hint at an appeal to the city’s law-and-order crowd. But before voters get too worked up that Nashville may have finally found an alternative to the second-rate cast of other mayoral contenders, consider that Johnson wrote Tennessean op-ed pieces last November, in which he discussed methamphetamine use, and in 2002, arguing for the General Assembly to loosen the purse strings.
Bittersweet surrender
It has been hailed as a “win-win” situation by state officials, but not everyone is thrilled with the recent agreement between two state agencies to cede control of an ancient Indian burial site to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The agreement will transfer about half of a 300-acre tree farm from the Division of Forestry to TDEC immediately. Forestry will have access to about 130 acres through the year 2035, at which point all Forestry operations will cease. The agreement should also return some of Pinson Mounds, a 1,000-acre archaeological park near Jackson that is being mentioned among the world’s wonders, to its original state by demolishing nine Forestry buildings situated near Ozier Mound, one of the site’s more significant burial sites.
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Earlier this year, Forestry officials took a hard-line stance against moving its seedling operation, saying they had too much science and money invested at Pinson (“Mounds for the Trees,” April 13).
Advocates say Gov. Phil Bredesen contacted both agencies to criticize the stalled negotiations, but state officials, including the governor’s office, Forestry and TDEC, won’t verify whether Bredesen was involved.
While state officials walked away mostly happy with the agreement, Pinson advocates are concerned Forestry will still be able to plant trees on the site. The trees’ roots could not only damage ancient artifacts, which pre-date Christ, but they could also block the view of several mounds. “The agreement is better than where we were,” says Mack Prichard, the state’s naturalist who, in the early 1970s, was the first head of Tennessee’s archaeological division. “But we can do better. The trees will make the entrance to Pinson pretty opaque. We’ll need to put up a sign that says, ‘Turn right. There’s an Indian mound down here.’ ”
Advocates are also suspicious that Forestry officials might have a secret agenda. They point out that Forestry was reluctant to quickly resolve the land control issue and are concerned that TDEC and Forestry are able to modify the agreement at any time. “Forestry hasn’t been dealing in good faith with this stuff,” says William Anderson, a member of the Ancient Sites Conservancy. “They still want to plant trees at Pinson. Those trees will be a lot bigger in 25 years.”
Smoke-free (at last)
It seemed like a small thing, the bill the General Assembly passed at 10:30 Saturday morning. No more smoking in the Legislative Plaza or inside prison walls. At least that’s the way The Tennessean reported the story.
In fact, the bill, which passed 28-0 in the Senate and 80-5 in the House, means no smoking in any of the 528 buildings controlled by the state. As another sign of Big Tobacco’s declining influence in Tennessee, neither the Farm Bureau nor the tobacco industry dogged the bill as it wound through the Legislature. “They can choose to look the other way when they want to,” says Chastity Mitchell, a spokeswoman for Campaign for a Healthy and Responsible Tennessee. Mitchell expects more acrimony as the two sides square off over smoking in restaurants and public places in the coming years. Even so, she hails smoke-free government buildings as a “big victory.”
All Gore, all the time
He’s back, and seemingly better than ever. He’s even funny and, thank God, beardless. In May, Al Gore appeared on Saturday Night Live, speaking as if he had been elected president—in a skit that skewered oil companies, global warming and, of course, George W.
But Gore has also been featured recently in the Chicago Sun-Times, the New York Observer, The New York Times and The Sunday Times of London—all of which speculated that though Gore is currently front and center promoting his new documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, political ambitions can’t be far behind. The Maureen Dowd crowd still doesn’t like him—too boring, they insist. But Gore recently received endorsements from the Lawrence (Kansas) Journal-World and Aberdeen (South Dakota) News—important to Democrats seeking an ’08 candidate who plays well to middle America.
But what of the fence mending? He still won’t give the Scene the time of day. Note to handlers: give us a call.