Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles skipped the Maury County Commission meeting on Monday evening, where a vote was held to override his veto of the county budget.
Ogles’ veto was reportedly overridden by a vote of 17 in favor of the override, with two against, and three abstaining.
Mayor Ogles, who is also running in the August 4 Republican primary for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat, elected to attend a campaign meet-and-greet held at Plantation Pub in Bellevue, Tennessee.
Ogles noted to The Tennessee Star that the meet-and-greet had been scheduled for a while and that he didn’t believe his presence would change the outcome of the vote.
One of Ogles’ TN-5 opponents, State Senate aide Tres Wittum, took Ogles to task over his lack of attendance at the meeting.
In a tweet, Wittum said, “Let the record show the mayor is not here at tonight’s meeting. Politicians veto & run.. for other offices. I’ll never run from you, and I’ll do the work. I hear you Maury Co & I’ll take care of you as your congressman. Not just words, charades &speeches #TN5 #TN05 #TNGOP”
“Let the record show the mayor is not here at tonight’s meeting.”
Politicians veto & run.. for other offices.
I’ll never run from you, and I’ll do the work.
I hear you Maury Co & I’ll take care of you as your congressman. Not just words, charades &speeches#TN5 #TN05 #TNGOP pic.twitter.com/NoXNpiKGyj
— Tennessee TRES (@Tennessee_TRES) July 19, 2022
“Maury Co would be in violation of State law if the library (operational funding) isnt funded in its budget. This isn’t a ‘pound sand’ ‘defend with my AR-15, come arrest me,’ type of fix. We need responsible leaders.. it does matter who leads. Very upset people!! #TN5 #TN05,” added Wittum in another tweet.
Maury Co would be in violation of State law if the library (operational funding) isnt funded in its budget.
This isn’t a “pound sand” “defend with my AR-15, come arrest me,” type of fix.
We need responsible leaders.. it does matter who leads.
Very upset people!! #TN5 #TN05
— Tennessee TRES (@Tennessee_TRES) July 19, 2022
“The mayor doesnt want to just defund the US Dept of EDU, He is attempting to defund Maury Co schools by $15million & the sheriff’s office will miss so much in payroll.. This isn’t good EDU or safety policy for Maury Co. “Where is the mayor to defend this veto?” #TN5 #TN05,” Wittum said in a third tweet.
The mayor doesnt want to just defund the US Dept of EDU,
He is attempting to defund Maury Co schools by $15million& the sheriff’s office will miss so much in payroll..
This isn’t good EDU or safety policy for Maury Co.
“Where is the mayor to defend this veto?”
#TN5 #TN05— Tennessee TRES (@Tennessee_TRES) July 19, 2022
Witteum told The Star that attending the meeting was “important” to him so he could understand “the security and budget of the counties in my district.”
“It’s very important to understand the county and city budget, that you have to understand the nuances of local issues when you are seeking to represent these people in the U.S. Congress,” he said.
“When you have a candidate that talks about border security, build the wall, and securing the border – and then he goes and – guts the sheriff’s budget, you have to show up,” Wittum added.
The Star previously reported that Ogles sent a letter to Maury County Commission Chairman Don Morrow in which he vetoed the proposed Maury County budget for the next fiscal year, citing the negative impact of the proposed tax increase as citizens deal with the Biden administration’s inflationary policies.
“I have spent a great deal of time reviewing the budget in context of the greater economic factors that are occurring in United States, from record fuel prices, inverted yield curve, collapse in commodities such as copper, and record low consumer sentiment just to name a few; some analysts are speculating that the impending recession could be worse than 2008,” said Ogles in his letter.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, Truth Social, and Parler.
Photo “Andy Ogles” by Mayor Andy Ogles for Congress.
Also missing the FEC deadline and paying his taxes late. Something ain’t right. And then the PAC’s backing him attacking Harwell and Winstead (not Starbuck apparently) to cover up his tracks. He comes out to me as arrogant and slimy in my opinion and that’s why I wrote in Robby Starbuck.
Still voting for Ogles, though.
Go tres
Tres Wittum is probably the smartest candidate on the ballot to be honest
Well Jack if Tres is smart and really conservative he sounds like just the man to replace tepid conservative Sam Whitson (ACU-78%) over in House District-65. The Tennessee House is a great place to begin a political career rather than the U. S, House.
What was Ogles supposed to do? Call in the cops to stop the vote? He exercised his authority by vetoing the budget. That is all that he could do. I wish that Sumner’s mayor, the spending zealot, Anthony Holt would have vetoed Sumner’s budget. But he always just adds things to it.
Ogles vetoed the budget–he thought it was too costly–what more could he do? Now, the citizens of Maury County cannot blame Ogles when their county property taxes will likely increase later this year (a time when the economy is terrible, and when ordinary folks are struggling every week to put gas in their vehicles so that they can go to work, put food on their table, pay their adjustable rate home loan so that they don’t become homeless, and provide the necessities for their children). Looks to me like the voters of the new 5th Congressional District have found their new Congressman–if they have any sense!
Oh, and by the way, when county property taxes increase, it follows ‘as night the day’ that city property taxes will also probably increase. Just sayin’.
who in the blue hell in tres whittum
Indeed mikey but more importantly is who he is not going to be on August 5th i.e. the 5th District Republican nominee for Congress. We desperately need conservative votes for Beth Harwell to prevent former Democrat Gen. Weathervane from becoming our next Congressman. A vote is a terrible thing to waste on No Record/No Chance candidates like Tres Whittum under such circumstances.
Well Jeff Beierlien is taking votes away from Winstead so that’s a good thing, but I think it’ll be a close race between Beth Harwell and Robby Starbuck