Mark Winslow is still working to elect Democrats to public office.

Mark Winslow, "Republican"

If you are involved in Republican party politics or are a regular reader of this blog, you probably know who Mark Winslow is. If not, the name still may ring a bell since his activity in suing the Tennessee Republican Party and his other controversies have resulted in his name being in the news several times.  Mark Winslow is a member of the Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee.

In the last August election, Winslow worked to defeat a Republican candidate and elect a Democrat to the office of a judge in Davidson County. He first worked to help Melissa Blackburn win her Democrat nomination.  When he came under criticism for working for a Democrat, he claimed that he was only working for her during the primary and would not be doing so in the General Election.  He claimed he was doing so only because it was required by his employer, SmithWaterhouse Strategies.  However, he continued working for Blackburn in the general election.  He helped Blackburn beat our Republican candidate, Marian Cheadle Fordice for that office. Our candidate had much more experience in the field of mental health law and had a real heart for the job. After the election Winslow went to work for Judge Blackburn.

As a result of Winslow's campaigning to elect a Democrat and defeat a Republican, when he ran for reelection for a seat on the Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee, his eligibility to run for that seat was challenged. Unfortunately, Chris Devaney, Chairman of the Party failed to rule Winslow as ineligible to run for that seat and he did run and was reelected.

Mark Winslow is still working to elect Democrats to public office. Earlier this week there was a fundraiser for Kathleen Murphy who is a candidate for Metro  Council and Mark Winslow was listed as serving on the Host Committee of the event. Not always, but usually the host committee is made up of people who give a considerable amount of money to the the candidate.

While the Metro Council elections are non-partisan, it is nevertheless important that Republicans get elected to serve on the Council. The Council is often a stepping stone to one of the County courthouse offices or to serving in the State legislature. The Council is somewhat like a farm team. If we have a goal of making Tennessee "Red to the Roots," we need to be electing Republicans to the Metro Council. Also, we need to elect people to the Council who share our conservative values so we will be governed in a more conservative manner.

Kathleen Murphy is a Democrat.  She is a political operative and government lobbyist and is the daughter of former state Rep. Mike Murphy, a Democrat. If you look at the names of those on the host committee you will see the name of many prominent Democrats. I have added comments to those who I know who they are. If you are politically active in Nashville you will may recognize more names than I do. What is a member of the Tennessee Republican Party Executive Committee doing serving on a host committee with all of these prominent Democrats?

While I do not have an original copy of the invitation to the Kathleen Murphy fund raiser, I have a copy of the fundraiser notice which was included in an email which originated with Margo Chambers. The comments in light gray text in the fund raiser notice are those of  Chambers, Secretary of the Richland, West End Neighborhood Association. My comments are in blue typeface and the yellow highlighting is mine.

Please join us for a fundraising reception 
Monday, January 12^th   5:30-7:30
 
At the Home of 

Greg and Susan Bailey 3608 Central Ave. 37205
 
$50 Suggested Contribution
To join the host comittee or to RSVP contact,  Kathleen@MurphyforMetro.com

Greg Bailey  [Margo’s note -- Former RWENA Board member.  Worked at PR firm hired to collect Federal Public Comment cards for the Amp.  The Public Comment cards from community meetings on the western portion of the route went missing.  An Honest Mistake.  However – due to the federal process that the MTA was unfamiliar with:  that mistake permitted the next round of consultants to conclude the public was excited about the Amp.  That incorrect presumption resulted in the first round of federal Project Delays.  Those delays exposed the MTA & RTA to a host of other issues, creating further delays (and endangering employee benefits).  These include: operation funding issues, ridership miscounts, driver training & safety, employment hire/fire problems, and whether the MTA was properly funding the employee pensions (they’re not).  In 2014 the MTA lost the CEO (resigned), Amp project manager (resigned), the other grant manager (resigned), the DTO Board (4 out of 5 resigned or retired), and lost track of $50M at budget time.  This $50M was later discovered to be a duplicate funding request –already in the city budget incorrectly filed under Public Works – and that amount has not yet been returned to Council.]. 

Susan Bailey
Rep. Bill Beck Democrat
Gary Blackburn Husband of Democrat Judge Millisa Blackburn and member of the Davidson County Democrat Party Executive Committee. Mark Winslow picked up his qualifying petition when he ran for Ex. Comm. (link)
Hon. Robert Brandt Former Judge, a Democrat.
James Bristol
Austin Brown
Chairman Gary Bynum Chairman of the Davidson County Democrat Party
Kenny Byrd   -- East Nashville.  Democrat,
Judith Byrd
Jonathon Carlton
Anne Carr Prominent Democrat, lobbyist  
Mark Chalos
Hon. Ty Cobb Former Democrat State Representative
Pat Cole
Ed Cole   --Former TDOT employee and former Transit Alliance Exec Director.  Played a critical role in bringing the Amp to West End, and ‘educating’ the public on land development.  Repeatedly informed the public of auto traffic impacts for the Amp that were radically different from what was filed with the FTA (by the MTA, using TDOT data).  That official MTA report was only given to the public through filing a federal Freedom Of Information Act request.  The public owned the report but the MTA would not release it (study cost $1.5M of public money).   Meanwhile the Amp project has run through more than $10M of pubic funds just for “Planning”.  Planning work which failed to produce copies of many important federally required reports (financial, project justification, social justice, environmental reports).  They sought exemptions and each change they submitted to the FTA brought on more federal scrutiny.  It is sitting in limbo at the federal level, awaiting a draft environmental review to conclude.  The State will likely tie up $174M in TDOT money this month, for a Transit project that is not “construction ready”.  That would be Road and Bridge money that could be used elsewhere, but our Metropolitan Planning ORGANIZATION (MPO) voted to tie it up in November 2014.
Kathleen Cullen
Stewart Clifton  -- [Metro Planning Commissioner (MPC).  The MPC Executive Director (Rick Bernhardt) advocates high density/Smart Growth Planning Theory. This creates more property tax id’s/expands property tax revenue.  Per the Planning Dept: Smart Growth theory requires 12- 15 dwelling units per acre to support mass transit corridors.  Our local Planning Dept changed the land use in 2012 for a Transit corridor (conflicting with the requirements of a Transportation corridor).  MPC Ignored TDOT in that land use plan, too.  Made land use density decisions based upon the federally unapproved Amp project.  Downsides of that decision:  MPC planned auto gridlock & increased air pollution, create unsettled neighborhoods & upset voters.  Upside is all the Gulch and East Nashville construction.  “Smart Growth Theory” is the bones of Nashville Next (which is the input into the soon-to-be-voted-upon “2040 General Plan”). Enacting Smart Growth land use theory enables HUD grants to roll in to the city easier (because it means dramatic changes to the land that most other communities do not tolerate -  the loss of property rights).  A highly volatile, unproven land use theory.] A Democrat.

Larry Daugherty I assume this is the long-time editorial writer for the Tennessean, a Democrat.

David Ewing A Democrat political strategist and a lawyer.
Richard Exton I assume this is Richard Exton, member of the Davidson County Democrat party Executive Committee
Bobby Garfunkel
Pat Synder Democrat
Dave Garrison  --former TN Dem Chair recently recovering from a heart attack Dec 29 (needs confirmation as links were unavailable)
Erica Garrison
Dave Goetz Prominent Democrat State Finance Commissioner under Bredesen.
Katy Varney Prominent Democrat, wife of Goetz.
Kathleen Harkey
John Harkey      -- Bike/Walk Nashville committee member (advocates for TDOT to spend more dollars on Transit –not roads & bridges -for projects that reduce auto lane widths)
Hon. Penny Harrington A Democrat, former judge.
Tamara Hart      -- East Nashville Democrat, big contributor to Dem causes.

Margaret Holleman  
Mary Beth Ikard  -- Former MPO Communications employee – helped create social media which built public Amp support in East Nashville.

Bobby Joslin Joslin Sign comp. A Democrat
Carole Kenner Democrat
Benjamin L. Kuttler
Mary Mancini   -- East Nashville.  Elected TN Democratic Party Chair Jan 10 2015.  Ran for State Senate against Jeff Yarbro.  Yarbro is a former MTA Board Chair & credited with getting the Amp study placed on West End.

Hon. Mike Murphy Former State Senator, Democrat

Jennifer Murphy
Kris Murphy 
John Norris
Chris Norris 
Emily Ogden A Democrat, former official in the Bredesen admin.
Bart Pickett Member of the DCDP Ex. Committee.
Bernard Pickney Prominent Democrats
Cheryl Pickney
Matia Powell Democrat

Randy Rayburn Restauranteur, Prominent Democrat
Robinson Regen
Rachel Schaffer
Rep. Mike Stewart Democrat
Bob Tuke Big Democrat, former candidate for U.S. Senate
Irwin Venick Big contributor to Democrat causes
Alice Walker
Phyllis Williams
Mark Winslow Claims to be a Republican.
Vince Wyatt Democrat candidate for Judge

Paid for by Murphy for Metro, Bart Pickett Treasurer.

Our mailing address is:

Murphy for Metro

231 Orlando Ave 

Nashville, TN 37209

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From: http://www.tennessean.com/story/insession/2014/12/29/kathleen-murphy-to-run-for-metro-council-district-24/21001261/

Kathleen Murphy to run for Metro Council District 24

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