Monroe County School Bus Contractors Unite, Demand More Money

In a rarely seen unified effort to demand more money from the Monroe County School Board, 3 long time school bus contractors are refusing the latest contract offer from the school system --watch video on how School Bus Drivers Gettin' Screwed

A strange twist on how the school board is using your tax dollars;  they recently spent close to $300,000 to buy out the contract of former director of schools Dr DeAnna McClendon. The buyout agreement included provisions that McClendon would not sue the school system or publicly discuss the secret agreements worked out by the school board and her lawyer.  It is believed that the firing and the 'cover up' was over the school board wanting to continue their history of mismanagement and 'back room deals' with little public input or oversight.  Go to the next school board meeting (if they'll let you in).

Update 7/16/2022  Just a couple of weeks from the start of school and director of schools Kristie Windsor still 'using evasive tactics' when dealing with the news media: refusing interviews.

The current revolt by the main bus contractors is a rare event--in years past, they would just offer a low salary to school bus drivers and continue operations doing 'business as usual.'... several factors have contributed to the unified 'cry for more money' ...

Several employee/drivers are not returning after the summer break (two of the contractors in the video had over 35 drivers employed)... some drivers have within the last two years retired or will soon retire. A bus contractor in 2020 unable to hire additional help, was overworked and crashed into a tree while "functionally asleep" at the wheel.

Let's not forget bus contractors have skyrocketing diesel fuel and operating costs, and there is little incentive to attract new drivers since there are many area wide options for employment--there's also an increased difficulty for new applicants to get a school bus CDL license now that the new federal MAP-21 provisions have been implemented--getting a CDL now is much more time consuming and expensive--and, the training has to be provided by an accredited federal/state program. The new requirements are effective for all new driver training performed after February 7, 2022. See  School Bus Entry Level Driver Requirements

Excluding Monroe EMS from Post Incident Debriefing Was a Violation of H.R. 5852

Sheriff Tommy Jones may have violated several federal laws by excluding Monroe County EMS from the post incident debriefing in the recent "Alijah Kensinger Amber Alert" in the Coker Creek Community.

"The Homeland Security Act" was amended in 2006 adding hr5852,   (5) which includes provisions for inter-agency inter-operabilty and cooperation to 'conduct extensive outreach to foster the development of interoperable emergency communications capabilities by State,  regional,  local governments,  and public safety agencies.'

It also describes ways to (8)  'promote the development of best practices to facilitate the sharing of information for achieving,  maintaining,  and enhancing inter agency cooperation capabilities for such response.'

During the Tommy Jones / Randy White Honeymoon

He Betrayed Randy White,  Can he Ever Be Trusted 

Political scandals are part of a politician's public record:  Richard Nixon is remembered for the Watergate Scandal -- Tommy Jones is remembered for the Alijahgate Scandal.

In (2014) Tommy Jones was a virtual unknown (dog handler) that Randy White chose as his chief deputy; a position of trust which led to Tommy admitting that "in the meantime,  I'll be the sheriff"  while Randy dealt with some technical glitches.  

Tommy now wants to be your 'forever sheriff' -- he has done a reasonable job with the drug epidemic--however, his lack of experience and his overwhelming desire to stay on as sheriff has compromised his ability to do what's right...

The MCSD having switched from the analog radio system to the digital Motorola system  may cost Monroe county a huge increase in the budget--a technician at Fine Communications said that Motorola wants to add at least three additional tower sites to improve radio signals at a cost of about 1.5 million dollars per site.  Analog communications is better for counties with mostly rural mountain terrain--nearby agencies that have kept analog service include US Forest Service,  Polk County TN,  McMinn County TN, and Cherokee County NC.

Tommy's 'costly' mishandling of the January 2022 Alijah Kensinger missing child alert and lack of cooperation with Monroe EMS may disqualify him and hopefully even get him indicted and barred from further LEO service:  After the election will hopefully bring about a full investigation to see 'what really happened' during the two day 'circus' put on by Tommy and his handlers.  They staged a major 19 hour production while the 'lost and disoriented' victim sat under a tree less than a mile from home...it's clear that he endangered the life of 6 year old Alijah and exposed the county to an expensive civil lawsuit by disregarding state and federal guidelines even though he had been told to 'stand down' by the EMS director.

Trucking Company in Deadly Loudon County Crash may be liable for Millions in Damages

Watch safety manager Dean Huth talk about cases where juries have awarded millions of dollars in damages paid out by trucking companies.