In 30 years of
covering local news and politics, I have occasionally sparked the ire
of those I have written about. Sometimes it is been about things
people would prefer the public not know, sometimes things hidden in
the public records or actions that someone took and later regretted.
Usually those
have been irate phone calls but rarely are they the kind of phone
calls like the one I received from Crossville councilman Jesse Kerley
on November 9. The phone call came in and Mr. Kerley said, “You've
sure got some gall telling people a bunch of lies on me.”
He preceded to
complain about comments I had made on the radio the evening of the
election. I had been asked about Kerley's non-attendance at the
October city council meeting and I commented that while Kerley did
not attend the meeting, I'd had two eyewitnesses tell me they had
seen his GMC-SUV that he drives for Swisher, the company he works
for, in the parking lot of the law office across from city hall. One
witness also reported that Kerley was in the vehicle.
Mr. Kerley said
that I needed to get my 'damn eyes checked” because he claimed he
was in Indiana all that week.
Then the
conversation soon took a darker tone and Kerley made comments that I
considered threatening. After a short time I simply hung up on Mr.
Kerley.
In addition to
the phone call, there was the outrageous accusation that Kerley had made
against me in an email to Crossville police on October 5 concerning the
allegations of sign theft related to signs put up by council
candidate J. J. Brownstead.
The story at the
link mentions that Kerley had emailed a list of “suspects” to
Crossville police officer O'Neal even though the alleged theft
occurred in the county. I will not share other names on the list at
this time, but one of the “suspects and known accomplices” in
Kerley's email was listed as “Jim Young Reporter.” At the time I wrote the story at the link above I had not seen the list of "suspects." Kerley's email also states that the theft was done to provoke him and the signs posted in public to "boast."
Of course the signs were returned to Mr. Brownstead after proof was presented that the signs were never Mr. Kerley's property nor did the signs in question come from his father's shed as he falsely claimed.
The point of
this editorial is to shine the light into the backroom of local
politics and hopefully citizens can see that there are issues that
still need to be addressed in a way that takes the city forward in a
professional direction and not continue to make it a laughing stock.
In addition, I wanted to let readers know that I do not bow to intimidation and will continue to report the news as I always have, truthfully.
Good for you Jim!
ReplyDeleteI'm at a loss for words! You go Jim and keep spilling the beans for us all!
ReplyDeleteThat is harassment. IF Kerley is threatening you verbally over the phone, which I am sure you recorded, might be time to call the authorities. You as a reporter DO NOT have to
ReplyDeleteput up with the bullying.