David
Bennett as Finance Director
and
Republican
Party Chairman
- As a former officer and Board Member
of several technology companies, I can tell you that the qualities you
value most in a Chief Financial Officer are independence and
objectivity.
- You want a Financial Officer, to tell
you what the numbers say, with complete objectivity.
- With objectivity, he will tell you
what projects are backed up by credible estimates, and likely to
succeed. He will also tell you about weaknesses and risks in estimates
of proposed projects.
- An independent Financial Officer
will highlight departments who have good financial controls and are
consistently performing to budget. He will also highlight problem
departments with poor management, who are always looking for more
money.
- The worst thing you can have is a
Financial Officer with his own ax to grind. He will shade the numbers,
either consciously or unconsciously, and lead you to make bad decisions.
- Unfortunately we may not have an
independent and objective Financial Officer in Blount County.
- David Bennett is our Financial
Officer.
- But, he is also Chairman of the
County Republican machine
- All but three of the twenty-one
Commissioners
is
a Republican. (It is important to note that several of the Republican
Commissioners are true reformers who have no use for the Republican
county political machine or Mr. Bennett).
- Virtually all County departments are
led by Republicans.
- This puts Mr. Bennett in a
position where it is nearly impossible for him to be objective.
- Is he likely to criticize
management practices and financial controls in a County Department run
by a powerul machine Republican to whom he owes his chairmanship?
- Is he likely to point out the
waste of millions of dollars in a department run by the most powerful
person in the Republican machine e.g. the Sheriff?
- Is he likely to criticize a deal
that will benefit someone who is a major contributor to the machine?