Tennessee Democratic Party Has Not Decided To Move Their HQ — Yet
Posted on March 27, 2009 at 10:05 amKnoxViews reported in an update to a post last weekend that the TNDP had decided (or were forced) to move out of their digs on Rosa Parks Blvd. near the Capitol and settle into “the Steamfitters Unions’ digs in, of all places, Antioch, TN.”
Reached by email for comment, TNDP Chairman Chip Forrester says this is not the case:
No, it is not true. No final decision has been made.
During my campaign for chair, I noted that looking at all overhead costs of the Party would be something I’d explore aggressively. From how our infrastructure costs are handled (internet access, phones, travel etc) to how our office functions would be looked at carefully from a cost-savings perspective.
Since my election as chair, I’ve had a volunteer team looking at every aspect of the administrative functions of the Party and the office has been one of those items they have explored.
During the course of this analysis, it has become clear that the current office has a number of drawbacks, one being the lack of free parking for volunteers, a critical asset at the Party.
At the recent Campaign Debrief, that was held at the United Steelworkers headquarters located just off I-24 at Harding Road, it was brought to our attention that there was space available at an extremely competitive rate and that the location had abundant free parking. Discussions having been taking place regarding particulars but that is the extent of it to date.
The state Executive Committee was informed of the ongoing discussion in our bi-weekly informational conference call. Stay tuned for ongoing developments.
Comments
27 Responses to “Tennessee Democratic Party Has Not Decided To Move Their HQ — Yet”
Leave a Reply
Well, it doesn’t sound like Chipper can afford the rent. Odds are that the new TNDP HQ will be a second-hand Frigidaire box on Jefferson St.
Or maybe Bill Freeman can let them move into one of his FONCE properties. I’m sure Odum can work that out.
Good grief. Where to begin. This is so classic Chip. First: Why does the immediate past treasurer of the Party need to do an expense analysis? Was he not paying attention when he was signing all the checks for the last two years? What a bunch of bullshit. Second: He’s going to move the Party to Antioch based on parking convenience? Antioch?! Are you kidding me. Whatever convenience you gain from parking you lose in drive time. What a joke. Third: At a time when we need to broadening the Party’s base, do we really want to become roommates with organized labor? Who is he: Norma Jean? That’s like the TNDP shacking up with Tennessee Right to Life. Ridiculous. Finally: I like how none of this apparently has anything to do with the fact that Chip is broke. Busted. Kaput. I heard Chip went to Doug Horne and begged on all four of his little cloven hooves for Horne to cut the TNDP rent downtown even farther below what was already seriously sub-market cost. Horne, gentleman that he is, made a nice personal contribution to the Party out of sympathy but politely declined to give Chip a rent subsidy. Chip: For once … Just once … Give us the full story.
sounds like another chipper lie to me. i heard from more than one exec cmte member that WAS on the call that it was a done deal…and they were not given a choice.
Damn, Chipper’s getting blasted with the inside info.
Harrison, as usual, brings the laser-like critical view to bear. So Chipper has now publicly admitted that he neglected his duties as treasurer for four years. He had no idea how TNDP spent its money.
And this is the guy you Chipinista wanted as your leader? Geez.
Heatseeker, why do you have to bring Jefferson street into the fight.
chip. since we know you read these, can you please answer this for me. did you not think someone would be resourceful enough to actually talk to some of the people that were on that call? did you think you could just lie about this and get away with it. or were you lying to the exec cmte when you told them you were moving? Please let us know which is the real story here?
AHughes, because it’s the only street in downtown Nashville I could remember off the top of my head. It runs in front of the Capitol. You know, if Chipper has any desire to keep TNDP relevant, he might want to stay near where the action is.
Yeah, I find that streets like Broadway and numbered streets are tough to remember, too. All of them run about as much “in front of the Capitol,” but I never seem to be able to bring them to mind.
Pardon me, Freddie, for not being all inside Nashville. Okay, Chipper’s Frigidaire box will be at the corner of Broadway and 53rd. What difference does the street make?
This is typical of you Chipinista. Ignore the failings of your lord and master, Chipper, and try to steer the topic to something irrelevant.
Hope you enjoy that cardboard box.
OK, time again for some serious questions:
Why is the TNDP really considering moving out of its prime office location in downtown Nashville, just across from the Capitol and Legislative Plaza? Did Doug Horne kick them out? Were they not able to pay the rent? Both? Surely not for free parking in Antioch.
Is a union hall the best place to move to? What message does this send?
Did the Executive Committee get to vote on the move? Or were they just told what was going to happen? Were they told this was a “done deal” or not?
How does the worst fund-raising month in modern TNDP history qualify as a good month (see parallel posting line)? What is the Forrester/Freeman plan for raising money, and where do they think it will come from?
What is being done on candidate recruitment?
What effort is being made to reconcile the TNDP with elected Democratic officials in this state? With the major donors, who apparently have abandoned the party?
What was the result of Forrester’s trip to D.C. to seek help from the national party? Is any help forthcoming? Did they even acknowledge Forrester while he was there?
When can we expect a staff at TNDP — an executive director, a webmaster, a press secretary, a grass roots director?
Is anyone concerned at all about the apparent meltsown of the state party? Of the divisiveness of Forrester’s chairmanship? Of the alienation of the donors and elected officials?
Chip, we know you and your volunteers follow these blogs closely. Can you please supply some (honest) answers? Or could someone out there on the Executive Committee provide some answers, at least about what they are being told.
Come on, “transparent” Chip, let’s have some real answers to some serious questions. I can see you ignoring the purely snarky comments, but these are real issues here.
Also, just what is Forrester doing with his time? I must note that it is now 14 days — that’s two weeks, folks — since the TNDP has had anything added to its “news” portion of the website. The latest “news” from party is STILL Forrester calling for the resignation of some low-level GOP staffer at the legislature who did a web-based dirrty trick of some kind last year.
Anyone paying just half attention could find a wealth of Democratic positives to trumpet and Republican negatives to exploit, but Forrester seems to be doing…well, nothing.
So add to my list of questions: What exactly is Forrester doing with his time? What justifies his salary?
[...] Also, just what is Forrester… [...]
There is a pattern here worthy of note: Chip Forrester lying to or about the Executive Committee:
First, he lied to them about Bill Freeman having voted in two Republican primaries and donated significantly to Republican candidates, including $10,000 to Bush/Cheney. Or he conveniently left that out of jamming FReeman’s “election” through the EC. That’s the same as lying.
Then, he lies to the Executive Committee about the headquarters move. He lied about the reasons for it, he lied about whether or not it was a “done deal.”
In both cases, no real vote was takenm, and mo real dicussion or dissent was tolerated.
How long will even this bunch of passive sheep on the Executive Committee put up with this?
Tennrod the only good candidate Ive heard so far is the Commish in Lawrence County. The former Sheriff and current Gibson County Mayor Joe Shepard(D) already said no thanks to a state house run against State Rep Halford next year from what I heard. Also considering the fact their nearly broke…instead of moving to Antioch why not rent a mobile home out in Hickman County or some place like that. You could probably get a cheap mobile home for about $250 a month out there. Chipper could claim he’s getting in touch with the low income whites that have abandoned the party in recent years. Or he could rent a van and park it down by the river or better yet move into the box of Carl P Mayfields old pal “homeless Jimmy”.
Sorry, dan, Chipper thinks those “low income whites” are racist. He calls them racist every chance he gets. Doubt he’s moving in with them.
Let’s sing another chorus:
TNDP - R.I.P.
Everybody now!
hey buckwhild, maybe the chipster can borrow your doublewide for the new headquarters.
Here is another question, TennRod: how much is Chip paying Jennifer Buck Wallace to run TNDP? This woman ran the most inept presidential campaign in Tennessee history. She then engineered Chip’s election as chairman, and her hand has been on TNDP’s rudder as it has run aground since.
We know that Chip makes $90,000 a year. How much is he paying Jennifer Buck Wallace to destroy the state party?
lets not forget how she engineered chips election. give the kid some credit now. she actually convinced the majority of the executive cmte that she would get them beat when they ran for their seats again if they were not with chip…too bad she didnt do the same for barack.
Hey, Freddie O’Connell, why don’t you and Mancini get Chip Forrester on the radio again and actually ask him a difficult question or two? Dr. J and I have provided a few. I’d love to hear some responses from him. Maybe you can pretend like you’re real journalists. Of course, that would mean some follow-up: you know, making sure he actually answers the questions.
Rod is appropriately hammering a point that has gotten lost in the guffawing over Chip’s ineptitude. I’m talking about transparency. He pledged that his administration would be transparent. But the reality is: It’s opaque at best, an most days is cloaked in a veil of secrecy. Strong-arming Executive Committee members to appoint Bill Freeman as treasurer without bothering to tell them Freeman is a GOP donor who funded racist attacks on Harold Ford. Now this. Terrible.
wow … the amount of speculation, misinformation, and spam on this comment list is astonishing…
Listen up, whiny trolls, Freeman has resigned as treasurer, effective immediately.
As one who was on the call, it was not presented as a done deal, but it was close. Until we spoke up and said maybe you should wait and consider all the same things cited in some of the previous comments it would have happened. Not a wise decision to move. Doug Horne has been this party’s most generous supporter both monetarily and in leadership. You simply don’t treat a friend like him so callously. We have the best possible location and we should keep it.
Listen up, Left Hand Wanker, I don’t care. You are a moron. Chip Forrester is a moron. I, for one, will continue to unleash hell on you. Whine and cry all you like.
Problem you’re gonna have with the Executive Committee? They’ll likely go along with Forrester just so *they* won’t have to be saddled with raising the money to keep the status quo.
Lot of those folks reeeeeeally like those titles. Wish they were as serious about getting some stuff done.
Listen up, whiny trolls, Freeman has resigned as treasurer, effective immediately.
Don’t worry, Cracker. There aren’t as many as you think. Tennrod, Heatseeker, Dr. Sphincterfinger and Harrison are all personalities from the same schizo.
Take your medication, Dogass. We’re all one person in your delusional little mind.
BTW, when are you going to answer the charges against Chipper? Got nothing to say, dogass?