TennesseeTicket.com

Your readers in the 10th Senate District deserve to know that the Tennessee Democrat Party is issuing smear press releases against Brock that are based on innuendo and falsehoods.

First, the TDP frets that Brock got a campaign contribution from former Gov. Don Sundquist, and tries to tie Brock to the income tax. But given that the Tennessee Democrat Party platform has long called for creation of a state income tax, and given that the TDP worked tirelessly last year to try to return Bob Rochelle, the architect of the state income tax, to the state Senate for another try, that part of the press release is filled with irony.

The TDP then resorts to innuendo unsupported by the facts when it comes to Oscar Brock receiving a campaign donation from Nashville business man Al Ganier III.

The Chattanooga newspaper story cited by the TDP press release leaves the impression that Ganier was indicted on federal charges involving some big contracts he got from the Sundquist administration, implying that there is something shady about Brock receiving a campaign donation from Ganier.

But the facts are that Mr. Ganier was NEVER charged with any wrongdoing directly involving those contracts, which his company, ENA, won through the competitive bidding process in which ENA was ruled to be the low bidder each time.

In 1996, Mr. Ganier consulted with the state – for free - on the development of a statewide public schools Internet network, an area in which Mr. Ganier had specific expertise. He then was granted a $120,000 sole-source contract to design and manage the "build-out" of that network. His work saved the state millions of dollars by showing the state a less expensive way to build the network.

In 1997, an Arizona-based company called ISIS 2000 was granted a sole-source contract to run the new network for one year. In 1998, the contract was bid and ENA won. ISIS 2000 claimed its bid was lower, but state constitutional officers and the Federal Communications Commission ruled that the ISIS 2000 bid was flawed and more expensive.

The contract came up for bidding again in 2002. ENA appeared to have lost to a lower bid from Qwest Communications, however, Qwest had filled out its bid form wrong, resulting in a bottom-line bid that appeared lower but was wasn’t. The state comptroller later reviewed the deal and ruled that ENA rightfully won the contract.

In 2004 the Bredesen administration reviewed ENA's contracts and determined they were awarded legitimately. In a letter sent to federal officials in September 2004, a state lawyer certified that "the State through its current Governor and current Administration, and the current Commissioner of Education, has reviewed the selection of ENA and reaffirms that it was the best-evaluated bidder."

The voters of the 10th Senate district deserve to know that these late-in-the-campaign attempts by the Tennessee Democrat Party and the Andy Berke campaign to smear Oscar Brock are innuendo unsupported by the facts.

For more on the facts regarding Al Ganier and the ENA contracts, see this article from the Nov. 11, 2004, Nashville Scene:

http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/News/2004/11/11/Bid_Bad_Boy/index.shtml

- Bill Hobbs
Communications Director
Tennessee Republican Party
www.tngop.org

Hey Bill Hobbs, we already know. And we also know that the state GOP has done a few little numbers on Berke as well. How about you and Gray Sasser do everyone in the 10th District a huge favor and butt out of our local elections?

Not to mention the fact that Hobbs is being dishonest by citing a story that was printed before all of the indictments were handed down against Ganier. Ganier destroyed computer records to keep them from a federal grand jury that was investigating his company's $106 million contract with the Sundquist administration (which was questioned because of Ganier's close friendship with the former governor). In 2005, a federal judge declared in court documents that there was evidence that Sundquist had "improperly intervened" on Ganier's behalf.

Happy Birthday!

I think Freddie is cyber stalking(jk) Hobbs. Everywhere Hobbs has posted in the last few days Freddie has been responding to him.