Corrupt Monroe County Politics

Congratulations to TONIA NORWOOD for finally getting the TBI to investigate vote buying in Tellico Plains.

TBI -- keep going and find out who funded it for years. Look in Tellico Plains for one and Sweetwater for the other.

Really? Tonia worked very closely with Bill Isbell, and she had no knowledge of what he was doing? Makes me wonder what kind of cop she is if she doesn't see a potential crime happening right under her nose. And if she was aware, did she just turn her head then and is now trying to make herself look better? She has a history of bad mouthing her bosses.

Or a history of setting people up to put her ahead. Bill Isbell was too honest for Tellico Plains and Monroe county.

Hopeful wrote:

Congratulations to TONIA NORWOOD for finally getting the TBI to investigate vote buying in Tellico Plains.
TBI -- keep going and find out who funded it for years. Look in Tellico Plains for one and Sweetwater for the other.

FYI Tonia Norwood didn't get anyone to do anything! Get a clue!

Ancient Angel wrote:

Really? Tonia worked very closely with Bill Isbell, and she had no knowledge of what he was doing? Makes me wonder what kind of cop she is if she doesn't see a potential crime happening right under her nose. And if she was aware, did she just turn her head then and is now trying to make herself look better? She has a history of bad mouthing her bosses.

True that! And lightly said.

I'm still amazed that Tellico is still supporting it's own Police dept. With the way the economy is, wouldn't it be wiser to just do away with it and let the Sheriff's Dept. provide law enforcement services?

I agree with it and I find it senseless to pay Tonia Norwood to sit behind a desk all day and have a secretary answer the phones for her! Two salaries that's a waste of the town's money! So now we have a fancy Police Dept, with 10 new police cars sitting out front and no money to run it! Way to go Tellico.

I thought they did away with the secretary's position and phone calls are rolled over to the Sheriff's Dept.

Ancient Angel wrote:

I thought they did away with the secretary's position and phone calls are rolled over to the Sheriff's Dept.

Life after Isbell: does Tellico Plains PD even need a part-time secretary?

07 December 2011 09:14:00

Before the former TPPD chief of police Bill Isbell's tenure, The Tellico Plains Police Department did not have a secretary--now the secretary position has been cut to part-time. Confronting budget deficits, the town has been forced to eliminate wasteful spending. See 2012 Update of TN Comptroller audit.

Would Tellico Plains benefit from adopting some of the 'old ways' in dealing with cost-saving measures? Most reasonable people agree that going back to some of the 'pre-Isbell era' ways of doing things, would benefit the town. Here are some ideas...

Have TPPD Chief Tonia Norwood answer the phone in the morning; if she has to leave the office--the calls are (as they have always been when no one is in the office), call forwarded to the Monroe County Dispatcher. This would not be a drop in status for Chief Norwood--former Monroe County Sheriff Doug Watson was known to personally answer the phone at the sheriff's office in the early morning hours. The use of a secretary in the TPPD, is a luxury that is not necessary. Even if there is only one TPPD officer on duty, there is back-up in emergencies--TPPD has always used the Monroe County Sheriff's radio frequency. The TPPD is essentially an extension of the MCSD,(using the same county jail, courthouse, and radio dispatchers). It was the former chief of police's yearn for grandiosity,(just like his mentor Grady Judd),--to overly "citify" Tellico Plains--and perhaps make it appear as a larger metropolis than it really is--with a larger budget than it can pay for. Post a sign at the base of the staircase of the TPPD office--All persons paying traffic fines are to pay fines around the corner of the building, at the City Hall office. This would make it safer than trudging up to the TPPD office--using the only access,(a difficult and dangerous staircase), which is not in compliance with public use buildings/ADA guidelines.

Hopeful wrote:

Congratulations to TONIA NORWOOD for finally getting the TBI to investigate vote buying in Tellico Plains.
TBI -- keep going and find out who funded it for years. Look in Tellico Plains for one and Sweetwater for the other.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Former Chief of Police Bill Isbell investigated in Missing Money Probe
Thousands in cash, guns, and drugs missing--major scandal for TPPD
^^^^^^^^^^

An investigation by the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury of the Tellico Plains Police Department (TPPD), is sure to impact the careers of some present and former members of the Tellico Plains Police Dept. See report HERE.
2/2/2012 UPDATE--Mayor Hawkins said the audit report is being reviewed by the The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Could Isbell and/or any of his cronies be indicted?

When asked last year, no one in the (TPPD) would admit--'who was responsible' for giving (Don Charest) a key to the police station. Former mayor Powers.

Bill Isbell was the appointed Chief of Police during the time period under investigation--July 1, 2009 to April 30, 2011...Isbell had close ties to Polk County Florida Sheriff Grady Judd--Polk County Florida is where Bill Isbell moved back to; and now resides.

The local news media initially reported that Tellico Plains Mayor Patrick Hawkins had received the report from the auditors late Thursday 1/19/2012 via e-mail. Mayor Hawkins said ..."I'm going to give all my board members time to review the report, we'll bring it up at the next board meeting and decide if we want to pursue the findings further."

This really comes as 'no surprise'... former chief of police Bill Isbell had gotten away with registering what was supposed to be "the first Tellico Plains Police Department website," to (himself!), at his personal P.O. Box in Coker Creek TN... By many accounts, the former Tellico Plains mayor was 'asleep at the wheel'... and was clearly, for the most part, no match for Isbell's 'city-slicker' level of sophistication--except in the last few months of his term, when he gave Bill Isbell an 'offer he couldn't refuse.'

Was Bill Isbell's 'hand-picked successor'(Tonia Norwood) aware of any financial malfeasance during Bill Isbell's tenure?... Was Isbell's campaign in the 2010 Monroe County Sheriff's race paid, in part, by the City of Tellico Plains?

You awake yet clueless?

Hey Get a Clue !!!

Have your read the paper???

The TBI and DA found ALL the missing drugs, guns and money that the crooks in Tellico tried to pin on Chief Isbell. It was all a set up.