Story Published:
Aug 17, 2010 at 8:44 PM CST
Story Updated:
Aug 18, 2010 at 10:35 AM CST
What turned out to be the prime item on the Putnam County Commission agenda was whether or not to allow the Slammin and Jammin Car Show into the county next spring.
Slammin and Jammin Car Show was an event that had been introduced at the July meeting, and the commissioners had determined that they needed more time to research it and therefore put off the decision until the meeting last night.
That motion was withdrawn and Commissioner Mike Atwood made the motion to allow the car show to come to Putnam County for the year 2011, one year only.
The motion was seconded by Commissioner McCormick and then around thirty minutes of discussion ensued.
Commissioner Atwood argued that it would boost the county’s economy and that, in these times, every penny counted.
Sheriff Andrews commented that both he and Cookeville Police Chief, Bob Terry, were not in favor of this coming into town. Andrews said that the Putnam County Sheriff’s department and the Cookeville Police Department could, in fact, handle this situation without any problems. He said there biggest concern was the unknown.
Citizen Gail Stewart a participant of the event in Lebanon for 11 years, contended that she had never personally seen any nudity at the event and that she had been a participant at the Lebanon event for several years. She said to her it was about the love of cars and hanging around other people who also loved and re-built cars.
Commissioner Gene Mullins questioned the wisdom of an alleged compromise of ethics and values to make money and said that a show like this would not be classified as “abundant life.”.
County Executive Kim Blaylock clarified the sources of income for the Putnam County, should the show come about. The primary source would be the taxes from the revenue spent at the various stores, restaurants, and hotels around town.
Commissioner Chaffin then requested that Mr. Cobble (show owner and organizer) address the question as to whether or not his contract with Lebanon was in good standing.
Mr. Charlie Cobble with the Slammin & Jammin Car Show event owner, clarified that he had a good relationship with the City of Lebanon, and that his contract had not expired.
Commissioner Maynard stated that he appreciated Mr. Cobble for coming to the commission meeting (and the committee meeting), but expressed concern about that certain level of lawlessness that surrounds this event. He stated that he thought the Cookeville PD and the Sheriff’s department could handle just about anything thrown at them. But, Maynard questioned, just because they could, should they have to?
He concluded that one looks at a “Risk/Reward” benefit. In this case, does the reward outweigh the risk? Maynard opined that it did not.
Commissioner Ford stated that he had heard that Mr. Cobble runs a fantastic show, and he had heard nothing but good about what happened inside the actual event area. He said Mr. Cobble had the solid reputation of being a man of his word. He complimented Mr. Cobble on doing a good job at keeping his event clean and under control. However he expressed concern about what happened outside the boundaries of the event itself and that was his primary concern.
Commissioner Mason made the final comment where he declared that this was the first time since he’s been on the commission that the Sheriff and the Police Chief were opposed to bringing in an outside activity. He was voting against it in deference to the two law enforcement leaders who did not want the event in their community.
The final vote was 19 against and 5 for to bring in Slammin’ & Jammin’ Car Show; motion failed.
