The Cumberland County Election Commission pulled off a feat that was nothing short of a miracle this past month.
Not only did the staff have to prepare for a county primary that was partisan in all offices for the first time, unfortunately the building that housed the election commission and Cumberland County Road Department’s office suffered a major fire.
The fire caused significant damage to the building, voting machines, and many of their supplies were a total loss. All of the voting machines had just been programmed for the primary a couple of days before the fire.
Yet, when I came to the election commission office on Friday, March 27, the morning after the fire, Jill Davis, administrator of elections, and her staff greeted me with the same, friendly, professional manner that they always do. Her phone was loaded with well wishes and offers of assistance for whatever was needed.
In such an uncertain time for them, they still maintained their friendly, professional attitudes.
At that point, the cause of the fire or the extent of the damages had yet to be determined and the fire department with the help of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s fire inspector had not performed its investigation yet.
However, Davis, told me with confidence, “We will have the primary on May 5 and we will have early voting.”
Davis said she was on the scene of the fire by 9:15 p.m. Thursday after receiving a call from Cumberland County Mayor Allen Foster.
Over the next few days Davis was in communication with the state election commission, had new machines on order and supplies coming in from neighboring counties and a new, temporary office lined up.
The office at 83 Northside Lane, Suite 101, was closed and the staff was moving to a temporary location at 2876 N. Main St., Crossville, in the former Lansford Kawasaki building.
I asked Davis how she was able to find a new location for the office so quickly.
“By the grace of God,” she said.
Davis was immediately searching for a potential location to move the office.
“The election commission and staff would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the 65 firefighters, police and all other agencies who worked hard to extinguish the fire. Our community is lucky to have people like Chris South [Crossville fire chief] and Trevor Kerley [Cumberland County fire chief] to lead our fire departments. Also, I would like to thank the people who called 911 and all those who have helped in the recovery and our move. We are in the process of replacing all that was lost, and the upcoming elections will be held with integrity. Please be patient as we get our new facility up and running,” Davis said.
Mayor Foster said Davis searched for buildings and found the former Lansford Kawasaki building was available for lease in a matter of days.
“I’m grateful for Jill Davis, her staff and the county departments that came together quickly. Their teamwork and commitment ensured we won’t miss a step,” Foster said.
Thanks to Davis, her staff, dozens of volunteers, and county employees in various departments — Cumberland County is still having a primary election with early voting in a little over two weeks of planning in spite of significant challenges.
Kudos to Davis, her staff, the election commissioners, the county and all who were involved to pull off this amazing challenge.
Don’t take your opportunity to vote for granted.
Cumberland County early voting will continue through April 30 at the new temporary facility on N. Main St. Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon.
And while you’re there, thank the election staffers for their tireless efforts to allow your vote to count.
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