Gorman, Spears Fall Silent After Brentwood Election Loss

Brentwood Mayor Mark Gorman and Commissioner Allison Spears fell silent after being overwhelmingly defeated in Tuesday's municipal election.

More than 48 hours after results rolled in, neither Gorman nor Spears had returned multiple requests for comment from the Williamson Scene, nor have they made any public statements on their social media pages. Spears’ former commissioner Facebook page appears to have been made private or deleted.

The three winning candidates, incumbent Commissioner Rhea Little and Commissioners-elect Kim Smithson Gawrys and Janet Donahue, all told the Williamson Scene that they have not been in contact with Gorman or Spears since the election.

Gorman and Spears are both still currently in their elected positions until Gawrys and Donahue are sworn into office on Monday night. However, neither Gorman or Spears attended Thursday’s city commission informational meeting while Gawrys and Donahue did attend.

Following reporting on an ethics inquiry turned ethics complaint against Gorman, the outgoing mayor has refused to speak in person with the Williamson Scene and has directed that all questions be emailed to him.

When approached by the Williamson Scene outside of the Brenthaven Cumberland Presbyterian Church voting location some 30 minutes before the close of polls on Tuesday, Gorman, who was holding campaign signs with a group of supporters, again refused to speak to the Williamson Scene. At times, he turned away from the camera, while some supporters shielded his face from view with signs. Gorman himself hid behind his campaign sign as he walked to his truck in an attempt to not be photographed in the final moments of his bid to retain his seat.

Spears has also refused to answer questions from the Williamson Scene since an April 28 commission meeting, in which a citizen cited our candidate interview with Spears where she refused to answer if it was appropriate that Gorman attempted to pressure the Williamson Scene out of a public meeting in February.

Silence has been a theme of public criticism against the two outgoing elected officials, particularly Gorman, who on numerous occasions had simply refused to acknowledge questions or engage in conversations with fellow commissioners, essentially allowing debates to die, most notably around discussions of a proposed racquet facility.

Ethics complaints discussed

It’s unclear if Gorman or Spears will attend Monday night’s commission meeting, a meeting in which Gorman’s ethics complaint is on the agenda. The commission discussed the item during Thursday’s informational meeting, signaling that they intend to vote on a motion to “dispose of [the complaint] with no finding.”

“I would not want to pay an attorney the amount of money that it would take to dig into this,” Dunn said, calling it a “lengthy complaint” and noting that a censure would have no real consequence.

“Let the Governor's Club pay their attorney to unravel all of this, and I’m not dismissing the seriousness of their charges and their attempt to get to the bottom of them. But in the interest of moving forward, I personally am willing to say, let the Governor’s Club Homeowners Association and whatever legal authority may be involved to pursue this and let’s put it to bed as a city,” Dunn said.

Vice Mayor Ken Travis agreed, adding, “it would cost a lot of money.”

The commission also discussed on Thursday the pending ethics complaint against Little.

“I did not want to quash that report. I was hoping it would be out before the election,” Dunn said.

A majority of the Commission – Dunn, Travis, Nelson Andrews and Susannah Macmillan – told City Attorney Kristen Corn that they want to hire Corn’s recommended outside counsel, attorney Gale Vaughn Ashworth. Corn will now initiate that process. The exact cost of the ethics investigation is unclear but Corn said that outside counsel will have an hourly rate.

“Since we voted to do it, I would like [Little's] name cleared and I think the investigation will do that,” Dunn said.