Bill Bennett merits re-election as assessor of property

Friday, January 1, 1904

Hamilton County Assessor of Property Bill Bennett has served well since he was appointed to that position nearly 20 years ago. He has since been elected to the position four times, in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008.

His solid record of service justifies a high turnout for him in the March 6 Republican primary.

Because Bennett is unopposed in the primary, he will automatically advance to the general election, where he will face Jelena Butler, who is unopposed in the Democratic primary, and independent candidate Conrad Taylor.

During Bennett's time in office, he has been honored as Tennessee Assessor of the Year. He also was president of the Tennessee Assessors Association from 1999 to 2000.

We know of nothing against Butler, who works for KW Commercial as a director in the commercial division, nor against Taylor, who is a technical specialist for molecular diagnostics company Cepheid.

But no reason has been offered that would justify voting the experienced Bennett out of his important office. In fact, before this year, he had not even faced a challenger in more than a decade.

We urge voters to give him strong support in the upcoming primary and a big win later in the general election.