#mason tn

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Scooter King-Wang Dang Dula-Zodiac Park-Mason TN-2026-07-05.

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Scooter King Band-"Love Power"-Zodiac Park-Mason TN-2026-07-05.

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The Holy Nightingales-"Doctor Jesus"-Zodiac Park-Mason TN-2026-07-05.

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The Holy Nightingales-Lord Have Mercy-Zodiac Park-Mason TN-2026-07-05.

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The Holy Nightingales-"I Want You To Hold My Hand"-Zodiac Park, Mason TN, 2026-07-05.

[inquietavisse]

Updated info on Mason, TN and the threatened takeover by the comptroller can be found here:

https://tennesseelookout.com/2022/03/23/tennessee-comptroller-scales-back-financial-oversight-plans-for-town-of-mason/

Tennessee Comptroller scales back financial oversight plans for Town of Mason – Tennessee Lookout

The town of Mason could be free from state financial oversight as soon as July or August, Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower said Tuesday.

[badatwritingstuff]

'This is akin to a hostile takeover' – Tennessee Lookout

Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower has asked the town of Mason, predominantly Black and near a new Ford campus, to give up its charter.

The whole article is worth reading but here are some key breakouts:

Mason, TN is 153 years old, "largely African-American, majority Democratic"

ceding its town charter would subsume its people under the governance of the mostly white, mostly Republican county it's located in

The Ford plant slated to open just 5 miles down the street from Mason was landed by state officials offering nearly $1 billion in incentives

The state comptroller claims "Mason's leadership is ill-equipped to manage the challenges, and opportunities, ahead", stating "I’m not sure there’s a full understanding of operating a town[.]"

In support of his claims, Mumpower cites more than a decades' worth of severe mismanagement by WHITE city officials, all of whom resigned in 2016, some were indicted

Mason's current majority Black city leadership takes nominal pay ($1,100/month for six officials, or an average of just $183.3/month per city leader). Mason's majority Black residents pay the highest property taxes in the county, to keep their city hall running

Mason's current majority Black city leadership have made significant strides recovering from the financial ruin the town's former white officials handed them: "[b]etween 2004 and 2016, Mason’s financials were in such disarray they were “unauditable.”" Yet, since 2019, "city finance officials have completed five of its past-due financial audits. By the end of this year, they expect to be caught up."

In short, the mostly Black residents of Mason have long been systemically economically and politically disenfranchised by white local and state officials. The residents pay higher property taxes than others in the same county because for decades white city officials siphoned away money meant to pay for crucial city services.

The state handed out serious incentives (to the tune of nearly $1 billion, funded by taxpayers) to sweeten the deal for Ford, a corporation they courted. Once they realized the jobs, people, and tax money Ford will bring in return benefited a majority Black town, the state sought to absorb said town.

When Black elected officials took over city leadership, they had to undo significant damage for... immaterial pay. To force Mason to relinquish its town charter, Mumpower offers the "alternative" that Mason subjects itself to monitoring by his office, which would include requiring explicit approval for any expenditure over $100.

Mumpower is a thug. The "choice" he offers Mason is not a real choice. Mumpower saying "citizens of Mason have nothing to worry about if they decide to rescind their charter" is a boldfaced threat.

[swallow-yourheart]

Mason, Tennessee