September 22, 2006

Rinks Update

Savannah, Tennessee's own Ted G. Cook is continuing to dog the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance over its failure to investigate the many unexplained and questionable campaign expenditures by state Rep. Randy Rinks, and he's posting it all on a blog - Ted's Tablet. In this post, Cook finds more odd expenditures that Rinks really ought to explain, including what appears to be Rinks paying his Nashville City Club dues, which is prohibitedby state law (T.C.A. 2-10-114(b)(2). In Rink's 2006 campaign disclosure he reports the following expenditure:

NASHVILLE CITY CLUB - $439.87 - FOR DUES / SUBSCRIPTIONS."

Membership at NCC certainly has its privileges, including delicious meals (photo). Do the voters of Rink's mostly rural district know he's spending campaign funds to pay his dues at a swank and exclusive club for Nashville's business elites?

I have both emailed and faxed Rep. Rinks seeking his side of the story involving all of his questionable campaign expenditures in recent years - including tens of thousands of dollars charged to his American Express card. He has not responded.