Why I'm Running

It started with questions about planning, infrastructure, and decisions shaping the future of this district — without clear answers. So I went to the meetings myself. I was the only one there who wasn't part of the process. I attended so consistently that Joe Barrett of the East Tennessee Development District gave me a nickname: "Oh, here's the concerned citizen." I earned that.

Over time, that presence became formal. I served as Secretary of CPAC for three years. In 2025, I was appointed to the Townsend Planning Commission. In the room, on the record — not a spectator. Long before I held a title. And I take the minutes.

During critical moments, I reached out to our county commissioner, Jeff Jopling. He was always kind. But when the work needed doing — attending meetings, asking why the Blount County Land Use Plan was still incomplete three years after it was due — I was the one doing it.

So I went to Nashville. I wrote letters to state officials. I filed public records requests with TDEC, TDOT, and Blount County. I built an archive so residents could see for themselves. Not because it was my job. Because someone needed to do it.

While I was doing that work, Commissioner Jopling was serving on the SMTDA board — the tourism authority that is part of the Blount Partnership — for six consecutive years. The same organization that later pursued a state bill to strip Townsend of its ability to govern its own land. The same organization whose CEO told a public meeting in October 2024: "There is no going back. We will operate an events and activity center." Months later, the de-annexation bill was introduced.

I was at the Townsend Christmas parade. Commissioner Jopling was there too — riding in a horse-drawn carriage through the community he represents. He did not introduce himself as the district's commissioner. He did not ask for a vote. The sign on the carriage advertised his business.

When I saw Jeff at that parade, I knew I had to run.

Not because of anger. Because of clarity. The seat was being used as a background for his brand — not as a responsibility to the people who live here. And someone needed to say so.

Townsend Christmas Parade · An election year. The sign on the carriage advertises his business. · Source: Jeff Jopling / Facebook

An election year. The sign on the carriage advertises his business — not his role as District 8B Commissioner.

Not "Your District 8B Commissioner." Not "Jeff Jopling — Blount County Commission." His business. In the community he represents. At the community's own parade.

The seat is a background for his brand. This district deserves a commissioner who treats it as a responsibility.

His official commissioner Facebook page went silent after June 2019 — nearly six years without a single post as commissioner. The page came back to life only after Christina entered the race. Nearly six years of silence while over $646 million in infrastructure was moving through this district.

Jeff Jopling — Blount County Commissioner Facebook page. Last substantive post as commissioner: June 21, 2019. Re-election post appeared after Christina Delaney entered the race.

The Blount County Commissioner attendance record covers September 2022 through February 2026 — the period during which $646 million in infrastructure was moving through this district. Commissioner Jopling's total attendance: 71.0%. That places him third from the bottom of the entire 21-member commission. The county average is 82.3% for Commission meetings and 81.0% for Workshops. He is 11 points below average on the meetings where votes are cast.

This is not a political claim. It is the county's own data, posted publicly by a fellow commissioner candidate.

Official Blount County Commissioner Attendance · 9/1/2022–2/19/2026 · Source: Roy "Hoot" Shields, District 8 Commissioner Candidate

By the numbers

Jopling total attendance

71.0%

3rd from bottom

Commission average

82.3%

11 pts above Jopling

Period covered

3.5 yrs

Sep 2022–Feb 2026

For years, I pushed for a simple piece of meeting technology in Townsend — a device that costs less than $3,000 and would have made every public meeting fully accessible and recorded. The East Tennessee Development District rep was saying it. The planning consultants were saying it. Every proposal was rejected. Every alternative was rejected. Instead, a person was hired to manually tape meetings — more expensive, less reliable. The important ones were not always among them.

The same pattern appeared when the Townsend city office went without administrative staff for months. Solutions were offered. Alternatives were proposed. Each one was turned down. No solution was the solution — again. Because filling the position meant accountability, and accountability was inconvenient.

The more I researched, the more I understood that what was happening in Townsend was happening across all of District 8B — on a much larger scale. Over $646 million in public infrastructure funds are moving through this district. The Pellissippi Parkway Extension right-of-way timeline was moved from 2032 to this year — with no county commission briefing, no press release, no notice to affected landowners. The Blount County Comprehensive Plan sat unfinished for four years while the corridor was physically rebuilt around it.

I have been tracking these projects for years — before I was a candidate. The 321 corridor study. The Pellissippi Extension. The sewer infrastructure. The outdated land use plans. I found them because I went looking. That is what this seat requires.

I am not anti-growth. Look at Houston Oldham's work with The Dancing Bear and The Social — proof that a thriving business can enhance Townsend's character. The Filmores' Abbey, the Headricks' Highland Manor. Businesses that fit our landscape, contribute to our community, and give back. That is the model.

But I am running for something, not just against something. And I want to be clear about what that is.

If you have been satisfied with your representation, I respect that. But if you have ever wondered why decisions felt distant — why answers were hard to find, why the planning felt like it was happening to you rather than with you — I am asking for the opportunity to do this differently.

I will show up. I will ask questions. I will make sure residents understand what is happening before decisions are made — not after. Every community. Every resident.