Campaign finance complaint from Rep. Stevens on Mayors McFarland & Reed reset to May 28

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance rescheduled agenda issue

• State Rep. Robert Stevens sent letter to Registry of Election Finance prior to March 5 referendum asking Smyrna voters if town should eliminate General Sessions Court presided over by his sister
• Mayor Reed accuses Rep. Stevens of pursing ‘personal vendetta’
• Mayor McFarland says his construction business partner pursued rezoning for Smyrna development before donation
• Mayor Reed backs McFarland’s account of development

The Murfreesboro and Smyrna mayors and a Political Action Committee will have more time to respond to a campaign finance audit and investigation request from state Rep. Robert Stevens.

The Republican lawmaker from Smyrna asked the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance in a Jan. 25 letter to examine three campaign finance accounts. The main issue pertains to a $7,500 donation from Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland in November 2022 to Tennesseans For Greater Accountability, the Political Action Committee. The PAC soon donated $7,500 to the campaign account of Smyrna Mayor Mary Esther Reed, Stevens wrote in his letter Registry.

The Registry had been scheduled to discuss the request from Stevens on March 26, but Chairman Henry “Hank” Fincher with consent of his board decided to give the mayors and PAC representative Richard Cole more time to provide written responses to the lawmaker’s letter, said Bill Young, the executive director for the Registry.

The issue will be part of the Registry agenda for the 9:30 a.m. May 28 meeting at Tennessee Tower in downtown Nashville. The Stevens’ letter had suggested the $7,500 donations, from McFarland to the PAC and from the PAC to Reed, occurred “on the exact same day” on Nov. 23, 2022.

Campaign finance issue: Mayors of Murfreesboro, Smyrna face audit, investigation request by state Rep. Stevens

The PAC since then amended online records on March 14 to show that McFarland made his $7,500 donation on Nov. 15, 2022, followed by the PAC making a $7,500 donation to Reed’s campaign on Nov. 22, 2022. The Daily News Journal sent an email at 4:06 p.m. Tuesday to Cole, the PAC representative, but he was unavailable for comment.

The PAC, which lists a Murfreesboro P.O. Box for its address, also made campaign donations on Nov. 22, 2022, of $2,000 each to Smyrna Vice Mayor Marc Adkins and fellow Town Council members H.G. Cole and Gerry Short. The ending fund balance of the PAC after the donations was just over $743, according to the amended fourth quarter report for 2022.

Stevens, who’s also an attorney, sent his letter to the Registry prior to Smyrna voters considering a referendum March 5 supported by Mayor Reed on whether to eliminate a town General Sessions Court. The lawmaker’s sister, Judge Brittany Stevens, presides over the court that handles criminal cases after winning her eight-year term August 2022 when he won the GOP primary for his Tennessee House of Representatives seat.

Over 71% of Smyrna voters opposed the plan to transfer the criminal cases to General Sessions Courts based at the Rutherford County Judicial Center in downtown Murfreesboro.

Both mayors had suggested the motive of Rep. Stevens in requesting the investigations and audits was in response to Smyrna officials attempting to eliminate his sister’s General Sessions Court.

‘Citizens should be involved’: Smyrna officials divided over General Sessions Court status

Mayor Reed accuses Rep. Stevens of pursing ‘personal vendetta’

Mayor Reed responded Tuesday by emailing the following statement to The Daily News Journal:

“In 2022, I received a legal donation from a political action committee under the maximum contribution level. State Representative Robert Stevens created controversy over this donation because of the debate Smyrna had over continuing a General Sessions Court presided over by his sister, the Smyrna town judge. If voters had supported the March 5 Smyrna Referendum, his sister would not have been guaranteed another term as judge beyond 2030.

“I believe Representative Stevens is trying to use his position as state representative to weaponize a state agency against me and others because of a personal vendetta. The complaint he filed was based on inaccurate information. The record is available for all to see, and it shows that everything was done in compliance with election law.”

‘The people have clearly spoken’: Smyrna voters reject referendum to eliminate court

Mayor McFarland says his construction business partner pursued rezoning for Smyrna development before donation

The donation in question from McFarland came a couple of months after his longtime business partner Steven Dotson with DM Homes LLC won rezoning approval for a townhome project on nearly 7.4 acres from unanimous Smyrna Town Council votes that includes Mayor Reed during August and September meetings in 2022, the Murfreesboro mayor confirmed.

“I had nothing to do with the zoning,” said McFarland, adding that he avoids talking to elected officials, planning officials or city managers about any development project his construction businesses pursue. “Nobody even knew I was involved in that. I did not want to put any undue pressure on anyone.

“When construction starts, that’s when I step in.”

Complaint on management: Smyrna Judge Brittany Stevens’ lawyer demands investigation of Town Manager Brian Hercules

Mayor Reed backs McFarland’s account of development

Mayor Reed’s statement also confirmed McFarland’s account of the townhouse project.

“Regarding the development in Smyrna, it is important to note that neither the Planning Commission, nor the Town Council were aware of Shane McFarland’s involvement with DM Homes during the planning process,” Reed said. “However, irrespective of this association, the project was given unanimous support during all phases of the approval process.”

The Smyrna Town Council learned details about the DH Homes LLC plan from Rob Molchan, a landscape architect with Murfreesboro-based SEC (Site Engineering Consultants). The project involved a Cedar Grove Village plan along Chaney Road to build 61 townhomes in Smyrna by the town’s boundary that’s south of the adjacent La Vergne High School, according to public records obtained through a request from The Daily News Journal.

DM Homes LLC shares the same Murfreesboro address as Shane McFarland Construction. He and Dotson are also partners in Caroline Farms LLC, which is the owner of the rezoned Smyrna property, McFarland said.

Letter from Stevens questions also questions donations to McFarland

The letter from Stevens to the Registry also accused Mayor McFarland of violating the $1,600 limit on accepting campaign donations from individuals:

• Five individual contributions, reported by McFarland in 2022 on June 16 and June 20, to the Murfreesboro mayor of $2,500 each, which exceeds the legally permissible maximum amount by $900.
• Two individual contributions, reported by McFarland in 2022 on June 16 and June 21, to the Murfreesboro mayor of $2,000 each, which exceeds the legally permissible maximum amount by $400.

Mayor McFarland provided the previous statement about the Registry issue:

“It’s incumbent on elected officials to admit if we make mistakes, and I have made my fair share. I have always been upfront with anything I have ever done, and if I made or make a mistake, it will never be intentional, and I will own it and fix that mistake. This example is no different.”

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Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.