A chance to hear from the man who might be Tennessee’s next governor and the opportunity to feast on some “red meat” commentary from a rising talk radio show host with a conservative flavor. Both will be offered to those attending the Obion County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner March 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Eddie Cox Senior Center in downtown Union City.
Bill Gibbons, Shelby County’s District Attor-ney General since 1996 and a candidate for the highest office in the state, will be the keynote speaker.
Mike Slater, best known as the leader of “Slater Raid-ers,” will em-cee the evening.
Organizers of the event say they have extended invitations to several Tennessee lawmakers and state executive committee members, as well.
Tickets are $25 and reservations may be made by calling David Parks at 885-8955 or 796-8959 or e-mailing him at dkleona@bellsouth.net. Re-sponses are due by Friday.
Gibbons, who was first appointed to fill an unexpired term because of the retirement of his predecessor, was elected in his own right to a full eight-year term in 1998. His constituents affirmed their satisfaction with his job performance by sending him back for another such term beginning in 2006.
A former partner in the law firm of Evans and Petree, he had also been elected to the Memphis City Council and the Shelby County Commission and had served on the staff of former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander.
Protecting the citizens of Shel-by County has been Gibbons’ primary concern and he has taken aim at violent crime, as well as “white collar” abuses.
Recognizing gangs, guns and drugs as a deadly trio that drives assaults on the street and in neighborhoods, he has focused attention on shutting down the toxic efforts that result in bloodshed and has also lead the way in fighting domestic violence and serious physical and sexual abuse aimed at defenseless children.
The most violent crimes on his turf are no longer subject to plea bargaining. He has joined forces, too, with other law enforcement to crack down on the possession of guns by convicted felons and has created special prosecution units to focus on gang violence, drug trafficking, domestic violence, child abuse and white collar crime.
Recognizing that the “atmosphere” of a community affects the success of efforts to stem the tide of lawlessness, he has worked to handle the “broken window” minor offenses such as truancy, prostitution and problem properties.
Gibbons is vice president of the National District Attorneys Association and a member of the board of trustees of American Prosecutors Research Institute. He has co-chaired the Metropolitan Committee of the National District Attorneys Association and he serves on the U.S. Department of Justice Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
In addition, he chairs Oper-ation: Safe Community, a strategic plan initiative for Memphis/Shelby County created by law enforcement, the business community and other community leaders.
An alumnus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where he earned both his undergraduate and law degrees, he is an active member of Idlewild Presbyterian Church. He and his wife, Julia S. Gibbons, are the parents of two children.
Slater, popular host of the Morning Show on West Tennessee’s TJ Network, 1390 AM and 94 and 105 FM, is a graduate of Yale University. His interest in and knowledge of history, politics and popular culture and his no-holes-barred approach to dissecting current events and exploring the effectiveness of local, state and national leaders in serving the people have made him a favorite throughout the area where his show is heard. He has dedicated his program to celebrating “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”Slater has also appeared on Fox News and CNN and his editorials have been printed in the Jackson Sun, TALKERS Magazine and the CATO Institute Newsletter. One piece was even translated into Portuguese for Diarias de Noticias, a Brazilian business newspaper.
He has experienced life as a resident of Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Syracuse, N.Y., and says he is extremely proud to call Jackson and West Tennessee “home.”
Slater earned high praise from the nation’s heroes in uniform when he set up a live satellite connection with Tennessee soldiers in Iraq the week before Thanksgiving. “Operation: Thanks From Home” was hailed as “the greatest thing that’s happened since we’ve been overseas,” by grateful service men and women.
His listeners know him as a high-energy slicer and dicer of issues and a first-class entertainer-educator for his audience, but Slater says his real passions include “breakfast, biscuits and barbecue.”
Published in The Messenger 3.12.09
