CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – The Clarksville Area Chamber of Commerce and Aspire Clarksville Foundation will host a special educational presentation about the consolidated government process Thursday, May 18.

Local leaders and business people will meet to hear from Gary Bechtel, a driver of the Macon-Bibb County, Georgia consolidation effort, which passed in 2012 and became effective January 1, 2014.

Dewey Branstetter, a specialist in Tennessee consolidation law will also address the group.

OPINION: County commissioner explains consolidated government proposal

Both the Clarksville City Council and Montgomery County Commission recently voted to approve the development of a charter commission, which will study the proposed consolidation and eventually present a charter to voters.

If passed, city and county government operations could be merged into one unified jurisdiction, consolidating some government services.

Supporters are hoping to put consolidated government before voters next year.

Thursday morning’s presentation will be held at F&M Bank from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Tickets are $40 and seating is limited. Contact Melinda Shepard at (931) 245-4341 or melinda@clarksville.tn.us for more information.

Gary Bechtel
Mr. Bechtel is a lifelong resident of Macon-Bibb County and has represented the community as a Bibb County Commissioner, District 3 (pre-consolidation) and currently as a Macon-Bibb County Commissioner, District 1 (post-consolidation). He was elected with 82% of the vote in September 2013 in the first vote post-consolidation and re-elected in May 2016. He has served on many committees and held numerous leadership roles within the community. He will provide his perspective on the reasons the community pursued consolidation, their efforts toward the decision, and how the community has been impacted by the consolidation decision and its implementation efforts. Macon-Bibb County voted in July 2012 to consolidate their City and County by a 57 percent positive vote. This was their fifth attempt at consolidation since 1933. The last rejection had been in 1976. The official implementation date was January 1, 2014 after the 18 month preparation by the transition task force to implement the decision of the community. Macon-Bibb County and Clarksville-Montgomery County are very similar and Mr. Bechtel will discuss some of these similarities.

Dewey Branstetter
A graduate of Vanderbilt University with both a Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Jurisprudence, Mr. Branstetter has been practicing law for over 35 years in Tennessee including representation of utility districts, school systems, cities, and counties. As it relates to government consolidation issues, his family has a long history of involvement in Metro Nashville. His father, Cecil Branstetter, served on both the 1958 (unsuccessful) and 1962 (successful) Nashville Charter Commissions. His father was involved with the initial drafting of the Metro Nashville Charter and served for 40 years as Chairman of the Metro Charter Revision Commission. After his father’s departure from the Revision Commission, Dewey was appointed to the Commission and has served for more than 10 years as its Chairman (2006-Present). Further, he has litigated issues related to the Metro Nashville Charter and advised and interpreted issues on various Charter provisions. With his background on Charters and having served on the Metro Nashville School Board for more than 10 years, we feel he is an excellent resource to discuss Tennessee law as it relates to the Consolidation process.