Pillar 1 of 5
Sleeves Up Day 1
"I'm not waiting on permission to do my job. The day I take the oath, every department I supervise opens their books — and we put them on the website. That's what an accounting officer does."
8 commitments · All Bucket A: Day 1 executive authority · No commission vote required
Why it can be done — and has been done
Knox County: Glenn Jacobs put every purchase order online the day he took office (2018)
When Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs took office in 2018, he launched an Open Government portal on Day 1 — purchase order lookup, p-card database, and public contracts. No commission vote. No months of preparation. Just a mayor exercising the accounting officer authority every Tennessee county mayor already has.
Coffee County would not be first. But Coffee County would be next — and for a rural county our size, that matters. The Tennessee Comptroller's TAG dashboard already covers Coffee County data. Linking it Day 1 costs nothing.
Source: Knox County Open Government portal — knoxcounty.org/services/open_government.php. Authority: TCA 5-6-108 (mayor as accounting officer).
The 8 Day-1 Commitments
A01 — Day 1
Open every department's books on Day 1
Every department under the mayor's supervision opens its financial records for review. Statutory duty of the accounting officer under Tennessee law — not discretionary, not a campaign promise. Tennessee law also authorizes the mayor to request records, accounts, and settlements from any office handling county money.
Authority: TCA 5-6-108; TCA 5-6-112
Day 1 Executive
A02 — Day 1
Pause non-essential hiring, travel, and no-bid contracts — until I know where the money goes
A temporary pause on non-essential hires, discretionary travel, and sole-source contracts while the Day-1 financial review is underway. Every day without a directive is implicit authorization of the prior administration's spending trajectory. This pause does not apply to constitutionally required positions, sworn deputies, jailers, judicial commissioners, or TCI-mandated staffing. Those positions continue without interruption.
Authority: TCA 5-6-108; TCA 5-6-101
Day 1 Executive
A03 — Day 1
Day 1: spend Coffee County dollars in Coffee County first
Day 1, I can direct the departments under the mayor's office to buy local when specs are equal and price is competitive. To extend that preference to other constitutional county offices — like the Property Assessor, Register of Deeds, and Circuit Court — I'll bring a buy-local resolution to the commission in Month 2-3. Excludes federally funded purchases per federal procurement rules.
Authority: TCA 5-6-106; TCA 5-14-201 et seq.
Day 1 Executive
A04 — Day 1
Stand up a Community Advisory Board on Day 1 — voices from across Coffee County
A nine-member advisory board drawn from across Coffee County, announced Day 1. Members will represent land use and planning, fiscal oversight, agriculture, and military and AEDC voices. The board advises only the mayor — not a governing body, not a decision-maker. All board documents on county business are public records under the Tennessee Open Records Act.
Authority: TCA 5-6-106; TCA 8-44-102; Dorrier v. Dark, 537 S.W.2d 888 (Tenn. 1976)
Day 1 Executive
A05 — Day 1
Day 1: every department I supervise puts its records on the same timeline as my staff
A records access policy for all mayor-supervised departments — modeled on CTAS best practices, aligned with the Public Records Act written-policy requirement that has been in effect since July 1, 2018. Day 1, every department I supervise will have its budget report on the county website within 30 days. The Tennessee Comptroller's TAG dashboard already covers Coffee County — linked Day 1 at zero cost.
Authority: TCA 5-6-108; TCA 10-7-503. See also: Knox County Open Government portal (Jacobs, 2018).
Day 1 Executive
A06 — Day 1
Publish a Day 1 progress board on the FY25 audit findings — and keep it public
Coffee County's FY25 audit produced two findings: a $152,732 ARP overage in the Mayor's Office, and a $272,000 school paving contract issued without a performance bond (school board responsibility, separately noted). Day 1: a public tracker on the corrective action commitments made in December 2025.
Source: TN Comptroller AFR, signed Dec 19, 2025; reported Manchester Times Feb 18, 2026. Authority: TCA 5-6-108; TN Open Records Act.
Day 1 Executive
A07 — Day 14 / Quarter 1
Every check the county writes goes on the website by Day 14. Quarterly: a one-page dashboard a citizen can read.
A weekly vendor check register — published by Day 14 and updated weekly — showing every check issued to a vendor. Aggregate payroll totals by department only; personal employee details are protected. End of Quarter 1: a one-page fiscal dashboard a Coffee County resident can read and understand without a finance degree.
Authority: TCA 5-6-108; TCA 9-2-119; TCA 10-7-503. Peer: Knox County PO Lookup + p-card database (Jacobs, Day 1, 2018).
Day 1 Executive
A08 — Day 1
Day 1: a direct line to my office. Within 3 business days, you get a call back.
A dedicated constituent line announced Day 1. Within 3 business days for the first 90 days — with an explicit upgrade commitment to 48-hour response once the intake log is operational and staffed. Coffee County would be the first rural Tennessee county with a published response-time commitment. Knox County's constituent services office is the closest peer — Coffee County can do this too.
Authority: TCA 5-6-106; TCA 5-6-116. Peer: Knox County constituent services (Jacobs, 2018).
Day 1 Executive
Vote May 5, 2026 — Early Voting Ends April 30
"I didn't inherit this seat. I chose to step up because Coffee County deserves it."