MILLERSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tina Tobin single-handedly changed the face of a town she doesn’t live in, and that's only part of why neighbors in Millersville remain suspicious about how she became city manager.
Commissioners met on Jan. 23 and welcomed newly elected member Alisa Huling to claim the last vacant seat. Not long after, commissioners voted to fire city manager Scott Avery.
The same city manager in charge when Millersville Police faced heavy criticism after NewsChannel 5 Investigates discovered their top cops working full-time hours without being certified by the state to do so.
Mayor Tommy Long told me that most in Millersville knew Huling wanted to repair the city’s reputation and a vote for Huling meant Avery would likely be removed.
“Elections have consequences. People want change, and I think she’s going to try to honor what the people wanted. We’re going in a new direction,” Long said.
Huling was now the deciding vote and chose to fire Avery, having only served on the board for less than an hour. That’s when Long presented commissioners with a resume for someone he said could serve as an interim city manager.
That person was Tina Tobin.
“I said that I was willing to help Millersville, and I try to offer my help everywhere that I can, but that was a bit of a surprise,” Tobin said.
Tobin walked in late to find she was now, arguably, the most powerful city official in Millersville.
As for how Long got her resume in the first place, Tobin said she handed him the resume at a political get-together. However, she admits that her memory of details is still fuzzy.
Tobin says she was prepared to work in any position in Millersville and offered her resume to several other cities.
That still didn’t explain why someone who doesn’t live in the city suddenly attended a commission meeting and that same night, became one of the city’s top officials.
“Do you make a habit of attending commission meetings where you’re not a resident of the city,” we asked.
“Well, I was curious to see what was going to happen because I think everybody was following the Millersville election. We knew it was going to be a different change in direction,” Tobin said.
Watch my interview with Tobin the player above.
Neighbors have said they believe there was more to it and have since filed several open records requests in search of any signs that commissioners planned to appoint Tobin long before a vote.
Long and other commissioners have maintained that Tobin’s resume showed she was more than capable of handling the job.
What we know is that Tobin’s resume shows she got an MBA from Temple University and for the last 20 years, she’s bounced between freelancing as an analyst, a writer, day-trading stocks, and hosting a website dedicated to relationship advice for women.
Since she accepted the city manager’s position, she’s fired former police chief Rob Richman after he spent only 36 days on the job.
Fire chief Brandon Head was also terminated along with city attorney Jack Freedle.
All this, in her first month as city manager.
“For each position, they were not taken lightly. There were different things that I saw, and just felt like, 'That was not the (right) direction,'” Tobin said.
It’s that vision for Millersville that some suspect goes back to what else is on Tobin’s resume. Many believe her connections to the far-right Sumner County Constitutional Republicans is how she landed the job.
The same group that makes it their mission to place as many like-minded Christian conservatives in office as possible to further their agenda.
“No, I have to admit, every time I hear that, it does feel like a bit of a conspiracy theory,” Tobin said.
“You can see where the confusion might come from considering they’re on your resume,” I said.
“I would say that everything I’ve done in politics that it’s been more of a citizen activist, not necessarily, you know, loyalty to one specific group or another,” Tobin said.
Huling’s connections to members of the group were also well-known when she served as the deciding vote for Tobin.
It’s far from a secret that many suspect the SCCR of recruiting high-ranking officials across several municipalities, but Tobin insists her decisions are her own.
Tobin said that her knowledge of Richman’s background working in Texas worried her, even though he was vetted by commissioners and unanimously voted in as police chief. As for Freedle who was fired the day after Tobin took the job, she said there were concerns of Freedle representing potential whistleblowers in legal action against the city.
Head was terminated after Tobin said he wasn’t being forthcoming about information regarding police commission cards, and why he had a commission card of his own.
“I felt like that was the direction that we needed to go. That there was a lot of impropriety, and there were just a lot of issues that we were seeing,” Tobin said.
Tobin says she’s worked hard to help improve Millersville’s reputation after several reports of misconduct and lawsuits involving Millersville Police.
It might make sense if the people Tobin terminated were involved with what happened with these officers, but that wasn’t the case.
Richman, for example, wasn’t even living in Tennessee at the time. Richman had moved from Austin, Texas, to accept the police chief position, but later told me that he "felt betrayed" after being terminated a month later.
It was after Head was terminated, that the city’s firefighters immediately walked off the job in protest, leaving Millersville with two firefighters. Neither of which are qualified to run their emergency calls according to Sumner County EMS.
Millersville is currently in a mutual aid agreement with White House and Goodlettsville fire departments, but Sumner County officials say delays for service are inevitable.
Tobin said she stands by her decision, but admits she wasn’t expecting so many people would follow Head out the door.
Tobin said she’s heard from firefighters who want to return but feel pressured by their colleagues to stay away from Millersville.
In the meantime, Tobin predicts it could take another 30 to 60 days before the fire department is at full staff.
Deborah Wade, a resident of Millersville, was among many who spoke up at a commission meeting to express her concern for the lack of emergency services.
“These are people’s lives that are affected by this. It just really hurts my heart as a citizen to see it happening right here before our eyes and it’s almost as if we don’t have a say in anything,” Wade said.
Whatever her reasons for single-handedly changing the face of a city she doesn’t call home, these decisions continue to have a lasting impact that at this rate, may even outlast the person behind them.
“I’m here temporarily, and I will do whatever I can to help the next person and have a smooth transition if they want my assistance,” Tobin said.
There’s no timetable for commissioners to find a permanent replacement for Tobin.
There are at least four applicants for the position which include former Franklin alderman Gabrielle Hanson, who was the subject of several NewsChannel 5 Investigates stories as she ran for mayor of Franklin.
This is a developing story.
We know that many names are dropped relating to Millersville and its city government.
Because of that, we have compiled a list of who is who among those who have been involved.
Tim Lassiter: The former mayor of Millersville stepped down amid a lawsuit filed against the city in 2021 by two former police officers who claimed they were intimidated out of the job.
Dustin Carr: The former police chief of Millersville resigned in late 2022 after the lawsuit continued to move in the courts. The lawsuit was moving through the courts when he resigned.
Glenn Alred: The former Millersville assistant police chief who resigned in 2023. He was under scrutiny by the Tennessee POST Commission launched an investigation into claims that he was working full-time without being a certified cop.
Melvin Brown: The former police resigned after the Tennessee POST Commission said the department was running "illegally."
Scott Avery: The former city manager who was fired in late 2023 after only having been there around a year. There were was little explanation by Millersville City Commissioners, who have the hiring and firing power for the position.
Jack Freedle: The former city attorney who was fired less than 24 hours after Avery in 2023.
Tina Tobin: The interim city manager who came after Scott Avery. She went on to fire several people in her rank even though her job is currently only temporary. Residents have since questioned her leadership.
Rob Richman: The former police chief who was hired in late 2023 but was shortly fired thereafter when the city manager's role changed hands. He was the fourth chief of Millersville since 2021.
Brandon Head: The longtime fire chief was fired by the interim city manager. He had been there since 2006. After his firing, 17 firefighters walked off the job.
