City leaders brainstorm about ideas

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

DAVENPORT

What would you do if you were mayor? That was one of the questions posed to aldermen and top city department heads attending a planning conference at Fall Creek Falls State Park for two days last week.

The question is an open one, but leaders discovered the ideas they suggested require a more democratic process than the leadership role suggests and demands the cooperation of an entire body of government.

In two days of brainstorming about problems and possibilities in city government, leaders were allowed to express their ideas without the pressures of sometimes hotly contested board or committee meetings or intense media scrutiny, Mayor Royce Davenport said.

The Standard attended a portion of the second day’s events as time permitted, where officials defined ideas and goals they would like to see happen for the city in a strategic planning session.

Ideas for improving citizen communications, developing the city’s work force, eliminating waste problems, building a new city facility, focusing on the Main Street program and the Barren Fork Greenway, eliminating citizen drug use and improving city aesthetics and infrastructure were some of those ideas.

They may or may not come to realization, Davenport said after the conference, but the exercise allowed board members an extended period of time to concentrate.

“Our normal procedures are such that everybody is trying to make a living and we cannot get together long enough to do much more than have a formal meeting,” Davenport said. “This give us a chance to discuss in depth, with experienced facilitators from the Municipal Technical Advisory Service and the University of Tennessee Center for Government Training, to come up here and see various goals we may want to consider.”

Alderman Rickey Jones said after the conference he was disappointed there was not more focus upon economic development.

Although it was listed as one of the ideas, Jones said it didn’t make the final cut.

“It’s not listed on our plan, so it will not be brought up,” he said. “That’s why I’m so disappointed. I think the rest of the conference was great, but that one thing not making it to the list of goals has caused me a lot of grief.”

Davenport said the facilitators would provide a written report of the conference to the city, possibly within the next couple weeks.