Warren County Commission candidate forum
1st District
On Warren County?s inability to recruit jobs while nearby cities haven?t experienced the same difficulties.
Sally Brock: ?Cookeville and Murfreesboro are on interstates and they have four-year colleges. The more rural we are, the harder it can be to recruit industry.?
Bill Zechman: ?I have a long-term plan to help us recruit industry and that plan is education. I do believe Warren County can have a breakout school system, that this county is miraculously positioned to use its public education system to its benefit.?
2nd District
On whether soaring fuel costs will require a local tax increase.
Neal Smith: ?TVA is looking to add a fuel surcharge to its rates and the county could look at something along those lines. We could look at raising taxes with a rise in fuel costs and lowering taxes with a dip in fuel costs.?
Tommy Davenport: ?We don?t need to put it all on the taxpayers. But with rising fuel costs it?s going to make it difficult to keep the services we have.?
Carl Bouldin: ?Carrier paid a lot of taxes and A.O. Smith paid of lot of taxes. I want this county to operate as efficiently as it can for as long as we can. As long as we keep losing industry, there will come a time where we have to raise taxes.?
3rd District
On jeopardizing industrial recruiting efforts to avoid raising taxes.
George Smartt: ?The main issue in this county is money for industrial recruitment and industrial development. We get to take prospects out and show them a field and hope there might be a road there some day if they buy the land. I am for raising taxes to support industrial recruitment.?
Ken Martin: ?In the coming years we have to look at raising taxes. If we don?t do it this year, they?re still coming and the increase is going to be larger if we don?t do it sooner rather than later.?
Hershell Madewell: ?I?m not going to say I won?t vote for a tax increase, but I?ll cry all the way. I want people to tell me how they want their taxes set and how they want their taxes spent.?
4th District
On what the county can do differently to get better results recruiting industry.
Bobby Turner: ?We need a road at the industrial park and we need a four-year college. I think it will look good when a company is looking at Warren County if we didn?t have such a high dropout rate.?
Teddy Boyd: ?Most of the buildings we have are old buildings. We need to build more spec buildings in the industrial park. We need more incentives, something that will sell Warren County.?
Blaine Wilcher: ?We can continue to let people know the positives of this town. For the Nursery Capital of the World, we can make our medians and entrances a lot more beautiful and show people what this place is all about.?
5th District
On the benefits of keeping property taxes low.
Bill Yancy: ?If we?re going to continue to make this town a retirement community, we have to keep taxes low. The low tax base is the reason these people are moving here in the first place.?
On possible budget cuts to avoid raising taxes.
Michael Martin: ?We have a sheriff?s department that needs to park its vehicles, not take them out of county. We should have our ambulances parked and not riding around all the time.?
On problems with county government.
David Snowden: ?The obvious fact is our current county commissioners have not done their job. My opponents have not done their job. I want to bring about positive change so people will enjoy coming to Warren County.?
On possible budget cuts to avoid raising taxes.
Shanna Hillis: ?I?ll have to get in there and see where money can be moved around. I?ll have to get in there and see what services can be cut.?
6th District
On reducing the size of the county commission.
Wayne Pryor: ?On the 24 to 12 issue, I feel like the more you have representing you, the more democratic it is.?
On working together.
Earl Jones: ?I know how it is to lose your job. I?ve lost mine and it?s an empty feeling. If we get together and put self pride aside, we can work to better this county.?
7th District
No candidates attended forum
8th District
On ways to help the county.
Clinton Hill: ?Better roads in the area would assist with jobs. What we need to work on is getting more green here.?
9th District
On reducing the size of the county commission.
Jimmy Trusty: ?If you get the wrong 12 on the commission, you still have a problem. We need 12 people with vision. It bothers me so many people don?t know who their county commissioners are and what they do. Our commissioners aren?t out there meeting and seeing people.?
Donna Reid: ?Cutting the commission is not just to save money. It?s easier for 12 people to agree on something than for 24 people to agree. County government needs to spend our money a little more wisely.?
10th District
On ways to jump start industrial recruiting.
Gary Prater: ?I?d like to see Warren County become a mega site. That would open us up to companies all over the world. What that means is we have 1,600 acres available along with a rail spur. We already have a rail spur in Morrison.?
On losing industry.
David Pennington: ?When industry moved to the South, it was to capitalize on cheap labor. Now we?re finding industry is moving out of this region, also for cheap labor. We have to find a way to address that problem.?
11th District
On not placing a non-binding resolution on the ballot to give Warren County voters a say about reducing the size of the county commission.
Brent Bain: ?If you serve on the county commission you should seek to find out what your constituents want. I think not putting that question on the ballot was a disappointing use of an opportunity.?
Terry Bell: ?I voted no to putting the question on the ballot and that?s because I had several constituents call me not understanding it was a non-binding resolution. They thought what was voted by the people would go.?
12th District
On providing the funding to give teachers a raise
Les Trotman: ?I?ve been a proponent of education the last four years. I?ve voted against raising taxes and we?ve been able to work it out where the teachers have still gotten some raises. I?m in favor of increasing any county employee pay that we can.?
All Warren County Commission candidates were encouraged to participate in this free forum sponsored by the Southern Standard and WCPI public radio. Twenty-five of the 45 commission candidates participated.