Davenport still hopeful column questions arrive

The ?Ask the Mayor? column is still waiting for questions. The column was started as a way to inform citizens of how city government works, hasn?t received any responses.

Despite the lack of response, Mayor Royce Davenport still wants to get the column started.

?I still want people to get involved,? said Davenport. ?Ask the Mayor is still there. Anything to get people involved.?

In hopes of getting the ball rolling, here are a few misconceptions that could be cleared up just by asking:

? Question: Was the pay cut for McMinnville Police Department employees to finance for fixing the water tower?

Answer: No money was taken from the department?s budget to fund the water tower renovation. The employee?s pay was not cut. The overtime was taken out of the budget by the department head to better use the funding they are allotted each year.

? Question: How can I go about getting information from city hall?

Answer: All the information at city hall is open to the public. Anything, yes anything, at city hall is automatically open to the public. That includes budget information, ordinances and resolutions.

?I don?t know of anything that people can?t find out if they ask at city hall,? said Davenport. ?Everything is public information.?

Although everything may be open to the public, it?s not free. They do charge 50 cents per page for copies.

Here are the guidelines for submitting questions to Ask the Mayor:

? One question per letter and a name and phone number for verification purposes must be included.

? Letters that are chosen to be answered will have the writer?s name only, not their contact information, published in the newspaper.

? If requested in the letter, the answer will not be featured in the column.

Send questions to Ask the Mayor, P.O. Box 7088, McMinnville, Tenn. 37111.