Mt. Pleasant commission candidates lay out plan for future
Nov. 8 is Election Day. Candidates for Mount Pleasant's commissioners, Larry C. Chapman, Mike Davis, Eric Harvey, Pam Johnson and Jake Sykes were asked why they would be the best candidate for the job if elected.
Larry C. Chapman
Question: What specific experience and qualifications do you have that make you the ideal candidate for this position?
I have been in management for over 15 years. I have had to work with many different companies and different groups of people.
Question: What do you see as the top three priorities for your district, and specifically Maury County, and how do you plan to contribute to accomplishing those priorities?
Top 3 priorities: Street repair, sidewalk repair, and to make sure we are spending money wisely as a town.
Question: What does thoughtful and sustainable growth in Maury County look like to you?
I think we should always try to attract business and factories to our town. I think we need to make sure that we as a town have the shops and crafts fairs (festivals) to attract local shopping and tourists to our town.
Mike Davis
Question: What specific experience and qualifications do you have that make you the ideal candidate for this position?
I’m a common-sense individual and have eight years on the current Mt. Pleasant City Commission. I have eight years serving the citizens and I would like to thank the citizens for trusting me spending their hard earn money wisely. Mt. Pleasant's current property tax rate is $1.69, with the reappraisal this year showing a rate of $1.28. We had 3 commissioners to vote for another 0.41 to that = 1.69. I did not vote for a 41-cent increase in our taxes this year. because property values went way up and I thought that was way too much to go along with a 0.31 increase for the county that brings county taxes up to 1.91. Sometimes you have to put brakes on and regroup on the budget after an increase like this.
Question: What do you see as the top three priorities for your district, and specifically Maury County, and how do you plan to contribute to accomplishing those priorities?
A balanced budget: When budget time comes up. I plan on working with our city manager, her staff, and other commissioners to make sure we spend money wisely and keep from raising taxes if possible. Paving Streets: Our city infrastructure has to be replaced like sewer lines, and stormwater runoff before we can repave most streets. Hopefully working with the city manager, engineers, and other commissioners we can come up with a plan to finally get this started. Finish building Sewer Plant: We are in the process of building a new sewer plant and hopefully this project can be finished without raising sewer rates by working with the city manager and other commissioners to approve Grant money for this and low-interest rates for this project.
Question: What does thoughtful and sustainable growth in Maury County look like to you?
A good thing to have is to know we have time to work on this problem. It’s something we as commissioners and city manager talk about regularly. I want to keep our city a rural look as much as possible but at the same time want to welcome others that want to move to our city to help keep our city a place you would be proud of.
Eric Harvey
Question: What specific experience and qualifications do you have that make you the ideal candidate for this position?
As a teacher leader, I have held many different leadership positions at Mt. Pleasant Middle School. I have been Athletic Director, in which I helped with athletic budgets. We were able to support our programs, while also keeping our admission prices affordable for families. I have also been the Title 1 Facilitator for purchasing and inventory. This again allowed me to work within a budget while planning and ordering materials, equipment, and supplies that we needed as a school. These past two years, we have worked as a city commission, with our city departments to develop a Capital Improvement Plan for the next 10 years. This will allow us to be better prepared for our future. This will also help us prepare our city budget and live within that budget.
Question: What do you see as the top three priorities for your district, and specifically Maury County, and how do you plan to contribute to accomplishing those priorities?
I see our top 3 priorities as growth, infrastructure, and our schools As we have prepared our Capital Improvement Plan, we have planned for our future as we prepare for growth and needed infrastructure improvements. We have budgeted in our CIP for paving, sewer, water, and other departmental needs. Our Mt. Pleasant schools also need our support. As a teacher at MPMS, I had 13 different administrators over the past 10 years! For our schools to be successful, we need to have consistency! We have great administrators in our three Mt. Pleasant schools. Our principals and assistant principals need our community/city support. The Maury County School Board and Board of Education need to see and feel the support from our community and city. We need to continue to work together to make our schools the best in Maury County.
Question: What does thoughtful and sustainable growth in Maury County look like to you?
Thoughtful and sustainable growth will allow Mt. Pleasant to see the growth we need. It will allow us to see more rooftops in our city. It will also allow us to see more businesses in our city. Over the next 6 years, we could see an addition of 700 homes. Our planning commission is the group that helps guide this growth with help from our ordinances. Personally, I look forward to seeing Mt. Pleasant grow. However, I do not want to see it develop into another Spring Hill. I would like to see houses with 1/2 acre or bigger yards being built in Mt. Pleasant. This will allow us to see growth, but it will keep a small-town feel to our city. As a commission, we may need to revisit our zoning ordinances, so that we can add options that will help the Mt. Pleasant Planning Commission plan for future growth.
Pam Johnson
Question: What specific experience and qualifications do you have that make you the ideal candidate for this position?
I have never run for any office since I was in High School, so to be honest, I am not sure what qualifies me other than I am passionate about Mount Pleasant, and what happens to it, matters to me. I am a great listener, I want to hear all sides, ask questions, and make the best decision I can for my community. I have been attending City Commissioner meetings as well the Planning Commission meetings for many months now so that I could get an understanding of just what they do and the types of issues they face. I have also been involved with the Downtown Promotion Committee since I moved here and participate in just about every event we have in Mount Pleasant.
Question: What do you see as the top three priorities for your district, and specifically Maury County, and how do you plan to contribute to accomplishing those priorities?
I believe the top priorities for most residents in Mount Pleasant are, Infrastructure, growth, and education. I want to learn as much as I can about all three and work very hard to represent the residents the best I can.
Question: What does thoughtful and sustainable growth in Maury County look like to you?
I know what it does not look like, and that is Spring Hill, Nolensville, and many other smaller communities around us that have lost their identity and quality of life to fast growth without attention to infrastructure and the needs of the existing residents. I am in transportation and logistics, so my mind always goes to “just how is this going to work in the real world” not “let’s do it and deal with the consequences later” That is a thought process I go through daily in my head.
Jake Sykes (No photo submitted)
Question: What specific experience and qualifications do you have that make you the ideal candidate for this position?
I am a Process Engineer and have lived in Mount Pleasant for over 15 years. This means I know how to manage a business and I also know the city of Mount Pleasant and its people.
Question: What do you see as the top three priorities for your district, and specifically Maury County, and how do you plan to contribute to accomplishing those priorities?
Bring in revenue, solve the building issues both commercial and residential, and put more emphasis on our youth and keeping them safe while helping them become better individuals.
Question: What does thoughtful and sustainable growth in Maury County look like to you?
Thoughtful and sustainable growth to me means that the voice of the residence is heard, the PROCESS in place to approve or complete is followed, and that the best interest of the city both current and future is the center of all decisions.
Editor's Note: These profiles were compiled and modified for print in partnership with Maury County Chamber & Economic Alliance.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Mt. Pleasant commission candidates lay out plan for future
