Those who form the West Tennessee Mayors Association had an opportunity to visit with state and local politicians at the Southwest Tennessee Development District in Jackson, Wednesday.
Karl Dean, Democratic candidate for Governor and former Mayor of the City of Nashville, joined state representatives Jimmy Eldridge, District 73, Ron Gant (94), and G.A. Hardaway (93), and candidates Allan Creasey, District 97, Chris Todd (73), Frankie Floied (71) Andrea Bond-Johnson (82), James Baxter (73), Greg Frye (79) and David Byrd (71).
Eldridge is not seeking re-election to the state house, but is a candidate for Mayor of the City of Jackson in 2019, and Bill Lee, the Republican nominee for governor was unable to attend because of a previous commitment.
As expected, the majority of discussion centered around health care, education, workforce development, and the elephant in the room – the 3,840-acre Memphis Regional Megasite.
“I used to say when I was Mayor of Nashville working on economic development, ‘You have to have enough confidence in yourself to invest in yourself as a city,'” Dean said. “I think the state has to have enough confidence in West Tennessee to invest in West Tennessee, and the Megasite is basically saying, ‘We want to create jobs here, we want to create more economic activity, and that’s going to create more economic activity.
“But to that, we have to get ready … we’ve got to make that investment (and) we’ve got to follow through on the work that’s been done, and I’m committed to doing that.”
Chris Todd, the Republican nominee for the state representative seat Jimmy Eldridge is vacating, sees communities in West Tennessee basically have the same issues.
“I saw how these mayors are very concerned about their local communities,” Todd said. “They want to make sure they continue to have control over their own destiny they expect and deserve.”
James Baxter, who will challenge Todd as the Democratic nominee in November, said he is prepared to help mayors and municipalities with various challenges they face.
“The state government needs to be more in tune to the hardships and to the disadvantages they place on mayors and local governments when they pass bills into law that requires funding,” Baxter said. “But they don’t appropriate the money. They just pass the law and mandate the municipalities adhere to the law. I feel that in Tennessee – state and local – we can do better by our local mayors and municipalities.”
(PHOTO: Chris Todd, Republican nominee for State Representative, District 73)
David Thomas, Twitter – @DavidThomasWNWS
https://www.facebook.com/NewsTalk1015/
