GreenevilleSun.com
Saturday, March 31, 2018
The Greeneville Sun Benchmarks Edition
Page 3
Greeneville Mayor W.T. Daniels Reflects On Town’s Accomplishments, Future Challenges BY EUGENIA ESTES STAFF WRITER The town of Greeneville is striving to create a foundation for future growth through financial health and a change to a city-administrator form of government as well as providing tools for economic growth, according to Mayor W.T. Daniels. Looking back over the year, Daniels points to the completion of the comprehensive plan, the town’s pro-activeness on school security and the town’s wellness initiative as some of the highlights of the year. Looking back over 2017, what were the biggest achievements for the town of Greeneville during the year? The comprehensive plan (approved in 2017) was quite an achievement, because there was a lot of work that went into that. We had workshop after workshop. The community came together, and this wasn’t something that the Board of Mayor and Aldermen put together. …. Everybody had a chance to speak. And to me, that is a big deal. That is a roadmap to the future and gives us some direction. One of the things I am really proud of is the way we have been proactive on school security. In 2012 when (the) Newtown, Connecticut (school shooting) happened, Dr. Linda Stroud (then Director of Greeneville City Schools), myself, Police Chief (Terry) Cannon, and (City Administrator) Todd Smith met
Greeneville Mayor W.T. Daniels
and said we are just not going to let that happen in Greeneville. We made the decision right then and there that when the schools reopened the next week that we wanted police officers in all of our (school) locations. … And it has worked well through reassignment of police officers. We got a clean audit again, which is something we should all be proud of. And I have got to mention the school system. This year, we happened to be voted as the No. 1 school system in the state. Another thing that has worked well is our wellness program that was implemented in 2017 with Tracy Green coming on as the coordinator. To me, that was a move in the right direction. Another thing we did was open the Splash Pad (at EastView Recreation Center). That has gone over really well. What are the biggest challenges that the town faces in the coming year? The challenge right now
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is finding employees. If you look on the economic development side of capital investment that a lot of these companies are making here in Greeneville, the jobs are here. One of the biggest challenges, and I don’t think Greeneville and Greene County are different than any other community, is the opioids and drug use. When you are talking about training people, what are we doing about teaching people about personal responsibility? To me that is just as important. It is the soft skills. It is demanding that people at least show up to work on time and keep their nose clean. Because if they don’t do it, they are lost, really, because nobody else is going to do it for them. It is really sad. ... We need counseling and mentoring to try to encourage these people that, to have a better life, it is up to that individual to better themselves, because nobody is going to do it for them. The Tax Increment Financing for downtown redevelopment was put into place last year. How else can the town encourage businesses or organizations to utilize downtown properties? As far as the city, what we can do is provide the infrastructure for growth and development. That is what our downtown redevelopment plan is all about, and hopefully by the end of April, we will have an unveiling of that program. … The TIF for the downtown is certainly a really good tool that can be used for downtown redevel-
jobs are available. The opportunity to improve the work readiness of our high-school graduates is of critical importance. We must ask ourselves and the children in our community, what opportunities must we provide to help them be successful? We must provide the education and training to make them successful to stay here and be a viable workforce. We must provide recreational and leisure activities that will entice young people to stay and others to move to our community. Are there any additional comments you’d like to make? I would like the thank Greene County for allowing me to serve as
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organization that I have an opportunity to become a part. Where do you hope to see improvements made in the county in the future? The educational and training opportunities for our future may be the greatest we have at this point in time. When I meet with economic developers and fellow mayors, our county and region is seen as declining. When we look at Middle Tennessee and urban areas, we see tremendous growth. All one has to do is drive by manufacturing facilities and see
opment. Economic development is a constant priority for government and community leaders. What do you think is Greeneville’s greatest role in this process? One of the things I think we still need to do for economic development is that we need to constantly work on creating a business-like atmosphere. ... Our community can provide all the infrastructure that is needed for growth and development. But we need to enhance economic development. We need to be proactive, and I think we are if you look at what is going on in the (Greene County) Partnership right now. A lot of industries, if they realize this community seems to get along, they will say, “This is a community we want to be part of.” If we are divisive, then it is hard to make a presentation with that negativity. The town is in the process of becoming the sole fiscal agent for the municipal airport. What do you see as the greatest possibilities for the facility in the future? When you look at the airport, it is like looking at a Chamber, the (Greene County) Partnership. It is the doorway to your community, and it is becoming more and more valuable. … Businesses will be coming in using the airport. I am convinced that the airport is part of your infrastructure for your community. If it wasn’t for the airport, I am not so sure we
your mayor. During my term, I know there have been many decisions or suggestions I have made (with which) individuals may not have agreed. I would like to quote Tommy Casteel, mayor of Baileyton, who once told me, “David, I don’t always agree with you, but I know you put a lot of thought in your decisions.” That along with a belief that I hope all of my decisions were made in the best interest of Greene County and not from a self-serving standpoint. I have tried to make my time in office from a viewpoint of public service rather than politics. I wish my successor and all those who are willing to run for office much success to move our county forward.
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will see a lot more to bring downtown alive. I think that we are on the verge, in my opinion, and finances are so important. It is something I am very proud of, where we stand financially. We have had two upgrades in our bond rating. I am really proud of our employees, with Todd (Smith) and with our finances. ... When we changed our form of government, it was one of the best things we have ever done without question, when we went to city administrator form of government. That was the key for the success we have seen. I can see things getting better. What we are trying to do is build that footprint. We have a terrific power distributer in Greeneville Light & Power. They are constantly doing upgrades on their system to provide electricity. We have a good water department. We have plenty of capacity to provide the infrastructure for water and sewer. I think the possibilities are really excellent. We have our planning department; they do a good job. I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish.
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would have the industries we have today. It is convenient when the president of a company can fly into Greeneville and in five or 10 minutes, he is in the office of his industry. … For us to survive, we have to provide that. Traffic congestion on State Route 11E was an issue discussed during the past year. Do you think access roads would help this situation? We wanted to be proactive when the city built the Jeff Woods Memorial Drive to alleviate some traffic congestion off of 11E, and it has. … We paid to have that done; we didn’t take funds from the state. … It is going to open up some possibilities for new growth, commercial and residential. … As far as access roads, I think it is a good idea. What would be your vision of the ideal town of Greeneville in 20 years? I am really anxious to see what this downtown revitalization does. Hopefully, the bypass will be a lot safer. … With the downtown revitalization, hopefully, we
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