Mr. Johns goes to Town Hall....

Recent articles in the Knoxville Focus discuss some of the candidates for the Board of Mayor and Alderman. In those articles, Mr. Johns who is running for mayor of the Town of Farragut, indicated that he attended a seven-and-a-half hour planning meeting. In one article he is quoted as stating that this meeting “accomplished nothing.” This seven-and-a-half hour planning meeting held in early February was the Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s annual strategic planning retreat to begin to build the Town’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Contrary to Mr. Johns’ statement, there was actually quite a lot of work accomplished during this planning meeting. During this meeting, the elected officials work with our Town Administrator and our department heads to discuss the needs and desires of our community and prioritize funding those needs and desires in a fiscally responsible manner. We utilize the strategic plan framework which was approved in 2017 to assure us that what we’re funding furthers the goals of Farragut’s Strategic Plan.

This meeting was publicly noticed and the public can attend to listen to the Board’s discussion. Clearly Mr. Johns and the press were aware of this meeting because they attended it. It’s not clear to me why Mr. Johns expected a “response” from any one, as he hasn’t been involved with the Town governance in any meaningful manner for many years. As a citizen of Farragut, he has every right to reach out to the Board and provide his feedback and thoughts. Even so, contrary to his statement, Mr. Johns was acknowledged at the end of the meeting and he briefly provided some of his thoughts. What Mr. Johns seems to be unaware of is that the elected officials have many conversations with residents throughout the year and, during this annual retreat, advocate for programs and projects based on those conversations. Over the years, I have successfully advocated for many road projects, stormwater infrastructure improvements, sidewalk/greenway projects, and policy and ordinance changes based on conversations I’ve had with Farragut residents. 

Arguably, approving a budget is the most important act performed by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. The Town of Farragut continues to thrive, maintaining our infrastructure, improving roads and our transportation network, adding sidewalks and trails, maintaining 6 parks with a myriad of amenities, operating a community center and town hall and hosting community events without a municipal property tax because of the careful, conservative management of our funds and we have no debt. The Town of Farragut is in great condition fiscally and physically. 

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