What I Will Do in My First 100 Days as Mayor
Every candidate for mayor says they will hit the ground running. I want to tell you exactly what that means, in specifics, so you can hold me to it.
I have spent over thirty years working for the City of Clarksville, starting as a laborer in the Street Department and working my way up to leading Clarksville Gas and Water. If that experience taught me one thing, it is that the work starts with knowing exactly where you stand.
Here is what I will do in my first 100 days as your mayor.
OPEN THE BOOKS
First, we open the books. Immediately upon taking office, I will bring in an independent, third-party review of the city's finances: our revenue, our expenditures, and especially our debt. The city already receives a formal audit each year. This is different. I want an outside set of eyes telling us plainly what our financial health is as a local government. We can utilize the Government Finance Officers Association, the Municipal Technical Advisory Service, or the State Comptroller's Office to conduct this review at little to no cost to the city. We clearly have financial issues, and the public deserves to know exactly the financial situation we are in. The process and the results will be public for every citizen to see.
GET TRAFFIC MOVING
Second, we get traffic moving. In the first weeks, I will review the multiple completed roadway network studies the city has already paid for and formulate a plan for improvement and network growth, building on that work instead of starting over. The first step will happen immediately: retiming the traffic lights along every roadway with a series of nearby, sequential intersections. That alone will alleviate congestion and provide immediate relief along our main thoroughfares throughout the city, and drivers will notice the difference well before the first 100 days are over. From there, we will develop a plan prioritizing the needed improvement projects those studies identified, and I will report back to you on each one as it moves forward.
Know Where We Stand
Third, I will meet with every department head, individually and collectively, to discuss ongoing and pending capital projects, interlocal agreements, grant funding, legislation, litigation, and personnel issues. The purpose is simple: to begin our first term with a firm understanding of the city's overall logistical situation, not a guess. That review includes every piece of pending litigation the city is party to, and each case will get a clear path forward, whether that means attempting to settle or continuing through the court system. These meetings happen in the first weeks for a reason. Everything else in this plan, from the capital improvement plan to the budget, depends on knowing exactly where the city stands before we commit to where it is going.
A 20-Year Plan
Fourth, we will review and assess every ongoing and planned city project and develop a 20-year Capital Improvement Plan, prioritizing all projects by order of necessity and regulatory mandate. The plan will include the estimated schedule and price of each project, so the city can plan according to its actual financial situation instead of reacting year to year. The assessment begins in the first 100 days, built directly from the department reviews above, and the finished plan will give the Council and the public a single document showing what is coming, when, and what it will cost. That way, decisions about growth, debt, and taxes are made with the full picture in front of us rather than one project at a time.
Finish What We Started
Fifth, we finish what we started. Clarksville has projects that were promised and never completed, and the people who were counting on them deserve to see them through. In the first 100 days, I will put a plan in place to complete the improvements to Tylertown Road, complete construction of Spring Creek Parkway and the Exit 8 Sports Complex, and revitalize Mason Rudolph Golf Course. Each will be carried out through dedicated financing and partnerships with local and correlated stakeholders, so every one has a funding source identified before work is scheduled. These four projects will also be among the first entries in the 20-year Capital Improvement Plan, each with a schedule and a cost attached, so you can track the progress.
A Better Budget
Sixth, I will meet with every new and remaining Council member individually to discuss the needs of their wards. Council members have a greater, more intimate awareness of the needs of their constituents, and that information will shape the city's FY28 budget, which begins July 1, 2027. We will also formulate an improved budget process that involves Council members earlier, in order to improve communication and cohesion coming into the new fiscal year. Those conversations start in the first 100 days for a reason. The budget is where every other commitment on this page either gets funded or does not, and building it with the Council from the start is how the city begins a fiscal year already agreed upon.
Resolve Ajax Turner
Seventh, I will review the details surrounding the city's position concerning the Ajax Turner Senior Center and attempt to resolve the current standoff. This dispute is ultimately hurting those who need the socialization and who have utilized the services this organization has provided for years, and the seniors who depend on this center should not be the ones paying the price while it drags on. The review belongs in the first weeks, alongside the assessment of every other case the city is party to, and it will be approached the same way: a clear look at where the city stands, and a path forward that ends in a resolution instead of a longer fight. When there is a resolution, I will report it.
Downtown Parking
Eighth, we fix downtown parking. I will resolve and clarify the city's position on downtown parking, including the re-establishment of a Parking Authority, in order to establish a plan for limited-time free and rate-paid on-street, lot, and garage parking. Right now, people visiting downtown cannot count on the same rules from one block to the next, and our downtown businesses feel that uncertainty in their foot traffic. A clear plan provides consistency for all visiting downtown and support for our downtown businesses, which will result in improved consumer traffic and future business growth. The Parking Authority and the parking plan both get started in the first 100 days, so that every visitor and every merchant downtown knows exactly what to expect.
