It is my strong belief that local elections have more impact on day-to-day life than any state or federal election. It’s also my opinion that is a good thing. It’s a good thing because those who serve in local government have roots and a vested interest in the community. Our council and mayor are elected by the citizens of Murfreesboro to do their will and serve in their best interest. This means, in my opinion, that they should listen to any concerns or input a member of our community has.

All council members’ contact information is available on the city website, and council meetings are open to the public. In other words, if you take an issue before local government, you are in the company of elected officials who live in the same community as you. You are far more likely to get understanding and sympathy here than you would if addressing a state or federal body. In addition to that, the decisions made by local government have a much bigger impact on your daily life: for example, local taxes, new constructions, new roads and re-zonings. Even agenda items such as how much is spent on fireworks or the Christmas parade are just a few of the issues that affect everyday life, whether you notice it or not. Just because it doesn’t make headline news does not mean it we are unaffected by it.

The next city council election for the city of Murfreesboro is Aug. 2, with early voting July 13 through 28. Madelyn Scales Harris is running for her third term on that council. Madelyn is a lifelong resident of Murfreesboro and the third member of her family to serve on the city council. Her father and mother both served before her. And like her father before her, she is currently vice-mayor. Having served longer than any of her contemporaries, she is also the senior member of the council. Recently, I got the chance to ask Madelyn a few questions about the upcoming election and get her responses.

Murfreesboro Pulse: Are you comfortable with the position of vice-mayor?
Scales Harris: Certainly I am up to the challenge of taking on the duties of vice-mayor. I take a lot of pride in being the first female vice-mayor of Murfreesboro. I grew up in politics and have no reservations regarding my ability to do the job well. Our late vice-mayor Doug Young did such a great job, and I’m working hard to build off of his work.

A lot of the Murfreesboro Pulse readers are recent college graduates and younger families. For that demographic, what do you feel are the attractions to this area?
Murfreesboro is a great place for dreamers, retirees, seasonal weather lovers; our diverse religious community and other things are all attractions to our great city. We have been recognized nationally as a fast-growing and constantly changing city. With Murfreesboro being in the center of the state, we are accessible to other cities around. We have over 128,000 people here right now and our number is increasing. We have great amenities which make the quality of life better, where people can relax and enjoy life and family. With MTSU being the number-one university in the state, students are graduating and staying here to start their careers and family. Even with the exploding population, Murfreesboro still maintains a hometown image, which I feel is very important and I never want to see us get away from that. We should always maintain and support our small business owners who helped make our town what it is today.

There’s been discussion lately about changing from a part-time mayor and full-time city manager to a full-time mayor. Do you think the city is ready for a full-time mayor?
Today the city manager-type of government seems to be working. I don’t think a decision with this type of magnitude should be determined by the City Council. I feel the citizens should make this decision. A full-time-mayor-type of government can sometimes tend to become too political. In our present city-manager-type of government, the council makes the decisions and passes it along to the city manager for implementation. In this type of government, no one person controls everything.

Why did the council choose Craig Tindell as the new city manager?
The company we hired to help us find a city manager brought us approximately 25 people. The council narrowed the applicants down to approximately 11. Of those, no one person stood out with the attributes we were looking for in a city manager for a city the size we have. We then decided to look inward and Mr. Tindell expressed an interest. Upon the request of the council, Mr. Tindell submitted his vision and goals for our city. We felt Mr. Tindell was qualified with his experience, having served two fast growing cities in council-appointed positions for more than 15 years. Based on the information we received, we felt that Mr. Tindell would do a great job and would serve our city well as the city manager.

Is it time to re-evaluate the retirement polices of the city as pertains to fire and police?
We should and will start looking at a possible different retirement policy for fire and police allowing them to be able to retire at a younger age and with less years of service. I feel when it comes to looking at these two departments, we should no longer look at them the same way we do the other departments, simply based on the risk their job entails. Their job is different based on the stress and physical demands they deal with on a day-to-day basis. Some people feel the firefighters do nothing all day but sit around waiting on something to happen and the police officers ride around in cars all day, but this is certainly far from the truth. The reality is when something happens, something really happens. They encounter more life-threatening situations on a day-to-day basis than are imaginable. Just by the nature of their job, people’s lives and life-threatening situations are put in their hands daily and it definitely takes a toll on them both mentally and physically. There is just so much stress the body can take day after day and year after year.

What about pay raises for city employees?
I’ve always been passionate about and sensitive to the needs of city employees. I go to the same grocery stores as every other city employee. If the cost of my bread goes up 10 cents, the price of your bread goes up 10 cents; if my gas goes up, yours goes up. Some employees must work two jobs to make ends meet and that impacts the quality of life, how much time they get to spend with their family. You must keep in mind, the city has a budget and must be financially responsible, but the retirement age, raises for our retired employees and wages for all city employees are being considered and what the council does will be done fairly and equitably.

What else do you want to say to the readers of the Pulse?
For the past eight years I have served the citizens of Murfreesboro to the best of my ability. I do it by listening to their concerns, speaking up for them and following through. I love the citizens of Murfreesboro and I am a councilperson for all citizens. I have passion for the citizens and have always been careful not to make promises I could not keep. When I go to bed at night I know I have done the best I can do and when a person has done their best, that is all they can do.

I would love to continue serving the citizens of Murfreesboro. I sincerely and humbly ask the citizens to allow me to continue to support them to the best of my ability.