Coleman Bomar, Staff Writer
Click here for the Williamson Herald article
On Monday night, Franklin Tomorrow hosted a candidates’ forum at City Hall featuring candidates for the upcoming Oct. 24 Franklin Municipal Election for mayor and aldermen at-large (Positions A, B, C and D).
Tom Lawrence of WAKM-AM radio moderated the event. Participants of the alderman portion of the forum included Gary Moore and incumbent Brandy Blanton, who are vying for the Position B seat; Greg Caesar, Patrick George and B.K. Muvvala, who are vying for the vacant Position C seat; and Jeff Feldman and incumbent Ann Petersen, who are vying for the Position D seat. Clyde Barnhill did not attend as his Position A seat is uncontested.
After candidates introduced themselves in opening statements, they spoke about their top priorities if elected.
Moore was first to speak and referenced the Franklin Pride Festival, saying if a permit for an event that was “sexual in nature” came to the city to be approved, the city needed to “take an even harder look at them to decide whether we need to pass them or not.” He noted he was pro-growth but for accompanying infrastructure to be built before growth. He said he was dedicated to preserving Franklin’s green spaces.
Blanton said she wanted to “maintain our high quality of service with city employees, but also our high quality of life.” She wants to manage growth and referenced Envision Franklin as a guiding template, stating that infrastructure needed to be in place before and coinciding with significant growth. She said she would work to maintain the city’s triple bond rating.
George said he was focused on “safeguarding families and preserving individual liberties.” He went on to say that he would be dedicated to preserving the city’s historic character and would work to manage growth.
Muvvala said he wanted to focus on supporting families in the city, managing growth and preserving “liberties and rights and justice for all.”
Ceasar said the foundation of his campaign was unity. “Our state and city are fractured right now, and I’m here to ask for your willingness to come back together,” he said. He noted he was also focused on managing growth and city finances.
Petersen said her priorities were managing growth, important projects and supporting city departments.
Feldman, who said he moved to Franklin “for freedom and Jesus,” said his priorities were accountability and transparency.
When asked about what healthy growth looks like in Franklin, Muvvala said he wanted balanced growth while preserving “the beauty and fabric” of downtown.
Ceasar said the first step to healthy growth was getting community feedback and that it was important that growth, while necessary, should not impair existing communities. Patrick George said he was for smart growth but against the new City Hall. Feldman was for the new City Hall, but not at its slated location: where the current City Hall is now off Main Street. He believes a business should purchase the current City Hall site so the city gets more tax revenue. Petersen spoke about the importance of infrastructure coinciding with developments and the effectiveness of the city’s infrastructure, such as sewer services, which she helped manage as an incumbent alderman. Blanton said community feedback was important to managing growth and that she and other aldermen have taken actions in the past to preserve the city’s historic and rural character. Moore talked about the importance of infrastructure and called Franklin’s water sources and treatment into question.
Lawrence asked the candidates if they supported tax incentives for large corporations moving to Franklin. Muvvala, George, Moore and Feldman oppose them. “[Tax incentives] should never happen,” Feldman said. “…Can anybody raise their hand in the audience and tell me they got a tax break to move here?” Ceasar said one “had to be careful” with tax incentives, but he was in favor of Franklin’s recent deal giving In-N-Out Burger a tax break. Blanton was in favor of providing certain organizations tax incentives sparingly. “I think something that some people don’t understand is that not only do these entities bring jobs to our community, good jobs so that they’re not having to traverse to Nashville, … they get involved in our community in a way that changes lives exponentially. It’s the opportunity to support nonprofits in a way that some of our small businesses can’t.”
Finally, Lawrence asked the candidates what measures they’d propose to enhance the quality of life and overall livability in Franklin.
Petersen said she thought “it was so wonderful for most people already.”
Feldman said the city should prioritize citizen engagement. Blanton and Ceasar said unity and togetherness in the community were some of the most vital ways to improve the quality of life in Franklin now. Moore spoke against the Franklin Pride Festival again and said families needed to return to a “moral compass.” George said it was important to listen to the public so the government does not get overly involved with citizens’ lives but instead assists them in how they need to be assisted. Muvvala said he wanted to address mental health issues, add more walkability in the city, and encourage small business growth.
Mayoral forum
After the aldermen portion of the forum, Lawrence asked mayoral candidates Gabrielle Hanson (current At-Large Alderman Position C) and incumbent Ken Moore to provide opening statements. Hanson said the city should represent “[the citizens’] interest, your voice and uphold traditional values that have made Franklin one of the most desirable places in America to visit and call home.”
Moore said he was running for reelection “to ensure that we don’t lose what is special and unique about Franklin. I hope that tonight, we can both be transparent about with you as voters and talk with facts and not fiction. It’s critically important that as leaders, we are trustworthy and talk about getting things done for the people of Franklin instead of trying to nationalize a local election.”
When asked what the top issues facing Franklin were, Moore responded that his priorities were transportation, infrastructure, housing, and specifically workforce housing. Hanson said her top priorities were accountability and transparency, that she would instate a town hall on Sunday afternoons to receive public feedback and look into updating the municipal code. She said her town hall would include a “scavenger hunt” with snacks so “that the public can get to know the city employees and earn a prize.”
The candidates disagreed about public transportation, with Hanson saying that she was “against public transportation” and that the trolleys the city now uses were too expensive, but the city government had the responsibility to increase roads to improve traffic flow.
Moore responded that eliminating public transportation entirely would “stop people who are going to medical appointments from having a ride, stop people with disabilities from getting to work, stop people in drug court who are going to jobs that they need to continue to recover. So, I am for public transportation.”
Moore is supportive of tax incentives for large corporations in certain cases. Moore was supportive of the city’s deal with In-N-Out Burger. In past interviews, Hanson said she wasn’t supportive of the deal, even though she voted for it to take place.
“I think the payment in lieu of taxes we gave [In-N-Out] was somewhere a little over $250,000…but for that, we get a $100,000 investment in our community and 300 high-paying jobs,” Moore said. “To me, that’s a good return on investment.”
Hanson said community input was the most important thing to consider before voting on tax incentives. “Maybe you’d be thrilled to have a new corporation move here and give them a tax incentive, but maybe you wouldn’t,” she said. “Ultimately, it’s your money, and you need to know about it before we, as a voting body, make a decision.”
Both candidates provided closing statements.
“Especially for those of us in public service, we must tell the truth and be accountable for what we say and do,” said Moore. “My opponent has not been transparent and has resorted to using fear and falsehoods to distort my record. Franklin voters deserve better than this.”
Hanson said that October’s election was “very likely the most significant election since the Battle of Franklin. This is a battle for the heart and soul of this community, for our culture, for our future and for our children. We can’t afford another four years on the trajectory that we’re currently on.”
A group of self-identified white nationalists and supremacists/neo-Nazis attended the forum in support of Hanson and helped escort her out and into the building. When asked their names and who they were, they insulted and mocked this reporter. Journalists followed Hanson to her car to try and get quotes about the group and photos. The supremacists followed close behind. After the forum, a pair of the nazis went to Red Pony restaurant and bar on main street.
“They self-proclaimed as neo-Nazis from what I understand and were throwing Hitler salutes and it got really ugly and we asked them to leave,” said Sharon Davis, Director of Operations at the Red Pony. “One of the guys was more like agreeable to leave and got the other one to leave. Because we were able to handle it ourselves and they didn’t try to come back or anything, my team did not call the police department, but I did call up there the next day.”
They were discovered to belong to the Tennessee Active Club, a group that has threatened certain journalists with violence.
“Threats of intimidation have absolutely no place in our politics — not in Franklin, not in Tennessee, and not in America,” said state Rep. Sam Whitson (District 65). “No candidate, including Mrs. Hanson, should ever resort to summoning the support of neo-Nazis or any cadre of violent anti-American extremists in order to settle a political contest of any sort.
“Further, any local political group who would excuse or sanction this kind of conduct, including those that continue to endorse Mrs. Hanson’s candidacy, share in her culpability. The Franklin I’ve known and loved flatly rejects them.
“As a newly commissioned Army officer, I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The winners of our Franklin city elections will be asked to take a similar oath upon entering office.
“Anyone who would rely upon violent domestic enemies of our constitutional government or serial dishonesty in a quest to win an election at any cost cannot be trusted to honor this oath. Our community is better than the political discourse we’ve come to tolerate as of late. I hope those who would seek to lead us at home would inspire our best aspirations rather than our worst examples.”