WHITWELL, Tenn. -- Gov. Phil Bredesen took questions Tuesday from a room full of Whitwell Middle School students and then asked one of his own.
"Does anybody here want to be governor?" he asked the packed lunchroom.
Most hands in the room went up.
"It's just a confirmation that my kids can do anything," said Whitwell Middle School principal Linda Hooper.
ABOUT THE GRANTS
Whitwell's $500,000 Community Development Block Grant was one of 72 the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development announced last month. Statewide, the grants totaled about $28 million. The city of South Pittsburg and Hamilton County also received $500,000 each to repair water systems. McMinn and Bledsoe counties received $500,000 each for water lines.
Students asked Gov. Bredesen, who made an afternoon visit to the school and its Holocaust museum, such questions as whether being governor is hard, if there's a vice governor and if he does much dealing with tariffs.
The governor also was in town to present Whitwell Mayor Chris Morrison with a check for $500,000 to pay for improvements to the city's water system. The money comes from a Community Development Block Grant, which is funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Staff Photo by Allison Kwesell
Governor Phil Bredesen signs a brochure for Whitwell Middle School's Chiildren's Holocaust memorial as he stands in front of a Holocaust boxcar that the school has filled with paper clips to honor those who died in the Holocaust.
Mr. Morrison expressed his gratitude to the governor for the funds, which will go toward repairing the city's leaky water system.
"It's necessary just to survive," he said.
Gov. Bredesen said funding water and sewer systems in rural areas has been a goal he wished he could have focused on more during his seven years as governor.
"I think it's an appropriate way for the state to step in," he said.
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