CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- The three Republican candidates for Bradley County mayor are presenting some differing ideas to the voters.
During last week's debate and at other venues recently, incumbent D. Gary Davis, Commissioner Lisa Stanbery and Chris Weir have staked out positions on government transparency, leadership, jobs and schools as well as the local economy and its place within the state and national economy.
LEADERSHIP
Mr. Weir said important decisions are ahead for the county and points to his own experience in business and the military.
"It is important that right now, today, we need a leader with experience that matters; experience from a professional standpoint," he said. "As county mayor I would want to first be a bridge, a bridge from county government to our local people."
Mr. Davis said he has worked hard over the years with city, county and business leaders to keep existing jobs and recruit new employers. With the coming of industries such as Volkswagen and Wacker Chemical, he said, "We are on the brink of seeing something like Bradley County has never seen before."
He said the mayor's office is a first point of contact when taxpayers have problems.
"If anything goes wrong, that's who you call. That's who you blame. But you have very little authority. You've got to work together as a team with all the other people involved," Mr. Davis said.
Mrs. Stanbery said the office also has a lot of responsibility.
"You have several department heads you have to oversee. It's important to maintain a good level of commitment for review of those departments," she said.
She said the county should look at how businesses make decisions as an example.
"I do believe the buck stops there. We must be responsible for what we are saying and doing. We don't turn around and point at somebody else and say, 'I didn't vote on that.'"
TRANSPARENCY
Mrs. Stanbery called for clearer tracking of county spending and said the county Web site should include more information on spending that just the budget.
"I would make sure items that are spent and supposed to come out of a line item are tracked out of that line item. That way we know what we are spending," she said. "The responsibility for tracking that is in the mayor's office."
Mr. Davis said financial records are available for inspection in the county finance director's office. He said Mrs. Stanbery had asked for copies from books going back a decade for which she would have been billed $800.
"You the citizens should not be paying for what one individual wanted," Mr. Davis said.
Mr. Davis said the county Web site now carries more varied public information than ever.
"My door is always open. and until last year I never missed a day being sick," he said.
Mr. Weir said he would conduct town hall-style meetings in each district and hold a mayor's First Tuesday each month.
"The door will not only be open, but I will be behind the door," Mr. Weir said.
The winner of the May 4 Republican primary will face Democrat Paul Krisle and independent Erin Fuller in the Aug. 5 general election.