13/07/2020
WHO IS JOHN SKINNER
AND WHAT IS HE ABOUT?
Hello. My name is John Skinner, I have the honor of being a candidate for the position of Alderman in LaVergne’s next election. Even though I have been in restaurant management throughout middle Tennessee for the last forty-two years, I am not a one trick pony. Proud as I am of the success in improving the restaurant that I have had the opportunity to be associated with, I am more proud of having had the opportunity to meet so many diversified people from all sorts of cultures, races, religions, and social backgrounds. Because I believe our city and country’s greatest asset is people, not just some, but all, working together toward a common goal. Allow me to introduce myself to those I have not yet the privilege to meet.
1968-1975, joined the Boy Scouts Of America, Troop 340.
1971-1975, served as Senior Patrol Leader for Troop 340.
1972, summer, worked at Boy Scouts of America Boxwell Reservation as a kitchen aide at Camp Stallman.
1973, summer, worked at Boxwell Reservation as a program aide at Camp Parnell.
1974, summer, worked at Boxwell Reservation as a program aide at Camp Craig, and as a Survival Instructor at Camp Life.
1970’s- associated with, and supporter of LaVergne Rescue Squad.
1975, graduated from Smyrna High School.
1980’s- volunteer for the LaVergne Volunteer Fire Department.
1983- student of martial arts. Kim’s Karate and Master Green’s Tang Soo Do. Even though I have not attended regular classes since 1996, I still consider my a student of the arts, having formed many acquaintances and friendships from many different disciplines during my tournament days, lasting to this day. I believe that much information is needed, the desire to learn should never die.
1991-1996, Certified Instructor at Kim’s Karate and Master Green’s Tang Soo Do, both at the main club that was located on front Street and at the Smyrna Town Center.
2002-2005, Den Leader for Boy Scouts of America, Pack 340.
2005-2007, I proudly served as Cub Master of Pack 340. I can attest to the fact that this was one of the most enjoyable, and personally rewarding, times of my life. To see a child work hard on a task, and finally accomplish it, the look on that child’s face is priceless. There is no amount of money on the face of this Earth that can buy at look.
2009- Assistant Coach for Class B LaVergne Youth League Football Wolverines.
2010-2016, Adult volunteer and supporter of the LaVergne High School Marching Band. Yes, I was, and still am, a Band Dad. 2010, ninth in the USSBA National Championships; 2012, US Band Champion; 2012-2013, US Band Southern Champion, and many first place finishes at various competition tournaments. Many of the performers, and their parents, I still associate with to this day.
2014-2016, supporter of the Middle Tennessee State University Band of Blue.
2014- 2018, supporter of the Middle Tennessee State University Music Department, enjoying awesome concerts presented by many different bands and choirs with the Jazz Bands, and especially the Salsa Band, being my personal favorites.
I have been involved in many other things, but these are some of my favorites from our community and our county.
Now for the crux of the matter.
What do I envision for my home of LaVergne, and what can I contribute to make it happen, moving forward?
Community.
Not only neighbor helping neighbor, but citizen helping city, and city serving citizenry. There are definitely more people residing in our fair city than when I moved here in the 1960’s, but LaVergne always has been, and always will be, my home. Although my work has taken me away from here from time to time, LaVergne has always been my home. LaVergne is in the heart, meaning, you can take the boy out of LaVergne, but you can never take LaVergne out of the boy. I am a proud LaVergne Homeboy! I am tasking myself with the challenge of making every single person who calls LaVergne home feel the love I have for Her. A monumentous endeavor to say the least, but one I am willing to undertake. How will I go about this? Baby steps. I can not force anyone to love our city, but by getting everybody to work towards a common goal, to lead by example, and by willing to get in and get my hands dirty to get the job done. The Mayor and Board of Aldermen can only act on the policies presented to them. In order to do this, present your desires, or feelings of apprehension, to them. After all, they are servants of their citizens, not dictators. If meetings need to be made to hear suggestions, or address concerns, they can be arranged, but usually at the monthly Board of Mayor and Aldermen, you can address all directly during a public forum available before each session. To be the ears of people to make the best possible decision for the benefit of the majority of the citizenry, not special interest groups, is what the BOMA represents at each session. Remember, they were chosen by the citizens to be the voice of all in our city and should be respected, but held to the task of the position. Everyone working as one towards a common goal in a city our size is the objective. A novel concept, maybe, but a responsibility I am willing to shoulder, a goal I am willing to work towards.
Future Growth.
Let’s face it, we’re land locked. We can not annex new land to grow, so what we have in our city limits now is all we have to work with. Since there is so little acreage left to develop, what is the best course of action moving forward? A hard and consorted look at what is left and what is already developed next to it, is needed. By setting our sights on what we have left to work with, factoring in our end result for the city, how can we best utilize what we have at our disposal for the overall best outcome for our city. Maybe visit the possibility of rezoning and restructuring, or tweaking what we already in place. Not all the houses in our city are occupied. Should we vote to place a moratorium on allowing the building of new subdivisions until we reach a level of capacity, and deciding on what that level should be, therefore allowing our infrastructure the ability to catch up with the growth we have experienced, with the hope of being proactive in the positioning ourselves for the next phases. That way we can be assured of getting the most bang for the buck of our tax dollars, without having to burden our citizens by raising our city taxes. Speaking of taxes, do you realize our city taxes have not been raised in nine years? Our administrators should be commended for this. Since we make more tax revenue from sales tax than we do from property tax, should we be focused more on attracting more retail to our city. I feel by making our city more appealing to retail, and in house dining, the more chance we have to garner more tax, not to mention relieving the need to have to leave our city to get what we want. Imagine that, going out to eat, stopping by a local retailer to pick up something you need, and never having to leave our city limits. And the bonus being, adding a few coins to the city’s coffers, allowing us the luxury to contribute to the future growth of our home. We should strive to be as self sufficient as a city as possible. Even if this is a desired course of action by our citizens, it will not happen overnight. Baby steps. For a journey of a thousand miles begins only after the first step. In order to get somewhere, you have to start somewhere.
Infrastructure.
We have people, a lot of people. Do we have the means in place to assure the concerns, safety, and comfort of their livelihood? While our city does its best with what is offered to its citizenry, I feel a few areas need addressing. When a citizen has a concern they want answers to, or help with, and goes to the department which they feel is the one to help them, then sent to another department, who directs them to another department, only to be informed that was not the department they need, forwarded to another department, told they were not sure of what department handles their request but try still another department, only to be sent to a department they had previously been to, finally told that it was time to go home and to come back another day. I feel a city wide interdepartmental system should be looked at to eliminate scenarios such as described. While each department has its own realm of responsibility, they should work together for the benefit of the city. Why? Because they are paid to do a job by the city of LaVergne. And who is the city of LaVergne? THE CITIZENS ARE. When a citizen approaches a city employee with a concern, that employee should make a phone call, or however many it takes, to find the exact department, and contact person, then give the citizen directions to, and contact person to see, thank them with a smile, then send them on their way. Any city employee who treats our citizens’ concerns as insignificant and an interruption to their job, need to be replaced by someone who sees the concern not as an interruption of their job, but rather, the reason of their job. A little caring and courtesy go a long way. Our roads are in need of a little love. For the most part they are functional and in good repair. Most of the thoroughfares leading to many of the subdivisions struggle with traffic flow, and are not adequate to handle surges due to a cataclysmic event should one warrant evacuation. Our great first responder services are severally undermanned and given nowhere near the credit and respect they deserve. Our police department does an awesome job, but we desperately need more trained officers, and the equipment needed by them, to properly serve our community. When a 9-1-1 call is received, how many fire trucks and police cars need be dispatched, especially for a medical emergency? Training and preparedness should be constant in order to assure the safety and well being of our citizens. The same goes for our great fire department. More trained fire fighters and emergency medical technicians are needed for the effective handling of a crisis when it arrives. Upgrades to equipment and facilities should be ongoing. What about the current status of our water department. Are the facilities and pipes adequate to handle all the new construction, if not is there a plan to assure the quality of service to provide for future growth? Are upgrades to our facilities being considered to accommodate? Parks and Recreation are providing parks to be proud of. I would love to see another park and sports complex on the other side of town should land and funds be available. If not, what about the green way? Where do we stand on continuing, and what about looking for areas along the route to put up in a small picnic recreation site. Surely we could seek out our schools or local industries to sponsor and help maintain these sites. These are questions I will seek answers for, and maybe work to hopefully resolve.
Schools.
You should have noticed by my background and there be no doubt, I love kids. I am aware of the fact the our schools are under control of the Rutherford County Board of Education. I will be seeking out answers to the problems of student to teacher ratio, and why our teachers do not have the tools they so desperately need to effectively instruct our students. What are we allowed to do to to assist in the educational process? What should we expect from the School Board? Ecologists keep asking, “What kind of world are we going to leave to our children?” I prefer to ask, “What kind of children are we going to leave to our World?”
Our Senior Citizens.
This is our city’s most overlooked and underutilized asset. These amazing people have so much they can bring to the benefit of our city. Knowledge. Each and every one is a reservoir of information. They not only know our history, they are our history, for they have lived all that we have read about. While it is nice to plan little day trips for them that make them feel they are doing something special and fun. Rather I say, let’s work with our Seniors to plan activities for them to be included in, so we can bring people to our city to have fun, because our Seniors are special. While many may not know how to fully utilize a cell phone, I can assure you, that though they may be a bit slower than Google, they are far more fun, and just as factual, as Wikipedia. If you think I am trying to say we should weave them into the fabric of our city, I will tell you, with no uncertainty, they are truly the very fabric of our community.
Passion.
I would like to bring my love of our city to every one who reside here. I want them to feel the passion I have LaVergne, not for what it was in my youth, but for what together we can make it become.
Community.
Yes, I started with community, and I will end with community. That is because that is what I am about, what I believe in, and what I want to be a part of as we prepare to enter our next phase of greatness as friends and neighbors. And although I would love to be considered a leader, I would never forget, in all actuality, that I would be only a humble servant of the people, if you so choose to offer me the opportunity.
When I started this synopsis(yes, I am aware a synopsis is a BRIEF overview), I get carried away when I talk about our city, our citizens, and the direction I would love to be a part of moving forward. I am my own man, and good or bad, make my own decisions, and take ownership of them. I can not be bought. During this time of it being popular to take a knee, I prefer to take a stand, because if you do not stand for something, you will surely fall for anything. In times of altercation, I believe the best policy is to agree to disagree, shake hands, and go have a cup of coffee. How can you fault a person who is as passionate in their opinion as you are of yours. In hindsight you will see that even though their views are different, you are still the same. I may appear to be adamant, but I am not stoic. To hear a different slant on a matter may bring information to me that I was not aware of. Every person has a right to voice their own opinion, the First Amendment to our beloved Constitution so deems it, and must be heard. Sometimes you need a fresh set of eyes to obtain a new vision. If I stand behind you, it will to accept your leadership, to support and follow, because in order to be a great leader you must know how to follow. If I stand in front of you, it will be to protect you from adversary. I prefer to stand beside you, both as your equal and your friend. The more things change, the more they stay the same. I think not. When you are moving forward in uncharted terrain, change is inevitable, how you adapt will be how you will live. If given the opportunity to serve, remember I perceive myself as a quick read and fast learner, and have the ability to adopt and adapt. If there are further questions you feel you may have about my qualifications to offer as Alderman, please contact my by my cell phone at 615-243-3063, and if I do not answer, please leave me a message, or a text, as I am not one who lives and dies by their cell phone, or e-mail me at [email protected]. Thank you for your time and consideration.
I AM JOHN SKINNER
I WOULD BE PROUD
FOR THE OPPORTUNITY
TO SERVE AS YOUR
ALDERMAN
