Ward 4 Candidate Tennessean Responses

The Spring Hill and Thompson's Station Journal
Ward 4 Candidate Responses

Viola Pickard
Bruce Hull

Published: March 21, 2007
By: Sue McClure, Staff Writer

With just tow days left until early voting, there's one more ward we need to visit, Ward 4.

Two candidates are vying to represent the area, which encompasses the southwest part of the city, bounded on the east side by Kedron Road. While this is Spring Hill's least populated ward, it is also one that will face the challenge of growth in the future, particularly in the Beechcroft-Cleburne Road area.

VIOLA PICKARD

A short bio:
Viola Pickard, 73, is a mother of six children, five of whom attended Spring Hill schools. A widow, who was married for 35 years and has lived in the city of Spring Hill for 24 years and in the Spring Hill area for 38 years. She has served as alderman from May 2005 until the present. She worked as a school cafeteria manager at McDowell Elementary School in Columbia for 27 years and served as president of the Maury County school cafeteria managers from 1982 to 1984. She served as vice president of the Spring Hill Senior Citizens from 2004 to 2005 and as a board member from 2004 to 2006.

What makes you the best candidate for alderman?
I have experience as being a city alderwoman for two years and attending every city council meeting and work session. I also have knowledge of the Spring Hill area from being a Spring Hill area resident for 38 years and having a background in working and dealing with people. I recently voted against and 800 percent pay increase for aldermen because I strongly believe in serving my community and contributing where I can.

What would you focus on as alderman?
I would focus on the traffic issue in Spring Hill. We need to work diligently with the State of Tennessee road department to get immediate relief. Roads like Duplex and Beechcroft are extremely dangerous and literally represent a life and death situation to our Spring Hill citizens. U.S. Highway 31 is a traffic nightmare early mornings and late afternoons, which could significantly impede emergency vehicle transportation. I would also focus on ensuring our residential population is served by a quality school system. We, as aldermen, must work hand in hand with our county governments to provide the best education possible for our citizens.

TDOT says it will be at least 10 years before road improvements are made to Main Street. Would you be willing to use city money to speed up this project and others?
The Spring Hill Board of Mayor and Aldermen in 2006 approved the money to be paid to TDOT to speed up the improvement of state roads in Spring Hill. I voted "no." Unfortunately, we have had little result from the monies paid and I feel it is unnecessary and unwise to spend city monies to speed up road projects. In my opinion and research I have conducted on other cities in the state of Tennessee, cities such as Spring Hill should not have to contribute additional funds to speed up road projects.

State revenues are collected in Spring Hill daily for use in our state road systems. what we should do as aldermen is make sure our allotted share is spent in Spring Hill and not elsewhere. We must work as a team and engage in dialogue with our state of emergency we presently have with our roads. We must also be careful not to place a high density development in dangerous traffic areas. I recently voted "no" to the rezoning of a high-density development on the corner of Duplex and Port Royal roads because of dangerous Duplex Road, a state road.

What can Spring Hill do to encourage smart growth? Are you in favor of a moratorium on building?
We as city officials should welcome growth; however, in doing so, we must fully protect the moral and property values of all citizens in Spring Hill. We can do so by enforcing our zoning regulations, encouraging responsible growth and promoting community involvement. I am not in favor of a building moratorium as long as the city infrastructure is sufficient and serves the needs of the city. Continually increasing the city infrastructure is an ongoing process and it is important to the vitality of our city.

How can Spring Hill recruit businesses that would provide good paying jobs for Spring Hill residents? And how can the city recruit and keep qualified employees, particularly police and firefighters?
Simply put, we should portray the City of Spring Hill as a model city - a city that businesses "want" to locate in. We can do that by keeping our city taxes reasonably affordable, impact fees fair and continue to portray Spring Hill as a user-friendly community. We can keep quality police and fire-fighters by ensuring that our police and fire departments are run by highly qualified leaders, continuing to pay fair wages and benefits and treating every employee with respect.

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BRUCE HULL

A short bio:
Bruce Hull, 38, and his wife and two children have lived in Spring Hill since 1998. He owns a home inspection company and is part owner of a printing and mailing company. He is serving his fifth year on the Spring Hill Planning Commission and his first year as its chairman. He served on the city's Five-Year Plan Committee and was on the board of directors of the Spring Hill Arts Center and the former Merchants of Spring Hill Association.

What makes you the best candidate for alderman?
Leadership, my time in the Marines and my business management skills. I have owned and operated businesses my whole career. I have been involved in the community and have experience on the planning commission. I have good people skills and I think that involves respecting and placing values on others' opinions. I have commitment to the community. The day we moved into Spring Hill, our family has been involved in the community.

What would you focus on as alderman?
I would start looking for ways for the city to fund itself in the future. We don't have property taxes, which is a good thing. But the impact fees won't last forever. So we need to come up with a plan and see what businesses pay the best and recruit those businesses. Planning for the future is very important. I like the direction the administration is going, looking five years down the road. We have a master thoroughfare plan that they're working on and we'll have some decisions to make when that comes back. So, financial and planning are my main focuses.

TDOT says it will be at least 10 years before road improvements are made to Main Street. Would you be willing to use city money to speed up this project and others?
Yes. The roads in this city should be a shared responsibility. I wouldn't close the door on any ways to speed up those projects.

What can Spring Hill do to encourage smart growth? Are you in favor of a moratorium on building?
Well, I am head of the Planning Commission, so I'd say we are being smart with our growth. We have activated the Economic Development Commission and we've developed a master land-use plan for the first time in years. We can't do enough planning. We have Wilbur Smith and Associates in Franklin working up a master plan and it's all falling into place. I don't favor a moratorium. That could have a disastrous effect on the city, which funds itself with impact fees. If we do that, property taxes would have to go up and that would hurt the economy.

How can Spring Hill recruit businesses that would provide good-paying jobs for Spring Hill residents? And how can the city keep qualified qualified employees, particularly police and firefighters?
We need to continue to focus on our quality of life and our city's affordability. That's going to attract businesses to our city. The Economic Commission is doing its job of recruiting businesses, but we as citizens have a responsibility to make our city attractive. As for employee pay, our police department is among the lowest paid in the state. They are using Spring Hill as a steppingstone. So pay is the main issue.

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