BD Newsletter

Jimmy Haley, Former County Executive, former City Mayor, and retired educator.

Interview by Brad Durham

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Why are you in McMinnville?

Well, my roots run very deep. My family were founding members of the community 200-plus years ago, so they’ve lived here and flourished here. Some have moved on to other states and places, but I felt that my calling was to remain here in McMinnville and help change lives one day at a time.

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What do you think when you reflect on McMinnville’s future? Positive? Negative?

I’m an optimist. I always think that the best is yet to come. We have had ups and downs. A survey guy came several years ago with a little analysis of our community and projections about what could and could not happen.  He said that if a lot of communities don’t start investing in themselves, they’ll go down into a hole and die. And even though they may rebound a little — they may get on a plateau. and they stay there. And that kind of resonated with me and made me think that we need to be a little more proactive. We need to think about the future and we need to be making plans for the growth that’s coming.

About the time the great recession hit, everybody was preaching gloom and doom. Normally, when you have an economic downturn, that’s the time you plan and lay the foundation for what’s to come. That’s what I felt compelled to do being a part of city government at that particular time.

I’m a historian, but sometimes investing in the past is not necessarily the best future. To diversify our economy and be a part of a team effort across the state, to rebuild real communities…Governor Lee and former Governor Haslam both believed in investing in rural communities and giving them the resources. We realize that the handouts are not going to last forever. So, unless you build a sustainable economy where you have the tools to grow and prosper…I feel like we have done a lot of that over the past few years.

With good leadership and good planning and like I said, being more proactive rather than reacting to situations, to me, that is how you expect something good to happen down the road. We’re in the next growth circle from Nashville, so if that growth continues to expand, then we will be ready for it.

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Do you think there is a difference between “McMinnville” and “Warren County?” Why or why not?

A lot of people think that and draw divisions and lines. I’ve just never had that attitude. We are one community, and boundaries only divide people — they don’t unite people. I used to use the argument that when visitors come to Warren County and they float our rivers, or fish or whether they come to hike, or stay in one of our state parks that are surrounding us, they don’t care what county that it is. They don’t care what city this is. They are here for the experience and enjoyment. It’s the same thing for people who want to relocate here for business purposes. They aren’t looking for their customers all to be located in McMinnville or the city of Morrison or Warren County. To me, we are all Warren County. 

The commissioners represent the entire county and the city residents as well. So, to me we are all part of the same team. I don’t like making those divisions and lines as a resident here. As a person who grew up here, I don’t see why you would say well that’s city or that’s county. We’re all Warren County and McMinnville is a part of it, it’s the county seat. 

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If you were mayor of McMinnville and had a magic wand, what three things would you change?

Change? I don’t necessarily use the word change. I would invest in infrastructure, housing, and economic development. I think those are all three keys to future growth, prosperity and for more sustainability for local government to provide the services that people expect. To me, that’s what government is…to provide services. 

It’s not a far-reaching power grab, a hand that squeezes one to death. To me, you give people the resources to prosper, and less government is more freedom and more opportunity to grow and to prosper. That brings investment, and that brings people because it is quality of life that most people are looking for now.

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What do you think unites us in McMinnville?

It is a collective people. Schools and education, because that is a common denominator. Public education is a great opportunity for many folks that has given them the avenue to go and do. Particularly people that are first-generation to graduate from college. So, to me that community spirit of having a child in school…I think that’s what unites us. It’s the common denominator. Even older people who don’t have children in school anymore, they see the value of education because that’s who waits the tables, that’s who drives the trucks, so that’s also future workers that you are investing in as well. 

I think we’ve done an excellent job in the last few years investing in education. Once again, the State of Tennessee has pushed that with lottery money. Tennessee Promise, Tennessee Reconnect and some of the other programs that are out there. There’s more ability to trade schools and colleges and to finish school now without going deep in debt. To me, that’s a good opportunity. 

We have a great vocational education department out at the high school, and then Motlow is expanding that Robotics Center and all those things make us appealing as the job market goes. We’ve got the resources to train, and hopefully that’s going to continue.

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What do you think divides us?

I think the fear of change. I think it has been fueled a bit by the political climate of our country, and I think that politics has instead of uniting people, has divided people. It’s become….if you are for that, then I’m against it. They draw the line and there is nobody willing to meet and compromise in the middle, and that’s what has made democracy so great for so long. 

I think the fear of what’s coming next and change. People have a hard time adapting to change, for whatever reason. Like I said, politics has continued to fuel that fear of change and people are either aggressively retaliatory or they get on social media and blast everything that looks like progress.

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Do you agree with the direction and quality of education the Warren County public school system offers for our children? Why or why not?

I do. We are always trying to build better programs and recruiting good teachers, and having the buy-in of the community is essential — they have to see results. For a long time, it was like they really didn’t want to invest in children. But, to me, you invest in children or you invest in jails. 

Children are the only future that we’ve got. So, we’ve got to make sure that the resources are within the schools and the buildings, the programs and the trained staff and support resources are there. It’s a little bit worrisome about the new TISA (Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement) formula for funding education from the state that replaces the BEP (Basic Education Formula). It looks like down the road, most of the state funds will be tied up and will be directed more toward charter schools and private schools, which will leave local communities and rural communities having to fund education completely. And that’s a little…I’m a little fearful…

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Can you raise property taxes? When you raise teacher pay, we are more competitive with our border counties.

Part of it is that property values rise and are reassessed. You grow communities with new jobs and new industry moving here, and it kind of takes care of itself. You don’t have to raise an additional tax to do that. Grow your economy, and it becomes more sustainable. It is generating more. I think some property is underassessed now, and because of the real estate boom, we know (I’ve been an economics teacher for years) there is boom and bust. It’s already…people are starting to ask if they paid too much for their houses.

We have to reassess based on the new property values so people are paying $400,000 (taxes) for a house that is assessed at $200,000. But there will be a readjustment in everything else…as long as the economy and people are moving here, and prices are going up and there is investment. Bridgestone just announced a multi-million-dollar expansion as well and so we’ve had two or three industries looking at us. As long as…with the new concept of building supply chains within our country, rather than depend upon external trade and supply lines coming from other countries that are not very stable, I think there will be an even bigger move to invest closer to market. Tennessee is centrally located as a marketplace. In and around bigger cities is where a lot of investment has come, but it is getting so hard to get property and people can’t afford to live in these places.

Now politics has gotten involved in education and that has caused it to be divisive as well. Lots of people are saying, “I just can’t take this” and so it’s become problematic, particularly when government starts to over-regulate education for political reasons. That to me is unproductive as well. It is troublesome a little bit to think about that as that model continues to evolve, and we are going to have a hard time having teachers in college, teachers in high school, grade school.

People don’t even want to be on school boards anymore because they get attacked. You hope that this is sort of a temporary thing that passes, but boy, it just seems to be gaining momentum unfortunately.

It’s been around for a while. People feel empowered to express their opinions too vocally now and they think they have the right to threaten people. That’s covered under First Amendment. Threatening people is assault and if you hit them, it is assault and battery. That doesn’t just give you the right, just because you disagree with them, to slash their tires or threaten to kill them.

They are loud and they get the attention. For teachers to be threatened and school board members to be threatened and elected officials to be threatened is unacceptable. To me it is un-American. It’s going to drive the most qualified and the most educated, the people who are most interested in helping in that arena away from education, and it will allow those voids to be filled with people who have their own opinions and who want to make those opinions everyone’s opinions. My grandmother always said that level heads will prevail.

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Is everything you need in McMinnville exist in terms of groceries, retail stores, churches, restaurants? 

There are two schools of thought on that. With Amazon now, everything is available now and you don’t even have to leave your recliner. Watching Fox News, you can just get your phone out and click and get your little market basket…and it will be there in the next day or two. 

As far as restaurants…the restaurant business is our business. My dad was in the restaurant business and it is a lot of hard work. There is not a lot of profitability to it, and one of the first businesses to fail is a restaurant.

Oh, I’ve got a good recipe and I can do this. Nothing is a given anymore. Food prices are high, and profit margins are small. People say we need more high-end restaurants, but I’m not so sure how many restaurants…I’ve noticed this a lot just from an economic standpoint. People in McMinnville want to eat at a higher-end restaurant, and they want an experience with it. They want to go shopping or visit someone, and then stop by their favorite restaurant and then drive on to McMinnville. They want to make an experience. Some people just want it cheap, quick and easy and that’s what drive-throughs are all about.

Now if I want to go out and buy a brand-new suit, there are not many opportunities to do that. You’ll have to go to a larger marketplace. But McMinnville is 45 minutes from Murfreesboro. That is not a big drive. I don’t like that they get our sales tax, and the general assembly has mandated that the sales tax on Amazon does go to Warren County and over the course of the pandemic, those tax collections were way up because most people were bored and sitting at home and working from home, and once again, it is easy to click on that button and get something ordered and that was a blessing.

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Is McMinnville doing enough for people who are economically disadvantaged, or if it should be doing more? If not, what should the city be doing?

I’ll say Warren County instead of making a division. We have a lot of great volunteer support agencies out there. Government can’t do everything and can’t be the hand that feeds the masses every day forever. That’s not sustainable and never will be and never has been. Call it socialism or whatever you want to.

Government is part of the safety net but it can’t be the whole safety net.

No. It cannot be. There is a large segment of our population that struggles every day with just basic needs, and a lot of people who don’t see it don’t understand the gravity of that. There are children who are going to be hungry and there is no support system at home to get them up and get them ready for school. So, once again, the burden falls upon the school system. Teachers can tell you stories. I know it, I’ve been there. But thank goodness we do have a lot of support agencies that do try to assist. Once again, try to break the cycle of poverty and invest in the child so that they get a good job — so that they are able to take care of themselves. Instead of being a hand-out, it is a hand-up. An opportunity.

Are we doing enough? Some people say we are doing too much. Is government doing enough. Local government can’t do a whole lot except give to some of these agencies, and a lot of people get mad because tax dollars are going to some of these agencies who get bypassed by government bureaucracy. They can leverage volunteers and do more with a small amount of money than the government could ever do. 

So, I don’t think we do enough to appreciate Families in Crisis, the Advocacy Center, Hamilton Street, UCHRA…all those support agencies that I feel are crucial to stabilizing that population that struggles with those needs. Do I wish it was different? Do I wish everyone had a job and could support their families? Yes. But in a realistic picture, it’s not going to happen. There is still going to be an element of that population. It’s generational and until you break that cycle of poverty, not a lot will change. There is a lot of mental illness out there, self-medication, a lack of insurance…we have a large uninsured population here in McMinnville. We do have our challenges, but it is no different from any other place.

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What did I not ask you that you would like to comment about regarding  McMinnville and its people?

I think we have a great little town with great opportunity. We have always been close-knit and have been a community of volunteers. We are blessed with so many agencies that a lot of communities don’t have. They are grass-roots and they grew. People saw the need, and the leadership was there to make it happen; and then the recruitment of some people and staff with some government funding.

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What would you say to those who say that these programs are attracting people to McMinnville and are coming from out of town?

They need to get out and do some volunteer work. It is easy to be on the outside and cast doubt on what’s happened. Go deliver Meals on Wheels or Good Neighbors that we do at First Methodist Church. Or go volunteer at Families in Crisis. Or go deliver meals to a homeless tent camp and work with these people and see what puts people in that place. 

They say it is like feeding a stray dog…they’ll never leave the front porch. To me that is so derogatory when you don’t understand where that person came from or what drove them into that situation. Many people have mental illness, and it is easy to tell people with mental illness that you need to get a job. That’s not an easy thing for someone who is suffering from a mental crisis.

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The next complete interview features Stacey Harvey.