Tony Lawrence, Minister Church of Christ at Bybee Branch.
Interview by Brad Durham
Why are you in McMinnville?
An opportunity to work with the Church of Christ at Bybee Branch. When I learned of the opening, Glenn Ramsey moved to Cookeville. Glen Ramsey was the pastor before me. He and I both were teaching at Tennessee Bible College at that time. He told me about the opportunity, and I contacted the church here. I came and tried it out, and they decided they wanted me. That was 38 years ago.
I grew up in Alabama and graduated from Freed-Hardeman. Then I moved to Clarksville, and I moved here in 1985.
What do you think when you reflect on McMinnville’s future? Positive? Negative?
I see both. It is still a good place to raise a family. I love living here, and that is one reason I have not sought to go anywhere else. I will probably die here. This has become home. I love the people here. The town is comprised of so many good folks.
I do express some concern about the leadership of our city. Sometimes they are focused on some areas when I wish they were focused on others. I am not trying to cast stones. I am just trying to say that I think the focus is on marketing and developing tourism, and we do have the capacity for doing things like that. But sometimes they tend to forget the essential needs. It seems like we’re bouncing around where we are going to have the city hall, in this building or that building. I do wish that we had some good, solid leaders with the insight that this is where we want to go in five years, ten years. If we had that, I think that the leadership of the city would be better. I still love the people here. Again, I am not trying to be critical. I just wish we had some leaders with a little more foresight.
Do you think there is a difference between “McMinnville” and “Warren County?” Why or why not?
Yes, I do. I think the county is more conservative than the city. Obviously, some of the things I have been involved in community-wise, the liquor referendum and things such as that…some things have transpired. When I moved here, there couldn’t be a place selling alcohol within 500 feet of the property line, then it became the front door. Then they shortened it, and now it is pretty much whatever they want to do. The county is still holding to that distance.
If you look at the county commissioners versus the city mayor and aldermen regarding expenditures, the county tends to be more conservative as well.
If you were mayor of McMinnville and had a magic wand, what three things would you change?
I really need to think about that and not say something just off the top of my head.
I think one of the three things I would change is strategic planning. Many years ago, Ben Lomand had a cooperative with I think the school for strategic planning education and other areas, and I was asked to serve on a committee for technology. What we did was to try and look and see what strategically needed to be there. That is one thing I would do if I was in that position, and I don’t want to be. For instance, what are our needs for water and sewage? Fire and police…what I call essential services. Looking into the future and planning for what needs to be done.
Another thing that concerns me is sidewalks. They recently put one on the right side of the street into town from here. But there are a lot of apartments out here, and a lot of foot traffic. Prior to putting the sidewalks in, people walked on the edge of the street, and late at night, if you weren’t careful…I just think there needs to be some infrastructure concerns.
I would probably try to see if we could get more community involvement from people in the community, what the general population thinks. Go out and talk to people and ask what are the concerns of the citizens. You might find some things that are not on the agenda that should be on the agenda.
What do you think unites us in McMinnville?
I think that southern charm. You go to Walmart and you speak to people going up and down the aisles. It has changed a lot since we have started streaming our services. If you go to the gas station, the furniture store, you see people and speak to them. In other cities, you don’t have that type of interaction. That friendly hometown feeling. We are not Mayberry, but we are not that far off.
What do you think divides us?
I think there is the same type of dichotomy here that there is in our nation. I think there are democrats and republicans, liberals and conservatives. Anywhere you go, you probably have more of one and less of the other. We have some here and that does divide us.
And I think the haves and have-nots divides us. We have people here who are struggling financially, and there a lot of people who are doing well. There is probably some trouble there as well.
Do you agree with the direction and quality of education the Warren County public school system offers for our children? Why or why not?
Sort of hard for me to answer that now. My kids have been out of school for a long time. My youngest has been out of school for 22 years. Both of my sons have been out and working for years.
We have a lot of public school teachers in our congregation. All the ones I know are very good folks, dedicated. And we have administrators here. I know their character. I think they are good folks. Our kids have gone off from here and done well.
Is everything you need in McMinnville exist in terms of groceries, retail stores, churches, restaurants?
Yes, everything I need is here. There may be some things I’d like to have. I would love to have a Chick-fil-A. As far as they things we need, yes. My wife and I just got some furniture at Barr’s and they were real nice to us. We like to shop local. I think if you can trade locally, that benefits you and it benefits the community.
I think most of what we need is here.
Is McMinnville doing enough for people who are economically disadvantaged, or should McMinnville be doing more? If not, what should the city be doing?
That is a tough question. There is always this law of unintended consequences. I think our federal government has attempted to try and help people financially, and that is a good thing. But in so doing that, they have made people dependent.
There are states up north where people can make $100,000 a year with benefits and not work. That is a reason a lot of people are not working now. So, if they are doing too much, it is not profitable to work.
I think that is one of our society’s issues right now. All these people are not working, yet there are all these jobs, which makes you wonder where society is going to be. Who is going to pay the next round of taxes?
Your question is if McMinnville doing enough. I don’t know on the local level what it could do other than provide opportunities like bringing in an industry. Try to bring in something that will bring good quality jobs that will help bring people out of poverty into middle class.
What did I not ask you that you would like to comment about regarding McMinnville and its people?
One thing that is probably glaring in my mind is that McMinnville, Warren County is the nursery capital. I think our bypass should be beautiful with trees and shrubs. There should be a welcome sign when people come into McMinnville with the best quality nursery that makes people say, “Hey, this is a beautiful place.” I think when they drive down the by-pass they should see some of that quality. I don’t know if that is a state or what. I think that we should be able to feature our quality.
The next complete interview will feature Mac McWhirter.
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