FEATURE
Projects & Progress: an Update with the Mayors BY TONY CENTONZE
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larksville, Tennessee is in a somewhat enviable position, politically. Though we have both city and county governments, we have leaders who have known and respected each other for decades, Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts, and Montgomery County Mayor Jim Durrett, working together to usher this community through an unprecedented period of prosperity and growth. They weren’t able to sit down together for this interview, but their thoughts and ideas were remarkably in sync.
“Our priorities change day to day, week to week, month to month,” Mayor Pitts said. “Mainly, we talk about what’s most imminent. An example would be a recent issue in the Industrial Park. LG and Hankook were experiencing some turnover in their workforce. They reached out to us separately, so Mayor Durrett and I used our offices to facilitate a meeting with APSU and CMCSS. We got everyone in the same room, and gave the companies a chance to make their case.” Mayor Pitts says, Mayor Durrett keeps him up on what the county
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is doing, with the Multi Purpose Event Center, their budget, etc., and he does the same for him.
“A lot of what we do is about government helping to create opportunity,” Mayor Durrett said. “Opportunity can be a lot of different things. One that jumps to the forefront is MPEC. What opportunities will that create for our small business owners, or those wanting to start their own business? There will be concession contracts inside the facility, and lots of outside opportunities as well. Joe is in favor of doing some things that
