Spring Hill Ward 3 candidates face-off on managing growth, land zoning
Jay Powell
With the Spring Hill City Election just a few days away, Ward 3 is the only opposed alderman race, drawing three candidates.
Incumbent Kevin Gavigan faces challengers business leader Brent Murray and entrepreneur Angela Privett, both newcomers to Spring Hill.
Each candidate has a vision of managing growth, tackling road improvements and leading the city into a prosperous four years. All express concerns about insufficient infrastructure, limited water/sewer capacity, a lack of green space and the need to retain a new city administrator.
Candidates shared their thoughts about how they would address these pertinent issues and others facing Spring Hill.
As of Tuesday morning, only 851 have voted, or about 3.8%
In 2017, the numbers reflected a voter turnout of only 7.72%. The numbers were even lower two years later, with 2019 s election drawing just 5.67%.
Maury County Election Commission Administrator Todd Baxter said local elections, especially with the numbers reflected over the years, have historically shown low voter turnouts. He believes this could stem from citizens likely not engaging enough in city issues, or they might not consider local elections to be as important as the national and state elections. It seems to be a typical city election. For some reason, people just don t seem to care much about the local elections, Baxter said.
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The Daily Herald
The Spring Hill Election will take place Thursday, April 8, with nine candidates vying for races in each city ward, as well as mayor.
This year s election will see a few changes compared to years past, including increased voting times and new polling locations.
Early voting will begin Friday, March 19 and run until Saturday, April 3 at the Winchester Community Building, 563 Maury Hill St., Spring Hill.
Early voting times will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays from March 19-28.
Voting times will then change to 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 19-April 1 and 8 a.m. to noon April 3. Polls will be closed April 2 in recognition of Good Friday.
Spring Hill will have some new players on its board of mayor and aldermen come April.
Five of the boardâs nine offices are up for election on April 8, including the mayorâs, but only one alderman is running for re-election, and not without competition.
The board, which approves an annual city budget and creates city policies, is made up of the Spring Hill mayor and eight ward aldermen â two per ward â who have staggered four-year terms.
Mayor Rick Graham, who was elected to his position in 2013 after serving for six years as an alderman, is among the four exiting their offices. Ward 1 Alderman Amy Wurth and Ward 2 Alderman Jeff Graves are also giving up their seats, while Ward 4 Alderman Vincent Fuqua is leaving his spot to run for mayor. Ward 3 Alderman Kevin Gavigan is running for re-election against two opponents.