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The local election season is upon us in Pegram, and residents are eager to learn more about the individuals vying to represent their interests and lead their community forward.
The Kingston Springs Gazette sat down with each of the six candidates running for the town’s two open alderman seats, offering insights into their backgrounds, motivations, and visions for the town.
Early voting for Pegram’s local election is now open until Saturday, July 27. See the early voting schedule and polling locations here. Pegram residents can also vote at Pegram City Hall on election day on Thursday, Aug. 1.
Each candidate brings a unique perspective shaped by their experiences and dedication to Pegram. Whether they are long-standing residents deeply ingrained in the fabric of the community or newer arrivals driven by innovative ideas, their stories represent a diverse spectrum of voices committed to tackling local challenges and propelling positive growth.
Bob Sanders, 71, has served the town of Pegram since 1998 when he was appointed to the Board of Zoning and Appeals. He sat on that board until 2011, when he was appointed to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. He has been elected to serve as alderman by the public every term since 2012.
Sanders currently serves as Pegram’s vice mayor. If he is re-elected as alderman, he will serve a 4th term and a total of 30 years to the town.
Sanders said his family moved to Pegram in 1968 when he was a teenager. “My dad actually was one of the founders of the Pegram Fire Department,” Sanders explained. “My family has owned this home since ‘68. I did move away for a few years, and when my dad passed, we just moved back into the old house and fixed it up and we’ve been here ever since.”
The incumbent told the Gazette that in his last two terms he has run unopposed.
“The great thing about this election is we actually had some people interested in running for these positions, which is the first time that's happened in years,” Sanders said. “It is something you have to want to do.”
“The aldermen in Pegram get $75 a month. Been that way for over 25 years, so it's not the money. It's serving your community,” he said. “I have loved this town for a better part of 50 years, and I will always serve as long as there's a heart beating in my chest.”
Below, get acquainted with incumbent Alderman Sanders, and delve into his perspectives on crucial issues through our comprehensive Q&A session.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
KSG: Can you introduce yourself and explain why you're running for alderman in Pegram?
Sanders: I hope to be again re-elected for one more term. We've done a lot of things over the last 13 years since I've been on the board. We've paved almost 20 miles of streets and roads. We have worked with the Sheriff's Department and made a deal where we now have a sheriff's patrol on our streets only for anywhere from four to eight hours every day. And that has worked very well. Their presence has really been known here for about a few months now. We've made some major improvements on the park.
We are presently experiencing a failing sewer plant. Mayor Louallen and I went down to Huntington, Tenn., a few weeks ago because we were interested in seeing a plant that we thought would work very well for our town. We looked at it and we like what we see, and we're working on trying to get that done now. The great news is, because of the American Recovery Act, we're able to purchase this plant and not have to finance but a very small amount of it. So we're in the middle of it. I want to run again and see this thing through and get it done.
KSG: What qualifications and experience do you have that make you suitable for this role?
Sanders: Nothing like experience. In my 13 years as an alderman, I've served under three mayors. Worked very well with all three, and I believe I had the endorsement of all three.
I’ve seen a lot of things, and I've learned a lot of things, and I'm looking forward to doing it for another four years.
KSG: What are the top issues facing Pegram that you would prioritize if elected?
Sanders: The big thing with Pegram, because we're on the shoestring budget, is pretty much there's a lot of things we could use, a lot of things we need, but we have to be able to afford it. Unlike Kingston, we have very limited sales tax income because we don't have that many businesses in Pegram.
I would love to see some of the property on the north side of Highway 70 develop into businesses. But you have people that have owned some of those properties for 40-50 years. But I would love to see that developed one day and turn it into some businesses.
KSG: How do you plan to engage with the community to understand their concerns and ideas?
Sanders: We have been begging people to come to our Board of Mayor and Aldermen meetings. We meet on the last Monday of every month. Plus, the second Thursday of every month, we have what we call a staff meeting, and that is open to the public also when we discuss things.
KSG: How do you balance the need for growth and development in Pegram with preserving its small-town character?
Sanders: That's a tough one. We are limited to our growth because we border the CSX railroad, so there's not a lot of things to develop, but we still want to keep that small town feel here. I have always cast votes to encourage single family dwellings, and I will continue to do that. I want it to be a town for families.
KSG: What strategies do you have to encourage economic development and support local businesses in Pegram?
Sanders: That’s a tough question, because, again, there's just a limited amount of space that we have to develop businesses like that. We've got that one stretch, maybe a mile and a half long, along Highway 70. I don't see any businesses developing up in the hills or across the river because there's just no traffic out there. 70 Highway is pretty much it as far as developing things like restaurants and markets and stuff like that.
Would love to get a store here, like the [Lawrence Foods] store, but there's just limited property to have something like that and still have half for parking.
KSG: How do you propose managing the city budget effectively while addressing the needs of the community?
Sanders: We've done a pretty good job of doing that in my opinion. We've brushed our nickels and dimes and we've taken advantage of programs the state’s offered us. We want to continue to do that. But again, we’re limited to what we can do with the railroad there.
KSG: How will you work with other city officials, including the mayor and other aldermen, to achieve common goals for Pegram?
Sanders: We have always met as a board every second Thursday of every month to discuss the things like that to work on. What can we do here? What can we do there? That's pretty much it.
KSG: How do you plan to ensure transparency in local government decisions and processes?
Sanders: We encourage everyone to attend our meetings, and many times in the past, we've had meetings where no one came except maybe the newspaper reporter. Of course, we do appreciate that.
Our meetings are open, and we encourage everyone to attend our meetings. We allow them to speak, and generally, they will fill out a form asking questions, we read it, and then the mayor usually gives them a response within just a few days.
We've always – except for a short period of time where our microphones were dead – we've always recorded our meetings, and we'll continue to do that in the future. (Though these recordings are not made publicly available.)
One thing I would like to do is start sharing the minutes after we approve the minutes. Previously, we shared them somehow, either on social media or on our website, that would give the citizens information that they seek, to see what we've done at that meeting if they cannot attend it in person. (Pegram does currently offer their monthly meeting minutes at https://www.pegram.net/meetings/, but they are not always made available in a timely manner.)
KSG: What do you see as the biggest challenge facing Pegram in the next four years, and how do you plan to address it?
Sanders: The big thing – right now number one – is the sewer plant. We've got to get that done. We've got to get it finished. Our sewer plant is failing, and it has served us fairly well for the last 25 or 30 years. What we're looking at now is a more modern plant. It will be more efficient for the customers that we have on sewer now, and it will also be where we can continue to add to it. This will serve not only our existing customers, but also customers in the future who will hook to that service in the next 25 or 30 years.
It would be a lot of expense [if the existing sewer plant failed]. We don't want to get to that point, and we're not going to allow it to get to that point. Because if something were to happen and we couldn't get this done, the state would have to take it over, and trust me, that's not something we want. So that's why we're moving hastily to get this thing done.
I don't know the exact [cost of the new sewer plant] yet, because we're still talking with our engineers, but I would certainly say the lion's share of it will be covered by some grants, and the American Recovery funds that we received.
KSG: Why should the residents of Pegram vote for you?
Sanders: I love my little town, and I have always served it as well as I could.
When it comes to getting these things done, especially the sewer plant, we need to have someone with experience on that board. And I certainly do fill that bill, and I want to continue to serve.
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