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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.
Below, get acquainted with alderman candidate Miranda Christy Montgomery, 44, whose family has lived in Pegram since the 1990s, and delve into her 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?
Montgomery: I am running for alderman because my neighbors and the people of this community are important to me.
Earlier this year, my neighbors and I co-founded a group called the Pegram Preservation Association, and in my interactions with all of my neighbors and seeing how hungry people are for wanting to know what's going on in our town, that spurred me on to run for alderman.
KSG: What qualifications and experience do you have that make you suitable for this role?
Montgomery: I am a lawyer by trade. I've been practicing law for 18 years in Nashville, and the focus of my law practice has been business transactions, finance, real estate, conservation, and preservation.
Now I work for the state, and I advise public bodies. I advise specifically the Tennessee Historical Commission, so I have a deep knowledge of the Open Meetings Act and what the open records laws require, as well as I've served on many boards throughout my career, and I've also advised boards as a lawyer.
KSG: What are the top issues facing Pegram that you would prioritize if elected?
Montgomery: I would prioritize, first of all, community engagement. As I mentioned earlier, I have learned in the last few months just how hungry people are to get more involved and engaged in this community. They just don't know how, and how do you do that?
I think also as Pegram moves forward and we're surrounded by imminent real estate development everywhere, people want more information about this and why it's happening, who's doing it, and there's not really any voice that's linking our town leadership to the public, and so that's a priority for me.
And then the next piece of that is talking with the community to find out what is it that everyone wants. We are going to see change in our community, but can it be intentional? Can it be strategic? Do we get to have a say, or do we just have to fight it all off as it comes? And so those are the two things that I'd like to focus on.
KSG: How do you plan to engage with the community to understand their concerns and ideas?
Montgomery: In my volunteer work with the Pegram Preservation Association, we have already held a community meeting. Those are relatively easy to put together and organize, and so that is one main way that I would do it.
But the second piece – I think we’ll have to raise money, but there's plenty of grant money out there – we can also hire a consultant to engage with our community to help come up with a master plan.
KSG: How do you balance the need for growth and development in Pegram with preserving its small-town character?
Montgomery: There are a number of Main Street grants and consultants and other places that we can consult with once we get the temperature of the community. I think one way we can do that is to focus on our town center, and what do we want that to look like, and having conversations about what are the businesses that our small community can realistically support? We need to have hard conversations about those things.
KSG: What strategies do you have to encourage economic development and support local businesses in Pegram?
Montgomery: I think awareness and better engagement is one big way to make people aware once we are able to get new businesses in Pegram, but I think the first thing is we have to have a plan. And there have been several of us who have asked for a plan, there is no plan first of all. That's got to be the first step – to organize, raise whatever money we need to be able to plan for the future and to plan for the community we want to have, instead of having the future just come and happen to us.
KSG: How do you propose managing the city budget effectively while addressing the needs of the community?
Montgomery: We already have a solid base in terms of our budget. We need to just safeguard the money that we have and make sure that we have what we need for the roads and for all of these things that have to do with maintaining the community we have. And then we need to just plan for what we want down the road. And that doesn't mean raising taxes, it just means being smart about dealing with the funds that we currently have.
I do believe that one great thing that has happened recently is raising the wage for all of our city employees so that they have more of a living wage. I think that's a great first step.
KSG: How will you work with other city officials, including the mayor and other aldermen, to achieve common goals for Pegram?
Montgomery: You have to have a common vision first. In my conversations with [Charles Morehead] who's going to be mayor, I believe he has a great vision. I think that he is a great leader. When you have a great leader, it's easy to buy into their vision and for everybody to take up their own yoke and push forward. And so that's what I look forward to doing, as well as, like I mentioned before, talking with the community to come up with what do we want to see.
KSG: How do you plan to ensure transparency in local government decisions and processes?
Montgomery: First of all, we do need an updated website, and we need to make what is required to be public information available to the public. It's not necessarily required that we record the town meetings, but that would certainly be a best practice that is something that people want to have access to all the time in this day and age. So we can do some simple things for more transparency.
I think also we need to be vigilant about the people we are electing and who is getting appointed. We have too many obvious conflicts of interest between married people on different boards and people who have business relationships also serving on leadership boards together.
KSG: What do you see as the biggest challenge facing Pegram in the next four years, and how do you plan to address it?
Montgomery: The biggest challenge is the development that's happening all around us and ensuring that the people who are doing that development are, at a minimum, complying with the law. We have seen people who are our town leaders trying to skirt the law in some instances, and so we have to be vigilant about fighting for the community.
Many of us came to Pegram because we like it the way it is, and while we know that change is inevitable, there are also ways that we can be strategic and smart about it.
KSG: Why should the residents of Pegram vote for you?
Montgomery: Residents of Pegram should vote for me because I have demonstrated my commitment to communicating with citizens over the last six months of my work with the Pegram Preservation Association. I also have a knowledge of what the legal requirements are and what best practices are in terms of city government. And I also have a very high standard for ethics, and that is something that also, I think, needs to be addressed.
We have foxes guarding the hen house, and we need someone who will speak up and pay attention closely to what's happening on the leadership level.