Councilman Tommy Gilley serves on the Water and Sewer Board, and says city needs to do something to encourage new growth. Gilley thinks making it a thousand dollars cheaper to connect plumbing for a new house might be a step in the right direction. But he says it’s hard to quantify the benefits.

The dockets are so crowded," said Gaither. "It's not unusual for judges to work five and six months out - which means parties are put on hold for extended periods of time. "Mediation will help clear these crowded dockets, especially in Juvenile Court. Rutherford County funds a Magistrate who hears Juvenile cases to help keep the docket manageable. If some of those cases can be settled before they are on the docket, it will help judges and attorneys get to cases more quickly and help citizens save time and money. In short, mediation takes much of the stress out of disputes for everyone involved."

State Rep. Joe Carr stated last week that Walker, Jones and Gardner had each signed a pledge about 18 months ago that if they resigned from the election commission they would agree to wait a year before competing for the job of election administrator.Walker was not available for comment when this story came out last week. When asked about it after getting the job Tuesday night, Walker said he didn't remember signing the pledge. "At this point, it's irrelevant," said Walker, noting that he does not have a copy of the document in question. Carr, who was one of Hudson's references, said last week he had the pledge at his office. Prior to hiring Walker, each election commissioner declared who they were voting for out of the three finalists. Walker picked up support from Jones, who took over as chairwoman after Walker resigned, and Gardner. Election Commissioner Jimmy Evans, a Rutherford County Republican Party chairman who replaced Walker on the election commission, favored Rudd in the first ballot.