Yard Work

When we were growing up, my mother would send me and my brothers out into the yard to "police the yard." This meant that we were to look around the yard, see what needed to be cleaned up, and get to work cleaning it up. The condition of our yard was a reflection of our family's pride, and our pride in our neighborhood and community. It didn't matter that some of what we found in the yard was not put there by us. Even if it was messy and dirty and smelly, because it was in our yard, we became responsible for making sure that things were as they should be.

District 6 is the only district in Knoxville whose borders touch every other district. We are, in effect, in all of the other districts' "backyard." Not only does that put us in a very strategic location, it also means that what we do here has the potential to affect not only this district, but all of the surrounding districts as well.

People want to know what issues I'm campaigning on, and I could easily make a list. But, sometimes, a list is too limiting. That would be like me saying I'm only going to focus on the sticks in the yard, when there are cans and weeds and a host of other things that might crop up and need to be addressed. I look at it this way: I'm here to "police my yard." I'm looking around my district and seeing what needs to be done. I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work to make sure District 6 doesn't end up being the "yard" that everybody points at and talks about how messy and dirty and smelly it is.