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Loudon County and Lenoir City are growing — fast. That's a good thing, and both governments have worked to earn it. But right now there is no agreed-upon process that lets either government plan with confidence when a boundary question comes up. Every question starts from scratch, uncertainty lands on residents, developers, and utility planners alike, and disagreements have nowhere productive to go. Many of us pay taxes to both governments — and all of us do best when those governments can plan together with confidence. I believe growth questions belong at a shared table, worked out early, while everyone is calm and there's still room to say yes.

So that's what I'm proposing: the table. An agreement like this only works if both governments help design it — the mayors, the commission, the city council, and the professional staff on both sides will all shape it before anything reaches a vote. But before laying it out publicly, I wanted to know whether there was a table worth setting. I've had early conversations with both the county and the city. Not formal meetings — no presentations, no negotiations, nothing signed. Just honest conversations. And they told me the one thing I needed to know before bringing this to you: both sides want to work on this.

First, let me be straight with you about what this is

I am a candidate, not a commissioner. Nothing on this page is an agreement, a commitment, or a promise made by anyone but me. No county or city official has signed anything, voted on anything, committed to anything, or sat down to formally negotiate anything. What exists today is a written framework, a shared willingness to work on the problem, and an election on August 6. If District 2 sends me to the commission, this is the work I intend to carry — and every step of it happens in public, by vote of elected bodies.

The problem, in one paragraph

Loudon County's growth plan — the map that decides where our cities can grow and what say the county has when they do — was drawn around 1999–2000, and it served us well for a long time. But a quarter century of growth has simply outrun it — that's nobody's failure; it's what success looks like in a place people want to live. Highway 321 and Highway 11 don't look like they did in 1999. When the map no longer matches reality, every boundary question becomes a one-off negotiation, and both governments end up spending time and effort working out case by case what a standing process could settle once.

The framework

The good news: state law already gives our two governments every tool they need — including the express authority to sign a binding agreement about how annexation works between them. This framework simply asks both bodies to put those tools to work, together:

The heart of the agreement is a simple idea: the city gets certainty where its growth is strongest, and the county gets a real voice where its costs are highest. Three tiers of territory, three levels of coordination:

Tier What territory How it works
A Defined growth corridors next to existing city limits and utilities City grows with 30 days' notice to the county — predictable, fast, no surprises
B Inside the urban growth boundary, outside those corridors 60-day coordinated review — the county is heard on the record; the city keeps final say
C Outside the urban growth boundary — planned growth and rural areas County consent, or a vote of the people who live there

And the agreement is built to stay current: it runs no more than seven years, with a scheduled review at year five — a built-in moment for both governments to sit back down, see what's working, and adjust together.

What each government gets

Lenoir City gets

  • Defined, durable growth corridors
  • Predictable timelines developers and utility planners can build on
  • One standing process in place of one-at-a-time boundary agreements

Loudon County gets

  • A real voice — and real consent rights — where its costs are highest
  • The fiscal numbers before every vote, not after
  • A growth plan brought fully up to date, on solid legal footing

It's a balanced framework — each government gives a little and gains a lot, which is exactly what makes an agreement durable. And we wouldn't be going first: Knox, Blount, Williamson, and Maury counties have all done this kind of work with their cities, from growth plan updates to cost-shared countywide plans. A few of their stories are at the bottom of this page. We'd be in good company.

The will to work together is already here. This framework simply gives it a table, a schedule, and a map.

What happens next

That's up to you, and then to the people you elect. The next step is the formal one: sitting down with both mayors and their staff to put this framework on the table properly, hear what needs to change, and change it. If I earn District 2's seat on August 6, I will then bring the county's resolution to the commission this fall, coordinated with — not around — the county mayor's office, while a matching effort moves at the city. Every mayor, commissioner, and alderman who touches this will shape it, and should. If the final product looks different from this page, that won't mean the process failed. It will mean it worked.

I've spent my career building systems that keep working when people disagree. This is that — for the two governments most of us pay taxes to. A standing table, numbers before decisions, and a map that matches the county we live in today.

Prepared for both governing bodies — published for everyone

Transparency means the commission, the council, and you all read the same pages. These references walk through what the framework would ask of each body, what each government gains, and honest answers to the fair questions:

For the Loudon County Commission → For Lenoir City →

Early Voting: July 17 – August 1 · Election Day: August 6

If this is the kind of work you want from your commission, I'd be honored to have your vote.

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