Leaders of local town reach out to citizens with ‘mobile city hall’

BOLIVAR, Tenn. — Inside the Walmart in Bolivar, city officials have set up what they call a mobile city hall.

“When I took office, I got more complaints at Walmart than I did anywhere else,” Mayor Julian McTizic said. “So I couldn’t go in Walmart without someone stopping me and asking me about city business. So I just said one day, you know, I’ll just set up an office at Walmart and take concerns and complaints there.”

Mayor McTizic says this mobile setup gives city officials a chance to reach out to citizens and answer questions in a more comfortable setting.

“For those who maybe only come out every now and then to Walmart to do their shopping, they don’t get out all the time,” said Tommy Warner, association missionary with the Hardeman County Baptist Association. “So they’ll be able to come and look at their bills and pay their bills and stuff they owe to the city of Bolivar, so that will be really neat for them.”

The mobile city hall has information from each of the city’s departments. Officials also help residents set up Bolivar’s cell phone app so they can have resources at their fingertips.

“We’re also just bringing our services and letting our citizens know about the services we offer,” Mayor McTizic said.

This is the first time for this type of event, but the mayor says they are going to try to do this more often.

“Right now we’re just trying a trial run today, see how it goes. But we’re planning on doing it once a month,” McTizic said.

Mayor McTizic says the city hopes to have other community events like these at least once a month in different locations.