Madison Co. mayor looks forward to new term

JACKSON, Tenn. — After winning re-election Thursday for the second time, Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris looks toward plans for the next four years.

Harris says his two main priorities will still be the Jackson-Madison County School System, and the construction of a new Madison County jail. With those two projects, Harris says having several new county commissioners will help to bring in new ideas.

“We’re going to have to bring them up to speed on, ‘OK, why are we doing what we’re doing, and what are the options here?’ And so it’s going to be a learning curve for them, no doubt about it,” Harris said.

A new group of Madison County commissioners are slated to start work in the coming weeks after elections on Aug. 2.

Harris says the new group of commissioners, along with several new school board members, will face challenges moving into their first few weeks.

“It’s certainly a challenge, especially the number, the turnover that we do have. However, the people who run for office, they run because they want to make a contribution, and that’s a good thing, and it’s always good to have new ideas and new approaches to things,” Harris said.

Harris is also looking toward the future of expansion in Madison County.

He says in his next four years as Madison County mayor, he hopes to continue economic growth. Part of that means continuing to bring business into the county.

“We always hope to continue to grow and expand our community, and we’re doing very well,” Harris said. “I think the main thing that government can do is provide the basic infrastructure to allow those businesses to thrive, but more than anything is to provide that infrastructure and get out of the way and let them do their business. The real challenge we have in today’s world is our workforce, and that is supplying enough people to our industry and our businesses so that we can keep expanding that base.”