Chamber hosts event on understanding, engaging with local government

JACKSON, Tenn. — Local leaders gathered together to talk about their roles in government and how the public can get involved.

The Greater Jackson Chamber hosted their “From the City to the County” event Tuesday morning at the Jackson Energy Authority Training Center. Both mayors in Madison County and the City of Jackson were on the panel along with a County Commissioner Juanita Jones and City Councilwoman Marda Wallace.

We asked Madison County Mayor AJ Massey about why this meeting was important.

“I think it was important,” Mayor Massey said. “It was a packed room. It was people that were here to not necessarily give input, but to get input. So we were able to say that these are the best avenues to contact city council people, county commissioners, the mayors’ offices. If you have an issue, we’re a small enough community that we can get those addressed quickly.”

“I can be out and about all I want, and I can even go door to door all I want, but I cannot contact 100,000 people and get input on what needs to be done,” Massey added. “We need, desperately need, interested people that are in here for the right reasons communicating as much as possible.”

There was a lot of discussion regarding the importance of public feedback. City of Jackson Mayor Scott Conger tells us why this is needed.

“It is extremely important,” Mayor Conger said. “We want to hear from people and we want to know that we are serving people the best that we can and feedback is the best way to do that.”

There were also state leaders in attendance like Representative Chris Todd and Senator Ed Jackson. While they were not on the panel, we asked Senator Jackson how important local government is to his role in Nashville.

“I sit on two committees that have to do with state and local government,” Senator Jackson said. “We’ve got to know what’s going on at the ground level to be able to make better decisions in Nashville. So communicating with out cities and counties is vital.”

The event intended to give the public information on the best ways to get involved in local government — whether it is how to serve, or how to get in contact.

The event was free and open to the public, and Mayor Massey tells us it was one of the first of its kind in this community.

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