FORMER MAYOR J.H GRAHAM III ANNOUNCES FOR CITY COUNCIL ELECTION

Former Crossville Mayor J.H. Graham III has announced his candidacy for the upcoming City Council election where there are two seats available.  Below is his official announcement:

 

J.H. Graham III

A lifelong resident of Crossville, and former Mayor of Crossville for 16 years, I am a 1966 graduate of Cumberland
County High School and a 1970 graduate of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, receiving a BS in
Business Administration, majoring in Accounting.

I am announcing my candidacy for the upcoming Crossville City Council election in November.
As I have exhibited in the past, I will work on the Council using conservative fiscal policy to balance
the budget, utilize grants and low interest loans to expand the service delivery systems, and keep the
tax, water and sewer rates lower. I believe the City Council should be transparent about the use of
taxpayer dollars and be considerate and gracious in any effort.   As a position statement, under no circumstances would I support or condone the donation, lease, or sale of any of the City of Crossville’s water and sewer department assets to the County Water Authority. In my opinion, these assets have over $150,000,000 of replacement value and the Meadow Park Lake and the water harvesting rights to Lake Holiday and Lake Tansi are irreplaceable. I fear that our water and sewer rates would double or triple and the employees would lose their jobs and benefits, especially to a Board where the City would only have 3 votes of  the 7 total.

Further, I would help stop the reckless spending as our City is contemplating spending $ 40,000,000 on an indoor recreation center. In the alternative, I would help to guide the City toward the offer of the First Baptist Church of Crossville to use their 40 Acres, 53 total, of beautiful fields for Soccer, Softball, Running tracks, Walking Paths, and their 200,000 sq. Ft. Indoor facility with an Official High School Basketball Court with multiple restrooms, and a second indoor gym which is 100×72 that could be used for volleyball or other indoor sports.. They have one of the largest parking lots in Crossville and all this could be leased for a very reasonable price.
My vision for the immediate future would be to form a community task force to outline our traffic control problems and patterns, and such other concerns that may be discussed. I would listen. I would discuss in Council work sessions the need for water sports to include an outdoor pool for our children and others, the need for a least 2 more lighted softball fields as the demand now requires it, more detectives for the Police Department, and I would fight to restore our relationships with all of our Outside Agencies as they are now fully representing Our Volunteer State. They represent one of our finest Assets.

Qualifications:

I have served on numerous boards in Cumberland County and the State of Tennessee. I was
appointed Secretary of the Tennessee Renewable Energy and Economic Development Council, as well as
a personal appointment by Governor Phil Bredesen to serve on the TDEC Solid Waste Advisory Board
and the Tennessee Wireless Communications Advisory Board. Other board memberships include the
Hospice of Cumberland County and the Cumberland House (a six-bed residential Hospice facility),Fair
Park Senior Center, Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Cumberland Business Incubator,
Chairman of the American Cancer Society of Cumberland County, Chairman of the Crossville Regional
Planning Commission, Board of Trustees for the Fairfield Glade Art Guild, President of the UT Alumni
Association, Director of Chamber of Commerce, Director of United Fund, Director and Treasurer of
Cumberland County Boys Club, and Charter Member and Secretary of the Crossville Noon Rotary. I have
served on the Board of Directors of the Lake Tansi Property Owners Association as Chairman and Director
of the Board for three terms when the indoor and outdoor pools were constructed for less than 3 million
dollars in 2024.

I had the honor of being named the 2009 Mayor of the Year by the Tennessee Municipal League, which
includes 347 Tennessee cities and towns. They have chosen a mayor each year for this award since
1954. I was recognized for the city’s many significant accomplishments during the
previous years in the areas of recreation and leisure services; water and wastewater, energy
conservation and the environment; and traffic mitigation and public safety. I served on the City of
Crossville Council for 22 years. As Mayor for 16 years, I served as Executive Committee member for
Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency, the Upper Cumberland Development District, the TDOT
Rural Transportation Planning Organization, and was Director at Large and Vice-President of the
Tennessee Municipal League.
I am currently practicing tax return preparation at my home office at 1874 South Main Street, the same
house I was born in and my telephone number is 931-248-0186.