As Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, a Republican gubernatorial hopeful, campaigns across the state he, of course, always starts his speeches by thanking his audience for attending. When Haslam was speaking recently in Fayette County in West Tennessee, he noticed that a large number of cotton farmers were in the audience. “Thanks for being here,” Haslam said by way of getting started. “We’re only here because it’s raining,” one farmer explained. “And that was the truth!” Haslam laughed.
We caught up with Haslam Wednesday making a campaign stop in Maryville to speak to a standing-room-only breakfast meeting of the Blount County Chamber of Commerce. Here are some highlights of his speech:
“Being mayor of Knoxville is the best professional decison I’ve ever made,” Haslam said. “I loved working for Pilot and for Saks. But being mayor is a great chance to change a community you love.”
Haslam said being mayor is a “hands-on” job and “sometimes it means people get their hands on you!” He said he has been approached by citizens wanting to talk about issues when he has been shopping at Kroger and even when he has been passing the offering plate at church. The most surprising to him, however, was one Mother’s Day when someone approached him as he was in a cemetery placing flowers on his mother’s grave. “I want to talk to you about paving my street,” the person said. “I’ll be happy to talk to you,” the mayor explained. “But maybe not right this minute.”
In addition to his full-time job as mayor, Haslam said he is compaigning for governor 40 to 50 hours per week. It is hard work. “This is not something you do for the educational experience,” Haslam joked.
In seriousness, Haslam said the next governor will face three key challenges:
- The budget challenge. This year’s budget is $1.2 billion short of being balanced. “You want someone with a track record in balancing a budget,” Haslam said. “And I have that track record.” He said Knoxville’s budget is 25 percent lower now than when he took office. The fund balance is 300 percent higher. And the city’s credit rating is the best it’s ever been. “Being in business helped prepare me for being mayor – managing budgets, making difficult personnel decisions, and making risk-reward decisons,” Haslam said.
- The jobs challenge. “If we are going to be a great state, we have to bring in jobs,” Haslam said. Unemployment in the state is pushing 10 percent, he said, and in some rural counties, it is more than 20 percent. Haslam said that since Tennessee does not have an income tax – “and I don’t think we should have an income tax,” he said – the state must recruit new businesses in order to generate sales tax income. Haslam said he knows first-hand that Tennessee is a good state in which to do business. Not only is it consistently highly rated by national publications, but he’s seen his family’s business, Pilot, thrive here. “I can remember my mother wrapping Christmas presents for everybody in the company,” he said. “Now Pilot has 14,000 employees and they can’t do that anymore!”
- K thru 12 education. “We rank 42 out of 50 states,” Haslam noted. “We need a different culture and a different expectation. We haven’t set the bar high enough.” Haslam predicted that when new national testing guidelines go into effect in Tennessee next year, only 27 percent of Tennessee students will meet the national standards. “It will be a wake-up call,” he predicted “There will be a lot of push-back,” he said. “Will the governor stand in the door and stand firm?”
In response to questions, Haslam said that in recruiting jobs, Tennessee needs to play to its strengths: no income tax, being a right-to-work state, having a great geographic location, and workers with a good work ethic. Our biggest liability, he said, is the need to raise the standard of training for employees. “Companies are worried about the skill level of our work force,” he said. “Whenever we lose jobs to other states, that’s primarily why.”
Haslam concluded his remarks by explaining what it will take to win the governor’s race:
- A network of people to help in the campaign;
- Adequate funds;
- Knowledge of the issues;
- A willingness to “work your tail off.
“Nobody will outwork us,” Haslam pledged.
P.S. I’ve known Bill Haslam for 16 years. I’ve seen him when he’s having fun and I’ve seen him when he’s not having fun. He’s having fun.
