Meet your candidates: Kerry McCarver for Cheatham County Mayor

In advance of the upcoming local elections, the Gazette sat down with candidates seeking office across Cheatham County to hear directly about their priorities, platforms and visions for the community. 

Each candidate discussed what sets them apart and how they compare to their opponents in contested races. Early voting for the county primaries is scheduled to take place April 15-30 leading up to Election Day on May 5, giving residents ample opportunity to make their voices heard at the ballot box. See the full early voting schedule here.

Incumbent Kerry McCarver is running as a republican for his third term as Cheatham County mayor. McCarver is running against Republican Bill Anderson.

Since no democrats are running in the county mayoral election, only republicans will be able to vote. This is a new law in Tennessee as of 2024. The May 5 primary will decide who wins the office. 

Early voting will take place at Pegram City Hall. Kingston Springs residents will vote on election day at Harpeth High School. Pegram residents will vote on election day at Pegram City Hall.

Below, get acquainted with McCarver, who has spent the last eight years in the county mayor position, and delve into his perspectives on crucial issues through our comprehensive Q&A session.

KSG: Can you introduce yourself and explain why you’re running for re-election? 

McCarver: I am running for re-election, and it all started at the county level with the appointment by the County Commission to fill the last 14 months of David McCullough's term, who passed away in office. My term started July 1 of 2017. I've been on the job ever since. I've gone through two elections, been elected, re-elected, and now I'm up for another re-election term for four years.

KSG: What are some of your accomplishments from your first two terms? 

McCarver: I am proud of our accomplishment over the last nine years. When I got into office, they didn't have any long term planning. When you're elected for four years, it's just natural to say, ‘I'm worried about my four years. I really don't look much past that.’ 

And that's one problem government has. It can't plan and map and make a decision or purchase that will help us 5 to 10, 15 to 20 years down the road. I feel like I have changed that mindset to where every investment we make, especially large investments, we are looking to see, how does this return on this investment happen in 5 to 10, 15 to 20 years down the road? 

Sycamore Square, where we're sitting right now, half of it was about abandoned. I saw it as an opportunity, because we were needing space. Instead of trying to build out space that we absolutely needed that day, what Sycamore Square did was give us the square footage at a great price, low price from building out brand new space somewhere. Plus we revitalized this center. That was one of the first projects I took on, was to get Sycamore Square to bring county services to one location – as many as we could. And that has happened, and that's what you see here. Now we have 500 parking spaces, 102,000 square feet of space here. 

And the other great thing is, and I got a lot of pushback, we don't need to be renting to private business. Well, those private businesses you see here generate $475,000 a year in lease payments, which we use to keep the center going. They're even paying the light bills here and in the county offices with that $475,000 so it was an additional revenue stream. 

And we still have additional space. Just last year we brought UT Extension and the Election Office from the basements down at the library and health department up here, and they got easy access in and out. And they're loving it up here. And the visibility is there, the convenience for citizens to come in and do business at any of the main county offices has been so much better. 

And of course, we have the new jail facility. The jail facility has been an eight year project, to say the least. It started almost from day one. We're getting to the point where that's going to open, renovate the old jail, and have that for years to come, and we haven't got to worry about building a new jail for 20 to 25 years.

KSG: What’s the latest update on the jail? 

McCarver: In April, all inmates and staff will move to the new facility, and it was built for 200 inmates, and we've got about 100. At that point, the same contractor who built out the new jail is going in to renovate the old space. It'll get a substantial renovation to operate in the future and operate more efficiently.

Of course, I got pushed back on that. ‘Well, if they did the crime, I don't care if they're in a hole.’ Well, we shouldn't do that. We need to do whatever we can because one of the main problems with that jail as it is right now, there's not one square foot for any kind of training or classes or drug rehab – those type things that we need to make sure these inmates are equipped with so when they leave, they don't come back. Guess what? We didn't have any of those services and we have over 80% recidivism rate. It means if I can get you out, I've got a better than eight and 10 chance that I'm going to see you back in this facility within a year. 

With the new facility, we now have training space. We have a medical facility to treat drug addiction. We have job training.

The county started getting notices about this jail back in 2014 and 2015, and at that time, when weekenders would come in to serve our time, we had over 200 inmates in a jail that was certified for 116 and the county just kicked the can down road, just ignored it said it'd be too big an expense. 

Had we been able to really get a hold on this and then build the jail in 2016, 2017, 2018, up until COVID hit, we would have saved millions. Plus, we wouldn't have been in the last 10 years in an inadequate jail, causing other concerns and issues.

You try to put a band aid on something thinking you're saving money. If you got to go back to it, pretty soon you hadn't saved anything. You've just delayed the inevitable. But public safety is job one, and it's the responsibility of the county. If you're going to arrest somebody, you put them in a good safe space, and you do something to put them out better than they came in, and we're going to be able to do that with the new jail. I feel like we're seeing the promised land with that jail opening, and it will start to see these results in the county for long after I'm gone, decades will reap benefits from his jail.

KSG: Are there any projects you’re currently working on that you’d like to see through if you’re re-elected? 

McCarver: I always have a five year plan. It's constantly evolving. My five year plan right now is we're continuing to look for property out in East Cheatham to put a convenience center there. West Cheatham has one, but we need to relocate it. So what we're looking at for both West Cheatham and East Cheatham, in the next five years, I hope to at the very minimum, obtain the property, and we need about three to five acres to put the convenience center, put a fire hall, county fire office. And then in East Cheatham, a fire hall, and then eventual EMS stations.

KSG: Do you have any financial priorities you’d like to see through if re-elected? 

McCarver: Two years ago, we increased property taxes to pay for the jail. Last year, we had to put in there to staff the new jail. I found that the employees were being underpaid, and that led to turnover. 

I have taken the county through two salary studies, and this last one was very comprehensive, but it also had an expense to it. So in the last two years we've had to deal with the property tax increase for the new jail, staff the new jail and take care of this salary increase. Most people got a salary increase because we were behind. We underpaid people. What was happening? I've seen it in 911. I've seen it with our deputies. I've seen it with EMS, public safety. And what I've seen time and time again is that they would come to Cheatham County, they would get six months, maybe a year, of experience under their belt. And then guess what? I can walk over to Robertson County, Montgomery County, Dickson County, definitely in Metro, Sumner County, and suddenly I can make a lot more money doing the same thing I'm doing right now. So we became a training ground, thinking we were saving money by underpaying folks. 

Since we've done the salary study, and put that in place, turnover has gone down to nothing because we're able to keep people because they're not lured away by more pay when they get six months or a year. We need to stay on top of that and try to make sure we stay competitive. 

KSG: How should the county balance growth and development with preserving its environment and character?

McCarver: Well, first off, growth is growth is coming. We cannot stop growth. That's the first thing we need to understand. There's nothing more important that a government has to do and must do it well than public safety. So whether it be if you're in trouble and need a deputy, if you need an ambulance, tornado hits and you need emergency management – all those are county wide features. 

We have to make sure we’re keeping up with public safety. And we have. I'm very proud of our record over the last few years, because we have put more ambulance folks on, we've put some more deputies on, and we've expanded some opportunities in the Sheriff's Department. There's nothing more important we do than public safety. One thing that makes Cheatham County so spectacular and incredible to folks is when they come here, they feel safe. 

It’s nice when we create libraries, but you create the greatest library in the world, if you don't feel safe in that building, what do we got? My main job is to make sure that crime out of Nashville stays on that side of the Davidson County line, and we maintain our quality of life.

KSG: What is the main focus you will have if re-elected? 

McCarver: Maintaining response to the growth. That's our responsibility. Whether it be at the school level or any of the county services that we provide, we need to be on top of that, because if it gets away from you, you're in trouble.

That's always going to be a priority. The number one concern is public safety.

KSG: What would a successful term for you look like in Cheatham County? 

McCarver: Success will look like Cheatham County does right now. 

We haven't gone off the deep end changing. We haven't taken a direction that's out of control. We haven't let growth get out of control. And yet we've maintained that stability, and we've maintained the services that people have come to expect.

I don't want to see anything change, either, but at the same time, it's crazy to think it'll never change. It will. But we can control it and we can control growth if it's done right to a certain level. It's first off recognizing it's going to come. If you just stick your head in the ground say, ‘Hey, I've stopped growth.’ Well, let me know how that works out for you. It ain't gonna work out. You can't do it in Cheatham County and expect it not to run over you.

KSG: Why should Cheatham County residents vote to re-elect you? 

McCarver: They should re-elect me because I've got the experience. I was eight years as a part time city mayor in Pleasant View, and I've been nine years as county mayor. And I think with my record and results, people understand I can do this job. I will do this job to the best of my ability, and if they like what's happened the last eight years, they need to keep me on. 

We've made improvements across every department I have. I have nine and they are seasoned and equipped. I'm convinced we could go into any of the other 94 counties of this state and run it. That's how good the team I have put together. That's what you’ll get for the next four years – keeping what we've got going. We continue to look, see how we can improve and do better, and we'll continue to do that for the next four years.