GOP Mayoral Candidate Mary Smith Lays Out Budget, Growth Priorities for Williamson County

Kaitlin Housler
Mary Smith

Williamson County Commissioner and mayoral candidate Mary Smith outlined her policy priorities and governing approach during an exclusive interview ahead of Tuesday’s primary election, emphasizing fiscal responsibility, transparency, and long-term planning as the county faces continued growth.

Williamson County voters will choose a new mayor for the first time in 24 years after incumbent Rogers Anderson announced he will not seek reelection. Republican candidates Mary Smith and Andy Marshall, along with independent candidate B K Muvvala, are set to appear on the ballot.

During Friday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Smith positioned herself as an “actions-based person” in the Republican primary race, highlighting her experience on the county commission and her focus on implementing practical solutions rather than campaign rhetoric.

“It really is important to know what is the plan – what can you actually do? And I’m definitely an actions based person,” Smith said.

She pointed to her existing relationships with county department heads as a key advantage, saying she would prioritize collaboration early in her administration.

“One of the things that we have to do is sit down with our department heads… they have a lot of ideas… and I think one of the important things that the county [mayor] can do is… create a culture where ideas are something that we can all sit down and talk about,” Smith said.

A major component of Smith’s platform is a detailed review of county spending, particularly in high-cost areas such as employee healthcare.

“I really want to do a deeper dive into our budget to see where there’s opportunities for us to start to save money. I’ve just seen over the last couple years our spending versus other counties spending in certain areas, and I think we need to look at some of those really big ticket items,” Smith explained.

“We have self supporting health insurance, and right now… it’s looking like $114 million…So we need to look and see how our healthcare insurance is structured,” she added. “We’ve gotta make sure… we’re hearing their concerns and we’re actually addressing them.”

Smith also emphasized the need for long-term infrastructure planning to keep pace with rapid population growth.

“I think we have to start looking at overall, what is our long-term strategy? What do our county services look like, this coming year, and what are they going to look like in three, four or five years from now? We’ve seen the growth. We know the growth is coming. We’ve been pretty consistent with that. I know a lot of people want to see that growth slow down, so we gotta look and see how can we adjust to some of the growth, but then how do we also put a plan together to make sure our infrastructure’s ahead of it and just see what that looks like,” she explained.

“Long-term strategy planning is something I think that we’re currently missing, and that’s something that I have a lot of experience in,” she added.

In addition to budget oversight, Smith called for increased transparency through improved access to financial data.

“I want to make sure that our entire budget, all of our spending is available… it’s easy to search on,” she said. “It’s [the taxpayers] money. So you should have the ability to go and see how the money is being spent.”

Addressing county debt, Smith said reductions could be achieved by limiting new borrowing and restructuring existing obligations.

“I wouldn’t call it good debt. I would call it necessary debt,” she said, adding that the county should work toward lowering debt servicing as a percentage of the overall budget.

Smith also framed her campaign around what she described as a commitment to residents over special interests.

“I’m a very simple person. My gut, how I lead, is based on the Bible and the Constitution…My leadership is doing what’s best for the people. Government is there to serve all the people equally, not special interests,” Smith said.

“I’m just somebody that wants to do the right thing. I have no conflict of interest in this race. I don’t own any businesses. I don’t own any land. I’m not affiliated with construction, real estate development. I am just somebody who loves this county and wants to make sure that we preserve and protect what makes it so special,” she added.

As voters prepare to head to the polls for Tuesday’s primary, Smith encouraged constituents to research candidates and stay engaged.

“Please educate yourselves,” she said. “Don’t listen to the rhetoric.”

The primary election is scheduled for Tuesday, May 5, with the general election for local offices to follow in August.

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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X.
Photo “Mary Smith” by Mary Smith.

 

 

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