Three Smyrna town council members as well as the town’s mayor, vice-mayor, and town manager flew to Japan in May for an economic development trip that possibly cost taxpayers as much as $16,000. This, according to Town Manager Brian Hercules, who told The Tennessee Star the six officials were away for a week. Hercules said he had no exact figures for the cost of the trip, but he estimated a sum of at least $15,000 to $16,000. Hercules told The Tennessee Star this week he could not yet announce any new jobs or industries for Smyrna as a result of the trip. Specifically, this delegation flew to Zama, Japan, on the island nation’s east coast. Mayor Mary Esther Reed (pictured above), Vice Mayor Marc Adkins, Hercules, and three council members Hercules did not identify went to Japan to, among other things, meet with officials at Nissan and Nissan supplier Topre America. Smyrna has had a Nissan assembly plant since the early 1980s. Only three of the five town council members could make the trip, Hercules said. “We felt strong enough about our economic development and the investment these companies had made. We opened it up to the council, and…
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