A New Term, One Team, and a Future Worth Building
By David Morgan, Lawrence County Executive

With the election behind us, Lawrence County is preparing to begin a new four-year chapter of county government.
Some familiar faces will return to the County Commission, and some new commissioners will take their seats for the first time. Each has been chosen by the citizens of his or her district and entrusted with an important responsibility: to represent their neighbors and help make decisions that affect the future of our entire county.
Wayne Yocom, District 1
Barry Luffman, District 2
Denny Gillespie, District 3
Steve Hagan, District 4
Blake Grooms, District 5
Chris Sutherland, District 6
Travis Cauwels, District 7
Ricky Skillington, District 8
Ronald 'Bubba' Benefield, Jr., District 9
Delano Benefield, District 10
Scott Franks, District 11
Angie Jacobs, District 12
Ray Brazier, District 13
Sandy Newton, District 14
Tammy Wisdom, District 15
J.D. Bosheers,  District 16
Tim Clifton, District 17
Will Burnett, District 18
I want to congratulate each of our commissioners and thank them for their willingness to serve.
Elections determine who gets the opportunity to lead. Teamwork determines what those leaders are able to accomplish.
As I begin my second term as County Executive, one of my greatest priorities is strengthening the working relationship between my office, the County Commission, our other elected officials, department heads, employees, municipalities, schools, and community partners.
We don’t have to agree on everything to work together.
In fact, we won’t agree on everything—and we shouldn’t expect to. Eighteen commissioners looking at an issue from different backgrounds, communities, occupations, and experiences will naturally see some things differently.
That’s not a weakness.
Handled correctly, it’s one of our greatest strengths.
Good government isn’t produced by everyone thinking alike. It is produced when good people are willing to sit around the same table, listen to one another, debate honestly, find common ground, and then move forward together.
That is the kind of county government I want us to build over the next four years.
The Importance of the Chairman
As we prepare to organize for this new term, I am also considering offering myself to serve once again as Chairman of the Lawrence County Commission.
I don’t view the chairmanship as another title to hold. I view it as another opportunity to serve.
The Chairman has an important responsibility in establishing the tone of the Commission, facilitating orderly meetings, ensuring every commissioner has an opportunity to be heard, and helping move county business forward in a productive way.
But I believe there is something even more important.
The Chairman can help build unity.
The person holding the gavel shouldn’t use it to silence disagreement. The Chairman should make certain disagreement has a fair place at the table while keeping the Commission focused on the work the citizens elected us to do.
We can disagree without becoming disagreeable.
We can debate without becoming divided.
And after the vote is taken, we can walk out of the room still respecting one another and ready to work together on the next issue.
That kind of culture doesn’t happen accidentally. Leaders have to protect it.
County Executive and Chairman: Two Different Responsibilities
There is also an important distinction in Tennessee county government between the role of County Executive and the role of Chairman of the County Commission.
As County Executive, I am responsible for the executive and administrative side of county government. I work every day with our departments, budgets, personnel, projects, other elected officials, state and federal partners, and the many responsibilities involved in carrying out the policies and priorities established through county government.
The County Commission serves a different role. Commissioners represent the people of their respective districts and collectively exercise the legislative authority entrusted to the Commission.
Those responsibilities are intentionally different.
When the County Executive also serves as Chairman of the County Commission, however, there is an opportunity to create an important bridge between those two sides of county government.
The person working every day to execute the decisions of the Commission is also sitting at the table helping facilitate the meetings where those decisions are made.
To me, that can create better communication, greater understanding, and stronger continuity between policy and execution.
It also requires trust.
And I am willing to demonstrate that trust.
Willing to Give Up the Veto
One significant difference when the County Executive serves as Chairman of the County Commission involves veto authority.
If given the opportunity to serve as Chairman again, I am willing to give up that power.
Why?
Because I trust the people Lawrence County elected.
Every commissioner sitting around that table was sent there by the citizens of a district to exercise judgment, ask questions, study issues, and cast votes.
If we are doing county government correctly, major issues shouldn’t suddenly appear on the Commission floor without discussion.
They should be studied.
Questions should be asked.
Committees should do their work.
Commissioners should receive good information.
My office should communicate openly.
Other elected officials and department heads should have opportunities to provide their expertise.
And the public should always have an opportunity to be heard.
By the time eighteen elected commissioners cast their votes, I believe the process should have worked well enough that a veto should never even need to be considered.
I don’t want to build a county government around how much authority one person can possess.
I want to build one around how much trust nineteen elected leaders can develop with one another.
To me, voluntarily giving up veto authority to serve as Chairman isn’t surrendering leadership.
It’s an expression of trust.
Nineteen Leaders, One Lawrence County
Over the last four years, we have seen what is possible when people work together.
We’ve faced difficult decisions. We’ve disagreed. We’ve debated. We’ve had successes, learned lessons, and undoubtedly had moments we could have handled better.
That’s leadership.
But now we have another four years in front of us, and the opportunities are tremendous.
Education. Infrastructure. Economic development. Public safety. Fiscal responsibility. Quality of life. Agriculture. Roads. Utilities. Workforce development. Responsible growth.
None of those belong to one elected official.
They belong to Lawrence County.
And none of us can accomplish what needs to be accomplished alone.
The County Executive can’t do it without the Commission.
The Commission can’t do it without our other elected officials and employees.
County government can’t do it without our cities, schools, businesses, nonprofits, churches, civic organizations, and citizens.
We need each other.
That may be one of the simplest lessons of leadership, but I believe it is also one of the most important.
As this new Commission begins its work, I want every commissioner to know that my door will be open. I want their ideas. I want their questions. I want their concerns. I even want their constructive criticism.
We will disagree sometimes.
That’s okay.
What matters is that we never allow disagreement over an issue to become disrespect for one another.
Because at the end of the meeting, we aren’t Republicans and Democrats, city and county, incumbents and newcomers, administration and Commission.
We are Lawrence Countians.
We have been entrusted with a remarkable county at an important moment in its history.
My father’s words have stayed with me throughout my life:
“Change is inevitable, but progress is optional.”
Change will certainly come during these next four years.
Our responsibility is to make sure that change becomes progress.
That will require humility. It will require communication. It will require trust. And sometimes it will require putting aside personal preferences for the good of the whole.
Most of all, it will require teamwork.
The voters have chosen their team.
Now it’s our responsibility to work together and deliver for the people who sent us here.
One Commission. One administration. One county. One future worth building—together.