“We are stakeholders, homeowners and taxpayers in Smith County, and the county officers need to understand that the citizens in the north section of this town are tired of being a dumping ground for negative entities. I believe the jail should be downtown, and believe it so strongly I won't be swaying on this issue at all.”
“If we pull out, it will encourage businesses to take flight as well. If we do, the downtown area will start to decline and we don't want that to happen. If we can build it there, other things will come.”
“We have to raise money, even if that means a tax increase. If we do that, we have to make a commitment to the people to explain why we're going to raise taxes and what they are going to be used for ... at the same time, we have to look at our future because our reserves are constantly being depleted.”
