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The event essentially was a civil discourse based on audience questions rather than a spirited exchange of issues and, in the end, both candidates agreed that the affair was informative, fair and cordial. Incumbent Patty Edwards did not participate in the debate, citing health concerns. An audience of 136 turned out for the event.

Barksdale and Winchester addressed a variety of issues including sale of the hospital, structure of city departments, employment, industry, annexation, civic appointments, liquor, local entertainment and education.

Of particular interest, however, was Barksdale's stewardship of the industrial board and whether or not he'd leave that post if elected mayor. It was the only audience question directed at a specific candidate.

"That's a good question and I'm glad it was asked so let's get this on the table," Barksdale said. "I do not intend to leave the Industrial Board office if I'm elected mayor. I propose to do both jobs."

Barksdale offered his reasoning.

"They are both very closely knit and work very well together," he said. "A majority of the time you are actually doing city business at the same time you are doing industrial recruiting business. Secondly, the ambition I have for doing this to begin with is so that the people realize after four years of what would be a full-time mayor or basically a person available eight hours a day to handle city business, city personnel problems that they would basically look at the importance of having a full-time mayor dedicated to moving forward or either having a city manager."

Barksdale said he wasn't a city employee, did not receive a check from the City of McKenzie, nor could he qualify for city benefits.

"I was hired by the Industrial Board, not the mayor," he said. "I have no voting rights on the Industrial Board. Basically all I am is an administrator; I bring information to the table, it's the Industrial Board's decision."

Industrial board appointments, Barksdale said, were made by the city council and the mayor had no vote in those decisions.
Both candidates embraced questions about industrial board appointments and had similar ideas regarding those appointments.
"They need to have a genuine interest in development of the city and need business experience," Winchester said. "They need to have interest in gaining new jobs in the community and they need to talk to citizens of the town and get input for what might be available."

Barksdale echoed similar sentiments.

"They (industrial board appointees) have to be pretty dedicated people and the board needs to be diversified," he said. "We need people in the banking community, people from the private sector, the educational sector and a lot of different areas. A diversified board has worked quite well."

City annexation was somewhat of a hot topic. Barksdale said the city needs an annexation plan while Winchester was ambivalent about wholesale annexations, but agreed a plan needs to be in place.

"We haven't had an annexation plan in a number of years. The last time was in the early '80s," Barksdale said. "We have to assess areas that have developed and realize areas with upcoming development. We need to review transportation, water and sewer plans and put a plan in place to annex some of these areas."

Winchester said he has some reservations about annexation and said he'd evaluate each issue fairly.

"When you buy a house right out of town, you don't want to be annexed, but if I'm receiving city services, then I feel I need to be annexed and contribute to the city," he said. "In Adamsville, you drive 10 minutes before you get to downtown and I don't think that's good," he said. "You need to look at who you are going to annex."

The recent sale of Methodist Hospital of McKenzie to Community Health Systems, Inc. has drawn a critical eye and both candidates said they were concerned about what might transpire.

"We hope we can still maintain the services that are available," said Winchester. "Sometimes a sale like that to a bigger corporation is done to downsize. We have good services here in McKenzie. Specialists come in to our facility that you don't have to drive to Jackson and I hope those things will remain available to the community."

Said Barksdale: "I'm concerned about all the jobs at the hospital and the ambulance service. They like to operate in areas of 20,000 to 40,000 population and that's not the situation in McKenzie. We're certainly not that size of a community. There's another hospital 10 miles down the road so that's a legitimate concern. We also have a PA (physician's assistant) program that Bethel is doing and they use some of the facilities at the hospital. We've just gotten a grant allocated so that we'll also have a PLN at the technology center to start a nursing school and that would take place in part at the Methodist Hospital facility. The biggie I guess is what about the ambulance service? That's a very critical situation. My research, they don't run an ambulance service. There are many issues that need to be addressed."
Both said they would work to promote McKenzie at the county, state and federal levels.

"We've worked hard in promoting industry and McKenzie to create a positive image and get pride back in the city," said Barksdale. "At the industrial board, we've put some promotional material together and you can't get that at city hall. The city doesn't do anything like that and those areas need to be addressed."

Winchester had like sentiments.

"We need to promote the image of the city and the services available," he said. "We need to be in contact with our state representatives and senators that we are here and we need their support. We need to get information out to citizens."

When asked about youth sports, like soccer, both candidates realized a need.

"We have no theater, no bowling alley, no skating rink, there are things we could do for entertainment not just on the sports side," said Barksdale. "Soccer is an up-and-growing sport and we could partner up with Bethel, put a sports complex up at Bethel and it could be an excellent partnership."

Said Winchester: "Having managed sports, this is something that we need and soccer is a growing entity. Bethel is expanding their soccer program and they have athletes from other countries. When we have to play in the outfield of a baseball field, it looks bad. We need it in our plans. We need to look at partnerships with the high school, Bethel and the county."

Both aspirants said they have some general knowledge of the inner workings of the city, but would like to improve their grasp. Neither knew specifically how many people the city employs and both highlighted the importance of local revenue.

"I looked at the budget for income and expenses and we have a shortfall this year because we had expenses we didn't anticipate," Winchester said. "Having been through administration and budgeting, I know what to look for and if elected, I have the ability to budget, I have the background and educational experience."

Barksdale emphasized how important it was to spend local dollars at home.

"I am familiar with the different departments and I know the overall budget revenue is in excess of $3 million," he said. "It's very critical that we spend our dollars at home. The more we do, the better the finances of the city are going to be."

Unemployment in the city was of special concern to the candidates.

"The economy has been through tough times and we need to place 800 jobs as quickly as we possibly can," said Barksdale. "We've been working on that.

"We do have one commitment basically that we thought would come on line in the fourth quarter that would bring in possibly 550 jobs. The economy overall has not changed and so they've moved that decision to the first quarter (of '03). But we are addressing those issues on a daily basis. We feel like we might turn the corner there."

Winchester acknowledged the tough times.

"A lot of small cities are facing the same situations. Clothing industries have gone to other countries. Not being part of the industrial process most of my life, I'm not sure how we attract or recruit businesses, but I do know we try to through our contacts in Nashville to put McKenzie on a list of possibilities. We have space, access, working staff in driving distance of several small towns who have the same problems. People drive to Jackson every day to work, so driving distance doesn't seem to be a factor. We need to sell McKenzie a good place with an able workforce."

Both candidates said that a liquor issue would not be handled by the mayor, but rather by a referendum. But if the city was faced with passage of such a referendum, the mayor would be confronted with several concerns.

"It's not a particular issue I'd put on the drawing board, but if it is voted on, the mayor and council would have to draw up a plan," Barksdale said.

"Being mayor, people would look to me for guidance. There are pros and cons like the lottery. It's not in our best interest, but we'd get a good deal from a package store. We get $120,000 off of beer sales in McKenzie. Where can we find another $120,000 like that. I'd rather expand industry so we wouldn't have to address that issue," said Winchester.

Both candidates agreed that McKenzie has excellent educational opportunities with the K-12 school district and a four-year college in Bethel. Both discussed the potential need for a satellite fire station to help protect the airport and the high school. Both said they'd consider fireworks and litter ordinances, especially as they pertain to outdated yard sale signs. They also agreed that the city needs to nurture its relationship with Henry and Weakley counties.

As for the future, both said they had concerns about the city's structure and need of planning. They also said they had the ability to devote full-time to the job - Barksdale remaining on the Industrial Board and Winchester being semi-retired.

"I'd like to evaluate all departments, find the faults and segregate those out," Barksdale said. "We need a theme. We need to restore pride in the city. We need to back up, reorganize and then move forward."

"I've given thought to department organization and the inner structure needs improvement," said Winchester. "We need more than a one-year plan for our streets. We need better budget management. We have enough money coming in. We have a lot of traffic that passes by on (Highways) 22 and 79 and they don't know where the city is. We need signs pointing them in that direction because we have an attractive downtown with the city square."

"I've watched other communities excel. I'd like to get back where we were years ago, to see McKenzie as a trade center," Barksdale said. "There's another Sam Walton out there, we need to find him. We need to address additional retail. Then we'll see expansion in the city."

"I'd like to see the city prosper and I'd like to see that we've done our best to attract industry," Winchester said. "We need to promote business and establish our own identity."

The election is Nov. 5.

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