Spring Hill is going to elect five city leaders in a few weeks.
Early voting started on March 24 and ends April 8. Election Day is April 13. You can vote at Spring Hill Community Building on 563 Maury Hill Street from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday – Friday and 8 a.m. – Noon Saturdays
Four of eight alderman seats are up for election, as well as mayor.
For more information about voting, visit the city’s website on elections. For more about the candidates, look below.
In Ward 1, incumbent Amy Wurth will run unopposed.
Wurth
Wurth is from Lafayette, Indiana, and went to Purdue University, earning a Bachelor’s degree in business administration and management. After college, she worked for the late Richard Daley, the 43rd Mayor of Chicago. On the BOMA, she is known for her attention to budgetary details, fiscal conservatism and her willingness to take a stand on issues she feels passionate about.
Wurth moved to Spring Hill in 2003 where she now lives with her two sons and husband Tom, a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter.
Ward 2: incumbent Jonathan Duda vs. Jeff Graves.
Duda
Duda was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania, moving to Williamson County in 1994.
He and his wife have lived in Spring Hill with their family since 2003.
He was elected as Alderman for Ward 2 in 2005, and re-elected twice in 2009 and again in 2013.
Duda’s professional experience is as vice president at NFP, a financial services and insurance provider to individuals and corporations across the country.
“My family are members of Catholic Church of the Nativity, for which I have served on the building committee that completed the construction of the new church facility on Buckner Lane. When I am not working, you’ll find me spending time with my family and children who are active in youth sports with South Williamson Athletics and Spring Hill Hawks.”
Answering the question of why he feels he deserves re-election, Duda said:
“My friends and colleagues would tell you that it doesn’t matter how complicated an issue is, I’m the team member that’s going to roll up my sleeves, dive into the details, and work to find a solution. That’s the type of background and experience I bring to the city, and what I believe is needed to address the challenges that we face. Experience matters, particularly as we complete the major road projects that are critical to fixing our traffic and transportation issues.”
“Additionally, I have a proven record of being an advocate for citizens, holding the development community accountable, implementing smart and managed growth policies, and effectively working with city staff and other members of the board to bring results.”
Graves
Graves has spent the majority of his life in Williamson County. After growing up in Nolensville and graduating from Brentwood High School in 2000, he moved to West Tennessee for 9 years where he lived in Martin, Tenn., while working on a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin. In 2004, Graves moved to Memphis, Tennessee to pursue Master’s of Divinity from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. In 2009, Jeff Graves and his wife, Chelsea, moved to Spring Hill where they have planted roots, started a family, and launched careers.
“I am pleased and honored to announce my candidacy for Alderman of the City of Spring Hill,” Graves said. “Maybe more now than ever, the decisions we make today for our city will define the future our children and our grandchildren have in Spring Hill. It is for that reason I am running for Alderman in Ward 2 of Spring Hill.”
Graves believes the community is at critical juncture and the next five to ten years will be crucial to the prosperity and health of Spring Hill. He believes his responsibility, as alderman, is to listen to the people of Spring Hill to make common sense decisions that are best for the people and plan wisely for the future growth of the city.
“I want Spring Hill to be a place that our children and grandchildren will want to live in or move to for the same reasons you and I did,” he said.
Some of the issues Graves plans to address include traffic, planning and quality of life.
“Spring Hill’s population is growing faster than our infrastructure,” Graves said. “It is imperative that we use common sense to manage this growth today while planning wisely and thinking toward the future. I believe we can plan and grow in a way that maintains our small town charm while providing the luxuries of the city.”
Ward 3, incumbent Kieth Hudson vs. Kevin Gavigan
Gavigan
Gavigan is running to shake things up.
He claims his opponent has not done enough for the Spring Hill infrastructure. He wants to work with TDOT to make sure Spring Hill is a priority.
Gavigan has spent 24 years in Spring Hill and was born here. He has a law degree and went to Lipscomb University. He is married with two daughters.
Hudson
Hudson, who has lived in Spring Hill since 1997, thinks things are going well and hard work is paying off.
He is running for re-election on continuing to push for road projects, improved quality of life, safety and bringing the right jobs to the city.
With 26 years of experience in operations management, Hudson went to Alcorn State University before earning his MBA from Trevecca. He has four children.
Ward 4
Vincent Fuqua and Douglas Holt will vie for the vacant seat held by temporary appointee Brandon McCulloch. Kayce Williams, who was elected in 2013, stepped down to take a staff job with the city Economic Development Commission.
Fuqua
Fuqua has lived in Spring Hill since he was 10, and now operates a landscaping company there.
He hopes to address development and traffic.
“I am passionate about our city,” he said. “I want to be represent the citizens like myself that don’t feel that crucial issues are being addressed in a timely manner and some not addressed at all.”
He said that traffic is a “nightmare” in Spring Hill, and will only get worse unless the city works with the state.
He also plans to give development a close look with visions that go beyond financial interest.
“When developing an area, the impact of roads, intersections, and schools needs to be analyzed closely and zoned appropriately,” he said.
“Spring Hill is not the small town of the past, but rather one of the fastest growing areas in the state. It is vital that we preserve its hometown feel by taking action.”
Holtz
Holtz went to college in Ohio at Cedarville University and has worked in retail and restaurant management. He also owns a commercial cleaning business.
Holtz, like Fuqua, would like to see some vision in the growth.
After being involved as a citizen, he wants to lead for Spring Hill in an official capacity.
He identified infrastructure, traffic and equipping first responders better as issues to work on.
He also wants to secure to financial future of Spring Hill.
“The future of Spring Hill is very bright and positive,” he said. “We will see road infrastructure improvements coming this year as well that have been long awaited and even longer in need. We are also seeing the development of some new Planned Zoning Districts areas.”
Mayoral Race: incumbent Rick Graham vs. Shane McNeill.
Graham
Elected mayor in 2013 after six years as an alderman, Graham has overseen the continued economic and residential development of Spring Hill.
Graham, 59, has lived in Spring Hill with his wife since 2003. They have two grown sons.
“Our priorities remain public safety, transportation and parks,” Mayor Rick Graham said for a year-end review of 2016.
When he took office in 2013 he said two main long-term goals included getting U.S. Highway 31 on the state’s list of roads to widen and partnering with the county and state to work on building an interchange from Buckner Road to Interstate 65.
The city presented a $19 million reduced-cost plan for U.S. 31 widening in the fall, which TDOT approved, according to city documents. The widening of U.S. 31 from Miles Johnson Parkway to Buckner Road in Spring Hill is on the state’s planning horizon for 2021-2030. But city officials sought to expedite the process by funding the initial design work and possibly even sharing the costs of the future right-of-way land acquisition and construction work.
The city is waiting on the spring legislative session to find out if funds will be made available.
As for the new interchange, driven by Graham and other leaders, various direct and indirect efforts have been taken to bring about such a project on Buckner Road.
City officials are pursuing a widening of Buckner Road from two to five lanes, which is included in the traffic study for the proposed Alexander property.
Graham has said that getting an interchange approved requires showing it will have a regional impact. The proposed Alexander project could provide this.
As of now it is up to the Federal Highway Administration, after an Interstate Access Request study performed this fall was passed on to TDOT.
“I know people are frustrated with it, but there is a lot to it and a lot of things that have to happen,” Graham said about the interchange in a year-end review of 2016. “All of those things go into creating the new northern entrance to Spring Hill.”
McNeill
Graham’s challenger is Shane McNeill.
McNeill, 41, is an attorney and civil engineer who has lived in Spring Hill since 2002 with his wife, daughter and two sons.
He said that the city has not taken control of its growth and development, and he is not happy with what is going on.
“There has been uncontrolled development now for years with no resistance from the city, BOMA or planning commission,” he said. “And I am one of very many people not happy with what is going on.”
He has run for several offices before. In Spring Hill most recently, he finished 4th in the 2015 six-candidate Ward 2 Alderman race won by Matt Fitterer. McNeill pulled 169 votes to Fitterer’s 221.
McNeill has also run unsuccessfully for the 65th District Congressional seat in 2015 and Williamson County Public Defender in 2014.
In 2015 McNeill, who works for Tellus law firm, was admitted to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Spring Hill Imagination Library. In the past, he has served as President of the Cameron Farms Homeowner’s Association and Historian for the Nashville branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Shane is currently a member of the Tennessee Bar Association, the Hiram Masonic Lodge, and Thompson’s Station Church. He maintains a professional engineering license in Alabama and Tennessee and is licensed to practice law in Tennessee.
