Local businessman Kenneth Eaton is running for Williamson County Mayor this May. He is campaigning on a promise to stop unnecessary spending by governing the county through a business perspective. We sat down with Kenneth to get to know him a little bit better.
Follow Kenneth Eaton For Mayor on Facebook and visit eatonformayor.com for more information.
1. As a Nashville transplant, what made you decide to settle in Williamson County?
Being born and raised in South Nashville, I bought my home a few miles further South and moved into Williamson County 40 years ago,
Franklin was a quiet, rural farming community, small and full of history. My family was one of the founding Williamson County families – U.S. Secretary of War John Henry Eaton is one of my ancestor. I wanted to live in Williamson County because it was and is a county with great schools, great personable teachers, has a low crime rate and is a great place to raise a family.
2. You’ve been a businessman for 40 years….is there any other career you ever considered going into and transversely, what job could you never see yourself doing?
Being raised in a family in the automotive industry I knew as a small child what I wanted to do, and I am living that goal everyday, when one goal was reached I set the next goal. I enjoyed the automobile business and then I started Investing in Real Estate as a side business.
I could never see myself not working with the public, and always helping in community efforts.
3. When and why did you decide to run for County Mayor?
I became heavily involved in politics many years ago in Nashville where my businesses and second home were. When I semi-retired in 2015 I became more active in my hometown Republican Party and I then started studying the County Budget. After digging into the budget and seeing the overspending, the lack of transparency, the cronyism and the lack of infrastructure in place, and seeing the same mayor for 16 years (I’m a believer in term limits) I felt it was time for a businessman to be elected, someone that understands a budget and how to build and develop financially without steadily increasing taxes, as has been happening for many years and I might add without putting infrastructure in place.
4. What are some of your favorite things to do in Williamson County?
Relax, sit on the patio and listen to the crickets, and the cows and that nice clean country air. Williamson County has great parks and walking trails to enjoy, giving us the relaxing hometown feeling we all want.
But the negative is we are slowly losing that feeling, with the over building, and lack of infrastructure in place, its starting to put us into the likes of Nashville, overcrowding, traffic, high crime and the loss of the good ole country lifestyle.
And the current administration continues to develop without the needed infrastructure in place.
5. When you’re not working or campaigning, what do you do for fun?
Fun is achieving goals.
My hobbies are cars and traveling to the islands.
But my true passion is to take a goal and make it work and right now that is what Williamson County needs, someone who makes it a goal to build schools, build roads, put infrastructure in place all that has been neglected for about the last 20 to 25 years and make this county work smoothly for all of Williamson County not just Franklin and Cool Springs. Putting the needs of this county in place in two terms as Mayor my goal.
Kenneth and his wife of 41 years (Toni) live in Franklin and have two sons and one grandson. Election Day is Tuesday, May 1, 2018.
