Applicant Interviews

Open Ward 2 Alderman position

On Thursday night, the city of White House held an open interview for the Ward 2 Alderman position. Five people had turned in applications, but there were four on the panel that night. This pool consisted of three women and one man. Jana Spicer, Rebecca Johnson, Stephanie Mitchell, and Carlos Payne were all questioned on Thursday night.

This event had about 40 people in the audience and was live streamed by the chamber of commerce president. This event was well run and a great way to see who had applied for the position. However, many of the questions seemed to ask the same thing in a different manner.

Question 1) Do any of you have immediate family members currently employed by the city of White House? All answered NO.

Question 7) If appointed can you serve on at least one other committee or board? All answered YES

Question 2) What do you see as the role and responsibility of an alderman?

• Mitchell- Represent the constituents of the ward. Address concerns of the citizens with the Board, and support the community.

• Payne- To safeguard the interests of the citizens, and represent the people of the ward.

• Spicer- Represent both the constituents and the city. Be fiscally responsible, and bring the community into the process with fair and equal time for all.

• Johnson- Represent the constituents and listen to the constituents and to protect the citizens’ interests.

Question 3) What background do you have or preparations have you made that make you the best candidate to serve the 13k citizens of White House?

• Payne- Truthfully not prepared. Has been an insurance adjuster and worked with people for many years. Familiar with building codes. A true people person who builds relationships and will listen.

• Spicer- Started with stating that she said she wanted to be “president” of her city when in the 3rd grade. Started volunteering at the library in White House. Is raising her kids here. Was president of the WH Youth Soccer club. Started a special needs soccer club. Is part of the rotary, the chamber of commerce, and the American Legion.

• Johnson- Is from Hendersonville but moved to WH in 1992. Works with plants and nature. Uses diplomacy when dealing with businesses and landowners. Has a unique vision for the loss of nature in the area to try to help keep the country feel.

• Mitchell- Has only been in WH just under three years. Has not yet gotten involved in the community. Was part of a historic preservation society and an urban planning committee. From a small town and familiar with growing pains.

Question 4) If you could change one thing about the board?

• Spicer- Improve the rezoning process- Not everything is the city center. We don’t need to be building 800 houses with each rezoning.

• Johnson- Balance the public interest with the growth. More transparency such as mailing out zoning change notices.

• Mitchell- It is important to bring in developers. but also balance. She would be a fresh set of eyes. Loves the master plan.

• Payne- Satisfied with the BOMA. Excited about the growth of the city, but need to consider everyone’s voices.

Question 5)What civic organizations have you been a part of?

• Johnson- When she was ready to join organizations, there weren’t any in WH. She started both a photography club and a native plants club. Covid shut both of them down.

• Mitchell- Moved here during Covid. Looking at joining rotary. Just joined a garden club, and is involved in an animal rescue fostering currently.

• Payne- Only involved in various sports activities with his children. Was born and raised here and is looking to be more civically active.

• Spicer- Rotary club, chamber of commerce, youth soccer, special needs soccer, school sports boards, and has coached various youth sports.

Question 6) Have you ever served on a board before specifically in the city of WH?

• Mitchell- No- Was a consulting member of a historic board

• Payne- No- Was involved in committees at New Heights church and Life Church

• Johnson- No- But has applied repeatedly to be on various boards in the city

• Spicer- Answered that in question 5

Question 8) Have you held a leadership role and if yes, what was it?

• Mitchell- Has been a manager at an international logistics company and director of a historic preservation society for five years.

• Payne- Team lead for the insurance company he works for. Educates other adjusters.

• Spicer- Banking manager and president of WH youth soccer for 10 years.

• Johnson- A garden merchandiser for 7 stores. Hires a team each year to work with the different stores and has started and led clubs in WH.

Question 9) Why do you want to serve in this position?

• Payne- Wants to be more involved in the community. Passion to listen to people and be engaged. An opportunity to serve the community.

• Spicer- It seems like a natural step after the boards served. Reads all the minutes from the meetings. Has attended study sessions and spoke at BOMA meetings in the past.

• Johnson- Wants to help direct the city to a smart path forward. Applied because feels as if the citizens aren’t being heard. Board needs to remember those who live here and balance that with the new. Help with what’s best for the citizens.

• Mitchell- Has a passion for civic duty and wants to be a voice for the newer residents. From a small town also and sees that positive growth needs to happen. An excellent listener.

Question 10) What skills and or qualifications do you bring to this position?

• Spicer- Good at talking to people and will call them back. Knowledgeable about the city process and has been involved. Will invite others to be involved.

• Johnson- Good at talking to people. Very diplomatic. A professional attitude. Master’s in science. An independent spirit to take initiative.

• Mitchell- A good listener, responsive, responsible, able to make people comfortable, and a good communicator.

• Payne- Listens to people and is approachable.

Question 11) An angry citizen calls you at 10 pm and says their back yard is flooding. How do you handle it?

• Johnson- First, let them vent. Stop by in person the next day. Call the public works department and notify them. Help mitigate the damage with native plants. Already a lot of flooding tin the city. WH was once a wetland prairie. Listen to the concerns of the angry citizen.

• Mitchell- Listen to the citizen. Get recommendations for dealing with the issue. Go to the house and help them direct them towards help. Take a look at the bigger picture. What can we as a community do to help this? What is a long term solution.

• Payne- Find out if they need emergency services. Listen to their concerns. Ask if they have flood insurance. Help them call in a claim for their home. Gather all the facts and look for a resolution.

• Spicer- Listen to the citizen until they are calm. Remind them of the city app where they can file a report with the public works department. Direct them to the emergency contact information on the city’s website. Get all of their information and check which ward they are in. If they have called the wrong alderman, inform their alderman of the issue. Follow up with both the citizen and the other alderman.

Question 12) Another alderman calls you and wants to discuss city business with you over the phone. How do you handle that?

• Mitchell- If that is allowed under the law, then yes. However, it’s not healthy to work 1 or 2 alderman against each other. Things need to remain transparent.

• Payne- Should avoid conversations until all of the aldermen are available to meet.

• Spicer- Understands there is a sunshine law and aldermen are NOT allowed to speak to each other about city business except in meetings.

• Johnson- Seconds Spicer and understands why sunshine law is there. Would breed mistrust to speak in private.

These are bullet points on how each candidate answered the questions. You can watch the entire interview here. The video is about 50 minutes long. I think I have hit the high points. In my next Substack I will include closing statements and overall opinions on each candidate. This was a lengthy article, but each applicant was given 2 minutes to answer each question. I tried to pull several ideas from each answer to give you an overall picture of how the questions were answered.