Posted: Sunday, July 27, 2008 9:19 am

Buddy Gambill, Jr. officially announces his candidacy for Rutherford County Road Superintendent. He is certified by the Tennessee Department of State Division of Elections to run for this office. J. David Bennett, CPA, CFE, FCPA, of Renaissance CPA Group, P.C., has been appointed Treasurer of Gambill’s campaign.

When asked why he wants to be Road Superindent, Gambill responds, “Some people desire to be policemen, firemen, airplane pilots, or many other jobs, such as these. I have always had a desire to be the Road Superintendent of Rutherford County.”

Gambill grew up in a construction-based family. His dad had him on a dozier before he was twelve years old. Through the years, Gambill learned more and more about road construction, maintenance, and repair, and all about other construction related fields. He managed his dad’s construction and equipment business until 1985; he then went into his own business, which he still owns and operates – Gambill Truck and Surplus Sales, in Christiana.

Gambill says, “With my experience, I will bring cost-effective purchasing and new maintenance programs. I will maintain quality work within all areas of the highway department.” He will work with all the cities of Rutherford County as well as other agencies and departments, providing them with any services possible. The bottom line is to keep tax dollars down. The highway department can do much more in this area.

In the next four years, Gambill has specific goals he wants to accomplish in Rutherford County:
TRAFFIC: road-widening, safe intersections, and doing whatever possible to keep the public safe and the traffic moving.
PERSONNEL: to encourage and increase pride, morale, and incentive for better work. To be sure pay scales are equal to the private sector to keep the best qualified worker possible. This will produce quality work, less down time, and costly repair on equipment.
QUICK RESPONSE TEAM: if an emergency happens (ice, snow, flood, strong winds, signs down, pot holes, or any other danger to the motoring public) it will be taken care of quickly.
TAXES: to work with the cities of Eagleville, LaVergne, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, and all other county agencies to keep the tax base down.
FUEL AND ENERGY COST: stop all unofficial use of equipment and vehicles. Place a Dispatcher in charge of all equipment to prevent misuse and wasted fuel. The dispatcher would assign equipment to personnel and log in where equipment and vehicles are to be located, and what work is being performed. Take home vehicles would not be allowed. There would be no personal use of highway department motor vehicles or equipment!

Buddy Gambill, Jr. is 62 years old and a native of Rutherford County. He is the son of the late Buddy and Marion Wade Gambill, Sr. of Christiana. His grandparents are the late Jospeh V. Gambill and Patty Buchannon Jennings of LaVergne, and the late Sam and Minnie Barksdale Wade of Smyrna. He is married to his childhood sweetheart, Merilyn Beernink of Midland. They have three children and one grandboy. Trey is 34 years old and is married to Angie Wortham of Unionville. Trey is pastor of Florence Baptist Church, in Murfreesboro, and Angie owns and operates Gambill Photography. Trey and Angie have a son, A.J., 2+ years old. He is the “STAR”. Ben is 30 years old, and is employed by UPS. Ben is also the Youth Pastor at Florence Baptist Church, alongside Trey. Nina is 24 years old, and a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University. She is employed by Neste Event Marketing in Brentwood.

Gambill is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He served as board member and coach for the Christiana Soft-ball Club for more than twelve years. He is also life member of the American-Veterans Association (Am-Vets). He has been a member of the Rutherford County Farm Bureau for many years. He also served many years on the board of directors, and as an Assistant Chief of the Christiana Volunteer Fire Department. Buddy is a former deacon and now attends Florence Baptist Church.

Buddy pledges to be the first Rutherford County Road Superintendent to place a minority in a management position. “I have looked into the Highway Department’s history and have not found any African-American, Hispanic, or any other minority races in leadership positions. I have spoken with Mr. George Clark (a successful self-employed contractor) of Murfreesboro about a position at the department. When I am elected, he said he would accept a management position and turn his family business over to his son. My promise to the people of Rutherford County is to be FAIR, HONEST, STRAIGHT-FORWARD, and DEDICATED to making the Rutherford County Highway Department the BEST it can be. I would GREATLY appreciate your vote and support in this election. Thank you.”