CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Following Michael Lankford’s appointment to represent state House District 75 in a tie-breaking vote by the County Commission, he sat down with Clarksville Now to speak on what the opportunity means to him.
Lankford is taking over for his friend and mentor, state Rep. Jeff Burkhart, who died Nov. 14. Lankford said he and Jeff were good friends, and he applied for the position because he wanted to do right by someone he considered a mentor.
“I just really respected the heart and dedication he put into the job, and I wanted someone to uphold that,” he said. “And not that I was the best person to do that, but I did feel like I could really do a good job of it. I was born and raised here and have a lot of respect for this community. It has so much great potential, and I just want to make sure we stay on the right track and keep it a good place to live, work and raise a family.”
| MORE: Commission will vote on successor to Rep. Jeff Burkhart until next election
When asked what it means to take over for someone who was a friend, as well as mentor, Lankford, formerly a county commissioner, said it’s a humbling experience.
“It’s very humbling to start, just to know that that many people had confidence in you to go and represent your community in Nashville. It’s also very sobering just because of the circumstances that had us need to appoint somebody,” he said. “To be able to carry the torch forward, it’s kind of a continuation of what he (Jeff) saw in the community and the heart he had to serve. We shared a lot of constituents so there were some things we’d worked on together. To be able to carry that forward as well, it’s helpful to the community.”
As for working with people on each side of the aisle in Nashville, Lankford said that it’s important to remember that you are there for the entire community.
“Everybody that put their name forward did so because they love the community, and they want it to be great. How you get to be great is where we differ a little bit,” Lankford said. “Everybody wants the same end I think, but we come from different experiences, and different backgrounds, and I think that’s what makes it great working on the commission. Everybody had different backgrounds, but we all want the same thing for the community.”
| NEWS ALERTS: To get free breaking news alerts on your phone, text the word NEWS to 43414.
Lankford said in Nashville, he will be there to listen and work for the whole district, because there are different needs and a lot of different voices that you need to listen to.
“As a commissioner you’re on the ground level, you hear all the negatives, you hear all the positives. So, it really gives you an insight of where the bottlenecks are and how you can navigate that. In Nashville, having somebody that’s been a commissioner, they know where the struggles are, they know what we need. So, when you have that experience, you remember, ‘Hey, this is where I was at this point in time, how can we make it easier for local governments to operate?”
Lankford anticipates being sworn in on Jan. 13.
| DOWNLOAD THE APP: Sign up for our free Clarksville Now app