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Contributed commentary Becky Marx.

Karen and I met at book club meetings about six years ago, and as we discussed local, state, national and world issues, I thought more and more to myself, “This woman should run for office. She’s not afraid to speak her mind, she has great, common-sense ideas, and she has integrity and compassion.” My opinion hasn’t changed over the years.

As I grew to know Karen more and more, my respect for her continued to grow. When she ran for Clarksville City Council representative for Ward 9, I helped with some of her campaign writing and attended campaign events. I remember standing in an open area of a neighborhood off Madison Street listening to her address the group that had gathered there, answer their questions and respond to their comments. She talked about the need for improved infrastructure, including wider streets, more and wider sidewalks and construction infill, which would decrease the practice of buying farms out in the county for development until the farmland and other undeveloped land inside city limits had been developed. She talked about the need for improved access to mental health care. Clearly, she was passionate about these issues. As she completes her term as City Council representative, that passion hasn’t diminished.

So now Karen is running for state Senate. She’s learned a lot about how to get things done in government, when to continue fighting for what she believes, and when to compromise. She has worked with other council members to improve Clarksville.

Karen leads the Montgomery County Health Council, a group of agency leaders, health care providers, behavioral healthcare providers, school health representatives and community members who work to improve medical and behavioral healthcare access and quality of care in our county. Under her leadership, council members are working with the Department of Children’s Services, child welfare advocates, and local healthcare providers to establish medical homes for children who are in the county foster care system so they’ll be able to continue with the same providers even though they may be moving from one foster home to another. Another council subcommittee is building an interactive database of mental healthcare providers that community members will be able to access when it is completed. I’m sure the council will continue to make many more positive contributions to our community under Karen’s leadership.

Karen is an outstanding facilitator and has skills that help her work with others and lead them toward solutions. As a member of the Health Council, I’ve watched her as one of the members presents a problem or a challenge. She listens, asks for ideas, facilitates discussion and then asks for volunteers to work together toward a solution. She looks for resources to help meet the problem or challenge, does everything she can to support the volunteers, and maintains communication to stay up to date on their progress. After she gets on her feet in the Senate, I can easily see her leading and facilitating groups of people who will help solve some of the challenges we face here in Tennessee.

Another thing Karen excels at is communication. In an effort to provide transparency, she emails summaries of City Council meetings to residents of her ward and other interested individuals. The emails tell about what is covered at the meetings, how each member voted, and why Karen voted the way she did. When she approaches her senatorial duties with this kind of transparency and integrity, not only will we all be better informed about the issues addressed by the Senate and the way in which they’re handled, but we’ll know that we are represented by a person who leads with integrity and won’t participate in the kinds of shenanigans that go on in Nashville.

These are some of the reasons why I’m voting for Karen Reynolds for Tennessee Senate, and I hope you will, too.

For more information about Karen and her where she stands on issues, go to karenreynoldsvote.com.

Becky Marx