Candidates clash on growth
The candidates each spoke for 10 minutes before taking questions from attendees. While both emphasized public engagement and expressed optimism about increased law enforcement patrols under incoming Knox County Sheriff Brent Gibson, they differed on how Farragut should approach future development.
Cain came to Farragut in 1998, following his parents here.
“What drew me to Farragut was the people, the atmosphere, the small town feeling we have,” he said. “When I got here in 1998 … there was no Turkey Creek. It was all woods.”
Then, the developments came. Still, “the feel of the town was great.” Cain said. “During that same time, there was a lot of investment in our infrastructure … from outside sources.”
Then, “somewhere between 2010 and 2012, to me, things started to change,” he said. “We started to get more traffic. We started to see different types of developments come in, and the atmosphere and the feeling to me changed … from rural, small town, to suburban.”
“What we had was this continued development upon development upon development,” Cain said. “Then in 2018, we had the proposal come in for Biddle Farms. He remembered looking from Farragut High School to the property being developed and saw four-story apartment buildings.
“I remember that was never part of the original plan,” Cain said. When Biddle Farms was being developed, he decided to get more involved personally in Town government. He ran and was elected alderman in 2024. While knocking on doors, “What I heard more than anything is ‘they don’t want to listen to us when we talk about it,’” Cain related.
He observed a lot of the traffic is cut-through traffic.
"How do we solve the cut-through problem?" he asked. "We want people to come to our town ... our town runs on sales tax revenue."
He said road improvements could help address traffic while calling for more public participation in development decisions.
"Let's truly look at anything that's being proposed and get a lot of citizen input to it," Cain said. "If you elect me as mayor, the big thing I want to make sure we do is spend a lot of time collecting citizen input. ... I want to hear from the people. I want to have a regular dialogue — back and forth — on a regular basis."
Povlin moved to Farragut 18 years ago. With her children attending Knox County Schools, she spent a lot of time volunteering in the schools.
Then in 2013, she showed up at a Farragut Municipal Planning Commission meeting, asking it to fix a road instead of another, and “they agreed with me.”
At the end of that meeting, she recalled past mayor, the late Ralph McGill, asked her to take a vacancy on the FMPC.
Povlin was appointed to complete former Alderman Ron Honken's term in 2016, won election to the seat that year and was re-elected in 2020. She was term-limited in 2024 but continues to serve on the Municipal Planning Commission.
In relating the Town’s history, Povlin said, “We are going to operate without a property tax. The only way this community should ever take on a property tax is by referendum.
"If the citizens in this community want an amenity or
a service that we can't afford under our current funding, then we need to get together ... get it on a referendum," she said. "I am adamantly opposed to ever adopting a property tax."
Povlin said she has concerns about people saying "get back to a small-town atmosphere."
“I have concerns that means you plan to not build any more sidewalks and trails in our future road projects,” she said. “That needs to be made clear for us.
“The Mixed Use Town Center has its roots in a 1991 land use plan, which was adopted under Mayor Bob Leonard,” Povlin said. “The Town Center was defined in the 2001 land use plan, which was adopted under [Mayor] Eddy Ford. That’s where the four-story buildings came from.
“The four-story buildings were part of the Town Center Plan and Town Center Zoning District that was created in 2007,” she said.
The concept was then adopted in a 2012 Comprehensive Land Use Plan.
Regarding future development, Povlin said she believes public input is important but must be balanced with property owners' rights.
"I want to hear," she said, referring to residents' concerns.
"Residents need to be engaged, but they need to understand we can't just say no on a certain project," Povlin said. "I understand the desire to slow growth, but property owners have due process rights, and we are required to provide a structure through which they can exercise their rights."
She noted, though, there are no more apartments zoned to be in the Town.
On law enforcement, both candidates said they have spoken with incoming Knox County Sheriff Brent Gibson and are optimistic patrol coverage in Farragut will increase.
