Why Debbie Matthews

It’s OFFICIAL!!! There will be a Republican on the ballot for the Columbia City Mayor’s race. My name is Debbie Matthews...I am the Chair of the Maury County Republican Party and the ONLY Republican endorsed candidate for the City Mayor 2022 election. I also proudly served on the Columbia City Council from January 2008 to January 2017.

At the beginning of my council term in 2008, this country was hit with the worst recession since the Great Depression. As a city, we were faced with impossible challenges....no building permits for over a year, a completely vacant downtown, and unemployment hitting 25%. We, that was a Republican majority of a Council at the time, worked to make sure not one single employee was laid off. We didn’t raise taxes but made significant strategic long-term investment decisions. We were dedicated to turning our empty historic downtown into a vital economic engine. Growth plans and strategic long-term plans were laid out and adopted. We also made the hard decisions to fund Ridley Field, the new city hall, moving the police downtown, Riverfront Park, and a great economic-engine-based arts district.

By the time I left my seat in 2017...the city was on AUTOPILOT. Columbia was the greatest city in which to live and work. Nine years of smart conservative decisions for investment and growth had become a reality. Downtown was booming, jobs and property values were going up.

However, in 2018, a new mayor entered the scene. He was more “progressive” or “democratic.” And as we have seen in all cities, or countries, for that matter, run by liberals, things can start going woke and decisions start being made for bigger government, some policies, more taxes...decisions based on diversity or liberal ideology. Columbia was no different.

It started with the urging of a sales tax increase under the pretense of saving a school. Once voted in, the city did a tax grab and kept 1/2 of the proceeds for itself, and McDowell School was torn down anyway. So, when told that the City’s coffers are full, remember you are innocently filling them.

Then when the pandemic hit, pandering for shutdowns became more to stay in line with the National Democratic platform than a concern about Columbia’s small business owners trying to make a living to survive. Visits were made to CNN to ask for mask mandates again to look good for the DNC. Columbia now has become about decisions on virtue signaling instead of basic fundamental freedoms or smart municipal decisions.

And then came the growth.... instead of following its own laws and ordinances regarding volume and density, decisions were made that ran right over the city’s own strategic plan causing strangulation to Maury County and frankly on every citizen with taxes and traffic. These decisions were being made without the ability for growth to pay for growth. Mega developments were only voted down after public outcry showing a tone-deaf response from this administration. The school administration begged for meetings...none of which happened. As representatives from across the county approached the state legislature for help with an impact fee, Columbia’s leadership was absent and silent.

Columbia is at a precipice. We can have an awesome future ahead or be destined to flounder under the weight of bad decisions. Real challenges ahead that will require tough and deliberate decisions...And the City of Columbia cannot continue to operate in a vacuum....making decisions that hold the county prisoner.

So it’s time “to get the person who did the work to do the work again.” Our precious town’s identity deserves protection. We don’t want to become a generic suburb of Nashville. Our small businesses need a fierce protector that NEVER again allows the government to interfere with their family’s freedom. And at no time should a mayor be allowed to enforce the closings of churches.

Columbia deserves fierce conservative leadership with conservative values and a mayor that listens. I want to be that mayor. I am a graduate of Lipscomb University, a Christian, a wife to Jason Matthews, a realtor, a mother to my beloved doggies, and a proud daughter of Columbia.

So it’s official....a Republican is on the ballot, and her name is Debbie Matthews.

And I am here to ask for your vote!