KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Knoxville community group knows exactly what it wants in a mayoral candidate, and it's coming to those candidates with solid ideas for improving the city.
Seven hundred people living in Knoxville filled out a survey about what they want the new city mayor to do for their community.
"Once you ask people what's happening when they think that they're being taken seriously to be heard, people want to get involved," said Rick Held, Community Engagement Director for the non-profit group Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development (SEEED).
Those who took the survey identified gun violence, youth opportunities, and unaffordable utilities as their top priorities.
"They don't feel they have a voice anymore, especially in the political realm and especially people of color and poor people in the inner city," said Wando Stacy II, Community Engagement Specialist Manager for SEEED. "so this is giving them back their voice."
Their voices heard through exes written on large surveys taped to the walls of Logan Temple A.M.E. Zion Church Thursday night.
About 50 people weighed in on solutions to the biggest issues the community identified it wants fixed.
No city leaders or elected officials were part of this discussion. This was all a brainstorming session for passionate people.
"We're not looking for folks from above telling us what we need," said Held. "We're deciding what we need."
Some ideas included freezing property taxes for low income families, more funding for programs addressing gun violence, and youth representation on the Police Advisory and Review Committee.
People ranked how important things like community involvement, cost-effectiveness and immediacy of results were to each idea.
"I would like to see more people empowered, feel empowered, and move in to this political process and start to participate and don't feel like we're shut out," said Stacy.
SEEED will take its findings to the two mayoral candidates at a candidate forum they're scheduling for late September or early October.