When Franklin Mayor Brent Centers returned to his hometown after completing his military service, he was spurred into action by the opioid crisis and the toll it had taken on his city.
It put him on a path of community service that led him to a seat on the Franklin City Council and then into the mayor’s office. For WYSO’s City Mayors Series, Centers tells us how far the city has come in addressing the drug crisis and talks about the completion of some major development projects.
The below transcript has been lightly edited for clarity. Listen to the full interview by clicking play above.
Brent Centers: We have dramatically decreased the chemical addiction rate, the homelessness rate, and we've done that very systematically, very intentionally. The Warren County Drug Task Force rates show the decline, and one of our biggest programs was called the HOPE program — Heroin and Opioid Prevention Through Education.
If you have an overdose in the city of Franklin, within 48 hours, our HOPE team shows up to your house, within what we believe to be probably the lowest moment of your life. And that team consists of an EMT, likely the one that probably hit you with Narcan and saved your life within the last two days; a plain-clothed police officer to explain that we want to help you, we don't want to be arresting you every week; a recovered addict from the HOPE program to say, 'Within the past year or whatever, I was sitting on your side of the couch, and this is the process I went through;' and then an advocate from Sojourner, Talbert House, or one of our advocacy programs. That team shows up and talks through the options that you have and how to get clean, how to become a member of society again, or a productive member of a society. That was a huge program. We have a Sojourner House in our community, and a sister unit for pregnant women in a neighboring community. We have moved our Talbert House from the interstate, where they were located, down to the downtown, where the hub of most of the concern is. So we had people walking to the Talbert House out near the interstate and when it was cold, they didn't go, and they need that resource. So we worked with them to get them downtown. We did those kinds of actions to get people help. We're not trying to displace, we're trying to truly help our citizens.
Jerry Kenney: What else would you want our listeners to know about the city of Franklin, maybe the aesthetics of life in the city?
Centers: So we just went through a complete facelift of our entire downtown, a $13.5 million renovation, building edge to building edge. We ripped up the entire street, all of the sidewalks, replaced all the infrastructure underneath, and then relaid the streetscape down, all new lighting, underground, electric. So now when you walk downtown, we have catenary lighting strung about, and music playing all the time until about 11 p.m. And so when you walk downtown, it's just a vibe that's fun, it's exciting, the business owners are excited. Downtown is thriving. It's just really exciting time to be in Franklin.
Kenney: I'll bet that was a challenge to complete, and I'll be glad you're done with it.
Centers: It was a challenge, and the biggest challenge was the promise we told the community. We said we're going to do building edge to building edge in 12 months, and we sequenced that work with the contractors to make sure it happened in 12 months because not only was it inconvenient for drivers to have to navigate around downtown, it was extremely difficult for the business owners during those 12 months. We knew we had a negative impact on their business. We knew the positive impact as a result of this construction was going to be the ROI (Return on investment), but those 12 months were difficult for our business owners that we care about. So we stuck to that schedule and did an entire $13.5 million renovation. In the middle, it was tough, because they really started seeing real impacts on their bottom line, and that's their livelihoods. So we continued to stay in contact on a weekly basis with our business owners. Our city manager had a touch point every week. I probably monthly, quarterly would be with him, touching with every business owner, and it was a struggle. We knew that. We always made sure we had a route posted on our social media, on our website, to get to their businesses, because that changed weekly — new roads shutting down, new alleys. So we did everything we could. We always had new signs to navigate people downtown to the businesses. It didn't make it any easier. It was still difficult, but our businesses are now thriving.
Kenney: Any feedback from the community as well and the patrons of those businesses?
Centers: Now that it's over, very positive feedback. During was brutal on social media. People were very honest with their feelings of having downtown shut down. And now that it is done, we are just seeing so many positive comments and so much more of a buzz downtown. People were shopping, people were eating, and it's exciting.
Kenney: Any other challenges or needs of the community that you, see? Are your schools and programs getting funded the way you'd like to see?
Centers: The school district just built a brand new high school. It is beautiful, right coming into downtown. So it was a wonderful complement. We have a lot of park expansions going on. We have new spray park going in, which is like a splash pad on a much larger scale. We just redid all the basketball courts. We put in a $500,000 playground that we got from grant funding. Just a lot excitement going on in the town.
Kenney: Any other things you would like to see for the city in the five, 10, 15 years ahead?
Centers: Yeah, we are currently working on what we just did downtown, the next phase on River Street. And so we have a grant, which is a federally funded grant, that's been submitted. And we're waiting to hear back any day whether we were awarded the full amount, which we don't expect. We hope to receive some funding, and we have that program tiered down on what can do with that funding and then strategically plan for the future of that.
Kenney: I guess just a final comment on what it means for you to be Franklin born and raised, and to be a part of the leading body of the city right now?
Centers: I couldn't be more proud. I loved every time I came home from the military when I was deployed, coming home to Franklin, and now just being able to work every day in the city I love. Moreover, my wife and I are raising our two daughters here. So that's the impact we get to leave as an entire community. And being the mayor, I just couldn't be more proud. And it's truly a figurehead role. The community is what's making all this happen through their support. It's not me, it's not the council, it not the city manager, it is the citizens telling us what they want and then supporting us when we go out and achieve it.
