Service is something that was instilled from childhood for Tullahoma Alderman Rupa Blackwell. A native of Tullahoma, Blackwell had a front-row seat of serving her community with her father Dr. Sandip Shukla, serving as a physician for 39 years and her mother, Kitty Shukla, who worked at the Trinity Care Center for 24 years.
“I think service is something that was instilled in me by my parents. When I do work, and the way I am motivated is by knowing I am helping others,” Blackwell said.
Currently serving as an alderman on the Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Aldermen, Blackwell said that she feels the position offers a chance for her and fellow aldermen to do great things in the community.
“It’s honestly very simple work, but you can do much more than that as alderman, which I think is happening,” she said. “You can use it as a time to really listen to the citizens and hear the things they want to get done, but they may not necessarily know the wheelhouse of city government. You can help them navigate and work through any situation to get it solved.”
Blackwell said that her decision to take on the role of alderman came after seeing that she could do more for her community.
“After sitting on the planning commission, I saw that there was a need for strategic planning. After understanding what the role of planning commission [was] and what the role of the city was, I felt like I could do the work and then some,” she said.
While continuing to grow in her position, Blackwell said there are both good days and bad days, but what stands out the most is the good that is being done by herself and her fellow aldermen.
“I’ve loved it,” she said. “While there are difficulties at times, and you can’t make everyone happy, I think that what I have seen is that there is good work to be done and when that work is done, and you see the progress that is made. It makes it all worth it.”
She also added that seeing the community’s involvement is “inspiring.”
“The coolest thing is seeing the community come out and come together and help accomplish these things. It’s very inspiring,” Blackwell said.
For the future, Blackwell said that she wants to see the community continue to grow, but never lose sight of what makes living in a small town so special.
“It’s important to ensure that we grow in a way that will maintain the lifestyle we have,” she said. “But to also allow for our children to have jobs when they come back, to make sure our children are educated so that they can take on those jobs, and to continue to be able to support each other. I’d like to continue to have that small town feel while we do big things.”
The Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Aldermen meet at 5:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Monday of every month at City Hall, located at 201 West Grundy Street in Tullahoma. All board meetings have a public comment period so that citizens may bring any issue before the board that they feel is affecting the city. -GN
