Lizzie M. Peoples has announced her candidacy for Shelbyville mayor. The City election is set for Nov. 8, with early voting to begin Oct. 19.  

Peoples is a native of Marshall County and a graduate of Marshall County High School. She attended Motlow State Community College and the Area Vocational School (now Tennessee College of Applied Technology Shelbyville.)  

Peoples majored in business administration with a concentration in bookkeeping. She also attended Pensacola Christian College while she taught preschool for Victory Baptist Academy in Shelbyville. In 2012, she retired from Jostens, where she served on the Jostens Community Awareness Representative (JCAR) committee—one which awards grant money to local schools, colleges and organizations. Peoples is a past Bedford County Board of Education member and is currently a substitute teacher for Bedford County School System.

Other local government involvement includes serving on the City Beer Board and the ADA Board. Peoples was a member of the Kiwanis Club. She also serves her community with the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR.)  

Active members of Victory Baptist, Peoples and husband, Clyde, have been married for 57 years. They have 2 daughters, Brenda and Tracie-both graduates of Shelbyville Central High School and college graduates.  

Peoples said her greatest accomplishments in her life, in addition to her daughters, are her 3 grandchildren two twins who are juniors at Middle Tennessee State University and one grandchild who is currently a sophomore at Cascade High School.  

When asked why she’s running in the Nov. 8 election, she responded, “I want to work to continue the growth of our city that the current administration has begun. Our current city mayor and City Council have worked tirelessly to bring in new industry and I want to pick up that gauntlet and carry it further for our children to grow up in a great city. The relationship between City and County mayors is an important aspect for this growth.”  

Peoples said she believes that elected officials need to be “good stewards of taxpayer money.” Government grants have been written and awarded for millions to the City of Shelbyville, she explained. 

She added, “I want to follow that leadership and work to write grants for the City of Shelbyville. Any grant money awarded saves the taxpayer dollars and affords the City Council the ability to wisely allocate funds.”  

Peoples said it is the responsibility of the Shelbyville mayor and City Council to work efficiently for all citizens.  

“Due to the current inflation in our country, it is more important than ever for our City leadership to wisely spend taxpayer dollars and I will work hard to ensure our local government runs as fiscally conservative as possible.”