Metro Political Guide 2003

Metro Council District Races

A distinguished debate over pesky potholes, raw sewage, gays and lesbians, and who’s stealing my yard signs

Without a real mayor’s race, few overarching issues have emerged in this year’s Metro Council contests. The absence of a unifying argument may also owe to the fact that, in the words of one observer, “we’re in the era of good feeling.”

What that means is that Mayor Bill Purcell has focused for four years now on making government work. He hasn’t been an ideological mayor, charting a liberal, activist course or a conservative, anti-government course. Instead, he has brought the hammer down—occasionally harshly—on departments and commissions in an effort to make them more accountable and effective to the voters.

Council has been a witting participant in this effort. If there is any degree of public outcry in the individual council races—and there really isn’t much of that—you could say that there’s some lingering opposition to the property tax increase that council passed in 2001. There is also a sense that the city hasn’t been aggressive enough on the economic development front, leading to a tangential concern that it hasn’t cared deeply enough about downtown.

Perhaps in response, a coalition of business interests, under the direction of former Metro Council member Charles Fentress, has been created to both endorse and finance business-friendly candidates in this year’s races.

“Some people are out there running at-large for development, for pro growth,” says Stewart Clifton, a former Metro Council member who makes a point of studying council races. “Our modest population increase compared to the ring counties is considered a bad thing. But I don’t think that’s resonating with anyone outside the development community.”

In fact, there do seem to be a number of council candidates in this election cycle who are focused on reducing spending, vowing to bring in no new revenue, or saying it’s time we stop new projects. Historically, the city has seemed to buy into the notion that it’s the government’s role to build schools and provide infrastructure. It hasn’t been Republicans battling Democrats so much as it has been whether the city is willing to provide money to do things that everyone agrees on. So this rather conservative tack seems new. At stake may be whether the big-ticket projects of the kind former Mayor Phil Bredesen undertook (libraries, arena and stadium) and the investments made over the last four years (public schools and various neighborhood accoutrements such as sidewalks) continue.

The vote against the proposed anti-discrimination bill that would have protected gays and lesbians is drawing some attention, though the fact that the legislation is dead limits its impact as a political campaign issue. That said, gay and lesbian interests here are increasingly organized, and turnout from that community could spell the difference in tight races.

As is often the case, the district council races may ultimately turn on the bread-and-butter issues of land use, development, roads and sidewalks. If a candidate gets his hands dirty with these kinds of issues that directly affect homeowners as they go about their lives, he will most likely do well on election day.

The traditional players who tend to immerse themselves in this election process have predictably jumped into the fray. The Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed, as have the local firefighters and teachers. Gaylord is said to be making contributions to many candidates, given that it has a dog in the fight over a possible new convention center. The Service Employees International Union, which represents Metro workers, has endorsed. Some new players are also jumping into the mix. Chris Ferrell, a progressive Council member who is term-limited and leaving office, is chairing a new political action committee to support like-minded candidates.

Finally, the most important ingredient that will spell success or failure in many of these races is the candidates’ willingness to go door to door and sit through a lot of boring backyard bean suppers. If you do that, you win. You blow that off, you lose. Which is precisely as it should be.

From shores of the Cumberland to the hilltops in Percy Warner Park, from the barbecue pits of North Nashville to the studios on Music Row, here’s a comprehensive, countywide, blow-by-blow look at the 35 district races in Metro Council.

District 1—Incumbent Brenda Gilmore is unopposed.

District 2—Quite a few of the residents of District 2 have signed up to run for the seat that Melvin Black is vacating. Of that number, however, one didn’t return calls and another, Joseph Scales, is apparently not running. (The Scene figured this out when a woman answered his phone and said, without prompting, “He is not running for council.”)

Insiders say the real race is between Jamie Isabel and Bobby Stockard. It seems both men tried to duck Black’s endorsement, although Isabel lost that battle and reportedly just tries to keep the apparently unwelcome pat on the back quiet.