Council-at-Large, Vice Mayor & Mayor
Five Nashvillians serve as council members at-large. Elected by voters throughout the county, they and the other 35 members comprise our city’s Metro Council.
This week, we publish our choices for these important at-large positions, whose officeholders are charged with taking a broader view of city issues than their district counterparts. We are also endorsing in the mayoral and vice mayoral races, where the incumbents face little—or no—opposition. (For last week’s endorsements in the district races, go to www.nashvillescene.com.)
We interviewed the candidates in the at-large race (there are 19 of them) whom we thought were promising and/or were running credible campaigns. As it turned out, there was at least one distinguishing turn-off among the candidates we met. If they had signed the so-called “no-tax pledge,” in which they refused under any circumstances to raise property taxes for four years, they didn’t get our endorsement. This paper is not pro-taxation. But no citizen of this county can be certain the state won’t cut more of our revenues next year. Nor can anyone know whether we might need additional monies in case of some unknown disaster or in case of public support for an expensive project or service. To agree not to raise property taxes is pure political pandering to a right-wing element that doesn’t understand how governments work.
Which is why Jack Johnson isn’t getting our nod. Johnson, an investment advisor at SunTrust, is clearly a smart guy who is interested in moving this city forward. He’s obviously got the brains to make good choices. But he signed the pledge. And we thought that was foolhardy.
The same goes for David Scott, an articulate insurance executive and attorney who’s forgotten more about this city’s zoning and planning procedures than we’ll ever know. As a neighborhood activist, he learned the ropes and has something to offer. But he too signed the pledge.
One other candidate who, for a different reason, didn’t get our endorsement but is worth mentioning is Tracey Kinslow. An attorney at HCA, Kinslow is possessed of what seems an inordinate amount of energy. He’s also an agreeable fellow who obviously wants to help this city. But we found his platform of specifics at the local level to be vague and platitudinous.
The five candidates we selected are not ideological soul mates. If you think this newspaper would end up with five smart progressives, you’re wrong. Fact is, there weren’t five to be found. We decided on candidates, though, who will do what they say, think hard about what they do and work and play well with others.
They are:
David Briley
Earl Campbell
Adam Dread
Charles French
Diane Neighbors
Briley and Dread are already at-large members, and Briley in particular has emerged as one of the more solid, thoughtful, capable officials to grace Metro Council in recent years. Dread has impressed this newspaper since his election with his efforts to revamp the city’s antiquated beer laws. He also has many ideas for making this city a more joyful place for tourists and residents alike (a stage for live music in the airport, for instance). Diane Neighbors will bring to the Metro Council an absolute warehouse of knowledge about early childhood education, social action and the city’s arts and preservation communities. She will be an immediate asset.
Then there are French and Campbell. Campbell is a retired firefighter who now represents an East Nashville council district and oversees maintenance at the Madison Church of Christ. (He has distinct opinions on whether music should be allowed in the services.) He’s socially conservative—he voted against the anti-discrimination measure that would have protected homosexual Metro employees. But Campbell knows this city’s workers, its cops and firefighters, those on fixed incomes who could use a hand. Everyone who knows Campbell says he never goes back on his word. In Campbell, we see a hardworking public servant who, while not a pointy-headed intellectual, has a lot to offer.
As for French, this newspaper ripped him pretty hard a decade ago when he criticized the city for hosting the Gay Softball World Series. But since then, French has taken it upon himself to get to know some local gays and lesbians, and he has softened his rhetoric. While he’s not currently serving, French has many years of council experience and thus needs no training. He’s an advocate for historic preservation (he helped save the Ryman from demolition years ago) and a generally pleasant guy.
When you walk in the booth, you’ll discover—if you don’t already know—that there’s also a mayor’s race. Bill Purcell is the clear choice. We won’t waste space here to say why. As for vice mayor, there is literally no choice at all. Howard Gentry is unopposed.
Go vote. It’s your right and your duty and—trust us—there won’t be any lines.
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