When Pigs Endorse
The bygone living wage issue works against Chris Ferrell—and for Howard Gentry—with certain business interests
Liz Murray Garrigan and Matt Pulle
Next week’s special election for vice mayor is expected to elicit all the fanfare of an outdoor spelling bee in August. And low turnout breeds unpredictability. Which is why the two runoff candidates for vice mayor have reason to sit a little nervous—but one perhaps more so than the other. Unlike his first-term opponent, at-large Metro Council member Chris Ferrell is nearing the end of his second and final term (as term limits dictate) in that position. Meanwhile, earlier this year, Ferrell made a bittersweet surprise announcement that he was scrapping his plans for a congressional candidacy because his young family needed him home instead of in Washington. (Jim Cooper became the ultimate Democratic nominee for that seat.)
So, in the spring, when then-Vice Mayor Ronnie Steine’s political career was officially obliterated following his admission to shoplifting, Ferrell opted to run for a job closer to home. Now, with one week to go until the special election, he and opponent Howard Gentry, an at-large member and acting vice mayor, find themselves in an increasingly heated contest.
The flame ignited a bit last week when Gentry received the endorsement of a group called the Nashville Business Coalition, whose members contribute to a political action committee that bankrolls business-friendly candidates. On the surface, anyway, Gentry suddenly emerged as the business candidate and Ferrell as the labor candidate. (Ferrell received endorsements from local firefighters and Metro’s employee union.)
“I guess the business community realizes that I was the type of candidate that would be supportive of all issues that are right and good for the city of Nashville,” Gentry says, noting that he doesn’t consider himself anti-labor. “I’m not going to get drawn into a business vs. labor debate. I can be fair in all types of situations.”
But Ferrell begs to differ that the backing of the coalition, whose executive director is former Metro Council member Charles Fentress, represents such a clean line in the sand.
“I have a lot of support in the business community, particularly among people I do business with,” Ferrell says. “A lot of the young entrepreneurs in the technology community have been supporting me and members of the Rotary Club have been supporting me. My marketing company is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. I understand the importance of business to the economy of Nashville—and particularly the importance of homegrown of small business.”
Ferrell’s campaign has also received contributions from various political action committees, including SunTrust Bank’s and the Tennessee Association of Realtors’.
Interestingly enough, Nashville Business Coalition members cite only one issue about which Gentry and Ferrell have parted company, and that presented itself more than a year ago. Ferrell was among the sponsors of local legislation that would have mandated Metro jobs to pay a living wage—one that doesn’t fall below the poverty level. “It’s true—I don’t think people who work for Metro government should be earning below the poverty level,” Ferrell says simply.
Ultimately, that bill bit the dust in the face of various opposition. Gentry was among those who thought that it might be illegal legislation. In the end, the council passed a toothless and non-binding resolution, which Ferrell authored, in support of the living wage concept. And Gentry voted for it.
But little did Ferrell know that the living wage would come back to haunt him and ultimately be the single issue some in the business community would bring up time after time. “What distinguishes them with clarity is their focus on the living wage bill,” says Martin Simmons, a lawyer and the chairman of the Nashville Business Coalition, of the two candidates. “I would think that this is the primary issue that separates them.”
To that, Don Driscoll, the president of the local Service Employees International Union, bristles. “If they are opposed to Chris Ferrell because he believes that people who work hard every day shouldn’t be on food stamps, then shame on them.”
Interestingly enough, Gentry insists he’s not against enactable living wage legislation per se. “I have been depicted as one who was against livable wages,” he says. “I am not against livable wages. I was just not in favor of that ordinance.”
So, then, what really is the distinction between the candidates?
Ferrell accurately says that Gentry’s argument for election is that he’s doing the job now, running the council meetings, and therefore has earned the opportunity to continue. “There’s a lot more to the job, and running the council meetings is just a bare minimum requirement of running for the job,” says Ferrell, who wants to use the post as a bully pulpit to help shape public policy and recruit new leaders within the Metro Council.
Gentry concedes his approach is narrower. “I don’t feel that issues should be at the forefront right now,” he says. “It should be on what I have already proven I’ve been able to do.”
At least one of their Metro Council colleagues acknowledges that, in a race like this one, it’s difficult for the candidates to set themselves apart. “I think the reason you’re seeing people focus on this labor/business issue between the two candidates is that there’s not a whole lot else to distinguish them,” says at-large council member David Briley. “They are both capable of doing the job, they both have done well on the council, and it’s not the kind of job where you can distinguish yourself on many issues.”
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