It can sometimes take a few years for a new member of the Metro Council to settle in. But that wasn’t the case for Kyonztè Toombs and Sandra Sepulveda, who hit the ground running, in part out of necessity. Sepulveda, the youngest member of the council, took over for outgoing Councilmember Fabian Bedne as a sort of informal liaison to Nashville’s immigrant and Spanish-speaking communities. That role took on enhanced urgency this year, as essential immigrant workers contracted COVID-19 at a disproportionate rate and the city sought the best ways to battle the outbreak in underserved communities. Toombs spent her first year on the council as the vice chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, helping city leaders navigate one of the hardest budget situations in recent memory, and she chairs the committee in her second year. But she also represents one of the districts hardest hit by the March tornado, and quickly went to work in its wake coordinating relief efforts in her North Nashville neighborhood. STEPHEN ELLIOTT
