From Bill Freeman

Late last month, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell announced the first new leadership hires within his administration. These hires are further evidence that O’Connell is working to keep his promises to support Nashville residents and to provide stability and progress from the mayor’s office. 

O’Connell announced the hiring and retention of multiple key roles, including his chief of staff, department heads and chief positions in development and operations. Marjorie Pomeroy-Wallace, who served as O’Connell’s campaign manager, will be O’Connell’s chief of staff, which is a typical transition from campaign to administration. 

Pomeroy-Wallace certainly proved her capability on the campaign trail, when she was forced to pivot unexpectedly from the O’Connell camp’s underdog style of campaigning, which had been employed prior to former Mayor John Cooper’s announcement that he would not seek reelection. In the campaign world, transition from one strategy to a new approach within a “Wild West” campaign with no incumbent is challenging. Pomeroy-Wallace’s efforts paid off with the recent swearing-in of Mayor O’Connell. Nashville can expect that she will apply her skills of effective transitioning to her new role as chief of staff. 

Accurately identifying the abilities of a person who is being considered for a key position is important. O’Connell learned to rely on Pomeroy-Wallace during his campaign, and did so with considerable success. It is a wise move to transition that working relationship into the mayor’s office. This hire in particular highlights the fact that O’Connell must believe in the mantra, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” 

Other recent announcements from the O’Connell camp serve as additional proof that the mayor knows some people in leadership roles work well and should be retained. These include the retention of Kristin Wilson in the role of chief of operations and performance and Wally Dietz as Metro legal director. Both Wilson and Dietz bring their experience in the private sector and in the previous administration to their continued roles, and they should both serve well in bridging the important time frame between one mayoral administration and the next. 

It’s important for any leader to encourage qualified individuals to remain in their roles, and it is also important to ensure that key campaign staff are offered the opportunity to transition into administration positions. A third key hiring decision: considering those with whom you’ve worked previously. O’Connell is demonstrating that he’s considering this pool of candidates as well, given the news that he hired former Metro Councilmember At-Large Bob Mendes for the role of chief development officer. Mendes’ greatest accomplishments during his time on the council were arguably his efforts to ensure that Nashville made fiscally sound decisions, and I’m sure he will continue to apply his caution and reason to his new position. 

The fourth way of finding talent to fill key roles: considering people who’ve neither worked for or with you before. It’s a bigger gamble than hiring someone you know from direct work experience, but in these types of hires, individuals’ reputations precede them. This is the case in O’Connell’s hiring of Katy Varney to fill the role of interim communications director. Her experience in the worlds of public relations and government communications with the late Gov. Ned Ray McWherter speaks for itself. 

O’Connell has promised to support Nashville’s neighborhoods and families with his 15 Fixes plan, and so far, he is making steady progress on keeping these promises. These early key hires show he is working hard to support Nashville and help his hometown thrive. I know we are all looking forward to seeing progress, stability and continued success under Mayor O’Connell. 

Bill Freeman

Bill Freeman is the owner of FW Publishing, the publishing company that produces the Nashville Scene, Nfocus, the Nashville Post and The News.