In District 4, one Metro Council veteran and two newcomers are vying to fill an open seat.
Two of the candidates lived in District 27 before rezoning, which placed them in the wealthier District 4 situated at the southern edge of the county and closer to Brentwood. Candidate Davette Blalock served as councilmember for District 27 from 2011 to 2019. (She also ran for state office as a Republican in 2016.)
District 4 covers the Nippers Corner neighborhood and is marked by residential subdivisions, rolling hills, strip malls and chain restaurants, with a noticeable lack of tall-and-skinny new builds.
In his first run for office, Mike Cortese (who also once lived in District 27) lost to now-outgoing District 4 Councilmember Robert Swope in 2019. Cortese, a Belmont adjunct professor and founder of a leadership training organization, names communication as the biggest issue in the district. He’s committed to monthly town halls if elected and thinks the district needs new blood in office.
“I have people who voted for Donald Trump twice with my signs in their yard, and I have people who voted for Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden with my signs in their yard,” Cortese says. “I believe that’s a place where I can really shine.”
Though the Metro Council is nonpartisan, term-limited Councilmember Swope was vocal about national politics during his tenure. He wanted to bring the Republican National Convention to the city — though that effort ultimately failed — and maintain an alliance with the Republican-dominated state legislature.
Swope has endorsed real estate agent Blalock for the upcoming election, but she says her conservative views will come into play only when it’s time to set the budget. When it comes to state interference in local politics, she’s “torn” — a point of difference between her and her opponents, who tell the Scene they are staunchly against it.
“There just needs to be more conversations between the state and the council,” Blalock says, noting her nonconfrontational nature. “I think [state lawmakers] have no idea what the majority of the council feels and desires.”
While the Tennessee General Assembly in this year’s session passed legislation to reduce the Metro Council from 40 members to 20, a three-panel judge ruled to delay that move at least until after the Aug. 3 election. “It’ll be just fine to have 20 [councilmembers],” Blalock says. “We’ll be just fine. When I put down the pros and cons, it almost equals out in my mind. It’ll just be very different.”
Blalock says traffic is the biggest issue in the district, and relatedly, one of her top goals going into office is to create a roundabout on Edmondson Pike. She also wants a park on Edmondson Pike and Clover Lane. During her first term in office, she put the brakes on zoning that allowed for more than two units on a property — halting tall-and-skinnies.
Brian Sullivan, a former journalist and current PR agent, says street racing is a big issue in the area — something Swope has also spoken against recently. He wants to encourage area businesses to be part of the Safe Bar program to combat drugging in bars, and wants naloxone distribution to become ubiquitous. Sullivan is involved in the nonprofit world, and hopes to see the council replace some of the American Rescue Act funding set to run out for organizations like the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition in 2024.
“I’ve had people ask me when I’m canvassing, ‘What are you going to do about China?’ or, ‘What are you going to do about the debt ceiling?’” Sullivan says. “Some people don’t have a general education of what the council does. This is a nonpartisan election, and I want to make sure that your voice is heard. As far as things like development, roads, trash pickup, lights and overall tone of the city — that’s what I can do.”
Correction: This article previously stated that all three candidates lived in District 27 before redistricting, but Mike Cortese moved to District 4 in 2018. The article has been updated to reflect this.
All 40 Metro Council seats are up for election, and early voting begins in one month
