The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts
The field of mayoral candidates is basically set, following Thursday’s qualification deadline, and nine of the top candidates gathered Thursday for yet another forum — this one televised and co-hosted by The Tennessean at Belmont University’s swanky Fisher Center.
Here are a few observations from the event:
Public safety
It’s not surprising that Alice Rolli, one of the few Republicans in the race, has made “public safety” a key part of her campaign. But several other candidates who identify as more progressive signaled support for law enforcement during the forum.
Matt Wiltshire, a former Metro official, said it was wrong for the state legislature to gut Nashville’s police oversight board. He added that “our police officers are under attack way too often” and said that he would “make sure we still have appropriate engagement between citizens and the police force,” despite the legislature’s intervention.
Jeff Yarbro, a Democratic state senator, said he would make a fully staffed, well-trained and well-compensated police force one of his first priorities. Still, he said, residents must trust the police force, and police should “make sure they’re serving our citizens.” Yarbro said his top priority was “keeping us safe.”
Jim Gingrich, a former AllianceBernstein executive, said he would “properly resource our police force” and establish an office of public safety in an effort to reduce crime.
Overlooked Nashvillians
At forum after forum during campaign season, the same questions get asked over and over, and candidates offer the same answers. On Thursday, moderators asked mayoral candidates what figure from Nashville’s history the community should know more about, a new one for this jaded observer.
Their answers:
Wiltshire: Suffragists.
Sharon Hurt: Jesse Russell, who helped develop the cellphone and attended Tennessee State University.
Heidi Campbell: Harry Burn, state lawmaker who cast deciding vote for women’s suffrage.
Gingrich: Diane Nash, civil rights organizer.
Natisha Brooks: Thelma Harper, a former state senator.
Freddie O’Connell: Charles Strobel, Room In The Inn founder.
Yarbro: Alexander Looby, civil rights attorney.
Rolli: Katharine Drexel, educator and nun.
Vivian Wilhoite: Unsung heroes of civil rights movement.
Wrong direction?
Moderators cited recent polling showing that Nashvillians believe the city is heading in “the wrong direction.” Candidates were asked whether they agree.
Rolli said voters are correct to note Nashville is changing in concerning ways. “In my city hall, we will not have a pro-life rally and we will not have a pro-choice rally,” she said. Instead, the city should focus on debt, whether kids can read and potholes and “get out of the business of nationalizing city hall.”
Yarbro said the city is not on the wrong track. Instead, he said, city government needs to get better at demonstrating what it does for residents.
O’Connell said none of them would be running if they thought things were going great. City leaders should focus on unmanaged growth and demonstrate that government can coordinate and offer customer service, he added.
Transit
On a few issues, just three candidates were given the opportunity to answer a question. Asked about transit, Brooks said she supports light rail and buses but the failed 2018 transit referendum was too complicated. “Nobody really understood what was going on,” she said. “Make the language simple.”
Rolli said dedicated transit funding and collaboration with surrounding communities is necessary to any successful transit push.
Hurt joked that we should institute tolls at the county line, and then suggested that we should dedicate lanes for commuters (like HOV lanes, or Gov. Bill Lee’s recent push for toll lanes). She added that she didn’t like seeing big buses with just a few riders on them, and that those buses should be used for students at magnet schools.
Attention deficit
Asked what conversation was missing from the mayor’s race, Yarbro said child care, Rolli said literacy, Wilhoite said economic parity in neighborhoods, Wiltshire said the skills required to be mayor, Campbell said landfill capacity, Hurt said we “need to talk about good things happening,” Gingrich said experience required to run the city, Brooks said the need for more male and minority teachers, and O’Connell said federal funding opportunities.
Relationship troubles
Top of everyone’s minds this campaign season is Nashville’s relationship with the state government. The state legislature passed several bills aimed at Nashville governance this year, and mayoral candidates are frequently asked how they would deal with the situation.
Rolli said she was “uniquely qualified” to handle the situation because she, a Republican, has a good relationship with Republican lawmakers.
“I have gone hunting with Sen. Frank Niceley in Strawberry Plains,” Rolli said. “I have served chili with Sen. Yager.”
Wiltshire in part blamed his competitors for the problem, those who had been involved in the “political food fights.”
“They’ve been the ones throwing the spears,” he said. “I’ve been in the executive branch getting things done.”
Hurt said that “communication is everything” when dealing with the legislature. She said she would talk with women lawmakers directly and, she joked, deal with male lawmakers’ wives.
Campbell said the fractured relationship with the state was evidence that mayor shouldn’t be someone’s first elected position, that the role requires someone with more experience in government. (Campbell was mayor of Oak Hill before she was elected to the state Senate, and she unsuccessfully ran for Congress last year.)
O’Connell and Wilhoite both said they would not back down from the legislature. Wilhoite said she would “use [her] voice to protect and to speak out.” O’Connell said that “it has become the job of the mayor to defend our residents” and that Nashville, a main economic driver in the state, should “make sure we know our leverage.”
