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Bob Mendes, a top adviser and campaign supporter of Mayor Freddie O'Connell, is leaving the mayor's office at the end of next month.
A former two-term at-large Metro councilmember, Mendes has served as chief development officer since O'Connell's inauguration in late 2023.
One day shy of the halfway mark in O'Connell's term, Mendes' move marks the second key departure from the office in recent weeks. Marjorie Pomeroy-Wallace, campaign manager and later chief of staff for O'Connell, stepped down just weeks ago.
In a statement, Mendes called his service on the Metro Council and in the mayor’s office “an incredible honor.”
“I love our city, the people who live here, and the incredible people of the Metro government who work hard every day to make our city a home for all of us,” Mendes says.
Mendes and O'Connell, then serving on the Metro Council, were both vocal opponents of public financial support of a new stadium for the Tennessee Titans. The duo was then tasked with shepherding that deal to fruition, including the ongoing development of city-owned land around the stadium.
Marjorie Pomeroy-Wallace, former chief of staff and top aide to O'Connell, steps down
House Speaker Cameron Sexton, who has taken an intense interest in the work on the East Bank — including by himself serving on the East Bank Development Authority — called Mendes out by name in a recent interview with the Nashville Business Journal, accusing the city official of hampering negotiations with East Bank property owner and tech giant Oracle. Sexton has also expressed frustration about lagging negotiations to relocate the Tennessee Performing Arts Center to the East Bank.
In addition to Oracle, TPAC and other East Bank work, O'Connell enters the second half of his term without Mendes but with yet another potentially fraught development negotiation. Speedway Motorsports continues to seek a deal to renovate the Fairgrounds Speedway and bring top-tier NASCAR races back to Nashville.
A business attorney by trade, Mendes tells the Banner he has not sought out or secured any new employment.
In the statement, Mendes lists the work on the East Bank as an accomplishment, but also highlights deals involving the Rivergate Mall, the Global Mall, the Musicians Hall of Fame, Ascend Amphitheater, a new fire facility at Dolly Parton’s downtown hotel and ongoing efforts to incentivize grocery stores in food deserts.
“I appreciate the tremendous work Bob Mendes has led for the first two years of my administration, from ensuring the community's vision for the East Bank was reflected in our first development agreement, to the recently announced agreement to re-imagine the Rivergate Mall, which reflected even some of Bob's work as a member of the Metro Council to reform how Tax Increment Financing works in Nashville,” O’Connell says in a statement. “Bob's legacy will no doubt be that of someone who worked tirelessly to deliver for Nashvillians and I'm grateful he chose to spend the last two years setting a strong foundation for this administration on some of our most important work.”
Mendes first ran for Metro Council in 2015 and was the leading vote-getter when he was reelected in 2019. On the council, he served as chair of the Budget and Finance Committee and emerged as a prominent voice on the city's finances, advocating for more regular tax increases to ensure the government could keep up with rising costs.
Mendes considered his own run for mayor in 2023 before backing O'Connell.
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