O'Connell Hires for Economic Development, State Relations

Mayor Freddie O'Connell on Thursday announced the appointment of two top officials in his new administration.

The mayor named state Rep. Darren Jernigan director of legislative affairs. Part of his job will be restoring Metro's relationship with the state, tense for years but deteriorating rapidly in the past year.

Metro currently has several ongoing lawsuits seeking to halt implementation of laws passed this year aimed at Metro governance. Republican state leaders, angered in part by the Metro Council's opposition to hosting the Republican National Convention in Nashville, launched a legislative onslaught that cut the Metro Council in half, took full or partial control of the city's airports and sports facilities and made changes to city law related to The Fairgrounds Nashville. Each has been challenged in the courts, with Metro winning the Fairgrounds suit and the others in progress.

Jernigan, a Democrat, has represented the Old Hickory area in the state House for more than a decade. According to Axios, he plans to serve out his term in the House but won't run for reelection next year. He backed state Sen. Jeff Yarbro's campaign for mayor.

O'Connell is also bringing back Jamari Brown as director of economic and community development. A former state economic development official, Brown served in the Metro role for less than a year spanning the end of the David Briley administration and the beginning of the John Cooper administration.

According to the Nashville Business Journal, Brown worked in commercial real estate with Jones Lang LaSalle and as an adviser at Newmark Group after leaving Metro in 2019. He will work as part of O'Connell's new Office of Opportunity.

"As we have looked at the Office of Opportunity we want to build, I think Jamari has got the right overall set of skills as we continue to see pretty strong interest in relocation activity that he will be able to engage there and make assessments and also work with the long term economic plan," O'Connell says, noting that he worked with Brown while on Metro Council.

The Tennessean reported that O'Connell is hiring Brittany Irby and Javier Solano, both from MP&F. Irby will be director of the Office of Neighborhoods and Community Engagement, while Solano will be a speechwriter.

This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.