Jim Shulman and Sheri WeinerPhotos: Daniel Meigs
It’s not quite a study in contrasts.
The two Metro Council members facing off in the special vice mayoral runoff election on Sept. 6 both moved to Nashville about four decades ago from elsewhere in the state. Both think the vice mayor should facilitate conversations among different types of people in the city. Each calls the other a friend.
In the first round of voting on Aug. 2, Sheri Weiner, who represents Bellevue on the council, edged out Jim Shulman, an at-large member, by less than 4 percent of the vote. A third candidate, Matt DelRossi, secured enough votes to deny both of the frontrunners a majority and trigger a runoff — yet another Nashville election in a year full of them.
“I think that it makes a lot of sense for the role of vice mayor to offer the council an opportunity at the beginning of each term, and essentially at the beginning of each year of the term, to set a course, to set priorities in a formal way,” says Weiner. “Once you can help to establish that structure, you have more meaningful conversation moving forward.”
Shulman has a similar vision.
“I think the vice mayor can help focus the council by making sure that together we all understand where we want to go as a body,” he says.
Between voter fatigue and voter ignorance — what even is a vice mayor — Shulman and Weiner have an uphill battle as they campaign to become the person who runs Metro Council meetings, assigns council committees and is first in line should the mayor no longer be able to serve. That last part of the job was largely overlooked until this year, when it became reality for the first time with the resignation of Mayor Megan Barry.
Despite similar demeanors and levels of experience, the two vice mayor candidates and their surrogates have sought to draw other distinctions.
Shulman notes that he has been endorsed by the Davidson County Democratic Party, even though vice mayor is a nonpartisan position. Some local Democratic leaders called a press conference to denounce Weiner for her voting record — she has voted in both Republican and Democratic primaries in past elections.
“I think that’s unfortunate that people pigeonhole themselves,” Weiner says. “I am extremely socially progressive. … The notion that I would be anything other than what I am in that area is actually mind-blowing, and it’s insulting.”
Weiner is, she says, fiscally conservative, a trait she says will be valuable as Nashville attempts to overcome budget woes.
And yet the two differ, at least preliminarily, on one major issue facing the city: whether to establish a civilian oversight board to investigate complaints against police officers. Shulman signed the petition that would send the proposal to a countywide referendum, while Weiner did not, though she says that was because she thought it would not have been appropriate for her to weigh in while temporarily leading the council. They agree that voters should have the right to decide on the proposal, but Weiner, who says her father was a police officer in Memphis for decades, adds that she has “questions” and “concerns” about the proposal.
“I will never be equipped to second-guess what a police officer does in the line of duty,” says Weiner.
The solution, Weiner contends, is body cameras, and she says the fact that MNPD Chief Steve Anderson hasn’t deployed them more than a year after the council voted to fund them gives her cause to question whether Anderson should remain in the role. The lack of information about the police shootings of Daniel Hambrick this year and Jocques Clemmons last year highlights that need, she says.
“If we had body cameras, we would have known what happened, and it would’ve been clear, and we would have answers,” says Weiner. “So for me, it’s about documentation. For me, it’s about due process. For me, it’s about good policing and community engagement.”
Shulman, as part of his campaign, has laid out a plan to establish new special committees that would address what he considers problems facing the city. One, which would include members of both the Metro Council and the school board, would focus on school safety. Another would look at the city’s contracts and procurement process. The third would be a special budget committee, and he would also ask the chair of the council’s regular budget committee to update the body on a monthly basis.
“With the last budget, I think people began to realize that we needed to drill down a lot more and question a lot more,” Shulman says. “The budget review for next year starts right now.”
Though Weiner has been acting as vice mayor since David Briley’s accession to the mayor’s office in March, she won’t retain that unofficial incumbency on Election Day. Last week, the council elected Burkley Allen as its speaker pro tem, meaning Allen will preside over at least one meeting before the winner of the runoff is sworn in.
As the two experienced council members seek to become Nashville’s parliamentarian, even they admit it might be difficult for voters to pick.
“In a lot of ways, there are a lot of similarities,” says Weiner. “We both believe in getting people to the table to talk.”
