Candidate's Corner

This week intern Emma had a chance to speak with Jimmy Lawrence, candidate for Mayor of the City of Nashville. The Nashville Municipal Election will be held August 1. Learn more about the candidates running for office in your community at www.Vote-USA.org!

Narration Transcription:

Nashville has experienced massive growth. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that in 2018 Davidson County had a population of almost 700,000 people, which was a 10% increase from 2010. This growth has challenged the city’s affordability. The 2018 Nashville Chamber of Commerce Vital Signs Report found that 40% of residents had difficulty covering their monthly expenses, which was 6% higher than the previous year. Rising housing costs is one of the main contributing factors. In just the past 10 years, the median house price has jumped from $159,800 in 2008 to $246,500 in 2018. Housing markets have been unable to keep up with demand, causing prices to skyrocket while median household incomes have not experienced corresponding raises.

Tourism has also increased in recent years. In 2018, according to the Nashville Conventions and Visitors Corp, 15.2 million visitors came to Nashville. Tourism is a 6.5 billion-dollar industry which has been partially fueling the growth of the city. To attract tourists, Nashville invested in several large public works projects. One such investment was the Music City Center, which opened in 2013. Taxpayers have been picking up the bill for many of the Center’s expenses, such as police overtime for covering events and infrastructure upkeep for increased tourist traffic. Many would argue that the Center should cover these expenses instead of the city since it is the one generating these costs. In order to assuage its critics, the Convention Center Authority which runs the Music City Center agreed to give $10 million from its surplus funds to the city’s general fund to make up for some of the costs the city has covered in the past. However, some say that the $10 million isn’t enough nor is it a long-term solution.

Even though Nashville generates great wealth from its tourism industry, debt still plagues the city leaving tight budgets for all elements of the metro government.

The Metropolitan government has $3.6 billion in outstanding debt obligations. Last year, for every $10 spent by the city, $1 went to servicing its debt. The city’s debt problems can be traced back to policies implemented during the Great Recession and to borrowing that continued following its recovery. A Blue-Ribbon Commission was recently designated to address Nashville’s debt. It was tasked with trimming $20 million from the budget, and, in April of this year, the Commission released its first report with an extensive list of recommendations.

Mayor Briley proposed an operating budget of $2.3 billion for the next fiscal year. Unanticipated revenue shortfalls limited his budget proposal which leaves public schools severely underfunded. Metro Nashville Public Schools requested a $76.7 million increase in their budget to pay for 10% raises for its teachers and staff, but, in Mayor Briley’s budget, the school system was only awarded a $28.2 million increase. The Nashville School Board has proposed an alternative to raise the remainder of the money where a referendum would be put to Nashvillians to vote on whether to raise their property taxes to make up for the shortfalls of Mayor Briley’s budget. This plan is still being considered. Under Mayor Briley’s budget, property taxes would not be raised.

Today, we will be speaking with Jimmy Lawrence, one of the candidates for Mayor of the metro government. He is known not only as a local businessman but also as a musician. He does not have prior political experience.

Now, let’s dive in with Mr. Lawrence.

In this episode intern Emma Young had a chance to interview John Cooper, candidate for Mayor of Nashville. The Nashville Municipal Election will be held August 1. Learn more about the candidates running for office in your community at www.Vote-USA.org!

Narration Transcription

In the coming weeks, Nashvillians and citizens of Davidson County will go to the polls to vote in a variety of races including Mayor. Early voting starts July 12th and goes through July 27th. Election day is Thursday, August 1st.

The candidates for Mayor this August 1st are a diverse crowd. There are nine candidates in total, with four having ran in the 2018 Special General Election for Mayor and three having held office previously. The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County’s city charter, created in 1963, stipulates that, to run for Mayor, a candidate must be 30 years of age at the beginning of the term, must have lived in Davidson County for at least three years prior to the election, and must live in the county during their term as Mayor.

The Mayor serves a term of four years, and is a nonpartisan position. This is an at-large position that will represent all of Nashville and Davidson County. On election day, if any one candidate receives a majority, or greater than half, of the votes cast in the election, then this candidate will become the new Mayor. However, if no candidate receives a majority of the vote, then there will be a runoff election between the two with the most votes in a September 2019 Runoff Election. Whichever candidate that wins the most votes in the runoff election will become the next Mayor. The Mayor makes a salary of $180,000 per year.

Current mayoral candidates will be running to unseat the incumbent David Briley who took office in 2018 as the Metro Government’s 8th Mayor. Mayor Briley rose to this position in an unusual fashion by first serving as the Acting Mayor following the resignation of Former Mayor Megan Barry and by later winning the Special General Election to become Mayor. While mayor’s normally serve a four year term, the Special General Election of 2018’s purpose was to fill the remaining year of Former Mayor Barry’s four year term which began in 2015. Therefore, Mayor Briley will only serve for one year as Mayor before having to run for reelection for another term. While Mayor Briley won the Special General Election with 54.4% of the vote, avoiding a runoff election, the crowded field of eight challengers will certainly not make reelection easy. Today we speak with one of these challengers: John Cooper.

Mr. Cooper was first elected to public office in 2015 as one of Nashville’s five Metro Council at large representatives. During his time in office, he has worked to save public lands and to ensure the Metro government is spending taxpayer’s money well. Notably, largely through his efforts and dedication as an at-large councilman, Ft. Negley Park was saved from being sold off for private development. Prior to his work on the council, Mr. Cooper was involved in banking, real-estate, and retail business.

Now let’s hear from Councilman Cooper himself.

In this episode intern Emma Young had a chance to interview John Cooper, candidate for Mayor of Nashville. The Nashville Municipal Election will be held August 1. Learn more about the candidates running for office in your community at www.Vote-USA.org!

Narration Transcription

In the coming weeks, Nashvillians and citizens of Davidson County will go to the polls to vote in a variety of races including Mayor. Early voting starts July 12th and goes through July 27th. Election day is Thursday, August 1st.

The candidates for Mayor this August 1st are a diverse crowd. There are nine candidates in total, with four having ran in the 2018 Special General Election for Mayor and three having held office previously. The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County’s city charter, created in 1963, stipulates that, to run for Mayor, a candidate must be 30 years of age at the beginning of the term, must have lived in Davidson County for at least three years prior to the election, and must live in the county during their term as Mayor.

The Mayor serves a term of four years, and is a nonpartisan position. This is an at-large position that will represent all of Nashville and Davidson County. On election day, if any one candidate receives a majority, or greater than half, of the votes cast in the election, then this candidate will become the new Mayor. However, if no candidate receives a majority of the vote, then there will be a runoff election between the two with the most votes in a September 2019 Runoff Election. Whichever candidate that wins the most votes in the runoff election will become the next Mayor. The Mayor makes a salary of $180,000 per year.

Current mayoral candidates will be running to unseat the incumbent David Briley who took office in 2018 as the Metro Government’s 8th Mayor. Mayor Briley rose to this position in an unusual fashion by first serving as the Acting Mayor following the resignation of Former Mayor Megan Barry and by later winning the Special General Election to become Mayor. While mayor’s normally serve a four year term, the Special General Election of 2018’s purpose was to fill the remaining year of Former Mayor Barry’s four year term which began in 2015. Therefore, Mayor Briley will only serve for one year as Mayor before having to run for reelection for another term. While Mayor Briley won the Special General Election with 54.4% of the vote, avoiding a runoff election, the crowded field of eight challengers will certainly not make reelection easy. Today we speak with one of these challengers: John Cooper.

Mr. Cooper was first elected to public office in 2015 as one of Nashville’s five Metro Council at large representatives. During his time in office, he has worked to save public lands and to ensure the Metro government is spending taxpayer’s money well. Notably, largely through his efforts and dedication as an at-large councilman, Ft. Negley Park was saved from being sold off for private development. Prior to his work on the council, Mr. Cooper was involved in banking, real-estate, and retail business.

Now let’s hear from Councilman Cooper himself.

This week we spoke with Deirdre Kane, Democratic candidate for Pittsburgh City Council District 7. Learn more about candidates running for office in your community at Vote-USA.org. The municipal primary election in Pittsburgh is May 21st. GO VOTE!

This week we spoke with Deirdre Kane, Democratic candidate for Pittsburgh City Council District 7. Learn more about candidates running for office in your community at Vote-USA.org. The municipal primary election in Pittsburgh is May 21st. GO VOTE!

In this episode we hear from Beth Finn, a Democratic candidate running for one of the At-Large positions on the Philadelphia City Council in the May 21 election. Learn more about the candidates running for office in your community at Vote-USA.org. Get out and VOTE!

In this episode we hear from Beth Finn, a Democratic candidate running for one of the At-Large positions on the Philadelphia City Council in the May 21 election. Learn more about the candidates running for office in your community at Vote-USA.org. Get out and VOTE!

This week we had a chance to speak with Moira Bohannon, candidate for Philadelphia City Commission. Pennsylvania will be holding elections May 21, 2019. Learn more about the candidates running for office in your community at Vote-USA.org. Get out and VOTE!

This week we had a chance to speak with Moira Bohannon, candidate for Philadelphia City Commission. Pennsylvania will be holding elections May 21, 2019. Learn more about the candidates running for office in your community at Vote-USA.org. Get out and VOTE!

In the 2019 debut episode of Candidates' Corner we learn more about Aurora, Illinois, and Dr. Matt Harrington. Dr. Harrington is running for 6th district alderman in Aurora. All candidate opinions expressed are their own. Illinois counties and cities will host elections on April 2, 2019.