Thursday, June 07, 2007
Mayoral Forum at MBA - Liveblog
Tonight, five of the Mayoral candidates will participate in a forum sponsored by the West Nashville President's Association and hosted at Montgomery Bell Academy, 4001 Harding Road. I will attempt to run a live blog of the forum at this site, so check back this evening after 6:30 to see what's going on.
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32 comments:
That's great, Alan. I'm glad to hear you're planning to liveblog tonight. I'm involved with planning for the forum, so I'll keep an eye out for you and try to say hello.
Rob
Candidate forum sponsored by West Nashville President's Council. Format: Opening statements 1 1/2 minutes. Several rounds of questions from audience questions filled out on arrival. Then closing statements. Candidates have not seen questions in advance.
Briley, Clement, Dean, Dozier, and Gentry left to right across the stage.
Dean opening statement: I came to Nashville for education; others should in the future. Moved to Nashville to attend Vanderbilt. Met Ann Davis and debated where to live: New England v. Nashville...Ann won. 8 years of good pragmatic leadership. Need to continue momentum.
Gentry Opening Statement: Diversity makes us strong. Will make us stronger too. Exciting times here, and I have served as vice mayor for 6 years of that. I was told I could do or be anything I wanted to do or be, and I have grown with this city, and I have the opportunity to lead at a crucial time. Want to unite community. Celebrate great things in city and unite to solve social and cultural ills threatening community.
Dozier Opening Statement: Blueprint for the future of neighborhoods embraced by me. Want to work with you on it. Working with and being accountable to you. First day in office, I will mandat that all issues on codes, etc. will be addressed in 72-hour response time. I've worked in all three branches of govt. Bredesen, Council...Learning curve as mayor not extensive. I want to serve.
Clement Opening Statement: I went to Hillsboro and lost in football to MBA. I was on the debate team; meant alot in my life. Bring debate back in the city. Deep roots and I love this city. I believe I can make a difference in people's lives. Crossroads in education. Dropouts. I am former college president. Direct corellation between education and crime. we can read Good to Great in each department.
Briley Opening Statement: Magic Wand, I would be 6'5". Perception sets expectations. This election is about setting those. I will set high expectations for our education system. All graduate on time. Teachers chose me to lead that. Every neighborhood needs to be safe. I want to add 70 new officers to street. Commplications in city growing. City can handle and move forward. I am asking for vote because I am best prepared to lead.
Round One: What would you do to improve neighborhoods and strengthen associations. Will you retain MOON. What changes would you make.
Clement: Establish a neighborhood advisory council of the 14 subareas. Meet with me once a month to discuss issues: crime education transportation potholes or whatever the issue. I will give the associations access to the department heads. I will also have an office of volunteerism as well. Great resource disparity in Nashville. We need to match 'em up. Need to work with non-profits and faith based community.
Briley: I have served on Council for 8 years working to protect the neighborhoods. Don't need another level of bureaucracy. Need a more proactive government - Don't wait to hear. Get the heads out to the neighborhoods to fix those communities. Transform office into citizens and communities to reach out rather than being a depository for complaints. Work together to improve quality of services. Establish on-line forum. We need to be leaders. Lockland Elementary School project shows neighborhood engagement. Great leadership allowed us to play a role in transforming that school. Now with long waiting lists. (http://www.lockelandes.mnps.org/site71.aspx)
Dean: Mayor has to hit three pitches: public education, public safety, quality of life. Nashville is regarded as great place to live. Will continue MOON. Strengthen by putting specific people. I will attend neighborhood associations. Mayor's Night Out.
Work in the law department to remove brothels on 8th avenue. We went after them and shut them down improving neighborhoods.
Dozier: I will keep MOON, but call it Office of Communities and increase staff with people who understand neighborhood activism. We need to be accountable to you, getting back in a timely fashion about what's going on in your neighborhood. We will identify members of associations that we can call and work with closely. Communications vital. We need regular action. Need to identify and support future leaders in your communities. Personalities of communities special. We want to work with you.
Gentry: MOON is significant. 8 years ago we looked weak. I have seen you grow. I have seen MOON work with you to build strong groups and grow. How make the associations stronger? We have to work with you. Safety is your top concer. You are concerned about your schools. Our schools starting to do better (tests, graduation rates). 16 year low in crime rates, but juvenile crime at all time high. 60% of our students below poverty rate. Poverty and education don't mix well. We are going to come together to determine the top 3-5 root causes of our social ills, and we will go after these problems changing culture not increasing bureaucracy. No more revolving door of mediocrity and failure in safety and schools.
Round Two: Sidewalk plan not finished. Would you fund it? If a neighborhood does not want sidewalks, whom would you listen to.
Briley: I am for sidewalk plan; I voted against the cut. We built the city without sidewalks. I had never walked when I left for college. Walking got me in shape. Need to build a walking community. Need to go back and adequately fund the sidewalk plan. Some dissention in any neighborhood. I will listen. I will not wait for unanimity. Start around schools. Expand over time.
Dean: Sidewalks a high priority. I have been going door-to-door, and it is clear they need sidewalks and lighting on Dickerson Road. The key is that the program be rational, neutral, non-political way. Safety, schools, churches, libraries first. Need to tinker as we go, but we need it. A clear majority response will not be fought if it is a majority.
Dozier: I grew up with sidewalk in Sylvan Park. I walk to Church, school, and high school. Plan needs to be tweaked. Need to revisit the plan often because growth of Nashville too dynamic. We did respond to neighborhoods on the Council, and we responded well. I will continue dialogue.
Gentry: I grew up on 22nd. My mother lives on West End. At 82, she walks almost daily. Sidewalks make me feel safer for her. Mayor had an aggressive plan that has increased sidewalks. Where are they going and do they connect? In many instances, No. Many laid for future plans. Problem is that today's sidewalks won't still be useful. I will support a retooled plan. If community does not want them, I will respect a majority request.
Clement: I believe in sidewalks. I think they do much for our communities. Sidewalks to nowhere make no sense. We are 5th from the bottom in healthy kids. We can do better. Trails and bike paths get the family together. They give us a good feeling.
Question Three: Balancing commercial and residential growth with character and livability of neighborhoods. Preservation v. growth?
Dean: Need viable tax base depending on growing businesses, but you can balance with neighborhoods. Need quality ed, safety, and high quality of life in order to have a livable city. Development must yield to parks for livability, but cannot work without tax base to support those. Trick is to find the balance. People will always disagree. I will come down on trying to be fair to both sides. More density in the downtown area and areas with infrastructure can help strike that balance.
Dozier: I have been on Council wrestling with these issues a long time. Many different perspectives exist. Next Mayor has a vibrant downtown development and tourism. Mayor has to be involved in that process, but other side of coin is unique neighborhoods. One size not fit all. Must carefully weigh the unique things about each communuity. What do they need to continue those things? Infrastructure is crucial. We have always been behind on that. I will balance.
Gentry: Balance, growth, etc. leads me to think about Nashville when I grew up. Nashville was balanced. We have a plan to go by, and I will institute it. The planning and other departments need to be asked to follow through with the plans we have before us. We need to stick with those plans we have made in the last 8 years.
Clement: Nashville is city of neighborhoods. I will manage development and growth in neighborhoods through neighborhood conservation. I will protect cohesiveness and advisory council. We need great infrastructure. I secured federal dollars from transportation committe in D.C. I made that happen. Mass transit is necessary as well. I fought for commuter rail. We have the first leg. We need to expand that for the future. I have contacts I want to put to work for you. I am going to tell it like it is. I want to lead the fight for you.
Briley: A former mayor told me every day you make 51% happy and 49% mad. Making hard decisions you can expect me to be more pro-preservation than development. Now, preservation means...See NYT front page today (www.nytimes.com).He liked our oldest and dirtiest things. We need to preserve unique stuff in Nashville to attract people here.
Round Four: What will be done to maintain the inner city growth plan?
Dozier: Not all the wealthy living downtown. Young are moving in there to start careers. We must be careful as we build in the inner core. New development in there all the time. A concern there is that they ave lived there 35 years and all of a sudden property taxes skyrocket, building next door, and she is on fixed income. We must get the developers and neighborhood groups around the table. It can be done without tearing up neighborhoods.
To Gentry: How will you change the culture of communities as you have said?
We are growing and developing more than ever before, but a have/have not divide is growing. Middle class eroded. Need that connection. City is moving, and looked at as one of the great cities, but we also have high poverty low school performancce and high juvenile crime. Quality of life should be the same throughout. I want to unify and grow the people along with the city. We can change the culture.
To Clement: Experience managing a city?
I have been in business and public service. On the TVA board I had 6 billion dollar budget. I was presidennt of Cumberland moving it to a four-year college. I went to D.C. to battle about education, crime, transportation, infrastructure, economic development for better jobs. Most of the growth in the contiguous counties. I want to strengthen Nashville, Davidson County. I will not micromanage. I will supervise, and I will make changes. Director of finance, Law, and deputy Mayor on first day. I will make changes in the best interests of Nashville.
To Briley: What about Homelessness?
I sat in on forum recently with good questions about that issue. I will implement task force recommendations for ending chronic homelessness. We will ramp up to build 200,000 units. Issue is broad spectrum from temporary to chronic homelessness. Cannot deal with all together. Must implement and fund Task Force's recommendation. Some populations have taken over parts of downtow. Park across from the library no longer vibrant for children and families. Show our compassion, but also make downtown absolutely safe.
To Dean: As a transplant, what do you offer, and as public defender will you be soft on crime?
I chose to live here. I have been here since 1978, and I love this city. We welcome all. As public defender, I have many assets. I have managed two government departments effectively. I have an understanding of root causes of crime. I created programs for women while I shut down brothels. I represented police as well as poor, so I know the issue well. Public safety is number on. It is critical. But high dropout rates also relate to high crime. Keep kids in school is a great way to make the city safer and stronger economically.
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