Mayoral Candidates' Platform:
MEGAN BARRY: “In the past eight years, Nashville has experienced significant growth despite challenges like the recession and the flood. However, that prosperity hasn’t reached all parts of Davidson County. I believe we need to extend our economic prosperity all the way to the county line. In my administration, we will continue to attract good jobs and businesses to Nashville; fight for fair wages for all; actively factor in the need to alleviate poverty and inequality into decisions we make about all of the issues before us; and aim to balance the growth and development with the preservation of those things about Nashville that make us so willing to build our lives here.” |
CHARLES ROBERT BONE:
"Our opportunity, as well as our obligation, now is to purposefully extend the footprint of Nashville’s prosperity and the reach of our incredible momentum. As we reinvest the dividends from the public investments of the last two decades, we can dramatically break generational cycles of poverty and empower each of our unique communities. The prioritization of a citywide economic development strategy is key to each component of my vision for Nashville." Click on Charles Robert's website to read more and watch videos addressing his economic plan. |
DAVID FOX:
A great city must have a healthy and transparent financial balance sheet. Over the past few years, Nashville has added many exciting new public buildings and venues downtown. And that’s great, but we now also are dealing with the additional debt that funded them. Add to that the more than $3 billion in unfunded pension and health benefit obligations for city workers, who devoted their lives to serving us, and you understand why Nashville’s debt is officially a problem for taxpayers, who are ultimately responsible for it. Like any family budget, we can’t keep running up the credit card bill and then avoiding the “how are we going to pay for this” conversation. The “Nashville Way” is to use a common sense strategy of drawing up a sensible budget that stops the bleeding, prevents spending beyond our means, and allows us to “grow into our balance sheet.” This approach would allow our economic growth to generate the added revenue we’ll need to pay down our debt, rather than requiring tax increases that would burden taxpayers and stifle our economy." Continue reading about David Fox regarding economic development by clicking on his website. |
BILL FREEMAN:
"Nashville’s extraordinary growth in the last few years has brought many benefits to our city. As our population grows, we need to make sure that we are keeping unemployment in check and promoting sustainable growth." Continue reading about Bill Freeman regarding economic development by clicking on his website. |
HOWARD GENTRY:
"You cannot effectively perform the social equity side of it if you don't have a city that is growing and a city that is sound as it relates to our economy. … If you look at some of the greatest cities, cities that are growing and prospering, they also have effective programs that help reduce the barriers that keep many people from reaching their greatest potential. Nashville has to continue to fuel the engine of growth and development. We have to continue to fuel that engine of corporate relocation and providing different initiatives to increase revenue in our city. If we're developing a community, we have to ensure on the front end we're not creating a situation where people are being pushed out of their communities and homes." - Source: Nashville Business Journal. |
JEREMY KANE:
“As mayor, I will continue to promote sustainable smart growth for all parts of our city by investing in individuals and firms — large and small, minority-run or women-owned — that drive our economy and position us as an innovative and global city. I will hold companies that receive economic development tools and incentives accountable, and will coordinate incentives with community values, like early childhood and K-12 education, workforce development, postsecondary education, healthy and sustainable infrastructure, and enhanced neighborhoods. As Nashville continues to grow, and with the coming of exciting new technologies such as Google fiber, more and more people and companies will look to invest and move to our city. As mayor, it is important to welcome that growth but also make sure that we are maintaining our values. That means fostering a healthy economic climate, but not giving tax breaks to companies at the expense of our citizens or our schools.” |
LINDA ESKIND REBROVICK:
"As the CEO of Consensus Point, a local Nashville company, I’ve seen Nashville’s growth up close and have an innate understanding of the strengths that have allowed us to reach this point. In leadership positions at Dell, IBM, and KPMG Consulting, I’ve had a direct role in making the difficult decisions that determine a company’s future success. I know what it takes for Nashville businesses to grow and create jobs, because I’ve been a Nashville business and I’ve done it myself. Using that experience, I can help lead this city into the next phase of our growth. The recent influx of companies is important to our economy, and we can’t let that distract us from supporting local companies. One of my top priorities as mayor will be to keep and grow the businesses we already have. While I want businesses to come to Nashville and will work to continue to attract and retain the high-quality firms and corporations that will expand our employment base, our administration’s efforts will be focused on those companies who bring and/or provide quality jobs and will be good corporate and community citizens. I won’t get distracted by the politics of an issue, and my focus will remain locked on doing what’s right for Nashville." |
ARTICLES & OTHER RESOURCES: