HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH
FEDERAL EDUCATION FUNDING
OCTOBER 5, 2023 | VOLUME 35 | NUMBER 39
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Looking Forward:
Southwest Nashville council members on the years ahead BY NICOLE S. PRAINO
Metro councilmembers at Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s inauguration
PHOTO BY ERIC ENGLAND
Mayor O’Connell, new council members hold inauguration at Public Square Park BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT
Though Mayor Freddie O’Connell and many members of the new Metro Council had already been sworn in, they took their oaths again Saturday, this time as part of a public celebration at Public Square Park.
O’Connell used the public gathering to show off city services, with Metro’s library, police, arts, transit and other departments set up around the park distributing information about their offerings. Hundreds
Mayor O’Connell with his family at the inauguration
PHOTO BY ERIC ENGLAND
of attendees — including several of O’Connell’s former opponents and newly former Metro councilmembers with a load off — watched the new mayor and Vice Mayor Angie Henderson welcome the new four-year term with remarks. (Matt Wiltshire, who finished third in the general mayoral election, said he was going to Midtown bar Losers after the event.) While Henderson pledged that the Metro Council would be an independent check on the mayor’s office, she acknowledged that she and the mayor share a goal of improving the city’s transit, cycling and pedestrian networks. Both highlighted the issue in speeches. “Mayor O’Connell and I have a similar vision for a better-connected Nashville,” Henderson said. O’Connell added that he wants to build “the transit system the city has needed for a long time” and alluded to a possible voter referendum to raise money for the effort. Both O’Connell and Henderson also addressed ongoing tension between the city and state government as several Metro lawsuits challenging new state laws continue. The new mayor said he would >> PAGE 2
The first Metro Council meeting since the election was Tuesday, Oct. 3 at 6:30 p.m. There are multiple new and returning councilmembers in The News’ southwest Nashville coverage area, so we sat down with each of them to talk about the issues they want to address during their term. Looking Forward will be an ongoing series of topics addressed by each member we were able to speak with ahead of the first council meeting. Much of the southwest Nashville representation looks familiar. Tom Cash was reelected in District 18; Thom Druffel was reelected in District 23; and Sheri Weiner has returned to District 22. But there are actually just as many new faces to the area. Brenda Gadd (D24), Jeff Preptit (D25) and Sandy Ewing (D34) were elected to their districts for the first time. Old or new, that did not seem to matter as the same few topics dominated the conversation with each member: infrastructure, transportation, development, and the budget. Ahead of the first council meeting, the new members all said they were just trying to learn everything they could and keep communication with constituents ongoing. “I’m making sure that I am being responsive to the people of the district and being able to really assess those needs when they are expressed to me,” Preptit said. “Just familarizing myself with all the people who are staffing our local agencies, being able to make sure I know exactly who I need to make those referrals to within the specific agencies to get things done.” “I’m looking forward to getting down to the actual business of the council,” Ewing said. “I’ve been pretty immersed in constituent services anyway. I feel like this is the final puzzle piece and I’m really looking forward to learning how it all >> PAGE 4
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