TeSelle's Letter Speaks of Trust in Cooperative Mixed-Use Development, Betrayal in Republican/Kay Brooks "Stealth Operation"

Gene TeSelle, whom I know from my days at Vandy when he was one of my dissertation advisors, has written a timely letter to the Tennessean. I'm reproducing it here for your consumption:

Last Monday there was a ceremonial groundbreaking for 5th and Main, an innovative construction project that will create a significant entry point to east Nashville.

Living units will range from affordable to luxury, and in the "mixed use" tradition there will also be commercial and office space.

The non-profit developer is Affordable Housing Resources. It took most of two years for all the contracts to be worked out with a variety of financing agencies.

At the groundbreaking we were reminded about the many partners — Fannie Mae and NeighborWorks, banks, Metro's own Housing Fund, MDHA, architects, engineers, marketers. Mayor Bill Purcell said this project helps us understand why Nashville ranks high on the livability scale nationwide.

Well, that's how a constructive project happens, through a spirit of trust and cooperation all around.

A week earlier, also in east Nashville, we had an unfortunate example of how to betray trust and cooperation. In a stealth operation, a member of the Metro Council who did not even represent east Nashville lined up votes to put on the school board a candidate who home-schools her children and avoided a community forum.

At first it looked like a power play by ideological extremists. Then it turned out that the Davidson County Republican Party was involved.

Being constructive takes persistence. Being destructive only takes ruthlessness and short-term vision. Examples of both are right in front of us.

Gene TeSelle
Nashville 37212

Looks like it is still "going down hard."