The Problem of the Mayor's Race: Metro Council Dumbs Down the Field

A Volunteer Voters reader handicaps the next Metro Mayor's race and tells how the current council culture wars dumb down the field:

[Buck] Dozier's a [R]epublican. He thinks he has a chance because he came in first in the at-large race. But he's Church of Christ, anti-Purcell, pro-developer (not necessarily downtown businesses) and old school Metro. He's Fulton-esque in his approach to letting Metro old-timers run their departments. Purcell, through performance audits and tight budgets, forced a great many of the old-timers out and they're the ones pushing Buck.

[Howard] Gentry can't control the council. After five years he still hasn't figured out council procedure, which is something the 20-something new lawyer, Jon Cooper, figured out in a month. He gets schooled week in and week out by Ludye Wallace. If you ever saw Jay West run a council meeting, you would weep at the ineptitude of Gentry's "leadership."

[Bob] Clement is not the sharpest tool in the box, but he's got the support (grudgingly, at best) of the downtown core businesses. They need someone who will be progressive in tourism and attracting business, but still keep up with the quality of life issues that Purcell has been so good at doing.

The major problem that we have in this election cycle is that the current council has thrown up so many d[i]visive issues that everyone on the local level is wounded to an extent. No one has been allowed to climb to the top of the heap.

There are men and women out there who would be great the job, but would be horrible campaigners. Torry [Johnson],
regret[t]ably, is one of those. Bob, is the opposite - great campaigner....

There is a pool of talent, but they are getting smacked around by stupid crap like [Eric] Crafton's English proposal. Issues that don't help do anything but divide and provide crappy candidates for top offices.

Council conservatives continue to bar Nashville from a future full of promise.