Council Candidates Meet Salemtown Neighbors

Two dozen people attended last night's Salemtown Neighbors Neighborhood Association meeting, including 3 Metro Council candidates running in the August 2 elections. SNNA members gathered for their monthly meeting, which included discussions with police of the recent spike in crime and plans to meet with Historic Germantown Neighborhood to discuss the latter's proposed historical overlay at Morgan Park and the possibility of a jointly sponsored District 19 candidates' debate before August.

Candidates in attendance at last night's meeting included Richard Exton (at-Large), Erica Gilmore (District 19), and Freda Player (District 19). The candidates introduced themselves and they each spoke briefly to the group about ideas and goals. SNNA President Alan Maloney asked Ms. Gilmore and Ms. Player (there are 3 other District 19 candidates who were not in attendance) if they would commit to participating in a debate forum in the event that one is set up for the North End and they both said, "Yes." The evening was punctuated by local politics as current District 19 Council Member Ludye Wallace (not present) was the topic of a long discussion about passage of the 6th and Garfield rezoning bill currently pending. I thought it was helpful that Ms. Gilmore and Ms. Player got to hear community frustrations with Ludye's performance.

SNNA members also started discussing plans for participation in Germantown's Oktoberfest and Nashville's Night Out Against Crime, which occurs during the first week of August (as does the election). I was struck by how energetic everyone seems to be this year. In past years at the beginning of the summer, the group energy and meeting attendance seemed to wane. This year, the association seems to be gearing up for the summer rather than just putting things on hold until Fall.


UPDATE: Hutchmo's views after the jump.