In the years I worked for Senator Lamar Alexander I came to appreciate the wisdom in his Little Plaid Book. Of the 311 rules and lessons, none is more important than #14:
Tell the truth. It’s the right thing to do and it will confuse your opponent.
Here’s the truth. According to Truth in Accounting, our city has a D rating for our financial management. The city budget under discussion at last night's budget hearing included $413 million to service our debt - that is more than is spent on debt service by the entire state of Tennessee, combined.
And here’s what the downtown crowd will tell you:
Your tax rate is really low.
We have a great bond rating - so there is nothing to worry about.
Our bond rating is set in large part by the financial markets’ belief that we can raise taxes to meet our city’s debt obligations.
So when you hear those two things - “your tax rate is low” and “we have a great bond rating, don’t worry” - make sure you are hearing what they are really saying - your taxes are going up.
If we keep electing the same people we’ve elected for the last 20 years, we cannot expect a different result. This election provides our citizens the chance to send a message to City Hall. We don’t need to accept the recipe book to become the next Portland or San Francisco. We can boldly chart a new direction that believes that Nashville can and must hit a hard reset to bring accountability to our schools, support public safety, and responsibly manage the city’s finances.
Alice joined Bob Mueller to discuss her motivation in running for office and her belief that we can love Nashville and love Tennessee. When we work to solve problems that don’t stop at the county line we can and we do improve the quality of life for our residents.
We loved spending time with the Cane Ridge Community Club at their monthly potluck meeting. The club has been meeting for over a hundred years and works to identify and solve challenges and support neighbors.
West End Synagogue Forum
It was great to join leaders from across the city at the West End Synagogue’s Mayoral Forum to discuss important issues in transportation, housing, and public safety.
Happy Birthday Manuel!
Manuel Delgado, owner of Delgado guitars celebrated a big birthday recently! His commitment to our community inspires us and we are honored to have his support in our campaign to serve Nashville.
Volunteer Powered
Please contact [email protected] to get involved with making phone calls or to arrange for a yard sign! There are lots of ways to support the campaign and we are volunteer-powered!
