Strengthening our Community

Nashville’s explosive growth is a good thing, but uncontrolled growth can threaten the individuality, history, and green spaces of neighborhoods. What works for the city’s urban core is not always in the best interest of our communities outside downtown. I pledge to represent our neighborhood in council discussions to ensure our city is changing for the better.

Homelessness

Nashville’s growth and development has left many folks behind. Lack of affordable housing has led to an increase in homelessness. A significant number of our homeless population are veterans of military service. Many go untreated because addiction, PTSD, or mental health issues prevent them from knowing where to seek resources. Local government can and should serve as a conduit to help connect homeless veterans with veteran service organizations and nonprofits. Solving veteran homelessness will go a long way towards solving Nashville’s overall homelessness problem. As the grandson of a WWI veteran, the son of a WWII veteran, and the youngest of four children who are all veterans, this is an issue that is close to my heart.

New Americans

Nashville has one of the fastest-growing immigrant populations of any U.S. city. It is critical that we embrace a strategic and sustainable approach to welcoming and integrating New Americans into all parts of our community. The rich diversity of New Americans provides great value to our communities. It was extremely important to me to successfully secure the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) Votes endorsement during my campaign this year, which is why I am supporting RS2019-32 and RS2019-86 currently moving through the council.

Building a new fire station in District 31:

There is a need to build and staff a new fire station in our district, especially because if you live south of Culbertson Road you pay higher insurance rates due to longer response times. The land was already secured under my predecessor, Councilmember Fabian Bedne, and whenever the city builds the next fire station, it should go in our district.

Adding a third Veteran Service Officer (VSO) to the city government:

Currently there are only two VSOs to address veteran affairs across the whole city. The needs of veterans call for a larger presence than this and, as a veteran myself, I am committed to ensuring that veterans get the services they need to thrive.