A Nashville Metro Council member is tasked with challenging the mayor and holding him or her accountable, when needed, but current council members evidently don’t hold that kind of sway.
At least not now.
That’s because current Mayor David Briley makes threats, said Metro Council Member Steve Glover.
“In this city, we get threatened all the time by the administration. If you don’t vote this way then we (the mayor’s office) will not do something for you,” Glover told The Tennessee Star.
“I got $500,000 to start doing improvements on Central Pike under the Karl Dean Administration. You tell me. Do you see anything starting out there yet? You will not. I’m not going to throw other council members under the bus. I know they get threatened all of the time. We hear ‘If you don’t support me then I’m not going to make this project happen for you in this district. I’m good at withholding the money on this or that. I have the money to do these projects.’”
Glover said he will not work that way. As reported, Glover has spoken out against Briley, including, most recently, the way he planned for a Major League Soccer stadium.
No one at Briley’s office returned The Star’s request for comment.
“The other council members forget they were elected by the people in their districts. They were never ever elected by the mayor. They should never be threatened by the mayor,” Glover said.
“They should never be threatened by anyone in the executive branch because they were elected to represent their constituents. Unfortunately, I don’t know where that fell apart, but it’s been that way for several years here in the city.”
As reported, Briley announced Tuesday he’s running for reelection.
Glover, a Republican, said he has no interest in running because too many Nashville voters are Democrats. Glover did say he’s interested in an at-large council position.
One suggested mayoral candidate, current at-large council member John Cooper said he has no timeline to announce and is still trying to decide.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
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