After AllianceBernstein, Jim Gingrich is ready to be Nashville mayor

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A businessman of sorts, Jim Gingrich is running for Nashville mayor.

Gingrich introduced himself as not a career politician. He said he cared about unrestricted growth, lack of growth and underfunded schools. He's the COO of AllianceBernstein.

NewsChannel 5 sent every person running for mayor a questionnaire with the same questions. We have not edited these answers from the candidates, meaning these responses are straight from them.

Nashville’s violent crime rate outpaces the national average as well as that of similar-sized cities. As Mayor, how would you work with MNPD to ensure Nashvillians can feel safe in our city?

In May, I visited Warner Arts Magnet Elementary School. I ran into a 3rd grade class in the hall and I asked the students what Nashville needed, and they eagerly shouted, “Love.” “Stop shootings.” “Kindness.” “No more stabbings.” “More parks.” The thoughts of our 8 and 9 year olds tell you exactly what you need to know about the safety of Nashville. We are failing our kids. Making a city safe is job one for a mayor and we are far from where we need to be. We need to act with urgency.

I will do three things:

First, I will properly fund our police force.

Second, I will tirelessly advocate for common-sense gun legislation.

Third, I will implement a comprehensive crime prevention strategy focused on vulnerable young people. I will establish an office of public safety, reporting to me, that will roll out strategies that have been proven to work in other cities, that will integrate the efforts of multiple Metro departments as well as community partners.

We’ve seen multiple neighborhoods grapple with the proliferation of homeless encampments that pose threats to public safety and sanitation. How would you balance compassionate treatment of the unhoused with the desire of citizens to live in clean, safe neighborhoods?

Homelessness is a tragedy, and something that our leaders have failed to effectively address for much too long. There is substantial data to show housing first is the most effective solution.

Cities that have been effective in addressing homelessness (e.g., Houston) have done four things: (1) coordinated the effort of various city agencies, non-profits, faith community, and community partners through the mayor’s office; (2) built sufficient quantities of permanent housing, the large majority being done by the private sector; (3) effectively scaled, supported and coordinated community partners/non-profits to provide the required support services; (4) built robust data-based processes and systems to support the entire effort. Last year, the city began construction of a permanent supportive housing facility of 90 units that will cost just nearly $300,000 a unit. However, we need several thousand units.  As mayor, we will take the necessary steps to ensure that our private sector is building this type of housing (e.g., motel refurbishment) as well as more innovative/lower cost solutions (e.g., pre-manufactured housing such as what is going on at Fisk).

Metro Nashville government has been involved in a series of spats with the Republican-controlled state legislature that could have far-reaching effects on how the city functions. How will you work with the state legislature and preserve the will of Metro Nashville’s voters?

What is happening right now with the state has all of us asking, “Where is the adult in the room?” Rather than focus on what is best for the people they serve, we have politicians and insiders seeking to score political points. I am not a political insider, and I will not play these games.

But our relationship with the state requires a strategy that extends beyond strengthening our relationship with the Governor and Legislative leadership.

The Nashville mayor is the natural convener across the state, and we can build coalitions to aid in our debates with the state. For instance, the greater Nashville region accounted for 50% of the economic growth of the state over the past 10 years, and all of our surrounding counties and towns are part of that ecosystem. As mayor, I will invest my time building productive relationships with our neighbors. We also share common challenges with all of the other major cities across the state, be it affordable housing, crime or education.

I’ve negotiated with the state and I have disagreed with the State. As mayor, I’ll stop the games and get back to solving problems.

For the first time ever in Vanderbilt’s annual poll, a majority of Nashvillians said our city is moving in the wrong direction. How do you think we can get Nashville on the right track?

Nearly twice as many Nashvillians believe our city is headed in the wrong direction than the right direction. This cannot be taken lightly. 

In the 2015 election, the candidates for mayor were discussing the same issues we’re discussing now. We all know the challenges -- affordability, crime, traffic, schools, infrastructure. Our city leadership has kicked the can on these issues for years. And rather than deal with these critical challenges, our politicians and insiders just spent the past year providing a billionaire with the largest ever public subsidy for a new stadium. The current right/wrong direction metric should not be surprising.

We have a choice in this election: do we continue on the path we are on, or do we elect a leader that will finally begin to deal with the challenges that our growth as a city has created: affordability, infrastructure, educating our kids, crime, and more. 

Let’s end politics as usual. As Mayor, I will put the people of Nashville first.

As Nashville has grown, so has the cost of living. What strategies would you employ to make our city affordable for working families?

We’ve done multiple affordable housing studies. Each one tells us the problem is worse than the last time we studied it. Today, those that serve our city – teachers, first responders, Metro workers – can no longer afford to live in the city they serve.

Our leadership can no longer afford to kick the can. The magnitude of the challenge is now measured in tens of thousands of units needed and billions of dollars to make it happen.

That's why we need leadership that will work for the people, instead of for out of town developers, to address the affordable housing crisis. And it starts with three things:

• Properly invest in the Barnes fund, turbocharging the efforts of the non-profit community
• Make use of the land the city owns that is ripe for affordable housing development
• Harness the power of the private sector to make the multi-billion dollar investments in housing. Nashville should not be among the most difficult cities in which to construct affordable housing, but today we are.

A Nashville mayor hasn’t discussed rapid-area transit in earnest since Mayor Barry’s plan was rejected by voters. What are your thoughts on what the city needs for public transit? 

Years of unrestrained growth with no plan to manage it have put us where we are. We have had multiple transit studies. Yet, today our congestion is worse than ever, because those studies have gathered dust rather than created action. 

I will focus on three things:

First, last year, we had 49 pedestrian deaths. That is unacceptable. We must fix dangerous intersections, accelerate traffic calming, and invest in sidewalks.

Second, let’s get the basics right. Keep our roads in good repair, get our traffic lights synced, increase the frequency of buses and invest in rapid bus service on high volume routes.

Third, let’s recognize that 90% of our population growth as a region in the past five years has been in the surrounding counties. We need a regional solution, an effort I will lead.

Just under 30 percent of Nashville’s third graders are reading at grade level. Nashville has trailed significantly in education gains compared to other Middle Tennessee counties. What can a mayor do for education?

Every child should have the chance to build a better life than their parents. But for Nashville’s children, the dream of a better life is too often just that, a dream. If you are born poor in Nashville, you are more likely to remain poor than in 80% of the other cities in our country. That is unacceptable. The zip code you were born in should not be your destiny.

Education is the key to changing these statistics. As mayor, there will be no greater priority for me than investing in our children. And that starts with education.

I will do three things: 

First, I will partner with our superintendent to develop a comprehensive five-year plan that will deliver better outcomes for our children.

Second, I will fund that plan.

Third, I will hold the system responsible for achieving that plan.

There is a perception that downtown is more of a priority because of the revenue it generates. What policies do you propose that will serve all neighborhoods? 

What I hear again and again is how this unrestrained growth is out of control and changing the soul of our city. 

And the people I’ve talked to also feel like our leadership has done nothing about it. In fact, they feel like the out-of-town developers and political insiders have been the ones left to run the table.

This is leading to a series of problems - some big, some small - that each of us feel every day. It’s the potholes you hit on your way to work, the teachers who cannot afford housing, the victims of rising crime, the time we lose sitting in traffic, and our stretched thin public schools. My top priority is dealing with unrestrained growth and putting the needs of Nashville’s people first. 

If elected, I would immediately put into place a growth management plan that would provide a holistic vision and forthcoming actions that address homelessness, housing and development, public schools, and crime.

Nashville has faced the following in the last three years: the pandemic, a tornado, a bombing, and a mass shooting. What makes you qualified to handle these levels of crises? 

I am not like the other candidates in this race. I am not a political insider. I was a business leader who ran a company similar to the same size as Metro. I oversaw thousands of employees and a multi-billion budget. I got to that position because of a long track record of getting things done regardless of the crises.

Come July 1, Nashville’s Community Oversight Board, as we know it, will cease operating. How will you ensure that Nashville gets the same level of community oversight that voters overwhelmingly approved?

Every public company – including AllianceBernstein – has an internal audit group that effectively reports to the board of directors, providing independent oversight. Great organizations welcome such scrutiny. Similarly, in our government, it only makes sense there is public oversight. We must work together with stakeholders, the state, MNPD, and the community to build an oversight process.