NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nashville Mayor John Cooper has had a full plate in his first year on the job as the city endured a devastating tornado, a global pandemic and millions of lost revenue.
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Cooper sat down with NewsChannel 5 to talk about his experience as he marked his one-year anniversary in office. He admitted making progress has been challenging.
"Being mayor is not easy. In case there's any secret about that, it's not easy. It does require you getting better as you go along," said Cooper.
On September 28, 2019, Council Member John Cooper became Mayor Cooper -- ready to use his financial acumen to right the city's financial ship. Months later, a devastating tornado struck the city and almost immediately was followed by the rapid spread of a virus with no known cure.
The world, country, state and City of Nashville shut down. The man who vowed to dissect Metro's finances found himself in a type of rushed medical school -- learning about herd immunity, contact tracing, and emergency response.
"Most of our metrics show a very stable plateau, that began about a month ago. We had a huge spike in July. We've brought that way down," he said. "It's a daily vigilance, but ultimately, there's a big difference. We know how to manage the disease."
Mayor Cooper says managing the disease as Nashville moves into Phase Three means everyone following protocols, and continuing to wear masks. His mask mandate will remain in place.
"Every doctor that I have talked to would confirm for me that our progress since July is very much based on masks. As unpopular as they may be, they are keeping us all safe," he said.
The mandate is one of a few remaining in Tennessee as Governor Bill Lee continues to loosen restrictions statewide. Mayor Cooper's relationship with the Governor is under a political microscope after Lee rejected Cooper's request for more money.
"Were you surprised when Governor Lee not only rejected your request for additional federal aid, but in doing so, wrote a rather critical letter about how you're managing COVID in Nashville," NewsChannel 5 asked.
"Well, no, I mean, it's 2020, and that's politics. And I think he understands, completely, it's my job to advocate for Nashville," Cooper responded.
"I was hired to fix problems..."
This summer, along with the Metro Council, Cooper made the drastic move to hike Metro's property tax by 34%.
"I was hired to fix problems. We came up with a fix, which is not, it's a challenging fix. It's not a happy one. I'm not for it, but it's the only one that has ever been proposed,” Cooper said.
Progress, he admits, has been challenging. Even before the pandemic and tornado, Nashville faced a financial crunch. Despite being an "it city," the budget was on shaky ground, with no rainy day fund. After the virus forced the city -- and its crucial tourism industry -- to shut down, Mayor Cooper says he had no choice.
"Now, nobody likes paying taxes. But this is how we're going to balance the budget and make progress forward," he said.
But the Mayor faces political problems: a referendum petition, signed by thousands, asking to repeal the tax hike, and much more. The referendum would also limit future tax hikes, and restrict leaders' abilities to issue bonds and sell Metro property.
"Your viewers need to know that there's a lot more at stake than just the property tax in this referendum. It permanently alters how Nashville does business," said Cooper.
"To kind of arbitrarily walk us back to a tax rate, retroactively, that is 40% below Chattanooga or Knoxville, is just very challenging for a community to do that," he added.
But those who support the referendum claim the Mayor is using scare tactics and the impact won't be as severe. In fact, online sales tax revenue has surged in recent months. But Mayor Cooper says the city can't rely on that as a consistent stream of cash.
"It's good news, but all that really means right now is that we have just a little, tiny bit of cushion in our checking account. Okay? And do we know that that's sustainable? Do we know that that's what's gonna be rolling out in the future? Not yet," he said.
We also don't know yet if the referendum will even end up on the ballot in a December special election. That's up to a Chancery Court judge. Despite all the uncertainty, Cooper says he remains optimistic about the future of Music City.
"In the end, we'll get through this. We're going to be a great, great city on the other end of it.”
Watch Cooper's interview in the videos above.
