NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — History will be made today as a Nashville at large council member will be officially sworn into office. This is the first time in Metro Council history that a majority of the metro council seats are being taken by women.
In addition to that, Olivia Hill will be the first open member of the transgender community to serve on the Metro Council.
The ceremony will be in the Grand Ballroom of the Historic Hermitage Hotel in Downtown Nashville at 6:30 p.m. Hill is a Nashville native and Navy veteran who served in the engineering division for a decade, seeing combat in Desert Storm. Afterwards Hill became the Senior Supervisor of the Vanderbilt University power plant.
Leading up to the election to metro council, Olivia emerged as a community leader, educating the public about difficulties faced by women and the LGBTQ+ community. It's a difficulty Hill says was prevalent in the run for public office.
“The thing we’ve learned the most about this campaign is we’ve had a fair amount of hate. And along the way, once I had an opportunity to sit and talk to someone and they realize I don’t have a horn and a tail, and I’m just a normal human, they tend to change a little bit. And a lot of the hate we’ve received has just been from a lack of knowledge,” said Hill.
In the midst of those challenges, Hill mentioned being overcome with joy and excitement and stated that the fact that history was made is important, but says there's a lot of work that will be done by this new council to help improve vital city services.
