I wrote about a remarkable man named Mark Creek-Water back in January. Mark took the time to comment on my original post yesterday, and I’m glad he did. Revisiting his story again this morning was humbling and inspiring. I’m happy to report that Mark does indeed use a toothbrush despite my earlier reports to the contrary:

DEAR ROB:
THANKs FOR MENTION-ING ME IN YR BLOG !! [19-JANUARY-2007] I ACTUAL-LY DO BRUSH MY TEETH: IN FACT, MY TOOTH-BRUSH IS IN MY RIGHT-FRONT POCKET, AND I SOME TIMEs USE CREEK-WATER [NO TOOTH-PASTE, ONLY CREEK-WATER] WHEN I BRUSH MY TEETH: AMAZE-ING-LY, THIS TAKEs CARE OF TOOTH-ACHEs, WHICH I NEVER GET ANY MORE, THO I DID BEFORE I STARTED BRUSH-ING W/ CREEK-WATER … REAL-LY !!

SO I JUST-SIMPLY ***KNOW*** THAT CREEK-WATER WORKs: PROBLEM IS,
ALMOST-NOBODY BELIEVEs ME … BUT THAT’s A WHOLE OTHER STORY !!

BTW: THE BOOK WHERE U FOUND MY STORY HAS BEEN PUBLISH’D, AVAILABLE ON AMAZON + IN BOOK-STOREs … “ASPHALT JESUS” BY ERIC ELNES …

SINCERE-LY, MARK “PEACE-WALKER” CREEK-WATER

The Our Team campaign to keep the Predators in Nashville hosted a well-attended business breakfast today intended to sell tickets to support the team. Several speakers addressed a packed room at the Adventure Science Center:

• Prospective team owner David Freeman (above left), still adjusting to being in the spotlight, said his approach will continue to be “Please and thank you” when it comes to the business community. Freeman said that the city’s business community “doesn’t owe [the Predators] anything” and that he expects to “earn [its] support.”
• First Lady Andrea Conte (above right) said that she first purchased tickets in 1998 as a civic duty because her husband, then-mayor Phil Bredesen, played a major role in bringing the team to town. Within a few games, she was hooked and has been an avid supporter since.
• Conte told the audience that “we have a lot at stake here” in keeping the Preds in town and that she believes that “once a city loses a team, it starts sliding backwards.”
• Conte currently owns four season tickets and purchased additional seats this year, which she donated to University School of Nashville. (Her son Ben is an alumnus.) She considers the tickets a “valuable asset” that the students can determine how to use for the best benefit of the school and the team.
• Mayor Karl Dean attended the breakfast and spoke with several attendees before leaving for another appointment. First Tennessee’s Mike Edwards, who emceed the event for Our Team Nashville, said during his remarks that Dean jumped in immediately as mayor regarding the lease negotiations with the prospective ownership group and that Dean “understands the value” the Preds bring to the city.
• 104.5 The Zone’s George Plaster, who joked that most of the audience had never seen him in a tie until today (and that the tie was due to be returned by 9 a.m.), said that Nashville is the “best, most underrated city in the country.” Quoting Conte, he agreed that the community “doesn’t need to let this thing slide.”
• Plaster reported that the Preds have now topped the 9,300 mark for season tickets, more than 600 above the total at the end of last season with many renewals and new purchases still a possibility.
• Regarding the Our Team campaign goal of having 10,000 season tickets by opening night on Oct. 4, Plaster said, “I won’t kid you. We need your help.”
• Our Team captain Ron Samuels explained that the Preds have created more than $396 million in on-site revenue during their history and more than $125 million in off-site revenue. “This is significant revenue for our city,” he said.
• Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce Chairman Ralph Schultz said “We need the Preds” and “The Preds are an important part of Nashville’s future.”

Schultz told the group that more than 250 businesses have stepped up to purchase season tickets and provide other support since the Our Team campaign launched this summer. Several business leaders purchased tickets this morning, and many more signed pledge cards to do so in the near future.

I’m of two minds about reviving the Tennessee Tower as a nighttime billboard of sorts for downtown visitors:

• I have fond memories of making my way downtown growing up and seeing the tower’s illuminated messages. The messages were generally civic-minded and encouraged positive action and goodwill in the community. The use of the tower as a billboard added a certain charm to downtown, too.
• I am more aware today of the need to conserve energy than I was when the tower last regularly displayed nighttime messages. As a teenager, I embraced the notion that we all need to live responsibly by taking care of the environment, but as an adult today, I have a better practical understanding (I hope) of how we as a society can do that.

I would like to see the state consider alternatives for using the Tennessee Tower as a message board that use less energy than in the past. Would it work, for example, to reverse the effect so that only the windows that form the letters of a message were illuminated while the rest of the tower remains dark? What about using the tower as a message board in the daytime instead by using blinds with bright colors to form the letters? I hope there is a way to balance the desires for restoring a beloved tradition with conserving our limited resources. [Image: The Tennessean]

“To the victors go the spoils,” or so said Tennessean Andrew Jackson centuries ago. Today, he might have said, “To the victors go the requests,” instead. Cronyism and political favors are thankfully not what they may have been in the past, but that hasn’t stopped local residents from expecting results in a hurry from their new public servants. One member of Karl Dean’s inner circle had been asked to take care of a speeding ticket and get someone appointed to a local board within a week of the election, before Dean was even officially mayor. (These requests were politely declined, I’m told.) Reportedly the new administration has received a minimum of 100 unsolicited resumes for employment as well.

Take a deep breath, Nashville, and let’s give our new mayor and Metro Council an opportunity to go to work before we bombard them with our every wish and whim.

Karl Dean addressed approximately 1,000 attendees around 12:30 p.m. on a beautiful and very hot day at Nashville’s Public Square Park. Here are a few highlights from his remarks:

• Dean thanked his predecessor, former Mayor Bill Purcell, and observed that Purcell nobly “did the right thing rather than the easy thing” more often than not.
• Citing an example of this approach, Dean observed that Public Square Park would not be in existence if not for Purcell’s hard work.
• Dean announced a town hall meeting on education to be held this coming Monday to begin efforts to improve Metro Nashville Public Schools, one of the core elements of his campaign platform.
• While observing that it was not a focal point of the campaign, Dean stated that regionalism and a move toward regional thinking for Nashville and its satellite cities would be a major priority during his time in office.
• The area’s concerns, particularly environmental issues, “don’t end at the county line,” he said.

Dean said that he was “personally and profoundly humbled” by the support he has received and by the responsibility he now bears. During one moment of silence, a jubilant audience member shouted, “I love you, Karl!” from the back of the crowd. Dean chuckled and replied, “I love you, too.”

New District 24 Metro Council Member Jason Holleman participated in a small swearing-in ceremony yesterday prior to today’s inauguration ceremony. As usual, Jason and Margaret’s daughter Cecilia (above) stole the show.

It turns out that legendary Nashville restaurant Jimmy Kelly’s was the place to be late on election night last week–no matter which mayoral candidate you supported in the runoff. Major players for the Dean campaign gathered on the Louise Avenue establishment’s second floor for a private celebration around midnight, but they weren’t expecting to see some of their counterparts from Team Clement upon walking in the front door. Reportedly the brief exchanges between camps were civil and respectful, but there’s no word on whether longtime proprietor Mike Kelly knew in advance that he would welcome both sides of the mayoral race that evening. Maybe it wasn’t coincidence, or maybe Kelly really does know just about every single Nashvillian out there. We’ll have to keep wondering. [Photo: wcities.com]

Mayor-elect Karl Dean earned a lot of support during the campaign, in my opinion, for doing something that politicians often don’t: Being specific about solving problems, most notably improving public education and public safety. Today’s City Paper editorial makes this argument and points out that this task will be that much tougher because it will mean developing strong relationships with two of the Metro government’s more independent officials, Schools Director Dr. Pedro Garcia and Police Chief Ronal Serpas.

Dean’s foremost task in connecting all of these dots via public policy is to send a clear signal early in his administration about his confidence or lack thereof in the heads of both departments — Metro Schools Director Dr. Pedro Garcia and Police Chief Ronal Serpas. In a campaign season political stunt of sorts, Dean already figuratively put his arm around Serpas and said the chief was doing a good job by simply failing to echo criticisms of Serpas lodged by Dean opponent Bob Clement. Garcia remained a gray area during the campaign and still is one.

Dean’s first real job will be to send a decisive signal from the bully pulpit about where he stands on the leadership of both the police and schools. Without that signal, connecting the dots may be very difficult for Dean indeed.

Dean has admirably said that he wants to be held accountable for his performance, and some of his insiders have said that he has little political sense (which, as opposed to common sense, may be a plus for Nashville now that Dean is in office and not campaigning). I applaud Dean’s focus on public education and public safety because of their direct and tangible benefits for the community and for the indirect benefits (such as continued economic development) that this emphasis can bring, but, as the City Paper notes, Dean “has his work cut out for him.” In targeting two issues that draw an opinion and political agendas from nearly everyone, is Dean biting off more than he can chew?

I’ve returned from a fun and relaxing vacation in Cancun. A few photos from my Flickr gallery are on display at the bottom of my sidebar.

I had to figure that on the beach, I was either going to get good news on election night, or at least I was still on the beach. It”s definitely better to get good news, and I”m definitely pleased with last night”s election results. It”s amazing how far technology has come that I can know the results of an election taking place more than 1,000 miles away within an hour of the polls closing by merely checking e-mail from a cell phone. Here are my thoughts about the election:

• I sincerely believe that Nashville will be better off four years from now with Karl Dean as mayor as opposed to Bob Clement.
• It”s apparent to me that despite Bill Purcell”s solid performance in office, he”s made some significant bridges the past two years, enough to generate legitimate voter concern that Dean is too similar and too closely connected to Purcell.I hope Dean will look to build stronger and more equitable relationships with the new Metro Council. We need leadership that is eager and willing to collaborate with others, even those whohold diverging points of view.
• Clement conceded awfully quickly last night, and despite his “I couldn”t be negative if I tried” nonsense, he was remarkably civil in defeat. I appreciate his willingness to respond that way to results that were surely a painful development for him.
• The At-Large ruoff results largely swung in favor of progressive newcomers, with Megan Barry and Jerry Maynard earning seats.  I”m concerned to see Charlie Tygard return to the council, but I”m pleased that J.B. Loring and Ronnie Greer did not make the cut.

After more than a year of following the mayoral race more closely than I ever have before, I”m relieved that the election is finally over. A new administration affords Nashville the opportunity to continue the successes that took place under Purcell”s leadership and to hopefully mend many of the fences that he may have left in disrepair the past couple of years. I hope Nashville and its freshly elected leaders can banish the rhetoric and can get on with making this city an even better place to live for everyone.