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Purcell’s departure: a net gain or a tough loss?
Is Bill Purcell’s departure from Nashville a net gain or a tough loss for the city? The former mayor’s critics, who appeared to increase in number during his last couple of years in office, certainly would argue that it’s a plus to have the Philadelphia native headed back to the Northeast.
As someone who took the good with the bad during Purcell’s tenure and thought the mayor served the city very well, I’m sad to see him go. That said, is having a well-spoken (albeit a little long-winded) and passionate advocate for Nashville in an influential community such as Harvard such a bad thing? Where it may hurt Nashville (and Tennessee) the most is in 2010, since Purcell is now unlikely to run for governor. Then again, if Purcell were to run, would Tennesseans really elect a former Nashville mayor as the state’s top official twice in a row?
Purcell: Harvard thinkers say rough sailing ahead
Former Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell, now working out of an office at Tennessee State University’s Avon Williams downtown campus, didn’t hear good news about the U.S. economy during his time at Harvard University last fall. I had the opportunity to hear Purcell’s account of that news earlier today.
According to Purcell, Harvard President Larry Summers expects that the economy will “bottom out” in October and that the forecast for the future looks a lot more like 1991 than 2001. The recession in 2001 was rough, but 1991 was worse. Summers told a group of new mayors, including Nashville’s Karl Dean, that it would be “two years before you can do anything significant” because of the forthcoming economic stagnation.
While in Massachusetts, Purcell also heard economic historian Niall Ferguson say that the economy looks like 1930, the beginning of the Great Depression, most of all. Unlike in prior lean economic times, though, Ferguson expects that the third world (especially China and the Middle East) will sustain the first world (rather than the other way around). Ferguson anticipates a “fire sale” of U.S. assets because of the dollar’s low value. It may not be a depression we’re headed toward, but it could be a bumpy road.
Is Purcell losing his legacy?
Nashville’s former mayor won re-election in a 2003 landslide and was widely hailed for his focus on neighborhoods and his smart and pragmatic approach to government. Purcell also received high marks for his eloquence, particularly in describing the city of Nashville in front of audiences local and elsewhere.
Despite these and many other accolades and accomplishments, another take on Purcell has been emerging since the runoff election that made Karl Dean his successor. Yesterday, the City Paper’s Richard Lawson reported on the business community’s “love-hate relationship” with the mayor and Purcell’s habit for “slow-walking” initiatives he didn’t support. The Sounds downtown stadium deal and plans for a new convention center are high-profile examples.
Outgoing Predators owner Craig Leipold was quoted in The Tennessean over the weekend praising Dean for his work in negotiations with David Freeman’s ownership group. I don’t think I’m assuming too much in saying that the following quote speaks volumes about Leipold’s opinions on Dean and on his predecessor: “It’s so exciting to have a mayor that understands the value this team has for Nashville. I was very impressed with his commitment to make it work.”
Privately, I’ve heard one insider discuss the major shift in leadership style that is taking place as Dean begins to make the mayor’s office his own. No one’s sure who knows how to manage a department, the source said, because none of the managers have been allowed to manage in eight years. Everything has been controlled centrally. It all had to come through the mayor’s office. The insider also mentioned that some council members were enthusiastic to have the new mayor meet individually and cordially with them after “having been ignored” for years.
Only time will tell how history regards Nashville’s most recent former mayor. There’s no risk here of another Bill Boner emerging from the aftermath that’s under way, but when the dust finally settles, what will the conventional wisdom look like on the space between the Bredesen and Dean administrations?
Bredesen on Dean: “I’m a fan”
Governor Phil Bredesen, who gave most of the limelight to first lady Andrea Conte today, spoke briefly at the Preds rally. He thanked the key players and, most significantly, lauded praise on new Mayor Karl Dean and his efforts negotiating with the new ownership group.
“You really have done a great job with this,” Bredesen said. “It would have been easy for a newly elected mayor to offer verbal support and not much else.” Bredesen went on to say that negotiations such as these are “difficult technically and politically” and thanked Dean for his willingness to step up and get a deal done. “It’s an honor to be here with you today,” he said. “I’m a fan.”
It’s remarkable to observe this sincere goodwill from Bredesen, who many have speculated did not get along with former Mayor Bill Purcell. Bredesen’s show of favor on Dean, who now at long last has breathing room to start the rest of his term, can’t hurt as he turns his attention to the rest of his agenda.
Unrequited love? Eaton endorses Clement
At least one former candidate in the Nashville mayor’s race is making an endorsement: Kenneth Eaton.
We Support Bob Clement As Our Next Mayor! Check Back soon for a full Site Update, as Well as a letter of Support from Mr. Eaton. Karl Dean Does not have the Experience to run this city. Karl Dean Is a Continuation of the Purcell Administration. Bob Clement Is the Change Nashville Needs!
Buck Dozier followed the odd tradition of politicians referring to themselves in the third person earlier this week, and Eaton has taken it one step further by opting for the second person “we.” Both Clement and Dean have understandably coveted endorsements that don’t appear to be coming from Dozier, David Briley, and Howard Gentry. Is this an endorsement that Clement wants, though?
I’ve read the phrase a “continuation of the Purcell administration” a few times lately in a negative light. Is following in Purcell’s footsteps a bad thing? Some Nashvillians, and they’re not all in Eaton’s camp, would say yes.
It’s no secret: Purcell is rooting for Dean
It’s a poorly kept secret that Bill Purcell is quietly supporting Karl Dean’s effort to become Nashville’s next mayor. At this week’s Night Out Against Crime event in Sylvan Park, Purcell had some fun on stage making his preference in the race a little clearer:
“Anyone who’s here with you here in Sylvan Park is definitely doing something right . . . I’m not involved in this [mayoral] race, but I do happen to see one candidate over there [motioning to Dean].”
It should be noted that Dean opponent Bob Clement visited the event earlier in the evening, but there wasn’t much confusion about where Purcell’s loyalty lies. More than one attendee within my earshot noted the remarkable “coincidence” that Dean happened to show up only a few minutes before Purcell arrived.
[Note: Boy, does my camera phone struggle in the dark. Yikes.]
Purcell attending Preds conference
Mayor Bill Purcell is reportedly at today’s news conference. That’s an encouraging sign since the mayor has been noticeably quiet about the team’s future here.
Or should we blame Purcell?
Did Bill Purcell’s relatively early announcement that he would not seek a third term (a possibility which, to be fair, may not have been legal under the city charter) throw a wrench in the mayoral race, too? Reading this Nashville Scene article written one year ago, I can’t help but wonder:
District Attorney Torry Johnson was at the YMCA working out earlier this week when a curious voter asked him the question everybody wants answered: is he or isn’t he running for mayor? Johnson’s answer hasn’t wavered, whether he’s talking to constituents or impatient reporters: he’s still trying to decide.
He says the office of mayor is “interesting” and “intriguing”—the kind of position he’d be willing to make sacrifices for. At the same time, he’d been planning to run for district attorney last spring when Mayor Bill Purcell announced he wouldn’t try for a third term, leaving the field open for three candidates who leapt into the void. “The announced candidates said they were in practically from the minute Mayor Purcell’s announcement reverberated through the city,” Johnson says. “I’d been focused on the DA’s race up to that point. Only then did people start talking to me about being mayor. So I’m coming at this a little bit differently.”
According to a source with knowledge of the DA’s inner circle, Johnson is almost certain to run. The same source says Johnson’s closest confidants put the likelihood at 90 percent.
Here’s hoping no one had money on Johnson as a 90-percent “sure thing” last summer. There’s a funny thing about the near certainty of 90 percent, too: That 10 percent still keeps coming back around and winning out oh, about one out of every 10 times.
