NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell has officially announced he will seek a second term, but said the anger and division in politics today made him think twice about running.
Most expected O'Connell to run again, but the bitter political climate led to conversations with family and staff that delayed his decision.
"People seem a little, not only angrier, but willing to demonstrate that anger in ways that they may not have in one on one conversations," O'Connell said on Inside Politics.
"Getting through all of that and I feel like getting really comfortable with the decision was important," O'Connell said.
O'Connell must now deal with a majority of Nashvillians who believe the city is on the 'wrong track,' according to a Vanderbilt Poll in February.
"It's totally understandable to me, how it would be hard to feel on the right track anywhere, including Nashville," O'Connell said.
He pointed to chaos on the federal level, but acknowledged the ice storm, which left some without power for two weeks, took a political toll.
When asked if the ice storm hurt him politically, O'Connell said, "Oh absolutely."
Despite an independent review that found NES under-prepared for the storm, O'Connell was not willing to say anyone on the NES board or in leadership should be removed or fired.
"I think it's important for NES to do some of that internal discovery now that they have it. They may make operational changes. They may make personnel changes in response to that," O'Connell said.
O'Connell touted passage of mass transit funding, with Choose How You Move, which will increase bus service, and wants to lower the sales tax on groceries in the next budget.
He pushed back against an attack from Republican Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton on a recent Inside Politics.
"If I was the Mayor of Nashville which I'm not obviously, I would try to lower taxes, get your budget under control and reduce taxes for everybody and figure out how to live off your growth. How to budget a little bit better how to handle your infrastructure," Sexton said.
Mayor O'Connell responded, "The state has systematically been reducing shares of local funding that we would absolutely love to use to offer less of a property tax increase to Nashvillians. We are proposing a tax cut in this budget. It is causing us to ask Metro departments to tighten their belts."
You can see the entire unedited interview on Inside Politics.
It airs Friday at 7pm on NewsChannel 5 Plus and is also available as a podcast. Just download Inside Poltics Nashville and start listening.
