She may be the property assessor. But now she wants to run for Nashville mayor.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Already in a high-elected capacity in Nashville, Vivian Wilhoite wants to take it a step further: the mayor's office.

The property assessor of Davidson County, Wilhoite wants to slide over to the mayor's office. She previously was on Metro Council for eight years.

NewsChannel 5 sent every person running for mayor a questionnaire with the same questions. We have not edited these answers from the candidates, meaning these responses are straight from them.

Nashville’s violent crime rate outpaces the national average as well as that of similar-sized cities. As Mayor, how would you work with MNPD to ensure Nashvillians can feel safe in our city?

We must keep Nashville a safe place to raise a family and grow a business. I believe we must ensure that Chief Drake has the resources he needs to succeed in his role as Chief of Police. We also must ensure that Judge Sheila Calloway has the resources she needs to succeed as Juvenile Court Judge that will deal with the offenders and assist victims.

We must do the same for District Attorney Glenn Funk to make sure he has the resources he needs to succeed to deal with the offenders and assist the victims in his role as the District Attorney. Many of the crimes in our city are committed by teenagers and young adults. Working with youth to help them learn how to de-escalate manners and providing them with wrap around services at community centers, schools and not for profit organizations who work to identify the root cause of the crime are ways I and my administration will work to decrease crime.  Local government cannot do it alone.  

We must do more to collaborate with and support the nonprofit organizations in our city and county who have a history of favorable results and getting the work done.  

We’ve seen multiple neighborhoods grapple with the proliferation of homeless encampments that pose threats to public safety and sanitation. How would you balance compassionate treatment of the unhoused with the desire of citizens to live in clean, safe neighborhoods?

We must have both public safety and compassionate leadership to address these issues. Government cannot solve these issues alone. We must partner with the private sector and with Nashville-Davidson’s many nonprofits to ensure that we have all the resources necessary to house the unhoused.  This will oftentimes mean that we are investing in mental health and addiction treatment services for those experiencing homelessness. Being homeless should not be a crime. However, being homeless does not also mean that the homeless can trespass on someone’s private property. We must do what we can as a city to help all our neighbors put a roof over their head.

Metro Nashville government has been involved in a series of spats with the Republican-controlled state legislature that could have far-reaching effects on how the city functions. How will you work with the state legislature and preserve the will of Metro Nashville’s voters?

We must have a hard reset with our partners in the state government. I believe we have way more in common than we do different. I will be a Mayor who works to build consensus and supports everyone.  I will hire a lobbyist that who will know and carry the vision of the Nashville and Davidson County, work on the common grounds which will benefit the people and operations of Davidson County and tell us what we need to know and not want we want to hear.  We will continue to fight respectfully on those issues where we disagree   A win for Nashville should be seen as a win for the State of Tennessee. We must work together and stop the petty politics.

For the first time ever in Vanderbilt’s annual poll, a majority of Nashvillians said our city is moving in the wrong direction. How do you think we can get Nashville on the right track?

We can get back on the right track by ending the petty politics that is happening between the city and the state and ensuring that we have economic parity in our city for neighborhoods in the same tax districts. For too long Nashville has been strong for some people, but not everyone. We must ensure that we have investments in all parts of our city. We must have strong businesses and strong neighborhoods. We will begin investing in the vision of affordable housing, public safety, fulling funding education, continue to pay metro employees competitively while remaining transparent in the process.

As Nashville has grown, so has the cost of living. What strategies would you employ to make our city affordable for working families?

As Mayor, I want us to have both strong businesses and strong neighborhoods. When we have strong businesses, we will have more high-paying jobs in our city. One of the pathways towards affordability is a job that pays more. I believe the city must set the example here and invest in our workers. We must give pay raises to all our city workers. We will work to establish workforce affordable housing through public and private partnerships utilizing vacant land and buildings and schools owned by metro government.

A Nashville mayor hasn’t discussed rapid-area transit in earnest since Mayor Barry’s plan was rejected by voters. What are your thoughts on what the city needs for public transit?

We must have a regional transit plan that works with our neighboring counties and cities, the state government, and the federal government to address a long-term transit strategy. We will work on this long-range plan as regional approach.  Nashville and Davidson County taxpayers should not bear the cost alone.  While we are planning for a comprehensive long-term regional transit plan, we must do what we can to address transit here in our city with areas that are low-hanging fruit. This means we need more buses and that our buses need to go to more parts of Nashville. We need to invest in carbon-neutral technology, and we need to explore options of rerouting commercial traffic around our city to free up the interstates.

Just under 30 percent of Nashville’s third graders are reading at grade level. Nashville has trailed significantly in education gains compared to other Middle Tennessee counties. What can a mayor do for education?

The biggest thing that a Mayor can do for public education is to ensure that it is fully funded working with the Director of Schools, Director Battle.  I will also work with after school programs that could assist our children in the most needed areas of Davidson County and work with Dr. Battle to give those specific schools the resources they need. I, as Mayor, will use my voice and time to meet with Governor Lee to encourage the fully funding of public education in Nashville.  Our children’s lives depend on this.

There is a perception that downtown is more of a priority because of the revenue it generates. What policies do you propose that will serve all neighborhoods?

My entire campaign has been about stronger businesses and stronger neighborhoods. We must have both. We deserve both. We cannot choose between one or the other. One way to ensure that we have stronger neighborhoods is to ensure that we are investing in our neighborhoods with economic parity in mind. Neighborhoods should be getting the same services when they are in the same tax districts. Apart of my policy would be to demand from businesses wanting to relocate to Nashville and Davidson County to give resources that would support neighborhoods as well as small businesses.

Nashville has faced the following in the last three years: the pandemic, a tornado, a bombing, and a mass shooting. What makes you qualified to handle these levels of crises?

When the people of Nashville and Davidson County are hurting, I hurt with them. I believe in this city, and I love our people. As a former, two term metro council member who successfully represented District 29 that dealt with a tornado crisis, communicating with my constituents was critical.   As Mayor I will do the same, and I will offer a steady hand at the helm during times of crises. We can get through our darkest hours together. No one should feel that they are alone and not know where to turn.  

Come July 1, Nashville’s Community Oversight Board, as we know it, will cease operating. How will you ensure that Nashville gets the same level of community oversight that voters overwhelmingly approved?

As Mayor I will ask our Metro Legal Department to present a plan for our city to achieve the same type of community oversight that we had with the Community Oversight Board. I believe there is a way for us to accomplish what the voters demanded without running afoul of the newly passed state law. This is an area that voters have overwhelmingly said they want to happen for Nashville and Davidson County. We must work to ensure the will of the voters is accomplished.