NASHVILLE, Tenn. - There is a very full ballot for the August election in Nashville. Voters will be able to start choosing their candidates for several offices when early voting begins Friday.
One of the more low-key, county-wide races, is for Vice Mayor. Current Council-at-Large member Tim Garrett, and former Councilman David Briley are running in that race.
Garrett first came to the Metro Council in 1983, and has served in several capacities on the governmental body since then. He said this election will bring some of the most dramatic changes ever in the council's history.
"There's never been this many council members to be term-limited, and be gone. And there won't be as many new ones for a long time. Maybe in another eight years it may flip over like this again," Garrett said.
The councilman said at a time with this much change, Council needs a skilled, and experienced Vice Mayor to lead its meetings.
"I'll always be available, my phone number hasn't changed in 40 years, I'm easy to get to. I hope I can get people the right answers to things, I certainly try," Garrett explained.
David Briley also spent time in Metro Council. He was a member between 1999 and 2007. Briley said he helped get a lot accomplished while he was part of Council.
"We passed some legislation that required better public notice of decisions being made by boards, and commissions," Briley said.
The candidate said this time around he wants to continue with transparency in government as Nashville goes through an unprecedented growth spurt.
"Making sure that the process runs smoothly, making sure the people have a chance to be heard, and making sure people understand the process we got through, that's what I'm going to focus on as vice mayor, so we do work well as a city," according to Briley.
Early voting in Nashville will start Friday at the Howard School Building, and will continue there until August 1st. Early voting at the county's 11 other early voting sites will start on July 23rd and run through August 1st.
You can find early voting locations here.
