Meet Angie Henderson, candidate for Nashville vice mayor
Editor's note: The Tennessean Editorial Board invited candidates for the 2023 Metro Nashville-Davidson County municipal elections to fill out our questionnaire. They include biographical information and answers to 12 questions on variety of topics from key policy issues to their recommendation for visitors on what to see or do in the city.
Editorial: Learn about candidates running in the Aug. 3 Vice Mayoral election
Key dates:
July 5: Voter registration deadline
July 14-29: Early voting
July 27: Deadline to request absentee ballot
Aug. 3: Election
Sept. 14: Runoff election
Biographical Information
Name: Angie Henderson
Which office are you seeking? Vice Mayor
Age: 49
What neighborhood/part of the county do you live in? West Nashville
Education: B.A., growth and structure of cities, Bryn Mawr College
Job history: Director of foundation relations, Belmont University Stewardship Writer, Dartmouth College Marketing Coordinator, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLC
Family: Arthur Henderson (Husband), Eleanor (Daughter), Owen (Son), and Clover (Dog).
Twelve questions for the candidates
Why are you running for this office?
I am running for vice mayor because the Metro Council needs new leadership. The Council–the city’s legislative branch – is addressing increasingly complex matters and policy challenges that face our city. Given all the volatility in Metro’s executive leadership positions over the last few years – multiple mayors, department and division directors–it is especially important that Metro Council strengthen its committee oversight work and keep its eyes on strategic goals and the needs of all Nashvillians.
The legislative branch is an important check on Nashville’s strong executive branch. A strong, well-supported, and well-organized Council is good for the city and our constituents. The vice mayor’s role is to lead and organize the council. I am running to bring my skills as a communicator, an effective policymaker and organizer, a collaborator, and leader to the office of vice mayor.
What makes you qualified to hold this office and better qualified than your opponent(s)?
In my eight years of service on the Council, I have chaired three committees, successfully managed several complex, county-wide policy efforts, and have a proven track-record of successful work throughout my district and the city. I believe some of my most effective work has been as a voice for legislative oversight and ensuring that our city’s resources are being used wisely.
My diligence, care, and concern separate me from my opponent who does not have a strong policy record and does not seem particularly interested in supporting productive policy or oversight work. We need an engaged, creative, energetic and supportive leader for both the individual and collective work of the Council. Our city needs a leader who communicates openly and constructively and is focused on delivering results. I am confident in my ability to lead the Council and support council members as they serve their districts and the greater city.
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If you are elected, what are your top 2 to 3 priorities for your term in office
Restoring confidence in local government. Historically, and too often recently, decisions that affect all Nashvillians are being made by a preferred and privileged few in partnership with the executive branch with insufficient and inaccurate information provided to the Council, Metro employees, and the community. Governing should be a clear and open process. We can share our city’s problems honestly and transparently while still being optimistic about achieving the needed policy solutions to fix those problems. We have to be intentional about providing the history and context of a wide variety of matters, while narrating and showing the good work of the city.
Excellence in policy work – with a focus on land use. The largest volume of legislation before the Council is zoning/land-use bills. It is vital that council members and the community at-large better understand urban design principles and best practices. We need to reset expectations in the community for productive engagement in the rezoning process. We need to be smart and strategic with how we utilize our city’s spaces. Ultimately, land-use policies are the primary cause and the cure for problems with transit, housing, environment, health, and quality of life.
Supporting the Council. The role of the vice mayor is to support and lead the council, which requires someone who organizes, communicates, and operates fairly and efficiently. I will meet with all members about their goals for service and conduct information sessions at the start of the next council term to assist with the retention of institutional memory on oversight and policy matters. I will work with the Council Office to organize the team in a manner that better supports the needs of council members, and by extension, each council member’s constituents. We need professional communication support so that council members, and the entire Council body, are able to effectively share the work being done by the Council, and how various government processes work, with their constituents. The executive branch should not control all policy-related communication. When the legislative branch passes a noteworthy bill, the Council will be issuing a press release.
What are you hearing most from voters about what they want you to accomplish, if elected?
Nashvillians want to have confidence that the city is working proactively and responsively for them and that people in leadership can solve big and small problems and do hard things. Voters want elected leaders to focus on improving housing affordability–they worry it’s too expensive to live in our city, and they are also concerned about gun violence and other crimes, including vehicular break-ins & street racing. Voters are frustrated that the government will move heaven and Earth for the largest public subsidy of a stadium in the history of the United States, but we still can’t get drivers to stop speeding and endangering kids in their neighborhood. People want sidewalks and crosswalks, and better bus service, to include later and more frequent service and cross-town routes. Few have confidence in Metro Govt. to assist with, much less solve, some of their everyday annoyances and challenges. Voters are tired, ranging from strongly pessimistic to cautiously optimistic. It’s up to our city’s leaders to listen and hear these voices and organize our legislative efforts and priorities accordingly.
A 2023 Vanderbilt poll showed that most Nashvillians do not agree with the direction of the city. Do you agree? Why or why not?
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Given the volatility of the last five years, I do agree that we’ve been off course and remain so, especially after the Titan’s Stadium deal. That said, much of the good work of the government happening in the background has gotten lost amidst the chaos. Nashvillians want to be confident in a positive trajectory–that the city’s best days are ahead. We’ve been jolted back and forth so fast over the last few years that it often feels like we’re either stuck or we’re going so fast the wheels are coming off the development- & tourism-dependent “growth machine.” Many Nashvillians feel like today’s city is not the “ride” that they signed up for. At a minimum, we should all have confidence in the delivery of our most basic services and supports. I want us to be aspirational as a city, but also, we have to focus on the operational and system-building fundamentals, too much of which is off track.
What is your assessment of the performance of the Mayor and Metro Council over the last four years?
This mayor and Metro Council have dealt with a tornado, a pandemic, a derecho, a major tax increase, a flood, a bombing, and a school shooting. I think both the executive and the legislative branches have done a fairly good job, considering the uniquely heavy workload in historically difficult times for the city, our state, and the nation, while rotating through three different mayoral administrations in a timespan that our city has historically had one mayor. Lately, with our state legislature targeting Metro Government with a series of authoritarian power grabs, and the Titans stadium deal being the largest public subsidy of a stadium in the history of the USA, we are returning to a more uncertain fiscal position. Cities will always face challenges, and it’s our role as leaders to rise and meet the moment. I think both the Mayor’s Office and the Council could and should be better organized and managed for optimal performance.
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Affordable/attainable housing has been named by citizens again and again (NashvilleNext, polling, etc.) as a top concern. What should the city do to address this crisis?
Increase supply of a wider variety of housing models (attached duplex, triplex and quadplexes) within the Urban Zoning Overlay (UZO). Streamline the process for denser zoning in Tier 5 centers and on major arterials per our approved general plan and for home construction more generally. Removing parking minimums and converting them to maximums in the UZO was a major policy change for affordability that I co-sponsored and championed. Multi-modal transit accessibility and frequency is inextricably linked to affordability. This is the chief reason I have fought to consistently and sufficiently fund our bus system, sidewalks and bikeways. Additionally, I was a lead co-cosponsor on a bill to phase out 24/7 Airbnb mini-hotels neighborhoods, which reduce housing stock and raise housing prices.
The Tennessee General Assembly has gutted Metro Nashville's governance model and finances. What is your position on this and how should the city address the relationship with lawmakers?
I believe that Metro Nashville’s model of governance and the size of the Council should be defended until the people of Nashville decide otherwise. Thankfully, the State courts believed the same. We can stand up for our city while also seeking common ground with state legislators and local elected leaders from surrounding counties and across the state through organizations like the Tennessee Municipal League and WeDecideTN. I am a bridge builder, but I will not abide hypocrisy or bullying. I have always and will continue to speak up for Nashville and Nashvillians.
Are you supportive of Mayor Cooper's plans to renovate the East Bank now that the Titans deal has been approved? Elaborate on your position.
No. The Mayor’s Office did not negotiate the best deal possible for the city. The entire process was a shell game based on obfuscation and false narratives. Aside from that provided by Councilman Bob Mendes, the deal lacked critical analysis (including from the press). The public was provided a forum for general “feedback” regarding the stadium before the details of the deal were known, but none after, until I fought for a public hearing. The narrative created a false choice between a brand-new stadium or renovation of close to the same cost, all predicated with the narrative that if we don’t approve this (historically bad) deal, we would not be honoring our “first class condition” commitment or potentially lose our NFL team. And in the end, we handed out the largest taxpayer subsidy for a stadium in US history, which I do not believe is an admirable distinction for our city. When the Mayor’s Office did not provide the independent study of our contractual obligation under the current lease, which Council had funded and requested, that should have been a full stop on our legislative review. This deal did not remove a burden from taxpayers, it shifted and increased it, and we will be paying for it through our capital spending plan for many decades to come. The stadium deal is emblematic of the many flaws in our strong-mayor system and in our relationship with the State. A Council with a stronger leader, could and should have been a check and balance in this situation.
What else do you want voters to know about you that will help them make an informed decision on election day?
I am a policy leader who cares deeply about our city and the beautiful diversity of people and places that make it such a special place to live. Democracy is built on the bedrock of nonpartisan municipal governance. Effective checks and balances, transparency and accountability elevate the community’s confidence and engagement in government. Our Metro Government will be more effective if it has an optimized legislative branch (Council) to check the executive (Mayor) on the policy decisions and deals that affect us all. The Council needs a leader who listens and who communicates well, who will bring fairness, creativity, energy, intention, and a proven track record of results to the role.
A "fun" question: When visitors ask you, "What should I do in Nashville?" what are the top 2 or 3 things or places you recommend?
As a lifelong Nashvillian, I keep a long list of “things to do” for friends visiting our city. That list always includes a visit to Cheekwood, which is in my own neighborhood. The Nashville Sites Women’s Suffrage and Civil Rights walking tours in partnership with the Metro Historic Commission and the Downtown Library are a great way to learn about our city’s history. And of course, you can’t visit Music City without enjoying live music and/or learning some music history–the Bluebird out my way in Green Hills, or the Station Inn, Ryman, and Robert’s Western World downtown are near the top of my list, and the Country Music Hall of Fame and the National Museum of African American Music are amazing.
Will you commit to being civil in how you present yourself and the way you interact with opponents and others? (Our definition of civility is being a good, active, honest and respectable citizen)
Yes
Call Opinion and Engagement Director David Plazas at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville local election: Angie Henderson, candidate for vice mayor
