Nashville needs a Leviathan, a mayor who's a leader and protector of residents | Opinion
Editor's note: Belmont University students are contributing essays around the Nashville mayoral race as part of The Nashville Mayoral Debates.
As Nashville prepares for the first of The Nashville Mayoral Debates on Thursday, the question remains on what Nashvillians will need to look for in their next mayor and what issues will remain key to their success at the polls.
For this resident of Music City, there is one quality voters need to find in one of the 15 candidates for mayor who have requested petitions so far: a Leviathan.
The 17th century philosopher Thomas Hobbes wrote "Leviathan," arguing for a leader and protector of citizens.
In the past four years, Nashville has seen an exponential amount of growth and economic development, even earning the designation as one of the top places to live by U.S News. One would say that prosperity would come along with this, but prosperity for whom?
2022-2023 has been a season of turmoil for Nashville residents and a season of opportunity for tourists and the state alike. While tourists have been welcomed with a new Titans stadium, a redevelopment plan of Second Avenue, multiple record-breaking concerts and events that attract the masses, residents have been burdened with:
a housing crisis leaving many Nashvillians homeless or on the next ride out of town,
neighborhoods that are either falling apart or gentrified,
a state legislative body that has stripped them of their representation in numerous organizational capacities,
and the faint reassurance that these tourist-driven escapades will pay for themselves once they attract more individuals to Music City ... a reassurance seemingly too familiar to the residents that have heard this for decades as the city grows.
What does it mean that a mayor is a Leviathan?
If there is one thing I have witnessed while residing here, it is that Nashvillians yearn fora reminder of what government is fundamentally designed for: protection for the people, by thepeople.
Nashville needs a mayor who can renew the social contract that residents entered when they decided to call Nashville home; the contract that Nashvillians would have an executive who embodied the people and their interest, protect them against the “Music City State of Nature” that is putting downtown development/growth first before sustainability: a Leviathan.
Residents need a mayor who has a plan to defend Nashville from the very real, tumultuous relationship the state legislature has with the city.
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Residents need a mayor who openly welcomes business and new job opportunities but ensures their presence comes at the cost of assisting the community further (i.e., affordable housing or infrastructure).
More importantly, residents need a mayor who provides a deep, genuine sense of connection to the residents and their stories of success and strife.
In a crowded race such as this one where everyone has an answer to the growing problems of Nashville, this genuine quality, the “Leviathan” characteristic, is what will be the deciding factor for residents who want a new change on Aug. 3.
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Keidron Turner is a 2023 graduate of Belmont University with a Bachelor of Science degree in politics and public law with a minor in philosophy. He served in student government and served as an intern in the Tennessee General Assembly. His post-graduate plans are to continue working, reside in Nashville and to enter law school in 2024
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville needs a Leviathan, a mayor who is a leader and protector
