Tennessee Voices, Episode 269: Brenda Salas Freeman, former mayor and county official
The Los Angeles Times reported that 12,000 Californians left the Golden State to move to Tennessee in 2019. That was 25% greater than the previous year.
Reports from U-Haul and data from real estate agents show an influx of residents from other states to Tennessee, with California being one of the great sources of in-migration.
Housing prices and taxes are lower in comparison in Tennessee, but once new residents arrive, they have the task of establishing themselves anew.
Brenda Salas Freeman is one of those new residents. She and her husband Thomas moved from the Riverside area near Los Angeles to Williamson County. She was a former city council member and mayor of Banning, California, and a county official in Riverside. She earned her doctorate at University of Southern California.
On this episode of the Tennessee Voices video podcast, Salas Freeman talked about the journey and the task of rebuilding her family's life in Middle Tennessee.
She said she has no desire to return to California and became enamored with the hospitality of the people she has met in the South.
Salas Freeman is of Mexican, Portuguese and Spanish heritage, and in Southern California, she was honored for her service as a leader in the Latino community and the community as a whole.
She is now focused on working to make a contribution to Tennessee.
Hear more Tennessee Voices: Get the weekly opinion newsletter for insightful and thought provoking columns.
Sign up for Latino Tennessee Voices newsletter: Read compelling stories for and with the Latino community in Tennessee.
Sign up for Black Tennessee Voices newsletter: Read compelling columns by Black writers from across Tennessee.
Your state. Your stories. Support more reporting like this.
A subscription gives you unlimited access to stories across Tennessee that make a difference in your life and the lives of those around you. Click here to become a subscriber.
About Tennessee Voices
The Tennessee Voices videocast is a 20-minute program, which started in March 2020 and invites leaders, thinkers and innovators who have written guest columns for a USA TODAY Network Tennessee publication to share their insights and wisdom with me and our viewers.
Please email your ideas for future guests to me at dplazas@tennessean.com. Thank you for watching.
Finally, our journalists are working hard during this pandemic to bring you accurate, verified and solid information. Please consider subscribing and supporting local journalism.
Watch past episodes: Tennessee Voices videocast
David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee and an editorial board member of The Tennessean. Tweet to him at @davidplazas.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Voices: California to Williamson with Brenda Salas Freeman
