Q&A

A Few Questions with Councilmember Russ Pulley, District 25

By Judith Tackett

If you watched Tulane beat USC by one point on Jan, 2 in the Cotton Bowl, you likely saw Councilmember Russ Pulley, who represents District 25. Yes, he’s still an active referee and has just finished his 23rd season in the Southeastern Conference.

The Contributor talked with Pulley as part of a series called A Few Questions With where we interview councilmembers about their district’s most pressing issues.

How would you describe District 25?

District 25 lies within I-65 on the east, I-440 to the north, Battery Lane to the south, and primarily Hillsboro Road with an extension to include the commercial area west of Hillsboro. Through the redistricting process, District 25 will also include Oak Hill in the future.

In terms of demographics, we have a very small minority population in District 25. It’s 92 percent white, so it’s really not reflective of the entire county. Property values are pretty high compared to the overall average of Davidson County. And District 25 has a commercial area in which Hillsboro High School is a feature component right across from Green Hills Mall. We have a lot of small businesses in that area, which is all covered with an Urban Design Overlay.

What are the main concerns you hear from your constituents?

My constituents are concerned about growth. When I first came into office, they were concerned about buildings going up and density occurring in the commercial area. I am no longer hearing many complaints about density in the commercial area, but I still hear concerns about density in residential neighborhoods. People want to grow responsibly but protect and preserve what they cherish and love about their neighborhoods.

I hear about infrastructure improvement needs. People are keenly aware of stormwater issues related to development because we have flood areas with Browns Creek and Sugartree Creek and other areas.

We still hear about concerns about crime, although our concerns about crime certainly don’t rise to the level of crime in other districts. We don’t tend to be plagued by the serious violent crimes. But my constituents are concerned about the limits police have on patrolling neighborhoods and law enforcement around speeding and reckless driving in residential areas. The concerns tend to focus on traffic calming measures, parking enforcement, especially where people park along pedestrian infrastructure and bike lanes. We are woefully behind in sidewalk infrastructure, so people are always clambering for that.

As the chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, what are some of the opportunities you see for Nashville in terms of infrastructure improvements?

We’ve got so many infrastructure needs. With respect to my role in the Transportation Committee, when you look at 12th Avenue South, I really like the transition that they’re making now. They created some very protected bike lanes on 12th and developed interesting patterns with some areas for designated parking. Rather than having two lanes going in each direction, they have one lane in each direction and dedicated a middle lane as a turning lane. All indications are that it works, and the professionals will confirm that, but it’s just a tough sell for the community.

A similar proposal was made for the 8th Avenue corridor. But the businesses along 8th Avenue, especially around the Douglas Corner area, put up some pretty serious opposition to it. I’m interested to see how the 12th Avenue project is going to be received and if we can put together data to help convince people to do something similar on 8th because I think it would be very successful.

Those kind of projects are very important. Sidewalk infrastructure in the context of all of this is very important. Traffic calming features are very important — not only to residents in my district but all over the city. We just got through passing a bill related to traffic calming features, which generated a ton of discussion among councilmembers as to how these are applied.

Funding is always problematic. So, we’re hoping a more robust transit plan can be implemented to give us the kind of funding necessary to make significant improvements. Without that funding, I’m just not sure we’re going to be able to do anything but piece it together a little bit at a time.

Where is the city with a transit plan?

I have scheduled a meeting with NDOT to be brought up to date on this. I think their big issue now is implementing the city’s parking plan that’s been approved recently. That’s got all their full attention. Transit is a priority, I know it is in the Mayor’s Office, I just can’t tell you right now where they are with being able to roll out a robust plan.

I really hate that we missed the opportunity for funding sources we had in the last [plan], which were really good and engaged funding from areas other than Davidson County, which is something I’m very interested in. I don’t want the full burden of a transit plan to fall on the backs of our taxpayers in Davidson County. Let’s let the people who are using our roads and living in other areas help pay for transit.

You have a longstanding career in law enforcement including, among other positions, as a special agent with the FBI and an investigator with the U.S. Department of Labor. How has your experience helped you as a councilmember?

When I first was looking into running, I examined whether my skillset would be of value. My experience in law enforcement was over a wide-ranging area. I was a uniformed police officer, a uniformed state trooper, then I was a special agent in the FBI, and I ended up as an investigator with the Department of Labor. I found that a lot of the skills that I learned apply to Metro Council, specifically asking questions, investigating cases, gathering facts and being able to establish networks and relationships with people.

Communication is very important, and my professional background has provided me with the ability to ask questions the right way and be able to communicate professionally and succinctly. But communication is something that you cannot take for granted, and I’m always working on it.

With the Police Department being tasked with handling increasingly difficult situations related to the Opioid crisis, mental health crisis, homelessness, and so on, what next steps would you like to see Metro take to address serving its most vulnerable residents?

I don’t know the answers, but I have thoughts.

It’s very important to collaborate. Collaborative plans tend to work, but they only work if they’re done properly and there is buy-in from all of those in the collaborative model. What I mean by that is we need collaboration between the city and certain nonprofits; and I think communication is one of the biggest hurdles between agencies when it comes to finding ways to maximize the services the most vulnerable populations need. Within that framework I think it’s important that information is accurate and factual.

I hear a lot of information coming from interest groups that quite frankly is not always factual. And there are talking points wrapped around information that tend to promote a particular agenda that’s just quite frankly not actually accurate. That tends to hurt credibility of communication between agencies and tends to impair the collaborative process. What I would like to see is more collaboration, more frank speaking, and the information around which these discussions are based need to be factually accurate.