NEWS

A Few Questions With Councilmember Thom Druffel, District 23

BY JUDITH TACKETT

When I first met Metro Councilmember Thom Druffel, his willingness to learn about an issue and finding solutions stood out right away. Druffel, who had a 45-year career in the hospitality field, is currently working on a doctorate with a focus on increasing minority leadership in executive positions in the hospitality field.

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

Can you describe the main characteristics of the neighborhood/constituents you represent?

District 23 includes Hillwood, West Meade, Warner Park, Harpeth Trace, and Belle Meade. West Meade and Hillwood are really in a state of transition. For years, many of the neighbors were seniors who have lived here their whole lives. Now a lot of younger people with children are moving into the neighborhood at a pretty quick rate.

What are the main concerns you hear from your district?

Stormwater is a big issue. We have a lot of hills and a lot of development that has been slowly changing the dynamics there. The Brookmeade encampment clearly is a concern for most of our neighborhood and its impact on the commercial areas. A lot of people won’t drive that way for that reason. The Brookmeade camp is actually not in our district, but we don’t have any other park in our district for people to walk to. People are looking for an outdoor space in walking distance, but we also don’t have sidewalks and those are pretty busy streets. Getting sidewalks is probably going to be difficult.

Some issues that you ran on include protecting the natural beauty and amenities of the neighborhoods you represent, facilitating stronger community engagement and networks, and increasing government transparency and accountability in its spending. What achievements would you like to highlight in these areas?

Number one, I put a bill together that highlights the debt impact that Metro’s Capital Spending Plan has on the operating budget. In the past, we would spend whatever the Capital Spending Plan was, but we really didn’t forecast the impact on the operating budget. Our capital plans are done in debt. It’s sort of like a credit card. Previously we kept using it but then did not recognize what it is going to cost us in the long-term. We passed the bill last year, and now when Capital Spending Plans are done, we know what long-term impact would approximately be. I’m working on something similar in terms of capital investment by district.

I’m co-sponsoring a tree ordinance with Angie Henderson (Henderson represents Metro Council District 34). Especially with the development in our district, we’re starting to get concerned that we’re losing a fair amount of what made our neighborhood beautiful. We’re trying to preserve our area including West Meade Hills, a 250-acre area with beautiful old forests. We have a neighborhood full of interesting conservancy. One cool thing is the Harmony Wildlife Rehabb Center in our district. It’s run by a lady who decided to rehab hurt animals that are found in our neighborhoods and release them back into nature.

We are trying to bring neighbors together through events, which was lost during COVID. We have several neighborhood associations presidents working on creating a sense of community through neighborhood events, which was on pause during COVID.

When we had the tornado and then COVID hit, we put together a Hope Fund and raised $15,000 and did a food drive benefit H.S. Hill Middle School students who were affected by food insecurities.

We are also trying to preserve our neighborhoods with consistent zoning, which means we like it the way it is with the larger [lots] and trees, and we don’t really want any changes.

You have been teaching at Tennessee State University for seven years, and this past September Nashville State Community College hired you as their Hospitality Program director. Where do you think Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) needs improvement?

I’ve been working with at-risk kids off and on for 40 years and am on the executive board of the Nashville After Zone Alliance (NAZA), which serves middle schools.

But I think there is a miss when people think success is only college. Only 25 percent of people acquire a college education. We have a shortage of people for service jobs in Nashville. I’m working with several groups to build a summer program to match students with training and employment. If we can teach students at 16 or 17 what it looks like to be a carpenter, plumber or cook… not to say that this is the only option, but this is an option.

MNPS is doing what they can. We need to be able to support them from a community perspective in a much stronger way. And to me this is a good supplemental program.

You serve on the Human Services Committee, which is looking at addressing homelessness. What are your thoughts?

We talked a lot; we need to start doing. We know there are layers of people with different needs. If we could find a space that everybody is OK with, that has room to build a community. People who have still more distrust can stay in the outer areas. Then in an inner loop, you create space for tiny homes that could be scalable. You could also do trailers and all kinds of different things. And you bring in support services, which then are at the core of that neighborhood. I showed the mayor a couple of ideas how this looked in places like Austin, Texas, where they’ve done it.

The high cost of housing is ridiculous in Nashville. Building a major structure is huge. Our homeless deserve tons of supports, but what you’ve taught me, we also need to do it within their expectations and needs. They need the love, they need the support, but some also need a little time.

So having this self-contained place to provide the services that are needed, that would be fantastic. It could provide incremental opportunities for people to grow within it, it could create a safety net and for people to have a safe environment. We need to get rid of some of the drug dealers, so maybe you are addicted, but you cannot deal if you live in this environment. That’s how I see the model.

I’ve known people who came out of homelessness who had to work really hard, and they need our help. I’ve learned that from you, but we also need to be much more intentional and much more urgent in doing something, and I think we could do this model in no time.