NEWS

A Few Questions With Councilmember Gloria Hausser, District 22

BY JUDITH TACKETT

Councilmember Gloria Hausser’s passion for her neighborhoods and her focus on making sure she continues to inform the people in District 22 stand out immediately.

“People who think of Bellevue may believe it’s that rural area out west,” Hausser said. “But it’s really not rural anymore. There is a lot of diversity and we’re not that far from downtown, but it feels very different from downtown with all the conveniences.”

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

How would you describe District 22?

It’s actually a very diverse and evolving district. Whatever you want, you can find it in District 22. We have all types of housing for a variety of income levels: apartments, condos, 1-acre lots, townhouses, any type of housing you want. We also have One Bellevue Place, which is the revitalized mall, which is pretty exciting. And we have grade school, middle school, and high school. There is still a lot of land available, for example off Charlotte Pike that can be put into subdivisions. Finally, we have pretty much every religion represented like the Jewish Community Center, which is right next to our district, and then we have mosques, the Hindu temple and of course a variety of Christian congregations.

What are some of the main concerns you hear from your constituents?

Traffic and density are two of the things people are concerned about. Right now it still takes only about 20 minutes to get from Bellevue to downtown compared to 45 minutes in traffic from other directions. People who lived here a long time, especially when they have more acreage, are concerned about density. They want to make sure that as Bellevue is moving forward, it retains that feeling of community and that we don’t get overgrown. I want to make sure any growth is beneficial to everyone and it’s not just growth for growth’s sake.

You have recently worked on an effort for Metro to rent out the old library building on Colice Jeanne Road to Bellevue Civic Association that would create office space for several civic organizations. What opportunities would this create for the community?

The opportunity this presents is that we bring nonprofits and associations in Bellevue together in one place, so they can assist and support each other. Right now, Arts Bellevue, a local nonprofit, does not have a space to display artwork or to hold classes. The Bellevue Chamber does not have an office. The West Precinct mentioned that they may bring some of their after-school youth programs here, which would be great because this is just down the street from the middle school.

Since the last discussion in Metro Council, the bill has changed. We are now working with the Mayor’s Office and are discussing the opportunity to expand the original proposal and perhaps bring some other Metro services out to this building. One of the things I’m hearing often from people, they don’t want to have to go downtown to access services. We are exploring the opportunity to bring some of Metro satellite offices here, perhaps the County Clerk or an entrepreneur center support and other options to residents in Bellevue and create kind of a Bellevue city center.

All of that is still in negotiations. We are really just looking at all possibilities to see what would be good for Nashville and good for Bellevue to create a sense of community. We’re hoping this could become a model for other underutilized city buildings.

You serve on the Metro Council’s Affordable Housing Committee and your day job is as director of finance and operations with the New Level Community Development Corporation. What is your main focus when it comes to the affordable housing conversation in Nashville?

When we say affordable housing, people have all sorts of ideas, and sometimes they are not accurate. Affordable housing does not mean that it’s subsidized, Section 8 housing. Affordable housing means that someone earning a median income can actually afford to pay that rent or that mortgage. You may work full-time and still not be able to afford a very small apartment in Nashville, so when we talk about affordable, a new term I am hearing being utilized is attainable.

When you say attainable, people can look at that and say, is that [housing cost] still within 30 percent of my income. There are many people who pay 50 percent or 60 percent of their income just for their rent or mortgage. That is really critical. One little blip and you’re in a dire situation and you can’t recover. And so it’s very important that we pay attention to what needs to happen to create affordable housing and make sure that we retain affordable housing.

We want our teachers, nurses, fire fighters, police, EMTs, to be able to live within an easy drive of their workplace. We want them to be able to take care of our citizens and be accessible if there are emergencies.

To me a community that is diverse is a richer community. There are just so many reasons why we need affordable, quality housing in our community.

Similar to the last question, what would you like to see prioritized as it comes to addressing homelessness in Nashville?

The first priority would be finding housing. We hope it’s permanent housing, but at least temporary until they can get to permanent housing. Besides that, we also need wraparound services so that people can get to a different place in their lives. We need to ensure people are equipped so that they can take care of themselves. That could be medical services, job training, whatever it is to help people stand on their own feet. And if they cannot, if there are underlying issues, then we need to look at the alternatives we can provide because living on the streets is not anything that anyone in Nashville wants.

The goal is to have a decent, safe place for everyone to live. But again, providing a roof alone is not always the answer. We have to be willing to coordinate the services that are necessary. And in the end that is less expensive than not doing it. If we aren’t providing these services, then we are paying the money in other places that we may not see. We’re going to pay for [homelessness] one way or the other, so why not pay for it in a way that benefits us all.