A Few Questions With

A Few Questions With Councilmember Russ Bradford, District 13

BY JUDITH TACKETT

District 13 councilmember Russ Bradford says his district really stands out for its diversity.

“You have neighborhoods ranging from upper-middle class to low-income and immigrant housing depending on where you’re at in the district,” he says. “With those types of neighborhoods and housing you have widely diverse needs and concerns. It’s been interesting and challenging to try to find a middle ground.”

The Contributor talked with Bradford about his district and what he’s been hearing from his varied consituents.

Can you describe what distinguishes District 13 from other Metro Council districts?

In my opinion what really makes District 13 stand out is its diversity. You have neighborhoods ranging from upper-middle class to low-income and immigrant housing depending on where you’re at in the district. With those types of neighborhoods and housing you have widely diverse needs and concerns. It’s been interesting and challenging to try to find a middle ground.

What are the main concerns you hear from your constituents?

The biggest concerns I’ve been hearing in the last few years is panhandling and the homeless that have been popping up around the district. To try and answer some of those concerns, I have looked to develop a strong working relationship with MNPD and Social Services. I host a monthly meeting with local business owners and MNPD and Social Services to try and figure out what can be done in the areas most affected to improve services, to improve the area, and to make sure that we’re addressing the issues.

What are some of the outcomes of the meetings, and what’s the feedback from your constituents to them?

Unfortunately, there has not been a lot of participation. I started back in February. That first meeting in the South Nashville area was very well attended. Since then I have had one each month. Some on the east and west sides of the district. Attendance has been very low from the business community.

So I really don’t think there has been much that has come from these, but I want to keep doing them to at least providing the space for the community and business owners to come sit at the table and us all work together to solve the issues.

You chair the Public Facilities, Arts, and Culture Committee. What does your work involve and what are your thoughts on where the Metro Arts Commission is regarding its recent racial equity complaints?

Our committee sees legislation that deals with the management of our parks, libraries, arts, or any property or structure that’s owned by Metro — from facilities like the Municipal Auditorium to parking lots.

As far as the Metro Arts Commission, I’ve been very supportive of their efforts of trying to get to the bottom of what’s been going on and to try to find a way forward to ensure that these serious allegations and issues are being addressed in a responsible and professional way.

Is your committee hearing from staff directly, or how is the communication working with Metro Arts on these issues?

I’ve been in direct contact with both the chair and vice chair of the Metro Arts Commission, Jim Schmidt and Matia Powell, about their efforts. I’m actually working on having a representative from the Metro Arts Commission and their diversity and inclusivity representative come talk to our committee and give us an update as to where they’re at in the process, what steps they are looking at taking and what steps have been taken to address the issues.

You are a founding member of the Metro Council’s LGBTQ Caucus. What is its focus and achievements?

Our biggest focus is on being an advocate for the LGBTQ community here in Nashville. It’s great that we’ve got the five of us on Metro Council to represent those voices at the Council level. One of our first achievements was to make sure we got Metro HR to begin looking into trans health care, and we also got the Metro Clerk to include a special self-identification box on all applications for boards and commissions, so that we can begin to collect and track the numbers of LGBTQ members on our boards and commissions. This way, we can ensure that not only members on the Metro Council but also members on our city boards and commissions have fair and equal representation.

Have you already evaluated the diversity on the boards and commissions based on these changes?

It’s in the process, but we have started noticing as individuals are being nominated for boards and commissions, they are self-identifying as LGBTQ. It does influence how we vote on board approvals as we want to ensure there is adequate representation for the LGBTQ community.

The last question is in regard to homelessness, an issue that you have expressed interest in actual solutions rather than quick fixes. What are some of the solutions you would like to see implemented?

I’ve talked to individuals from cities that have had success with the city hiring individuals who were unhoused and providing them part-time employment. These programs also provide people with the wraparound resources they need, whether it’s drug and/or mental health assistance, financial management assistance, etc. It can boost their resume to add that they’ve worked for the city, and they’ve gained these skill sets they can use so they can continue to move on and getting off the streets and into stable housing.

I want to focus more on whether we do that here. We always hear from constituents related to encampments about the level of trash and the unpleasantness for people to look at that. What if we get Social Services or Metro waste hire individuals on a part-time bases to help routinely clean up these camps and help improve the look while at the same time do outreach with the wraparound services to get these people into housing. Other cities also implement these employment programs in Downtown areas. This would really solve two issues we’re having. Our lack of labor and getting our unhoused individuals off the streets.

What I’ve learned solving our homeless situation, there is no silver bullet, there is no easy fix. There are multiple factors that have caused someone to be on the streets. When we’re looking at solutions, we should be looking at some of the underlying causes and focusing on how can we improve those. Yes, affordable housing is a big factor but we also need to look at what type of services we provide. Mental health care, substance abuse care, financial management assistance.

What are the other things we can be doing to assist, and what are we looking at as far as providing housing? Are we looking at commercial spaces that are now no longer used because businesses have gone to remote status? Can we look into turning some of these structures into dormitory-style housing or rapid rehousing where we can help these individuals off the streets into a facility where they have a bed to sleep, have access to laundry, have access to a fully stocked kitchen and pantry while at the same time have access to wraparound services? This way, we can get them off the streets, get them the assistance they need and help them learn the skills and get the tools that they need to be successful in the job market and the housing market.