'Manning' the metro ship

Who will be tapped by Nashville's next mayor to fill key metro offices? NashvillePost.com takes a look

Email | Print By Ken Whitehouse

David Manning

With the run-off election for Nashville's mayoral race rapidly approaching, early voting starts tomorrow, some of the biggest questions on business leaders' minds is who will fill key positions under the new mayor. Who would serve as Karl Dean's finance director? What about Bob Clement's deputy mayor?

When Mayor Bill Purcell leaves office next month, Nashville will see new faces appointed to, arguably, some of the most powerful positions in the region; offices that have been led by strong personalities, who have left their mark on the community for years to come.

Under Purcell, Finance Director David Manning, former Deputy Mayor Bill Phillips, Metro Legal Director and mayoral candidate Karl Dean, and Economic and Community Development Director Tom Jurkovich have wielded great influence. At times all controversial figures, they have been on the front lines of enacting Purcell's agenda for almost the entirety of his term in office.

Other offices of importance have been the Metro Planning Department and the legislative liaison to both the metro council and the state legislature.

Jurkovich and legislative liaison Eddie Davidson have been touted by a number of political insiders as candidates to serve the next mayor, whoever it is, but many expect both mayoral candidates to take a long look at Planning Department executive director Rick Bernhardt due to his strong opposition to the location of a new Nashville convention center.

These offices have had and will continue to have the greatest impact on the day to day business of Nashville. While mayoral candidates Dean and Clement have yet to announce who might fill any of these slots, NashvillePost.com has compiled a list a candidates who, due to their involvements with the respective mayoral efforts, could fill senior roles in a new administration.

This list has not been approved by either campaign and was compiled through a series of conversations with a number of Nashville civic activists, business leaders, and the political observations of this reporter.

Leading the pack of Dean's insiders to fill one of the biggest roles in a his administration is Tom Lee, an attorney with Waller, Lansden, Dortch and Davis. Lee, who served as a senior strategist for the Harold Ford, Jr. for U.S. Senate campaign has been with the Dean campaign since day one. While Lee could opt to stay in the private sector with a Dean win, he would be a leading contender to fill a senior staff position.

Campaign manager Jim Hester is another individual Dean could turn to. Hester served with Lee on the Ford campaign and then led the Democratic coordinated campaign efforts last year. A former music industry promoter, Hester himself once was a candidate for the metro council.

Toby Compton, who formerly served as a senior staffer for Buck Dozier's mayoral bid, is now on board with the Dean team. Compton's past employment includes a stint as executive director of the Associated General Contractors of Tennessee and director of marketing for Snappy Auctions.

When mayoral candidate David Briley failed to make the run-off, two of his metro council colleagues who had supported his bid joined the Dean efforts. Council members Erik Cole and Mike Jameson, both re-elected to office earlier this month, have endorsed the Dean bid. Cole was named co-chair of the Dean campaign just yesterday, and is in a strong position to find himself in a new administration.

A sleeper candidate for the Dean administration is Mike Stewart, a partner of Lee's at Waller, Lansden. Stewart has been active in raising money and support for the campaign in East Nashville and is a widely respected attorney in the field of tax litigation. Stewart made a run for office on his own in the 1990's against former Nashville Mayor Bill Boner, who briefly made a political comeback in the state legislature.

On the Clement side of the mayoral campaign, one can't start without thinking that campaign chair Larry Woods would take a position in a Clement administration.

Woods, an attorney and co-owner of the Hillsboro Village staple BookMan/BookWoman, has long been involved in Tennessee politics and varying levels. He indisputably was involved as an advisor to the 2002 Bredesen for Governor campaign and served as campaign manager for former Nashville Congressman Clifford Allen, but has been a lightning rod due to other claims about his political history and campaign tactics. Regardless, he has been with Clement from the start and it is hard to imagine Clement entering the courthouse without Woods by his side.

Another one of Clement's senior advisers who could be poised to serve in a administrative role is attorney Gary Blackburn. Blackburn, a partner in the law firm of Blackburn and McCune, was appointed by the Clement campaign as "senior strategist and lead legal counsel" late last year. He is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for middle Tennessee and has also done legal commentary for NewsChannel 5 TV and WSMV-TV Channel 4.

Metro Councilman Eric Crafton has long been rumored to be a Clement choice to serve as a senior staff member. A homebuilder by trade, Crafton is one of the more conservative members of the metro council and led the charge earlier this year for a "English first" bill that was subsequently vetoed by Purcell.

Should Clement pull off the victory on September 11 attorney Charles W. Bone could also be celebrating. A partner at Bone McAllester Norton, he has entrenched his firm into the Clement camp. While Bone would be unlikely to leave his day job, it is feasible that legal work that has been going to larger legal firms could find its way to him. A long time respected Democratic activist, Bone served as county attorney for Sumner County for over twenty years.

Finally, Clement campaign spokesman Ben Hall. Hall is the former political reporter for WTVF NewsChannel 5 and joined the Clement team in its early days. While he officially has the "spokesman" tag, Hall has served Clement throughout the campaign as a senior advisor and would likely find himself with a comparable position should Clement win.