David Briley, John Cooper clash on city finances, progressive politics in televised Nashville mayoral debate

Nashville Mayor David Briley gave some of his sharpest criticisms of At-large Metro Council member John Cooper so far in the mayoral campaign, clashing over management of the city budget and accusing his opponent of not being progressive enough for Music City.

"If my opponent is a Democrat, he ought to act like one,” Briley said Monday, early in the first televised debate of the runoff election. "He ought to stand up on progressive issues that arise in our city — which he has refused to do." 

Instead, the council member is choosing to focus on the negatives, lambasting Metro's finances while rarely providing solutions, Briley said. Social priorities, the mayor argued, "can't be subservient to the budget."

For his part, Cooper stood firm on his opposition to raising property taxes, vowing to put the city’s finances back in order. He said he stands for progressive values but they are dependent on a city on a solid financial footing.

"You have to get the money right if you're in fact going to help people," Cooper said. "You can't help people without money. You got to get that right. Progressivism means that you don't do trickle down and that you don't do privatization." 

"All social progress is dependent on economics," Cooper said, adding that his policies apply to all residents of all backgrounds, rather than "aiding 1% when the whole community needs to benefit from what the government can do." 

Briley and Cooper met head-to-head in the first televised debate before the Sept. 12 runoff election. The debate, sponsored by The Tennessean, NewsChannel 5 and Belmont University, took place at Belmont’s Troutt Theater. Early voting is underway and runs through Sept. 7.

The mayor finished nearly 10-points behind Cooper in the Aug. 1 general election and faces an uphill battle to defeat Cooper in the runoff.

To that end, Briley has pushed his progressive stances and sought to draw distinct contrasts between himself and his opponent. Cooper, who reminded viewers he is a life-long Democrat, worked to assure voters that he is best positioned to lead the city forward and bring about the changes needed to help residents in neighborhoods feeling left behind by the city’s economic boom.

“People have to have a clear understanding about their choices, and the choice is between somebody who has been an active participant in building a progressive, successful, vibrant city, and wants to continue doing that, and somebody who essentially feels like we're going in the wrong direction,” Briley said in an interview following the debate.

But Cooper said Briley's remarks Monday night were not accurate. 

"But I don't think it's surprising given that there's 17 days before the election and the overwhelming result of the general election," Cooper said in an interview after the debate.  "This is why people encouraged him to withdraw, (saying) that the only path forward was to be very negative. I think you see some of that tonight."

Taxes, finances central to debate, campaign

Starting off the evening, Cooper said he has been a consistent "no on taxes." 

The city instead should recapture revenue from downtown tourism and development.  

The reserve fund for Music City Center was north of $175 million as of last year. After approved capital projects, minimum cash reserves and money committed to Metro, $43.5 million remains, according to data provided by the Convention Center Authority.

“This asset is going to make us the greatest city in the country in the next years ahead. Now is the time for a strategic readjustment for the city ahead, not raising taxes, which would be unfair to people whose costs are already going up.”

Cooper has said if tourism dollars can be spent to cover tourism-related costs, it could free up money from the general fund. It's a solution that could potentially require new state legislation. The council member hopes to draw on that funding to free up other resources for education, employee pay and affordable housing. 

While Briley and Cooper have sparred over financial issues facing Metro throughout the campaign, the candidates have thus far agreed on the issue of property taxes.

Briley and Cooper each opposed proposals in the last two years to raise the property tax rate. But at the debate on Monday, Briley seemed open minded to raising taxes.

“I’ve moved our city forward, and I’m willing to consider as we move forward whether or not we need to raise revenues to fund teacher pay and pay for our police officers,” Briley said.

Briley called Cooper's words misleading and a gimmick he's used to take advantage of the anger and anxiety felt in the city to push a message that the city is not headed in a positive direction. 

"To think that we're just going to go down there and flip a switch, and then all of a sudden everything else is fine. That's just not possible," Briley said. "At the end of the day, it's not going to address the real issues we have as a community." 

Yet Briley struck deals with the convention center authority to reroute a combined $20 million of its surplus to Metro over the last two years to cover city costs downtown, such as police overtime and public works expenses. He's also said the city should have longer conversations on how much it could send Metro's way, while balancing expectations and risks for the convention center. 

"You don't want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg," he said, 

Briley, who says in his two years leading the budget his administration looked for money elsewhere, said he is "very realistic" about what the revenue opportunities are going to be in the future. He said a property tax increase is on the table. 

But Cooper said that if Briley felt the city should raise taxes, he's had two years to do it. 

Candidates address state concerns

Meanwhile, the state comptroller has raised concerns with the city about debt and how the city will balance its budget if a private parking deal and the sale of a downtown energy system don't go through.

Cooper called the state comptroller's letter a "big wake up call" on the city's practice of balancing its budget on the use of one-time sales and revenues that never materialize. 

The city needs to be transparent on its debt, he said, citing the referendum Nashville voters approved in the general election that requires Metro to provide more information about its budget and where "finances really are." 

"Let's start with the facts," Briley countered, calling the state's letter a political document, that Cooper and "his conservative friends on Metro Council" solicited. 

"Let's focus on something that's not political," Briley said. "Our finances are, in fact, under control."

The mayor said by the end of the fiscal year, the city's fund balances will be up.

Bringing back up the property tax rate, Briley said that while Cooper will attempt to readjust revenue to offset a private parking deal, he is taking property tax revenue, "the only significant source of new revenue, off the table." 

"He talks out both sides of his mouth," Briley said. 

But Cooper said the question for Nashville is how to bring balance to the city's finances.

"Now is the time for a strategic readjustment for the city ahead, not raising taxes, which would be unfair to people whose costs are already going up," Cooper said.

Education key for both candidates 

In addition to city finances, education has been a big part of the mayoral campaign. Both candidates have said more must be done to provide teachers with better pay. And although the mayor has no direct control over how Metro Nashville Public Schools are run, both candidates vowed to do more to support education.

Some Nashville public school teachers on Friday received a $5,000 bonus. The one-time stipend is for newly recruited teachers in the city's 23 lowest-performing schools, or Priority Schools, to teach English, math or science classes. It was also for those who specialize in exceptional education and English-learning instruction.

Briley and Cooper said such incentives are important.

"I know that priority schools are a critical issue in our city," Briley said. "I have spent time in many of our priority schools and what you see there are a couple of things: Teachers overwhelmed. Administrators overwhelmed. Kids getting left behind."

Teacher pay, Briley said, is a big part of "fundamentally changing that," and that while $5,000 is a difference, it's "just a start," he said.

Cooper said the city needs to return teaching to a middle-class profession.

"That is the kind of encouragement that we need to provide, not just one time, not as a bonus but something teachers can count on," Cooper said.  "Only by doing that are you going to repair the career ladder pay for teachers. Teaching used to be a middle-class profession, and we need to return it to a middle-class profession."

Cooper reminded the audience that he is the candidate backed by the teachers union, saying that they know that together, with him, they can bring education back to where it has to be.

"It is the limiter of our growth," he said. 

But Briley made some of his strongest comments to date on the state of education in Nashville. He said the city’s schools have resegregated and the city must address the issue.

"We have a new crisis in our city," Briley said. "For 20 years we had integrated schools. We no longer do. And we are frankly leaving behind way too many children as a result of it and we've all got to put our shoulder to the wheel to see a change to the system.

"I will fight every single day as mayor for each and every one of those kids who getting left behind because they don't have the resources in a priority school."  

Yihyun Jeong covers politics in Nashville for USA TODAY NETWORK - TENNESSEE. Reach her at yjeong@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @yihyun_jeong.

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