Mayoral hopeful jeff obafemi carr officially opened his campaign headquarters Wednesday located, ironically, at the former ‘Transit for Nashville’ field office in Northwest Nashville.
“The location became available, it was right in the heart of a part of town largely forgotten by the city, and we needed a place to call home. It was a perfect fit. One condition was that we had to clean up and repair some damage the ‘for’ team did to the place, but we figured it was a metaphor for what we’re having to do with this campaign,” carr said in a statement. “Here, in the heart of a neighborhood that means so much to me, we are working to return Nashville’s government back to the people.”
The pro-transit plan group closed their offices after the initiative was resoundingly defeated by voters 64% to 36%. The campaign notes that in his roll as the Senior Advisor and Strategist for NoTax4Tracks, carr served as the consistent voice against the $9 billion boodoggle.
“Our campaign office location is so fitting because the transit work is not over,” carr said; adding:
The first step was defeating the proposed plan that would have over-taxed everyday Nashvillians and small businesses, while providing maximum inconvenience and minimal benefit. As Mayor one of my top priorities (along with affordable housing, decreasing youth violence, and quality education) will be creating a transit solution that responds to the real needs of all neighborhoods and citizens, not just a few.
Last week, carr sat down with Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill for a long form interview:
“I can deliver a transit plan that’s effective, cost-efficient, and serves most of the city of Nashville in an effective way without being an extra burden on the taxpayers within 12 months,” carr told Gill.
“That’s a goal that I want to check off the list,” he said.
“The second thing I want to do is create an effective, affordable housing plan that doesn’t benefit just a few directors or a few housing builders, but gives people an opportunity to be innovative, and it also should be a transdisciplinary approach, that means it should intersect with any transit oriented development.”
“The third thing that comes up for me is youth violence. It’s important. I’m the candidate that’s created programs that are successful. That have kept kids 100 percent off the street.”
“I want to create a position in the mayor’s office that is just about how to develop best practices.”
“I will not use the term ‘youth violence,’ because I’ve learned the power of words. I will call it the director of youth, life, and prosperity. They will develop an interfaith, inclusive, and innovative plan that will be best practices that can be shared with everyone from non-profits to churches to corporations who want to get the best practices for involving youth in holistic ways to deter them from youth violence to give them opportunities, and to give them jobs.”
Watch the interview:
Carr has no idea about how users make their travel decisions and I don’t think he can deliver anything effective. His only transportation solution will be having federal and state taxpayer dollars to expand the interstates to further enable urban sprawl, while offering an autonomous vehicle concept that won’t solve anything for a car addicted Nashville. He wants solutions but wants other people who did nothing to cause the problems to have to pay for them. Especially those in rural America.
Sure, Nashville’s taxes won’t go up, but Carr led Nashville down the road of paying a far steeper price than the tax would have been in the coming years. We will pay in time and economic opportunity costs. Penny wise and pound foolish. Not who we need as mayor.