On two red-hot issues in Metro politics, Nashville Mayor David Briley told an influential group of business and political leaders last week there's "no crisis."

But he's since gotten pushback as community activists and one council member counter with their own message: You're wrong.

Briley made the "no crisis" remarks while talking about the city's affordable housing shortage and Metro's tight fiscal situation before the Rotary Club of Nashville during a speech that recounted parts of his first six months in office.

"It's not what we wanted to do," Briley said of Metro's budget approved in the spring, which left out promised pay increases for Metro workers and did not fully fund schools to the requested level.

"But it needs to be understood clearly in our town that the finances of this city are secure, that there is no financial crisis whatsoever. We had a year where we need to tighten our belts."

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Later in the speech, he talked about the efforts by his office to create more housing that is priced affordably amid rapid gentrification in many neighborhoods.

"Right now in our town, affordable housing is not in a crisis — it's not a crisis — but it is a significant problem," Briley said, rattling off a list of city initiatives on housing.

Councilman: There's a fiscal crisis, whether mayor admits it or not

A rebuke on Briley's remarks on the fiscal situation — in which a shortfall in expected tax revenue made for only modest budget improvements even as Nashville's economy is booming — came from At-large Councilman Bob Mendes at Tuesday's council meeting.

Mendes took the floor to discuss an ordinance he's introduced to overhaul tax increment financing incentives that the city uses to spur downtown development. The bill, which seeks to protect tax revenue for public schools, advanced on a second of three readings.

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He cited figures that place Nashville second in debt per capita among the nation's top 50 populated cities, trailing only New York and directly ahead of Chicago.

"We're out of whack," Mendes said, defending his push to "reset" TIF incentives that were originally adopted 35 years ago. "We're having problems with fundamental equity for employees in the city.

"There is a crisis in the city when it comes to its finances," he added, "even if the people downstairs don't want to use that word."

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Mendes recently ruled out a challenge against Briley in next year's mayoral election.

This past spring, he led a property tax increase proposal opposed by Briley that would have delivered the employee pay raises and greater school funding. It failed by one vote in the council.

Mayor calls council 'ground zero for rooting against the city'

Briley fired back at Mendes' comments in an interview, saying he's "surprised and disappointed that the Metro Council has become ground zero for rooting against the city of Nashville."

"It just surprises the hell out of me, frankly," he said. "And I'm even more surprised that Bob Mendes would put out these numbers about our debt and debt service that are just so fundamentally wrong. We are not between New York and Chicago."

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The mayor's office said Mendes' figures — which are detailed in a Metro audit report — are misleading because they compare debt from Nashville's consolidated Metro government versus municipalities that don't include all aspects of their government.

Briley said Nashville has a high bond rating — an Aa2 rating by Moody's Investors Service — and believes the city will continue to going forward. He characterized the budgetary strains a "budget crunch" that arose from mistakes on reappraisal estimations, a decrease in state funding and other factors.

He called Nashville a "growing city," citing Nashville's 4.1 percent growth in GDP last year. Nashville's growth over the past seven years has been the equivalent of adding the entire economic output of Little Rock, Arkansas, Briley said.

"For people to think that we're in some sort of fiscal crisis is either just a fundamental lack of understanding of how our budget works or some sort of political grandstanding, and it needs to come to an end," Briley said.

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Affordable housing advocates to mayor: 'You're wrong'

In his Rotary remarks about affordable housing, Briley went on to tout his plan for a new homeless service center with 100 units of permanent housing and the city's continued use of the Barnes Fund for Affordable Housing.

He asked for help from developers, reading aloud his office phone number in an appeal for them to call if they're ready to build affordable housing.

"It's really not much of a challenge for Nashville right now," Briley said of affordable housing. "This is an opportunity for us."

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But his "no crisis" description of affordable housing was met with immediate criticism from advocates who have for years pushed for more aggressive action. Many of them are the people who coined the problem a "crisis."

A Metro-commissioned report last year found that Nashville needs to create 31,000 units of affordable housing by 2025 to keep up with demand as housing prices in Nashville have soared.

Median rent prices climbed each month from July 2011 to this past July, when they finally took a slight dip. Still, median rent is $1,490, up from $1,162 over that time.

"No @MayorBriley. You're wrong," tweeted Sekou Franklin, a professor at Middle Tennessee State University and an affordable housing activist. "Affordable housing is a crisis. Long time renters have been forced out of my neighborhood because of the lack of affordable housing. Go from Delta & Buchanan to Clarksville Pike & Buchanan. Go to the bottoms. Black folks being pushed out, wholesale."

Mayor: Calling problem a crisis 'paralyzes' community from action

Briley, who was responding to a question from the crowd when he delivered the line on affordability, said he wishes he had time to frame his remarks better.

He said he agrees that affordable housing is indeed a crisis for many families, but doesn't like that phrase when describing the issue as a whole for the city.

"I'm deeply concerned that by calling it a crisis it paralyzes people," Briley said, adding that each philanthropy group, business and person has "the opportunity to do something to make a difference."

"I know that it is a crisis for a family who is not able to afford the rent or house in our county, and I am deeply sympathetic and understand what that is all about," he said. "My job is to understand that, and to motivate, and move the city forward, and we are going to do that."

He said Metro cumulatively devoted $35 million to affordable housing last year and will do the same in the next budget.

"But it's not going to be done just by the government," he said. "It's going to take all hands on deck to confront this issue. And I'm just of the opinion that calling it a crisis paralyzes people, so I'm not going to call it a crisis."

Reach Joey Garrison at jgarrison@tennessean.com or 615-259-8263 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.