There was a message from the mayor at Tuesday night's Metro Council meeting and although it came wrapped in some newsy items, the message was essentially this: I am trying not to piss you off the way Karl Dean pissed you off.

A common denominator in the troubles that occasionally arose during Dean's time in office was communication. The Dean administration did not communicate enough, with the public or, at times, with council members. Nor did it communicate enough about the ways it was communicating. As an at-large council member at the time, Megan Barry had a front row seat to the turbulence that resulted and although — as Joey Garrison notes in a solid analysis of the mayor's first 100 days — there doesn't look to be much distance between Dean and Barry when it comes to policy, Barry pretty clearly hoped to signal with her message Tuesday night that there will at least be a difference in tone and approach.

The mayor's message was essentially a public discussion of discussions to come. Public Works has identified sidewalk projects in all 35 council districts and will soon be meeting with each district council member to discuss sidewalks in their district. The mayor also announced that a new proposed location for a new Metro police headquarters is on Murfreesboro Pike, on a piece of Metro-owned property adjacent to the new Family Justice Center. A community meeting has been scheduled to discuss the possible site (details below).

The underlying point was clear and Barry said as much:

“I think you can hear a theme here. Community engagement and input is critical to any decision-making process. Whether it’s about where we’re going to locate a new headquarters, whether it’s about where we’re going to build sidewalks. And I want your input.”

Sidewalks, as an issue, primarily blew up in Dean's face when council members revolted over the proposed Gulch pedestrian bridge arguing that money should be spent on sidewalks in their districts before it was spent on one that would float between condos and the downtown tourist district. But to a lesser degree, it was also about communication with council members and with the public, about how the administration was approaching Nashville's sidewalk deficiency. Communication was among the problems when it came to the police headquarters on Jefferson Street, which was announced first and proposed (and discussed and debated) later.

Barry is no doubt looking to avoid all that and looking to do so in a very visible way. What affect, if any, the style has on the substance will be worth following.

Details on the community meeting regarding the proposed police headquarters, from the mayor's office: