Mayor John Cooper enters office with a commitment to carry out the hefty "Policy Book" that he championed as a candidate. WPLN

Listen /

This story is updated regularly and was last updated Dec. 27, 2019.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper entered office with a strong mandate from the city’s voters. Nearly 70% backed him and the ideas he championed, which were numerous and detailed: He proudly handed out 46-page policy platform booklets while campaigning.

“I’ll do the math and tell you the truth,” Cooper wrote in the book.

As much as any candidate, Cooper put his promises in writing, creating both a road map for the administration and a record that residents will have a chance to monitor. It provides, in one sense, more opportunity for accountability than with other recent leaders.

The plan commits Cooper’s Metro government to bigger spending on schools, transit, police, parks, infrastructure and more. But at the same time, Cooper is vowing a fiscal responsibility with taxpayer dollars that he says the city has been lacking.

And his specific commitments add up — dozens, big and small, technical and aspirational.

The approach has intrigued even longtime local leaders, like Vice Mayor Jim Shulman.

“It was kind of a new twist,” Shulman said. “He goes in with things in writing … so people have a copy of the book.”

And for those who haven’t seen the ideas, WPLN is making the platform handy here as a PDF.

In a statement, Cooper says he still is committed to what he said as a candidate.

“Of course I plan to stand by the commitments we made during the campaign to the very best of my ability. One of the main reasons I ran for mayor was to serve our residents and restore trust in our government,” Cooper said.

WPLN has identified nine areas the new mayor has focused on in promises made in his policy book, campaign mailers, interviews and debate appearances. We will follow how and whether they become reality during his time in office. Our goal is to review this list each month and update its status.

SCHOOLS FUNDING

A promise to increase education spending played as prominently as any in Cooper’s campaign. It appeared in his policy book, in interviews and during at least two debates.

1) “I plan to direct over half of new revenue into our school system.”

If the commitment sounds technical, the bottom line is that it is a large funding commitment to the district. Officials, for example, anticipate about $100 million in new property tax revenue in the coming year — so this promise would send half of that, or $50 million, toward Metro Schools.

That caliber of increase would be much larger than the district received either of the past two years.

Status: Amid the city’s urgent budget struggles, funding the school system has not been a focal point in Cooper’s early weeks in office. The Metro Council wants to begin budget conversations earlier than ever — this fall — and tax revenues will be better known in February. Updated Dec. 19, 2019.

2) The outgoing administration expressed frustration at how small Metro’s state funding increase was in the past year. Cooper says he’ll lobby for better treatment. “I will join the voices of those advocating at the state level for revisions to the BEP formula to better account for the needs of urban districts and secure more funding for our schools.” (Policy Platform page 37)

Status: The legislature opens session in early 2020.

3) In a mailer, the mayor vowed to give “meaningful” pay raises to teachers. He did not specify an amount.

Status: There’s been little discussion of long-term recurring raises. The mayor did reassure teachers that a mid-year raise — promised to take effect in January — would still be provided. That funding had been jeopardized by a shortfall in the budget. Updated Dec. 19, 2019.

INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING

One of Cooper’s most memorable mailers was a cartoon illustration of a neighborhood street. And it had annotations showing all of the things along that street that would be improved under his leadership. Carrying out these changes was central to the campaign, and could prove to be costly.

4) An expanded sidewalk network, stormwater improvements, intersection upgrades, and a better bus system are among Cooper’s spending promises — “all the things that we need to get on and go ahead and fund,” he said during a televised debate on NewsChannel 5.

Status: While this is a broad promise, Cooper did move to spend more than $13 million on bridge and culvert repairs, as well as shifting how other dollars are put toward bikeways. Updated Nov. 7, 2019.

5) Cooper supports making 25 mph the default speed limit for neighborhood streets. (Policy Platform page 27)

Status: This policy will go in front of the Traffic and Parking Commission on Nov. 18, and the mayor formally announced his support on Oct. 29. Updated Nov. 7, 2019.

6) The new mayor isn’t satisfied with the pace that Nashville is adding sidewalks. “We should bring some of the sidewalk project work in-house at Metro Public Works because we know sidewalks are going to be a stable long-term capital spending need.” (Policy Platform page 26)

Status: In January, the mayor’s office said it is evaluating the costs of sidewalk construction. Updated Jan. 9, 2020.

7) Cooper, in a WPLN interview, shared a vision for the future of Jefferson Street.

“It needs to be this incredible path into the 21st century, and that’s going to require a redevelopment plan. That’s going to require infrastructure and that’s requiring all of these separate (university) campuses connecting to this plan that in the future people are going to go, ‘Wow, that is the greatest street in the South.’ ”

Status: Just getting started.

TRANSPORTATION

The new mayor was one of the most vocal opponents of the 2018 mass transit referendum, but he says it was a problem with the plan, not the premise of improving transit. Compared to other mayoral candidates, he vowed to move faster than most on increasing funding.

8) “I want to lessen the time you spend in traffic through smart solutions, connect neighborhoods through bus system improvements, and invest in infrastructure like sidewalks to improve pedestrian safety.” (Policy Platform page 6)

Status: Just getting started.

9) “I will present a fiscally responsible [transit] plan within my first year in office.” (Policy Platform page 6)

Status: Cooper has said the plan won’t be a referendum in front of voters, but that he intends to have annual transportation improvement plans. The mayor has announced 11 public meetings in January and February to inform the city’s next steps, with an intent to deliver a plan by the end of September 2020. Updated Jan. 9, 2020.

10) To fund transit improvements, Cooper envisions taking on more city debt. “It’s gonna be many hundred million dollars, right? Up next year. And then I think it’s a question of looking carefully at the finances, of figuring out how we in effect pay the interest rate on the bonds that’s going to be floated to do that plan,” he told WPLN.

Status: Just getting started.

11) Cooper wants better bus shelters, park-and-ride lots and neighborhood transit centers. (Policy Platform page 25)

Status: Just getting started.

12) Cooper says he’ll listen to requests from bus riders to have “buses run more frequently and extend the hours buses operate.” (Policy Platform page 25)

Status: WeGo, the city transit agency, has recently reduced service after a budget cut. The agency is studying its system and intends to suggest ways that routes can be more efficient and more tailored to high-demand ridership areas.

PUBLIC SAFETY

13) “I will fill the 100+ officer vacancies in the police department.” (mailer)

Status: Cooper’s campaign inflated the number of vacancies during the campaign, but he has vowed to raise officer pay even beyond the increase they are receiving in the latest budget.

14) “I will … fully staff our E-911 call center.” (mailer)

Status: This is in the planning stages. In January, the mayor’s office reported it is recruiting a new communications center director and that staff has met with Metro Human Resources and the employees’ union to understand staffing challenges. Updated Jan. 9, 2020.

15) “I will ask the police chief to set specific goals for reducing crime, reducing unnecessary uses of force, and improving public levels of satisfaction with the police.” (Policy Platform page 41)

Status: Just getting started.

16) “My administration will reinstitute the practice of conducting an annual survey to measure public levels of trust in the police.” (Policy Platform page 41)

Status: Just getting started.

17) “We need implicit bias and de-escalation training that goes above-and-beyond the standards required by the State of Tennessee.” (Policy Platform page 42)

Status: Just getting started.

18) Cooper promises to “attend police-resident meetings in every precinct each year as mayor.” (mailer)

Status: Just getting started.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Much of Cooper’s campaign message on housing was to undercut the existing proposal by David Briley. As is stands, the new mayor doesn’t have a single cohesive plan, nor measurable targets for how many housing units he wants created.

19) “I will facilitate the creation of a real ten-year plan to preserve and create a meaningful number of affordable housing units at an appropriate price with measurable results.” (Policy Platform page 4)

Status: To date, there hasn’t been a public-facing update about an affordable housing plan. In contrast, the mayor has been roundly criticized for impounding — or postponing — Barnes Affordable Housing Trust Fund grants of nearly $5 million. That action was taken to help fill a budget shortfall. Updated Dec. 19, 2019.

20) Cooper wants to include affordable housing “as part of every development Metro incentivizes.” (Policy Platform page 19)

Status: As a councilman, Cooper sponsored a Metro Council ordinance that requires the city to contribute an equal amount to the Barnes Housing Trust Fund whenever giving incentives to companies. The policy passed but hasn’t been used yet.

21) Cooper says he’ll use tax increment financing to aid affordable housing projects. (Policy Platform page 32)

Status: Just getting started.

22) Cooper says he’ll establish a revolving loan fund for affordable housing, seeded with an initial $10 million from Metro. (Policy Platform page 33)

Status: Just getting started.

IMPROVED PARKS

The mayor has spoken often about expanding city parks and greenways, as well as the programming that’s conducted in the parks.

23) “I will commit to a goal of raising the percentage of Nashvillians who live within a 10-minute walk of a park from 37 to 50 percent.” (Policy Platform pages 45-46)

Status: This metric of parks access is evaluated annually by The Trust for Public Land, so will be independently tracked.

24) Cooper vows to diversify how Metro funds its parks, citing a city report that found “our parks system is unusually dependent on a single source of funding compared to park systems in our peer cities. … Other cities have found new funding sources by creating citywide park improvement districts and by creating business improvement districts around parks, identifying sponsorship opportunities, and developing more

robust public-private partnerships to support our parks.” (Policy Platform page 46)

Status: Just getting started.

METRO REVENUES

The mayor has beaten back suggestions that Metro needs to raise taxes to fund its services or his campaign promises. Instead, he suggests the city can reap more money from other sources, such as tourism-related taxes, and by again searching the city budget for cuts and efficiencies.

25) “We can obtain additional revenue from tourism and development.” (Policy Platform pages 8-9)

Status: Perhaps the mayor’s clearest successes so far have been following through on this goal. Cooper secured an annual contribution of $12 million from the Convention Center Authority. And an additional, one-time, $3.6 million payment is being provided by the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation this year as part of the city’s emergency budget plan. The corporation says it volunteered that money from its reserves after talks with the mayor’s staff. Updated Dec. 19, 2019.

26) “The Music City Center does not pay property taxes; perhaps it should before we raise residents’ property taxes.” (Policy Platform page 10)

Status: Largely achieved, and quickly. The mayor and Convention Center Authority announced Oct. 10 that an annual payment-in-lieu-of-taxes would be given to Metro. It’s worth $12.6 million in the first year, based on what the facility would be charged in property taxes if it wasn’t exempt. The amount could change later if the tax rate is adjusted. The board for the Authority formally adopted the agreement on Nov. 7. Updated Nov. 7, 2019.

27) “I will provide robust support for the Blue Ribbon Commission to identify savings and revenue opportunities.” (Policy Platform page 13)

Status: No change, yet. The commission delivered its first report in April and decided in December to narrow its focus to tourism matters in 2020. While Cooper helped create the team, he has said that it needs more expertise to fulfill its mission of finding government savings and innovative practices. Members of the commission, however, say they don’t immediately need outside help to do good work. Updated Dec. 19, 2019.

28) “I will end the giveaway culture that is more focused on enriching a small elite than serving our entire city.” “Bad deals and park giveaways will end when I become mayor.” (Policy Platform pages 13 and 16)

Status: Just getting started.

NEW GOVERNMENT OFFICES

Mayors have latitude to establish priorities within the mayor’s office, and beyond — although creating standalone departments come with recurring costs.

29) The mayor wants to create a city Department of Transportation (Policy Platform page 27)

Status: This idea was proposed as part of NashvilleNext and targeted for potential completion during the Megan Barry administration by 2017, but it has not yet been pursued. A Metro planning document at the time suggested that Metro was struggling to pursue major transportation improvements without a focused department, and was struggling to compete for federal grants. The idea has been championed recently in the Nashville Community Transportation Platform. Updated Oct. 7, 2019.

30) “I also support creating an independent Metro Inspector General.” (Policy Platform page 3)

Status: The mayor created a Public Integrity Task Force on Oct. 22 to examine whether such a position is needed. Updated Nov. 7, 2019.

31) In interviews and debates, Cooper says he wants a new department of affordable housing, separate from the mayor’s office or the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency.

Status: Just getting started.

GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY

Cooper says government transparency is his “mission.”

32) The mayor wants to “develop an enforceable ethics code that would apply to all Metro departments and employees.” (Policy Platform page 19)

Status:The mayor’s Public Integrity Task Force is reviewing Metro’s ethics policies. Updated Nov. 7, 2019.

33) “We will conduct and publish performance audits to confirm that that money we allocate is being used where it should be used,” he says of affordable housing grants. (Policy Platform page 34)

Status: The Barnes Housing Trust Fund was audited this year, with some concerns identified.

34) Cooper wants to “review Metro’s current open records practices, to make sure that the public’s work is being done in a lawful, transparent, and public way.” (Policy Platform page 19)