Jennifer Gamble just won a second Council term representing District 3. She ran unopposed for her second term and expressed her deep appreciation and trust that her constituents put in her.
The Contributor talked with Gamble as part of a series called A Few Questions With where we interview councilmembers about their district’s most pressing issues.
How would you describe the new District 3?
Redistricting happened based on the 2020 Census that takes effect this year. In the new District 3, we don’t have a rural area, which we had in the old District 3. In the new District 3, which includes Parkwood, Whites Creek, Goodlettsville, and Madison, we have urban and suburban communities that share similar interests, goals, and quality of life issues. It is still demographically and geographically diverse, but urban and suburban issues are more tied together. The rural areas had different issues.
What are the main concerns you hear from your constituents?
The main things I hear about are quality of life issues. For example, neighborhoods need more sidewalks, traffic calming, infrastructure improvements and stormwater improvements. Transportation/transit is a major issue in my district as well. We recently got a new cross-town WeGo bus route, Route 79, which goes from the Skyline Medical Center area over to Madison, which is great. Prior to having that cross-town route, riders had to go all the way to downtown to transfer to get a bus to get them across town. So, this cuts down travel time, it offers more frequency of service, and more people are able to use the transit system in a more efficient way. I look forward to having more of that as we’re moving into this next term.
Affordable housing is another big [issue], especially looking at middle housing. Of course, we need more low-income housing, but we also need middle housing for middle-income families to be able to invest in and enjoy the quality of life in our district and in the city where they work.
The Tennessee Legislature has recently taken several measures that interfere with and are disruptive to Metro business. How do you ensure that these issues do not distract from your constituents’ needs?
As we look at ways that we can work better with the state to address the needs of our community, looking at issues that are regional in aspect such as transit is one way we can build better relationships so that we’re not always in conflict. People in our surrounding counties, Montgomery, Rutherford, Wilson counties, etc., come into Nashville to work but live in those outlying counties.
It’s true, the state has come forward with several measures to micromanage and control our city. Nashville is doing well as a city. We are leading in the state as far as economic development and other areas. And I think the state is not taking full advantage of those policies and things that have propelled our city to the position that it is in.
I would like in this next term as we look at the measures the state has taken to try to control our airport authority, our sports authority, and looking at reducing the Metro Council, to continue to communicate and push back on those things because they are not in the best interest of our residents and citizens of our city. But I also want to look at ways we can try to build better relationships and work in a mutually beneficial way that can enhance our city and state moving forward.
The initial reaction is, of course, we don’t like what the state is doing. It’s not helping, it’s hurting us. But at the same time, we need to look at how we can work better together so that we can address the needs of the city and the state and move us all forward in a beneficial way.
During the past year, you served on the powerful budget and finance committee as the vice chair. What are some of the main budget issues that you see a new administration and the new Metro Council tackle for this upcoming year?
In this past year, it was really important for our Budget and Finance [Committee] and for our city budget that we look at increasing pay for our Metro employees to be at the level of inflation. We had done incremental increases over the past four years, but of course, inflation has continued to rise and our salaries have not kept up with inflation. It was very important that we address that. And we did. The Metro Council approved a 6-percent increase in cost-of-living adjustment across the board to [keep] our employees at a livable wage, so they can live and work in Nashville.
I think moving forward this next year, we need to focus on more investments in affordable housing, as we know that is a crisis in our city, and also transit. I cannot say that enough. As our city continues to grow, there is not enough land to build enough lanes for all of the cars. And so, the best way from research and living in other cities — I come from Chicago — transit is a way that many cities have addressed growth and those types of issues that come with growth in regard to transportation. Those are the top priorities I see moving forward, and of course, we [should] continue to invest in our infrastructure, our sidewalks, our traffic calming, those things that improve the quality of life for our citizens.
What direction would you like the city to take to tackle homelessness?
Homelessness is a global crisis. It’s estimated there are 150 million homeless individuals worldwide and that accounts for about 2 percent of the world’s population. Here in Nashville, homelessness is up 11 percent from just last year. So, of course that is an issue that needs to be a priority in our city and in our investments.
The Metro Council approved a 50-million investment of our American Rescue fund dollars to address homelessness in Nashville. And part of that money will go toward gap financing for developers to provide more multi-family mixed housing developments and working with organizations such as MDHA to bring more housing units online. Also, a part of that money is going toward Housing First supportive services, which is [an approach] that has been modeled in several cities across The United States to provide wraparound services for homeless individuals. That also helps dealing with populations with mental health and substance abuse issues and factors that may lead to homelessness. Additionally, [we invested in] gap housing to provide temporary housing and related services. It takes time for someone to go from homelessness to a stable living environment. This temporary gap housing program will address that need in providing long-term services and assistance that will ultimately result in long-term housing sustainability. Finally, a part of that money is going toward landlord engagement to work with landlords of various properties to provide permanent housing units for individuals in need.
I think [we should invest] more in homelessness, mental health services, and also substance abuse treatment. The Opioid crisis is huge in our city and our state. [There is a need in] putting more resources in prevention and education about Opioid use and helping to address that issue as well.
Anything else?
As we move forward in this next term. I’m very optimistic, I’m very excited about the direction our city is headed in as far as addressing and focusing on those priorities and areas that really speak to the needs of our residents.
When I ran in 2019, I ran because I thought the focus of our city government was too heavy on business and tourism in Downtown. I thought that we needed to put more focus on our communities, our neighborhoods, and the quality of life for our residents. I think we’ve done that in our last term, and I’d like to see that continue as we move forward.
I’m not saying that we don’t focus on our Downtown businesses and tourism. We need to do that, but we need to balance it. We have to address the needs of our residents and make that a priority as well. So, one of the quality of life issues that I’m focusing on in my district, in addition to transit, is to get a library. District 3 does not have a public library and so that is something that the community really wants and needs. We have identified a building, a closed school on Brick Church Pike, which is in the heart of the urban North Nashville area. Mayor Cooper has put in funding in the Capital Improvements Budget to pay for the construction and renovation of the school to make it into a library. We’re starting to have discussions with the Planning Department and the community to see what all we want to have included in that building. That is another priority that I’ll be working on in this next term and look forward to seeing that come to fruition.