Brentwood Mayor Paul Webb, left, chats with friends following Thursday's Mayoral Summit at the Cool Springs Marriott.

Chamber event focuses on four key areas
By SUSAN LEATHERS
Brentwood Home Page
Regionalism, technology, transportation and the arts and entertainment were key topics addressed at the fourth annual Mayoral Summit sponsored by the Cool Springs Chamber. Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, Williamson County Mayor Rogers Anderson, Franklin Mayor Dr. Ken Moore and Brentwood Mayor Paul Webb shared their views with a packed crowd gathered for breakfast at the Cool Springs Marriott and Convention Center.

Former sports broadcaster and incoming chair of the Cool Springs Chamber Chris Stout moderated the summit.

Regionalism
The new Music City Center and related projects under construction or planned in downtown Nashville will be a boon for the entire region, said Dean, who shared that over 50 conventions are already booked, including the NCAA’s 2014 Women’s Final Four basketball tournament and the National Rifle Association meeting in 2015.

“It puts us in a whole other league,” he said of the new convention center, which is scheduled to open in 2013. An adjacent 800-room Omni hotel is being financed privately, he said, and added that the Country Music Hall of Fame plans to double in size.

“What is good for downtown Nashville is good for us and what’s good for us is good for downtown,” Anderson said, citing heritage tourism and other attractions available in Williamson County as something those visiting Nashville travel outside the city to see.

Webb noted that every year during the CMA Music Festival, “(Brentwood’s) hotels, our restaurants are full. And some of those people visiting are decision makers.”

Dean is credited with forming the Middle Tennessee Mayors Caucus, comprised of approximately 40 city and county mayors from across the 10 counties that surround Metro Davidson.

 “It takes someone to light the fire and Mayor Dean did that,” said Webb, who the opportunity to network on common issues has been one of the main advantages for him.

Moore offered a specific example of information that gleaned recently from the caucus – that the Army Corps of Engineers may start charging for drinking water taken from the Cumberland River.

Technology
When corporations look to launch or relocate, the hottest areas right now are Nashville, Austin, Texas and Raleigh and Charlotte, N.C., Dean said. The only area holding Nashville back is an educated workforce, Dean said.

 “They’re technically trained workers are a huge attraction. In Middle Tennessee, we have a deficit in those areas,” he said.

It was a point all of the mayors agreed needs to be addressed.

On a positive note, “in Williamson County we’re lucky” – 52 percent of those who live here have college degrees, Webb said. “We sell that. We say, ‘What do you want? We’ve got that.’

 “And once we get people here, they don’t want to leave.”

Moore, a retired orthopedic surgeon, noted that Middle Tennessee and Williamson County in particular are nationally known for healthcare and specifically, the information technology related to it.

Transportation
When it comes to addressing transportation woes and opportunities, Anderson had the answer.

“I would give you John Schroer’s telephone number,” a line that brought several seconds of laughter to the gathering. Schroer, the former Franklin mayor tapped by new Gov. Bill Haslam to lead the state’s highway department, had been part of the three previous mayoral summits.

“Seriously though, they are not going to go away,” Anderson said of traffic issues.

Anderson applauded Ed Cole, executive director of the Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee which graduated its first Transit Citizen Leadership Academy on Wednesday night, for helping regionalize discussions. He added he would like to see county highway departments brought into the conversations.

Commuting trends are changing, “and changing drastically,” Anderson continued, citing the number of corporations that are now headquartered in Williamson and Rutherford counties, for instance. In the past, a majority of commuters slept in Williamson County and drove to Davidson County to work. Today, employees travel in all directions to get to their workplaces.

Regional efforts by the Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Regional Transit Authority and the Transit Alliance are all vital to help plan for the future, Dean said.

Webb, who sits on the RTA board, shared that when Verizon was considering its move to the area, company representatives were asked, “What can local government do for you?” Mass transit was Verizon’s answer, Webb said.

Arts & Entertainment
While downtown Nashville has big venues, honkytonks, museums and more to offer residents and guests, Webb noted that almost every community in the region has a local playhouse or community theater that can be enjoyed by all.

Anderson used Williamson County’s public parks as one of its greatest assets. He cited Brentwood’s recent purchase of the 300-acre Ravenswood Farm and the county’s plans to establish a passive park off the Natchez Parkway as great examples of things “that government can push.”

“Nashville is literally off the charts in America when it comes to music,” Dean said, who said he has an incredible sense of optimism about the region.

“Either we were born here or we got here as soon as we could,” he said.

Moore brought up the recently restored Franklin Theater as a great example of a community coming together to accomplish something without government’s help. The theater is quickly becoming a regional draw for not only movies but concerts and live theater.

Closing the summit, Moore extended an invitation to each to attend a regional meeting at the Franklin Theater in conjunction with an event there. At the same time, he pulled small, wrapped gifts from a box and presented them to his fellow panelists.

Webb got the last laugh of the morning when he told Moore after accepting his gift,
“But mayor, I can’t vote in your city.”

Moore, a former Franklin alderman and vice mayor, is actively campaigning to win the mayoral seat he was appointed to in January. Franklin’s municipal election is Oct. 25.