Runoff election: Where District Metro Council candidates stand on the issues facing Nashville – The Tennessean

opinion

Sixteen candidates for eight District Metro Council seats are facing off in Thursday’s runoff election for Nashville-Davidson County voters.

Prior to the Aug. 1 general election, the candidates answered The Tennessean editorial board’s questionnaire. 

Early voting for the runoff went from Aug. 23 to Sept. 7. To prepare voters as they make their final choice on Election Day, we share their answers once again.

Compare: Read spreadsheet showing all District Metro Council runoff candidates’ answers side-by-side

Below find the candidates. Scroll down to read about their bios and click on the relevant link to compare how they answered 19 questions about policy, politics and the people of Nashville. The candidates are presented district-by-district.

• District 2: DeCosta Hastings (incumbent) vs. Kyonzte’ Toombs
• District 7: Emily Benedict vs. Clint Camp
• District 13: Russ Bradford vs. Andrew Dixon
• District 16: Ginny Welsch vs. Tony Tenpenny
• District 21: Edward Kindall (incumbent) vs. Brandon Taylor
• District 23: Thom Druffel vs. Mina Johnson (incumbent)
• District 26: Jeremy Elrod (incumbent) vs. Courtney Johnston
• District 30: Sherry Jones vs. Sandra Sepulveda

More: Where David Briley and John Cooper stand on the issues facing Nashville

More: Runoff election: Where At-large Metro Council candidates stand on the issues facing Nashville

District 2

DeCosta Hastings,

• Age: 41
• Residence: Nashville 37208
• Education: B.A.
• Job history: Insurance & Investment
• Family: Married with one child

Kyonzte’ Toombs

• Age: 40
• Residence: Nashville 37207
• Education: Vanderbilt University – BA 2001, JD 2004; Emory – MBA 2009; University of Alabama – Tax LLM 2011; East Tennessee State University – Graduate Certificate – Health Care Management 2015
• Job history: Licensed attorney since November 2004; Attorney – State of Tennessee, April 2005–April 2007; 2010-present; private practice April 2007-2008, May 2009-April 2010
• Family: Married since October 2010 to DeAngelo Toombs; 4 children – Aylisha (19), Nina (7), Jayden (5), Miles (3)

Compare the answers of DeCosta Hastings and Kyonzte’ Toombs

District 7

Emily Benedict

• Age: 46
• Residence: Nashville 37216
• Education: Bachelor’s Degree
• Job history: 2016-Current – Realtor at Village Real Estate, 1999-2012, 2013-2018 – Sales Leadership at Office Depot’s Contract Division, 2012-2013 Sales Leadership at Guy Brown Products
• Family: Married to Jessica Easley

Clint Camp

• Age: 38
• Residence: Nashville 37216
• Education: Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering (2004) Tennessee Tech University; Master’s of Engineering (2009) Vanderbilt University
• Job history: Director, W&A Engineering – 2018 – Present, Project Manager, Lose Design – 2016 – 2018, Project Manager, WSP – 2012-2016, Director of Facilities / County Engineer, Montgomery County Government – 2009-2012, Other firms – 2004 – 2009
• Family: Janey Camp, wife; Eliza Camp, daughter; Sam Camp, son

Compare the answers of Emily Benedict and Clint Camp

District 13

Russ Bradford

• Age: 34
• Residence: Nashville
• Education: B.S. from Mississippi State University
• Job history: Quality Assurance Specialist
• Family: Partner, Matt Ingram – 2 dogs Nova & Jack – cat Gulliver

Andrew Dixon

• Age: 35
• Residence: Nashville
• Education: MBA in Finance (Lipscomb University), Undergraduate in Finance (MTSU)
• Job history: Federal Department of Treasury (Bank Examiner), Banking & Finance
• Family: Married for 10 years, 5 year old son & 3 year old daughter

Compare the answers of Russ Bradford and Andrew Dixon

District 16

Ginny Welsch

• Age: 60
• Residence: Nashville
• Education: B.S., Mass Communications, TSU
• Job history: Currently, co-founder and executive director of Radio Free Nashville; Executive assistant to Managing Partner of Space Inch. Previously worked in radio with South Central Communications (WJXA and WCJK-FM), Metro Networks; Tuned-in Broadcasting (WRLT-FM), and non-profits with Crisis Intervention Center, Rape and Sexual Abuse Center, and Tennessee Coalition Against Sexual Assault .
• Family: Husband Mike Muldoon; children Michelle Muldoon and Matthew Muldoon; son-in-law Zak Monnet

Editor’s note: Tony Tenpenny did not fill out the questionnaire

Compare the answers of Ginny Welsh and Tony Tenpenny

District 21

Edward Kindall

• Age: 74
• Residence: Nashville
• Education: 1975-J.D. degree– Nashville School of Law– Nashville, TN
• 1968– B.S. degree-Mathematics– Tennessee State University-Nashville, TN
• Job history: 1965-1968– Mail Clerk, U.S. Postal Service, Mail Distribution; 
• 1968-1970-Computer Programmer, IBM, Developed System for Air Traffic Control; 
• 1970-1971– System Analyst, Burroughs Corporation – Developed Software Business Systems; 1971-1973– Director of Evaluation, Model Cities Office – Developed and Implemented an Evaluation System For Various Governmental Projects; 1974-1976-Assistant Manager of Sam Levy Homes, Metropolitan Housing Authority – Supervised and Maintained Project Site; 1976-1978– Chief Educational Officer, TN Department of Minority Affairs – Assisted Minority Businesses in Procurement of Contracts Development of Business Plans, and Securing Financial Assistance with Private And Governmental Agencies; 1978-1979– Statewide Deputy Director of National Business League – Provided Statewide Programs Assisting Minority across the State of TN; 1979-1981– Director of Nashville Federally Funded Programs – Provided Statewide Programs Assisting Minority Construction Contractors across the State of TN and assuring Compliance with Federal Laws; 1981-1984– Co-Owner and Manager of Howard Construction Company – Licensed General Contracting Work, Specializing in Residental and Commercial Contracting; 1984-1985– Tennessee State University
• Adjunct Professor of Mathematics; 1980-2016 — Practicing Lawyer – Sole Practitioner in Law Practice in these Law Area: Probate, Domestic, Bankruptcy, Criminal, Civil, Commercial, Employment, Discrimination, and entertainment; 2015-Present– District 21 Metro Council
• Family: Beverly J. Kindall- Wife, Marjorie L. Turner- Daughter

Brandon Taylor

• Age: 37
• Residence: Nashville
• Education: University of Memphis
• Job history: Nashville Rescue Mission
• Family: Wife

Compare the answers of Edward Kindall and Brandon Taylor

District 23

Thom Druffel

• Age: 67
• Residence: Nashville 37205
• Education: B.S., Business and Hospitality Management, Florida State University; M.B.A., Finance, California State University, Long Beach
• Job history: I have been fortunate enough to enjoy a long career in the hospitality industry. I am currently the General Manager of Holiday Inn Vanderbilt.
• Family: My wife Margie and I have a wonderful family with two sons, Sean and Andy, a daughter Meaghan, and our dog Annie.

Mina Johnson

• Age: 60
• Residence: Nashville 37205
• Education: Graduate of Japanese Public-School System, ESL Class at Emory University
• Job history: Councilmember, Community Volunteer, Corporate Interpreter/Bilingual Recruiter, Hospitality Management, Accounting Assistant
• Family: Husband, mother, family dog

Compare the answers of Thom Druffel and Mina Johnson

District 26

Jeremy Elrod

• Age: 38
• Residence: Nashville 37220
• Education: Bachelor of Arts – University of Tennessee at Martin; Juris Doctorate – Nashville School of Law
• Job history: Currently, I’m an attorney who serves as the Director of Government Relations for the Tennessee Municipal Electric Power Association, where I work with state policy makers and utilities across the state. Previously, I worked over a decade at the state legislature mostly dealing with state transportation and road safety policy for the House Transportation Committee. My career has been focused on improving and investing in vital infrastructure for communities and residents.
• Family: Married to my wife. We have two 4-year-old sons that started kindergarten at MNPS.

Courtney Johnston

• Age: 40
• Residence: Nashville 37211
• Education: B.S. Finance, LSU
• Job history: Debt Reorganization Specialist, Deutsche Bank; Partner, One Call Catering; Owner, Acklen Park Cafe and Catering; Owner, Comprehensive Clinical Solutions; Realtor, KW and Synergy Realty (current)
• Family: Husband – Daniel Johnston (2017), no children, dog – Raleigh (westie)

Compare the answers of Jeremy Elrod and Courtney Johnston

District 30

Sherry Jones

• Age: 72
• Residence: Nashville 37211
• Education: Antioch High School & some college
• Job history: Former state representative, former council member, former small business owner, and former congressional aide
• Family: Son, Ricky Jones, daughter, Summer Jones, grandchildren, Bailey, Aidan, Isabella, Parker, and great grandson, Paxton

Sandra Sepulveda

• Age: 26
• Residence: Nashville
• Education: B.A. in History, Trevecca Nazarene University
• Job history: Operations manager, Tennessee Democratic Party, 2015-Present
• Family: My parents, brothers, sisters, and nephews all live in Nashville.

Compare the answers of Jeremy Sherry Jones and Sandra Sepulveda

David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY NETWORK Tennessee and an editorial board member of The Tennessean. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas. Subscribe and support local journalism.

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Published 10:09 PM EDT Sep 11, 2019