Meet 2023 Mayoral Candidate Alice Rolli

by Rod Williams, June 30, 2023- The Tennessean is doing a feature article on each of the candidates for mayor, including a video of an interview with each. Above is the Tennessean interview with Alice Rolli. Thankfully, The Tennessean has made the videoed interview with the candidates sharable, so I am able to post it here. 

If one has a subscription to the Tennessean, you can read the article on Alice Rolli at this link. Most of what is in the article is also in the video. 

My main takeaways from the article and the video: She has an impressive resume, having served as assistant commissioner of strategy for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development under Governor Bill Haslam and as special assistant and later campaign manager for U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander. She has been a classroom teacher and a neighborhood leader, in one of the most diverse communities in the city. She has deep roots in Nashville with ancestors who were civic leaders in Nashville. 

She says, "If we continue to elect the same group that has gotten us where we are over the past 20 years, we should continue to expect the same results; unacceptable rates of literacy, higher taxes, higher crime and more debt in Davidson County than the entire state of Tennessee." I certainly agree. That resonates with me. I am ready for a change. She list the following as her priorities: 

• All first graders reading.
• Improve public safety and reduce crime through improving recruitment and retention of officers and resetting from a criminal justice system to a victims justice system.
• Get the city’s fiscal house in order and to not raise taxes on residents.
• Build a more cooperative relationship with the state in order to improve quality of life by tackling regional issues such as transit, support for homelessness, and crime - issues that don’t stop at the county line - but through solving regionally will benefit Nashville residents.

She had data to support her positions.  She says that, According to Truth in Accounting, we are among the worst fiscally managed cities in the country (68/75) and labeled a sinkhole city. I am pleased to see her quote that. I knew it, but I don't know that most people know how badly we are managed. While Cooper did bring us back from the edge of a fiscal collapse or take over by the State, he did it by a massive tax increase which made Nashvillians the highest taxed residents in Tennessee. 

If you can access it, read the whole article. She does more than speak in vague generalities. She has data and specific goals. She says she will not raise taxes and that is something I have been wanting to hear.  Of course, one can avoid raising taxes by simply letting our fund balances decrease and by borrowing more money.  I think she will avoid a tax increase while improving the financial condition of the city. She also addresses the strained relationship between the State and the City.  I am convinced she is the best candidate to improve that relationship. 

I am impressed and will be voting for Alice Rolli for Mayor. 

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