Metro Mayor Karl Dean cruised to an easy victory over token opposition today, winning nearly 80 percent of the vote. His early campaign war-chest, more than half a million dollars, scared off any real challengers. That allowed Dean to focus on the positives of his first term.
The mayor campaigned on feel-good issues like the city’s response to the May 2010 flood, as well as his work in bringing in new business – and he stressed that he hadn’t raised property taxes.
Dean did not heavily promote his championing of the most expensive building project Metro has undertaken – the $585 million convention center.
Looking forward the mayor says his priority will be education.
“There’s a lot of things going on, positive things in the city graduation rates are up, truancy is down. We’ve got improved test results and test scores, but we’ve gotta keep moving forward. If Nashville gets the education piece right, there’s really no stopping this city, because there’s a lot of exciting things going on. That’s the Number One thing by far, education.”
Dean says he’ll work with School Superintendent Jesse Register, be aggressive, forward-thinking and reform-minded.
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