Prominent member of Nashville mayor’s office to step down

A top adviser in the Nashville mayor’s office is leaving his role.

Former Metro Councilmember Bob Mendes has served as the city’s chief development officer since Mayor Freddie O’Connell took office in 2023. Now, as the Nashville Banner first reported, Mendes will step down at the end of October.

As a councilmember, Mendes was one of the loudest opponents of the new Tennessee Titans stadium when the deal was approved in the spring of 2023. But for the past two years, Mendes has overseen the development of the land surrounding the stadium, as he’s led Metro’s development of the East Bank project.

He also shepherded a new contract for Ascend Amphitheater and agreements to revitalize the Rivergate and Global Malls.

Last week, Mendes caught flak from Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton. The speaker criticized Metro’s work on the East Bank, particularly about lagging negotiations with Oracle and the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, in an interview with the Nashville Business Journal.

In a statement provided to WPLN, Mendes, an attorney by trade, says he will be returning full-time to the private sector at the end of October. He pointed to the East Bank work, along with other projects — including work on food deserts, a new fire station and the Musician’s Hall of Fame at the Municipal Auditorium — as points of pride.

The news comes as the mayor is celebrating the midpoint of his term. In a statement, O’Connell expressed his gratitude to Mendes for “setting a strong foundation for this administration on some of our most important work.”