Web Extra: District Council Run-Offs and Stories

The winners of the District Council Run-Offs are as follows:

District 1

Lonnell Matthews, Jr. defeats Ken Jakes

District 8

Karen Bennett defeats Randy Reed

District 11

Darren Jernigan defeats Rick McClintock

District 16

Anna Page defeats Tony Tenpenny

District 17

Sandra Moore defeats Frank Stevenson

District 21

Edith Taylor Langster defeats Harold M. Love

District 24

Jason Holleman defeats Katherine Beasley

District 33

Robert Duvall defeats Page Turner

WPLN reporters were able to speak with a few of the District run-off winners on election night. Here’s what they had to say.

WPLN’s Nina Cardona contributed to this report.

Holleman Wins District 24; Bennett District 8

Jason Holleman defeated Katherine Beasley in the District 24 council race with 60-percent of the vote. Holleman will now represent the Sylvan Park, Sylvan Heights, Richland Creek and Cherokee Park neighborhoods, all of which have very active neighborhood organizations.

“I think my first item on the agenda is to be sure that we take care of our neighborhoods as we grow as a city and that we make our schools a priority when it comes to the budget process.”

Newly elected council member Karen Bennett also intends to focus on neighborhoods. Bennett defeated Randy Reed for the District 8 seat.

Bennett says she the first item of business will be meeting with her constituents.

“The first thing that I would really like to do is to meet with the neighborhood associations and try to formulate what goals we would like to see in our community in the next four years.”

Crime a concern in District 1, a Priority for Lonnell Matthews, Jr.

The winner of the District 1 council race says citizens have complained about slow police response times. Lonnell Matthews, Jr. says his focus on the issue helped him capture the District 1 Metro Council seat in yesterday’s election.

Police representatives say a shortage in officers has stretched the force thin. Matthews’ hopes to help resolve those issues as a new council member.

“We have to look at how we’re supporting and what we’re giving them as a city. Do they have enough manpower? I want to look at and address all those issues when it comes to public safety.”

The new council will be sworn in on the 21st of this month, and will convene for the first time in a special-called meeting on the 25th.

Jernigan Ready to Listen, Learn

Darren Jernigan will take Feller Brown’s place representing District 11. He’s committed to making Nashville’s neighborhoods safer and building a stronger community. But first he says he needs to learn the ropes.

“As a first-time elected councilman, there’s gonna be a lot of listening going on for me. I often say-there’s a quote by Calvin Coolidge that a man never listened himself out of a job. But there’s a learning curve for me, so I’m not going to pretend to go in and just start demanding on what issues need to be done.”

In the meantime, Jernigan says he’ll concentrate on providing consitutent services. He says there are a lot of people in his district with problems who need help from their council memeber.