Jeff Syracuse

We have four new hotels in the works for District 15!  Three of them all are zoned for it already – Music Valley Drive, Elm Hill / McGavock Pike and Ermac Drive in Century City.  Another on Perimeter Place in Century City will have to go from IWD (Industrial) to a SP (Specific Plan).  It’s currently an undeveloped piece of property near Piedmont Natural Gas’s headquarters.  All four projects are positive developments and further highlight how important our district is as a “Hospitality Gateway” for Nashville.

Donelson has a new business that’s a School of Music – Rock Zone!  Located at 2541 Park Drive, they offer an after-school program, private lessons and more.  Check out their website here for more details and contact info.

The Metro School Board has restarted the search for a new Director of Schools.  The Nashville Public Education Foundation has put together a survey for residents to provide feedback on the process.  Click here to complete the survey.

In mid-December, EnviroScapes installed the landscaping at McGavock High School and it turned out great.  It will look even better in the Spring when it blooms.  Check out this video below that Channel 5 News did from their helicopter. 

I’m hoping Metro Schools will have the funds in next fiscal year’s budget to continue the work of rehabbing the white horizontal stripes across the school.  The “McGavock High School” lettering was recently taken down to be sandblasted and painted white and will be rehung above the North Entrance with new accent bars and new signage designating the two entrances.  Finally, the concrete work will be redone this year to improve the walkways around the school that are crumbling.

With the cold weather here, our neighbors across Davidson County experiencing homelessness are the most vulnerable and need help.  The Metro Homelessness Commission has an opportunity for volunteer opportunities.  See the below flyer for details and contact information.

Dear Friends,

The new Star Wars movie was a fun part of the Holiday Season for many families.  I certainly enjoyed taking Joey to see it and having an engaging and philosophical discussion about this very timeless story.  It’s also an excellent analogy for how 2016 began – faster than light speed!  January has flown by but it has been an incredibly productive month.  I have been working very hard on a number of initiatives.

I want to begin this newsletter with acknowledgement specifically to our Music Valley / Pennington Bend neighbors and businesses, which have seen the 2015 Holiday Season traffic as the most challenging one yet.  As the Middle Tennessee region continues to grow, we can only expect it to increase and we need to take proactive action on.  Councilman Claiborne began the effort this past summer by bringing together many Metro and State departments and agencies, businesses and neighbors to meet and discuss the increasing challenges.  Metro Public Works did hire a consultant to analyze traffic flow and propose possible solutions.  While a couple of those proposals were implemented, we learned that we need increased resources and better coordination to successfully achieve improvement.  My primary concern is public safety when our roads are gridlocked and emergency vehicles have a difficult time reaching our neighborhoods, hotels and other tourist destinations.  I’ve engaged the Mayor’s Office and Metro Departments to begin early this year to assist in developing a plan that puts public safety first, improves traffic flow and helps ensure all our businesses can benefit from the positive economic impact from the tourist activity the area receives.  I will keep everyone informed with any new developments with this effort.

There was a big turnout for the 32^nd Annual Donelson-Hermitage Chamber Christmas Parade and I enjoyed being a judge along with School Board Member Anna Shepherd, Councilman Kevin Rhoten (District 14) and DH Chamber 2016 President-Elect Sharon Kipp.  A very special moment in the parade is when the Music City Young Marines stopped at the Judge’s table and presented me with a U.S. Flag.

Opening Thursday, December 3^rd and running through December 20^th, The Larry Keeton Theatre presents the Middle Tennessee premier of A 1940s Radio Christmas Carol, a nostalgic trip back to the days of live radio broadcasts featuring comedy and drama, peppered with holiday musical favorites plus new songs in the swing style.  Dinner seating for the holiday meal begins at 5:45 pm with curtain at 7:00 pm Thursday- Saturdays and seating at 12:45 pm with curtain at 2:00 pm on Sunday matinees. Dinner/Show Tickets $21 for children 12 and under, $30 ages 13 to adults.  Call 615-883-8375 or visit www.thelarrykeetontheatre.org.

Great news about a new tenant at One Bridgestone Park, former home of the International Academy of Design & Technology (who has now moved to the Music Valley area).  The Tennessee Board of Regents will be moving in to the former original Bridgestone headquarters and make it their own HQ.  This will bring 112 jobs to this building and be great for our area restaurants and retail shops.

The Nashville Business Journal announced the 2015 Corporate Giving Awards and Smart Space was a winner among many great companies.  Congratulations to Smart Space President Floyd Shechter and the whole team for a very deserving award!

As Nashville and Middle Tennessee continue to create a master plan for mass transit in our region, the Music City Star is becoming more attractive in that the foundation is already built.  Mt Juliet and Wilson County are working to develop the areas around their train stations into true transit-oriented-development areas.  Our Donelson Station is the first train stop outside of downtown Nashville and could be a very tangible solution to offering more transit options.

Congratulations and welcome to The Dixie Drip mobile coffee shop with lunch, ice cream and more to the heart of Donelson on Old Lebanon Pike.  Upon moving to The Donelson Plaza area, neighbors have been raving about the great coffee, food and service with a smile.  Be sure to check them out.

Hip Donelson is hosting the second annual support of Small Business Saturday on November 28^th.  Shoppers will be given a card to take to all participating businesses to be punched.  Those completed cards will be entered into a drawing for a gift basket with items from participating businesses.

The 31^st Annual Donelson-Hermitage Christmas Parade presented by the Donelson-Hermitage Chamber of Commerce will be on Saturday, December 5^th at 2pm.  It’s a community tradition and a great opportunity to showcase your business or organization.  If interested in reserving a spot in the parade, visit the Chamber’s website here.

The 37^th Annual Music City Invitational Marching Contest was Saturday, October 24^th and hosted by McGavock High School.  I was honored to be asked to present the Mayors Cups awards.  It certainly brought back strong memories of my days marching trumpet and being a drum major.  McGavock did a great job at their exhibition and all the bands gave memorable performances.  Congratulations to all the participants and winners.

The Donelson Neighborhood Leader Breakfast at the Two Rivers Mansion on Saturday, November 7^th turned out great and was an enjoyable and productive morning.  Melanie Moore with Legacy Foods catered a delicious breakfast and special guests were Senator Steve Dickerson, School Board Member Anna Shepherd, CM Holly Huezo (District 13), Commander Preston Brandimore and Sgt Jeff White from our Hermitage Precinct, Sharon Kipp representing the Donelson-Hermitage Chamber and Leadership Donelson-Hermitage, and Frank Trew, President of Hip Donelson.  About 25 neighborhoods across Donelson were represented and it was a great morning of sharing successes, challenges, opportunities and discuss a number of topics about managing change and successfully creating a strong communications network.  We also discussed the Metro Arts THRIVE program, our new Donelson-Hermitage-Old Hickory Community Plan, the upcoming Metro Police Christmas Charities and much more.

Dear Friends,

It’s nice to sit down and write this next newsletter reflecting on an incredibly busy couple of weeks that have been both productive and enjoyable.  I began a new job at BMI as an Associate Director of Licensing Customer Relations and am thankful for continued professional growth and opportunity to serve BMI’s songwriters, composers and publishers.  We had our third Metro Council meeting on Tuesday, November 3^rd and it was also the National League of Cities conference that same week.  I’m looking forward to the Holiday Season approaching and hope everyone will have an opportunity to enjoy quality time with family and friends.

The National League of Cities held their annual Congress of Cities conference in Nashville during the first week of November and it was a great way to showcase our city’s success, thriving businesses, music and much more.  Attendees were Mayors and Council Members from all across the United States and was a great opportunity to share ideas and best practices.  I had the opportunity to bring Joey to the NLC Board of Director’s dinner where Emmylou Harris gave a wonderful performance after the dinner.  Joey got to meet her as well.  I love this picture of Joey with Emmylou taken backstage before the dinner and performance.

Congratulations goes to Larry Keeton for being named one of the First Night Honors, recognizing individuals who have taken leading roles in advocating for live theater in Tennessee.  Larry was recognized for his work with his namesake, The Larry Keeton Theater.

Two great events coming up at Two Rivers Mansion.  The first one coming up is the 6^th Annual Tennessee Beer and Wine Festival on Saturday, October 17.  Early tickets are on sale now at their website.

The 2015 Toast of Music City Awards were held recently and Donelson businesses were very well represented.  Congratulations to all the winners!  I hope I didn’t miss any, but the ones on the list I saw were:

• The Cupcake Collection (1^st – Best Bakery and Best Food Truck)
• Shipwreck Cove at Elm Hill Marina (2^nd – Best Local Bar)
• Gaylord Springs Golf Links (3^rd – Best Golf Course)
• Treasures Consignment – (1^st – Best Consignment/Vintage Shopping)
• Opry Mills Mall (3^rd – Best Mall/Shopping District)
• Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center (2^nd – Best Hotel)

I enjoyed the opportunity to welcome our new and improved Raceway service station at their grand opening ribbon cutting recently.  It’s a big improvement to the property and the staff were very friendly and wanted to the community to know they’re here to serve.

Hands On Nashville Day 2015 was a success and I enjoyed helping out at Donelson Middle Prep.  We painted, cleaned outdoor benches and trimmed up the trees at the front of the school.

Several months ago, Jenny White, President of Lincoya Hills Neighborhood Association, asked me about what other neighborhoods were doing to engage neighbors, encourage participation in their neighborhood, etc.  It sparked the idea of having a gathering of neighborhood leaders to share some learned best practices of communications, administration and support each other’s shared challenges.  Our neighborhoods have a wide variety of organizational structures, from none at all, to communication methods of email or social media, new to established Neighborhood Watch’s, Neighborhood Associations and Home Owner’s Associations (this is a good link that contrasts the difference between a Neighborhood Association and an HOA).  I have put together a breakfast coming up early next month at Two Rivers Mansion and reached out to all our neighborhood leaders inviting them to come.  I hope each neighborhood leader leaves that gathering with new ideas and has successful networking with other Donelson neighborhood leaders.  Finally, it will be a great way for me to say “Thank You” to those that spend their time and talents on behalf of their neighborhood.  I look forward to sharing pictures and a report of how it went.  Hopefully, it will lead to a regular beneficial gathering.

I was very happy to see a large turnout for the Neighborhood Watch meeting on September 29 organized by Pam Miller, President of River Glen and all of Pennington Bend.  They were experiencing issues largely due to Theft from Vehicle crimes.  Sgt Jeff White of the Hermitage Precinct spoke to the large group about crime prevention and answered many questions from neighbors.  Thank you to Grace Church of the Nazarene for hosting, Pam for organizing and everyone who attended.  I am always available and willing to help with Neighborhood Watch efforts if anyone needs assistance or advice.

Donelson’s own Fire Station 28 is selling shirts to the public to help fund the daily living costs at the station that are funded by each employee.  Just stop by the station or at the Hip Donelson Community Farmer’s Market to buy them.  They are $15 for short sleeve and $20 for long sleeve.

Dear Friends,

I hope everyone is well and enjoying these cooler temperatures.  I’m very thankful to each of you for the continued congratulations and well-wishes I receive as I see you out in the community.  Every one means a great deal and fills me with encouragement.

I was asked to officiate my first wedding on September 12 and it was a memorable experience.  Congratulations again to Tim & Jill Halterman and I wish you many wonderful years together.

The weather is starting to cool off a bit and there are some great events to enjoy in the weeks ahead!  Don’t forget the Hip Donelson Community Farmer’s Market is going strong every Friday until the end of October.  Lots of great information about what’s going on at the market can be found at their website.

I had a blast the weekend before last helping out the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association in building a new access point to Mill Creek.  It is located just off Elm Hill Pike under the bridge going over Mill Creek, just across from the site of the Buchanan Station Cemetery.  It was hard work, but a lot of fun and I met some new friends.  The TSRA built a very successful access point on Stones River near Kohl’s a couple years ago.  I’m meeting with them soon about a couple other possible locations to build access points in Donelson.  Check out their website above to learn more about what this great organization is all about.

Stanford Montessori is having their annual Fall Fest on September 19.  They are also seeking vendors.  See the two flyers below and come on out to support them.  You’ll find your new Councilman supporting the festival by being in the dunk tank at some point during the event!

The Donelson-Hermitage Chamber calendar has some good events coming up to share.  Nashville Shores is hosting a “Business Card Exchange” that the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber, Mt. Juliet Chamber and the Donelson-Hermitage Chamber invite everyone to on September 9.  See link above for details.

SmartSpace President Floyd Shechter will be the guest speaker at the DH Chamber’s September’s General Membership Luncheon on Thursday, September 10, addressing growth and development in the Donelson, Hermitage and Old Hickory areas.

Congratulations to Homegrown Taproom & Marketplace for having a very successful grand opening and incredible first couple of weeks.  The marketplace is still in progress and should be open later in the Fall.  It’s a great new neighborhood business and my thanks to Robin Davis and Jennifer Starks for bringing it to Donelson.

Check out these photos of beautification done by The Print Shop.  They’ve been in business since 1975 and we thank them for continuing to serve the community with pride!

The Nashville MTA/RTA Strategic Planning process, nMotion2015, continues with the release of Service Improvement Strategies, posted on their website.  I encourage everyone to sign up for updates, attend and participate at the meetings and stay involved in this issue that has become one of the most critical challenges we face in our region.

Councilman Claiborne and I led a meeting on September 1 with Public Works and neighbors on Fairway Drive to discuss a sidewalk project coming early next year.  CM Claiborne has worked on securing funding for this project for several years so we have him to thank for this finally happening.  This project will connect Stanford Montessori with our Donelson Library.  There are a number of logistics to work out over the coming months and if all goes well, it should begin in early 2016.  It should be completed in about 6-months.

Dear Friends,

This past month has been truly extraordinary and I am quite blessed.  Each and every message of congratulatory well-wishes has truly meant a great deal to me.  Sincere thanks goes to our Councilman, Phil Claiborne, for all his time, support and effort over the past couple of years as I worked towards running for the District 15 seat.  It’s made the transition to hitting the ground running that much smoother as well.  There are strong long-term initiatives and specific projects that began with CM Claiborne that the community will benefit from in the years ahead.  I believe there is a collective feeling in Donelson that very bright days are in front of us.  The energy in the community is palpable.  Look for an announcement coming soon about my first initiative to bring all our diverse neighborhood leadership together to help me be a strong voice for our community’s growth, development and preservation.  There is much to learn from each other and collectively support the variety of issues we face.

I’m proud to share the video of me taking the Oath of Office, administered by Judge Randy Kennedy.  Thanks to neighbor and friend Chris Lackey who was there and caught the memorable moment of Judge Kennedy recalling all the prior District 15 Council Members since Metro was formed and reflect on his time as a Metro Council Member in the Donelson-Hermitage area.  Big thanks to my lovely Markey for standing beside me, as well as CM Larry Hagar and my good friend Andy Depuy.  I also received the below Official Certificate of Election from the Davidson County Election Commission.

My next Soul of a City blog is online.  It’s poignant that I feature Roland White & Diane Bouska as I reflect on another past big milestone of helping strengthen my neighborhood.  Not having organized a block party before and it being something never done in the neighborhood that anyone could remember, I had a little anxiety if anyone would show up.  Not only did 100+ neighbors come, everyone brought an amazing variety of homemade delicious food to share.  Roland and Diane and a handful of other talented neighbors shared amazing music with us.  They also gave a wonderful performance for the whole community at Music at the Mansion a couple years ago.  Enjoy the selection of their tunes and be sure to catch one of their shows down at The Station Inn!

Our first official Metro Council meeting is Tuesday, October 6.  In future newsletters, I will include a section to inform you on Council activities and decisions.  Please make sure you get out and vote in the run-off election coming September 10.  Early voting is going on now.  All voting information can be found at www.nashville.gov/vote.

I look forward to seeing you soon out in the community!

Best,

Dear Neighbors and Friends,

I am humbled and filled with deep gratitude for the strong victory last night electing me your next member of Metro Council for the 15th District.

I’m very proud to say that the confidence you have placed in me is not a statement of “now it’s time to get to work”, it’s a statement of “let’s continue the work we are doing on a greater and deeper level”. Just over the past month, the facelift of McGavock High School has begun, two Neighborhood Watch’s are being formed by new neighborhood leadership in Sunset View and Eva Mor Heights and the hard work and challenge of revitalizing the heart of Donelson’s business community continues. By electing me to be your next Councilman, you’ve given me the great honor of serving all our neighborhoods, schools, non-profits and businesses in Donelson. I love this community and will continue being an attentive, focused and dedicated public servant. I look forward to the years ahead and am confident of Donelson’s bright future.

One note – this election season is not yet over. As you know, there will be a run-off election on September 10th for Mayor and Council At-Large. Encourage your neighbors who may not be registered to do so by Monday, August 10. They will then be eligible to vote in the run-off. Head to www.nashville.gov/vote for all voter information.

With a grateful heart, I am sincerely yours,

Jeff,