Matthews

Former Metro Councilman Lonnell Matthews, Jr. will begin his new job as the director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods and Community Engagement on Nov. 12.

Matthews, 36, is definitely a homegrown leader. He grew up in North Nashville near Metro Center and moved to Bordeaux as a teen. He attended Martin Luther King Magnet School and Tennessee State University.

Matthews says he envisions a Nashville in which neighborhood residents and organizations feel empowered and capable to speak out about issues in their respective communities. He is also concerned about the neediest in our neighborhoods and says his office is a part of the solution to provide affordable housing and combat hunger.

“We want people to know they will be heard in the Barry administration,” Matthews says. “We are here to listen, respond and find solutions. We want residents to engage. I know a lot of people are frustrated with how growth is driving development in many communities. Growth is somewhat inevitable at this point, but we need to focus on smart growth.”

Matthews served District 1 from 2007 to 2015 and was the youngest-ever African-American elected to the Metro Council. He lost an at-large council seat in a runoff in September’s election.

His Metro Council positions included president pro tempore, minority caucus president and he served as the chair of the Budget and Finance, Parks, and Education committees.

Q: How are you going to approach this job? Do you have a guiding philosophy about how to work with neighborhoods?

A: “For me it’s really simple. I want to be able to empower neighborhoods. I want to be an advocate for them. I want to make sure that communities feel like they have a voice. I really want to make sure they have the platform and the ability to voice their concerns. We want to respond to, work through and find solutions to the issues that may arise.

“We also want to give support and resources to neighborhoods and communities, especially those that have organized neighborhood organizations. We want those groups to feel like they have the necessary support and resources they need to be successful in whatever objectives or goals they have for their individual communities.

“We want to help them navigate through government and get help in working with different departments. Awareness of how government takes an educational approach.”

Q: Let’s think about the next six months. What are some things you’d like to get accomplished?

A: “In the first couple of months I definitely want to create some standards in the office. I don’t want us to be a status-quo office. I want to take a strategic approach and make sure that we do have measurable outcomes. I want to make sure we are open and transparent in all that we are trying to accomplish.

“I’m really going to focus on setting up good systems in the first six months. We want to make sure we’re efficient and effective. We have a budget we have to work within, and to some extent, we have limited resources. We have to find a way to have the biggest impact with the resources and capacity we have.”

Q: Who else are you working with in the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods and Community Engagement?

A: “Erin Williams, who is our neighborhood liaison, has been working with the Office of Neighborhoods since the Purcell administration. She has the most historical knowledge among us. Ron Thompson is going to be our community engagement assistant. We are looking at adding one or two more people.

“We hope to bring someone in who can connect with new Americans and our immigrant population. That’s certainly one demographic that’s not gotten enough attention, especially when it comes to community engagement. I want to have someone in the office who is bilingual and can help with some of those communities.”

Q: Mayor Barry changed the name of your office from the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods to the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods and Community Engagement. Why were the words ‘community engagement’ added?

A: “Community engagement is added to keep the focus on constituent and neighborhood services. On a broader level we are interested in engaging the community on bigger issues such as affordable housing and transportation.

“How do we make sure that the community is informed about what’s going on? And how do we give them opportunities to be involved in the community and work towards solutions to some of these bigger issues?

“Community engagement is something that Mayor Barry spoke about as she was campaigning. She talked about wanting deeper connections and relationships with the communities in Davidson County. I think that’s why she added community engagement to the title. It’s a priority for her now that she’s in office.

Q: You officially start your position on Nov. 12, but are you already hearing concerns?

A: “Yes there are some concerns. Actually, I’m attending a NAACP meeting this afternoon, and they are specifically trying to address safety issues in some neighborhoods. There seems to have been a spike in crime lately, at least in certain areas.

“A lot of the constituent service calls and emails are centered on social services or affordable housing. As winter approaches I think the social services calls are going to increase. The same goes for calls having to do with utilities. Affordable housing in general is a big concern, and there are concerns surrounding hunger.”

Q: You will be dealing with a wide range of issues — from hunger to zoning conflicts. How does that all work? How do you plan to prioritize?

A: “We work with people on a case-by-case basis. We can help coordinate the processes for people. In some cases, there’s not been a lot of engagement on the community side and that could be because people don’t understand or are overwhelmed by the processes.

“It’s not unusual for some people in the community just to get lost in issues such as rezoning and development proposals. They can end up feeling like they just can’t engage. We want to be that resource to be able to reach out to the council person and help build that important relationship, and we can help get the councilperson more involved, if they aren’t already. We want to really focus on education and empowerment no matter what the issue is.

“Some of what we’re going to do is going to be visionary. We want to engage community groups on the front end.

“We’ve talked to Mayor Barry about how to best use community benefit agreements. We hope to meet with communities on the front end and actually vision with them. Communities can come up with their set vision before developers come in with their vision. Then the community can actually go to a developer and say, “If you really want to develop in this neighborhood, this is what we would like to see.

“The idea is to have a proactive neighborhood approach to development rather than a reactive one.”

Q: What do you think about Nashville’s growth?

A: “I love Nashville, and I love the direction Nashville is going. A lot of our growth has been positive. At the same time, I know we’ve had a lot of growing pains along the way.

“We’ve had a lot of growth in a short amount of time, and I know it’s been very frustrating for a lot people.

“I don’t think anyone really considered Nashville being so popular.

“It’s not just a place to come to visit and leave, people come here and they end up staying.

“It’s good to be attractive, but you definitely want to be cognizant of the impact of fast growth and development.

“We have to pay attention to more neighborhoods. One reason why Mayor Barry wants this office to help create community engagement is because it’s not all about downtown and the core.

“As we continue to grow we are going to have to pay attention to what’s happening in areas such as Madison, Bellevue, Antioch, Donelson and more.”