New Nashville Mayor Has A Help From His Predecessor

Former Nashville mayor Bill Purcell showed us all what a class act he is. I know plenty of people didn't like all the things he did but he proved that he wants the best for the city of Nashville. He gave new mayor Karl Dean a guidebook of what to expect and how to keep Nashville moving forward. If only all politicians would help each other out like this instead of fighting all of the time.


New Nashville mayor Karl Dean

Thank you Bill Purcell for giving your all the last few years and thank you for showing the world what a class act you are.


Former Nashville mayor Bill Purcell

Here is an excerpt from the Tennessean newspaper:

When Bill Purcell took office as Nashville's mayor in 1999, his office was missing something — furniture.

There was no desk for Purcell in Metro's courthouse and City Hall. The previous mayor, Phil Bredesen, bought a desk and other furniture for the mayor's office eight years earlier, and he took his property with him when his term was up.

"There was no furniture, just not a whole lot left over," former Purcell adviser Patrick Willard recalled.

The unceremonious handoff left Purcell determined to leave behind a raft of furniture — and copious guidance and direction — for his successor. As Karl Dean took office Friday, that determination started to pay off.

Several months ago, Purcell hired a 29-year-old political operative, veteran of transitions and former Purcell staff member, Ellery Gould, to put together a guidebook.

"He just wanted to make sure that we closed everything out without dropping any balls," Gould said Thursday. "And he knew I was a fairly good juggler."

Choice tidbits offered

The manual covers the mundane and the crucial. Among other tidbits, it tells Dean and his aides:

• Which department heads the mayor can appoint and which ones are chosen by boards and commissions. How to appoint the ones he can, especially the finance and law directors.

• How to work the voice mail on the phones.

• Whom to contact in the news media.

• Where to park and how to get keycards, cell phones and Blackberry handheld communication devices.

• The format for congratulatory letters, certificates and proclamations.

• Whom to call to fix the photocopiers or — and this is either mundane or crucial, depending on your perspective — replenish the coffee supplies.

"It gives tools to ask informed questions from day one," Gould said.


Read the full story of this gracious act in the Tennessean.