Michael Mayhew

Michael Mayhew

Personal

Profession

Business consultant

Contact

Personal website

Michael Mayhew was a candidate for District 33 representative on the Nashville Metro Council in Tennessee. Mayhew was defeated in the special election on August 15, 2017. Click here to read Mayhew's campaign themes and responses to Ballotpedia's 2017 candidate survey.

Biography

Mayhew received data warehousing certifications from Oracle University, and at the time of his 2017 campaign was employed as a business intelligence consultant. His LinkedIn profile noted that he had been employed as a consultant since 1994. Prior to that, he was a law enforcement officer with the U.S. Department of Defense and spent time studying at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and National Cryptologic School.

Elections

2017

See also: Municipal elections in Nashville, Tennessee (2017)

Antoinette Lee and Tim Herndon defeated Jack Byrd III, Martez Coleman, and Michael Mayhew in the Nashville Metro Council District 33 special election.

Nashville Metro Council District 33, Special Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Antoinette Lee	39.04%	415
Tim Herndon	37.82%	402
Jack Byrd III	12.79%	136
Martez Coleman	6.59%	70
Michael Mayhew	3.76%	40
Total Votes		1,063
Source: Nashville.gov, "August 15 Election Results," accessed September 14, 2017

Campaign themes

2017

See also: Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey

Mayhew participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of municipal government candidates. The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:

“	Public Education (municipal and public sector training)	”
—Michael Mayhew (July 25, 2017)

Ranking the issues

The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the city, with 1 being the most important and 12 being the least important: city services (trash, utilities, etc.), civil rights, crime reduction/prevention, environment, government transparency, homelessness, housing, K-12 education, public pensions/retirement funds, recreational opportunities, transportation, and unemployment. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important.

Issue importance ranking
Candidate's ranking	Issue	Candidate's ranking	Issue
1	K-12 education	7	Unemployment
2	Transportation	8	Environment
3	Civil rights	9	Public pensions/retirement funds
4	Housing	10	Government transparency
5	Homelessness	11	City services (trash, utilities, etc.)
6	Crime reduction/prevention	12	Recreational opportunities

Nationwide municipal issues

The candidate was asked to answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding issues facing cities across America. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions.

Question	Response
Is it important for the city’s budget to be balanced?Answer options: Not important; Not important, but required by state law; A little important; A little important, but required by state law; Important; Very important	Important
Which level of government do you feel should set a minimum wage?Answer options: None, Local, State, Federal	State
What do you think is the best way to improve a city’s public safety? Candidates could write their own answer or choose from the following options: Increased economic opportunities, Increased police presence/activity, Harsher penalties for offenders, Public outreach/education programs	Public outreach/education programs
How do you think your city should emphasize economic development? Candidates could write their own answer or choose from the following options: Changing zoning restrictions, Create a more competitive business climate, Focusing on small business development, Instituting a citywide minimum wage, Recruiting new businesses to your city, Regulatory and licensing reforms, and tax reform	Focusing on small business development
What is the one thing you’re most proud of about your city?	How much people care about their neighbor.
What is the one thing you’d most like to change about your city?	Community Relations

Mayhew also provided the following responses to Ballotpedia's survey questions which were specific to the candidates in this election:

“	What is your opinion about the city’s current plans to improve transportation congestion in Nashville? How do you think Nashville should best address the issue? I believe the mayor is moving in the right direction. I liked to see more plans for light rail especially from the airport (I40), I24 (Antioch) and I65 (Franklin). However, i believe the best way to fund this project is through proper gasoline tax. Any plan should include new bus transportation and other means of moving people. What are your thoughts about how best to solve the problem of affordable housing in the city? I think we need to have more community programs to teach people new skills and provide them with a better education so we don't need as many affordable housing programs in the future. I believe we should offer a hand-up not a hand-out. Meaning, if houses are purchased with affordable housing grants, etc. Then when the house is sold later a percentage is collected at the time of sale and put back into the program. Basically the program should fund itself after an initial program startup. What are the key issues affecting the Antioch area today? How would you address them? too many to list here. Please see my website at www.electmayhewforcouncilman.org and click on ISSUES.	”
—Michael Mayhew (2017)

When asked for any additional thoughts or comments, Mayhew responded:

“	With the aid of welfare and public assistance, I've been able to go from needing food stamps to working as a consultant for Fortune 500 companies. The true American dream. All we need to do is offer a hand-up to those in need. Educate people and most everything else will take care of itself.	”
—Michael Mayhew (2017)

Additional themes

Mayhew's campaign website included the following themes for 2017:

“	On police-community relations If elected, I will speak to the chief of police and the mayor to see how we can get officers more one on one time with the community, I would love it if at least 1 hour each day could be spent by officers in areas where race/ethnic groups have difficulties...EVERYONE has a stake in this. We need to come together and talk. We need to take time to listen to each other. We need to try and remove the fear that is causing ALL sides to act inappropriately or with disrespect. I will be happy to meet with community leaders, individuals and groups so we can find better ways to enjoy peace and harmony. I look forward to making this one of the priorities on my list. On evaluating the need for a property tax increase I would not support a tax increase at this time. Property values in D33 rose by as much as 30% this past year. This should offset the need for a property tax for the near future. The only way I would support a tax increase down the road is if it were a direct benefit to our district in the form of improved education, assistance to older citizens, to help alleviate poverty, hunger and homelessness or some other significant "local" community project which benefits the majority of constituents. On the most pressing issues in southeast Nashville they include education, zoning, beautification, homelessness, needs of older adults, those impacted by physical impairments including hearing and vision impairments, promoting small businesses, parks, rural conservation and importance of family values. I promote "out of the box" thinking by using technology to help solve our traffic congestion issues.	”
—Michael Mayhew (2017)

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Michael Mayhew Nashville Metro Council. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Michael Mayhew - Google News

See also

Nashville, Tennessee	Tennessee	Municipal government	Other local coverage

External links

Suggest a link

• City of Nashville Metropolitan Council