Candidate: Quin Evans Segall
Metro Council At-Large
Website: https://www.quinforcouncil.com/
Occupation: “Currently I have taken leave from my job. Prior to taking leave, I practiced transactional real estate and finance law.”
Previous candidacy/offices held: “I have had two jobs in government and serve on one board. I completed a judicial clerkship for the federal courts from 2006-2007. I was a summer intern for Oak Hill in 2004, where I drafted new zoning ordinances (most of which were ultimately adopted). I currently serve as the Vice Chair for Nashville’s Industrial Development Board.”
Community experience: “Voices for a Safer Tennessee, Co-Founder (2023); TPAC Foundation Board, member (2022-present); Belmont-Hillsboro Neighborhood Association, steering committee member and beautification chair (2022-present); Girl Scout troop leader (2020-present); Adventure Science Center annual fundraiser committee (2022); Second Sunday Gardeners, member (2018-present); WTF Young Professionals Board (2016-2017); CMFC Parent Advisory Board, annual fundraiser co-chair (2015); Family Guidance Center of Alabama, Secretary (2013), President (2014); Landmarks Foundation of Alabama, Secretary (2011), Vice-President (2012), President (2013); River Region United Way Community Council.; EMERGE Torchbearer’s Leadership Class, Class I (2009)”
What will be your top three priorities on the Council?
“Nashville has grown but our government remains unchanged. If we want an affordable, resilient City that is responsive to the needs of our residents, provides housing for all Nashvillians, has good schools, creates safe neighborhoods, and gives transit choice, then we have to have an efficient, resilient government. My priorities on council will be to create a government that can provide for and work better with residents by (1) identifying and creating new systems within Metro’s government where we currently lack any so we can be more nimble and responsive, (2) fixing our out-of-date larger systems that are keeping us from functioning efficiently, and (3) identify ways in which we can work together to create long-term budgeting goals so that we can better plan long term and also prevent annual budget infighting and uncertainty.
Some examples of systems we need to create are processes for accepting private dollars for public infrastructure, creating a more robust tiered review processes for certain improvements so permits get approved faster, and formalize cross department and intergovernmental communication for building housing. We desperately need more housing, and we simply won’t get it if we cannot make all these changes.
We also have larger systems that prevent us from caring for residents and maintaining affordability in Nashville. Our zoning code is so out of date that most projects of any size (and even very small projects) need and get a variance. When we are waiving requirements for most projects, it not only puts an undue burden on our City employees, but it also slows down the process for building necessary housing stock.
Finally, right now we budget annually with very little regard to long term needs or to waste created by annual budget fluctuations. If we want a complete bus system, if we want firetrucks to respond in a crisis, if we want to make sure we have good school facilities where kids can learn, then we have to fix how we budget.”
Much of the city’s developmental focus, like plans for a new East Bank, have focused on downtown. What’s your vision for downtown?
“With respect to downtown as it is today, we need to work directly with TDOT, NDOT and the Downtown Partnership to make Broadway a complete street, update our streets for better bike and pedestrian access, and reconfigure our grid so it functions better. We must explore the possibility of strategically closing certain streets to traffic during peak tourism times.
When tourist have complete, clean, beautiful streets and spaces and when cities show they care for their public spaces, then people treat spaces better. We also have to get the tourism industry on board with these changes if we want to see them happen. That will require proving that tourism can be even better with a cleaned up approach to our public spaces. These are hard, but necessary conversations.
With respect to the East Bank plan, I believe the Planning Department did the best it could with the information and tools at its disposal. I continue, though, to be concerned about planning an entire neighborhood without much thought to long term transit needs. Additionally, whether it is transit or trash pickup, we need to get these basics done right before we add more to our City’s plate.”
Did you or would you have voted to approve the new Titans stadium financing legislation?
“At a base level, when looking at private-public deal, a lawmaker must make the best deal one can and then must decide if it is a deal worth doing. In this instance, I do not believe that either the Mayor or the Council made the best deal possible. Time and time again, when presented with reasonable modifications that are widely accepted in similar deals, leaders deemed the modifications unacceptable. Moreover, lawmakers did not, by and large, appear open minded throughout the process, often making up their minds long before terms were final. In this instance, there was a deal that would have been worth doing, but the Mayor and our Council failed to create it.”
Does Metro need more police officers beyond the unfilled positions?
“As a former business owner, I know two things: (1) you cannot realistically assess theoretical growth needs when you’re consumed with overdue work; and (2) having open positions is not good for any organization because your employees work too hard to do good work and you end up keeping employees in certain rolls who are not good fits. The police force is no different.
Right now, we have 130 open positions. We also have 70 officers who just graduated and will need the same on-the-job training and oversight as any professional in any job would need. We have a fleet that is dramatically out-of-date and costing us significantly public dollars to maintain. We have officers who are working mandatory overtime and cannot even ask off for their own weddings. We need to focus on making sure our new officers are supported and doing the best work they can while also continuing to work to get the fleet updated and the hours worked by all officers down. Once we hit that goal, then we can see where we are and reassess whether we need more officers.”
What do you think of the current framework passed by the council around LPR (license plate readers) usage? Do you think Metro should allow facial recognition technology to be used downtown?
“I am concerned about LPRs as we currently use them for several reasons. First, stored data is accessible by State and Federal governments, and those governments interests might not align with Nashville. Second, the data can be misinterpreted and used to harass innocent people, including, but not limited to, when license plates are switched unknowingly leading to false stops and searches. Third, given that rental cars, license plate switching, and license plate hiding are all regularly employed by those evading LPRs, I am not convinced we gain much from the system relative to its costs. Similar privacy and efficacy concerns apply to facial recognition software.
I would be supportive of LPRs for traffic enforcement so long as data directly related to those who have been seen making an infraction is used and the cameras are placed equitably around town. Our streets are unsafe for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. We have to do better at enforcing our traffic rules, and cameras are more likely to do so without bias.”
Do you think a property tax rate adjustment will be needed in the next 4 years? Why or why not?
“Historically we have raised tax rates relative to reassessment years as reassessment years typically create an automatic reduction of the rate and (due to appeals) ultimately lead to fewer tax revenues. I would imagine we would need a similar adjustment in the next four years, particularly given the ever increasing needs of our City. But we must make the case for any tax increases. It is not fair to ask residents to potentially pay more taxes without specifically discussing where those tax dollars go and what residents will get in return.”
Do you view your role in the Council as leading your district on issues or simply reflecting the views of the district’s residents?
“Both. You have to lead and have a vision as a council member, but you also have to listen to residents and engage in conversation to make sure your vision and their needs work together.”
How do you view the relationship of the city and Council to the General Assembly in the face of adverse legislation from the state?
“The relationship currently is awful. I do have hope that a new mayor will help. But, I also believe it is really important for elected officials from Nashville to build bridges with counterparts regionally and statewide. My politics on national issues might not always be the same as someone from Murfreesboro/Rutherford County, but both our areas struggle with affordable housing, transit concerns, and school funding. It is much harder to be mean to people you know, even when you don’t agree with those people. We have to build these bridges. Through Voices for a Safer TN, I’ve seen how powerful these bridges are (and, frankly, how hungry everyone is for it), and I believe it is council’s duty to make them.”
The city is experiencing an affordability crisis. What is the council’s role in creating more housing for buyers and renters in Nashville?
“Council has to be a leader. Council must do the hard work of updating the zoning code. Council must communicate with all metro departments and intergovernmental agencies to make sure they’re working together. Council must be a voice when it comes to the importance of addressing the crisis. We’re not the only city facing this crisis, but unlike a lot of other cities, given the land size of our city, the low lifts needed for certain Metro reforms that would aid in building housing, and the amount of land we own, we are in a really good position to make a measurable change in this area over the relative near term.”
What improvements do you think WeGo should make during the next four years? Would you back creation of a dedicated funding source?
“We must have dedicated transit funding, and on council, I will push for a referendum for that funding. The 2024 election might be too soon, but it is doable depending on who is the mayor. If we cannot get it on the 2024 election cycle, council should take the initiative to place it on the 2026 cycle.
In addition, we have to get much better at cross town bus routes, reaching more parts of the county with our buses, and shortening the wait time for WeGo buses. I live in one of the most transit oriented blocks in the City with 1/2 mile access to 3 different routes, yet even for me it can take over an hour to get somewhere 3 miles away on a bus. Few people with a choice would use our current system.”
Second quarter campaign finance disclosure
Raised: $41,343
Spent: $24,309
Cash on hand: $75,105
Link to full disclosure here
Pre-General campaign finance disclosure
Raised: $11,574
Spent: $77,188
Cash on hand: $9,492
Link to full disclosure here