Karl Dean
American politician
Karl Foster Dean (born September 20, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 6th Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Nashville's Director of Law under Mayor Bill Purcell from 1999 to 2007.2
From Wikipedia’s article on Karl Dean (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born Sep 20, 1955.1
About
In 1990, 1994 and 1998, he was elected the city's public defender. Dean, an attorney by occupation, is currently an adjunct professor of law at Vanderbilt University Law School.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1978 and a Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University in 1981. His campaign message for Mayor of Nashville focused on improving education, public safety and economic development saying "it's all connected." During Dean's first year in office, he reworked the arrangement between Metro and the Nashville Predators in order to keep the team in Nashville. During Dean's first term, he faced two major challenges: the Great Recession and the 2010 Tennessee floods. During his two terms in office, Dean transformed Downtown Nashville by adding a new minor league baseball stadium, a riverfront amphitheater and park and a new convention center dubbed Music City Center. Dean was friendly towards business and often used tax incentives to lure companies to Nashville. He is also involved in conservationist efforts of historical areas such as Music Row through his involvement with Music Industry Coalition. He helped preserve historic sites such as RCA Studio A.
In 2017, Dean declared his candidacy for Governor of Tennessee in the 2018 election. In the first three months of the campaign, Dean raised $1.2 million and spent $200,000; he went on to win the Democratic nomination on August 2, 2018 and advanced to the general election. Dean lost the election to businessman Bill Lee.
From Wikipedia’s article on Karl Dean, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2
Companies
- Metro Nashville and Davidson CountyChair Sep 21, 2007 to Sep 25, 201511
Early life and education
- Date not recordedVanderbilt University Law School3
- Date not recordedColumbia University3
- Date not recordedGardner High School3
Education policy
During Dean's two terms, the budget for Metro Nashville schools increased by $218 million (37 percent) and Nashville schools saw increased graduation rates, reduced dropout rates, and improved test scores. He created the Limitless Libraries program, which connects Nashville Public Libraries to Metro Nashville Schools, part of a greater push to enable opportunities for under-served schools in the city.
Dean also improved school choice by recruiting charter schools to the city and augmented teaching talent by partnering with Teach for America. As a part of this partnership, summer academies were created.
From Wikipedia’s article on Karl Dean (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career
Occupation: politician.7
- 2007 to 2015Mayor of Nashville5
- 2007 to 2015Chair, Metro Nashville and Davidson County6
- Date not recordedWorked at Vanderbilt University4
Personal life
Dean has been married to Anne Davis, a prominent Tennessee lawyer, since August 6, 1983. Anne Davis is a relative of Joe C. Davis Jr. and Rascoe Davis and is a proprietor of the Joe C. Davis Foundation in Nashville. Both Anne and Karl are Catholic. Dean and his wife have three children, Rascoe, Frances, and Wallen.
Dean was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was raised primarily in Gardner, Massachusetts, and graduated from Gardner High School in 1974.
From Wikipedia’s article on Karl Dean (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Legal issues and controversies
In March 2005, Karl Dean wrote that Mayor Bill Purcell could seek a third term, despite a 1994 referendum on "any elected office authorized or created by the [Metro] charter." This was because the 1963 charter states that there is a three-term limit for mayors, the 1994 amendment took place against a backdrop of a push for congressional term limits, and local public discussion focused on the Metro Council. In January 2003, he said a proposed law to ban job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was not unconstitutional.
When Metro Council members' health-care benefits came under scrutiny in September 2004, because the Metro Charter does not allow pension benefits for Council members, Dean said that a health-care benefit wouldn't legally fall under a pension benefit, and therefore wouldn't be against the Charter.
When asked if an amendment to the Metropolitan Charter requiring raises in the maximum property tax rates approved by the Metro Council to also be approved by Metro voters, Dean believed that a court was likely to find that provision of the Metro Charter invalid. He claimed this is because the Tennessee General Assembly has not authorized the charter of the consolidated government to restrict the authority of a legislative body to levy an ad valorem tax on property.
From Wikipedia’s article on Karl Dean (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Links
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
- 1WikidataKarl Dean on Wikidata
- 2WikipediaKarl Dean on Wikipedia
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- 10WikidataKarl Dean: YouTube, on Wikidata
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