Nashville are Chamber of Commerce is hosting a meet the candidates and debate.
For more info...........
Monday, June 18, 2007
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Humbled
I am sure these candidates will find this to be a very humbling experience. Is Buck Dozier up to the challenge? I think so.
A 1/2 a Paycheck Away-My Story
I can't exactly say I have been homeless, but close to it. I have had to sleep in hotels because I couldn't find a place to live. Looking for affordable places is even harder. I always looked for two bedroom places. Myself, husband and three children. Two bedrooms is all we could afford and most landlords won't rent two bedrooms for a family of five. So what were we to do. Finally we just had to break down and lie and say we just had 2 and then we could get in.
These days it's even harder to get into a place. Landlords will now do a credit check before they will rent to you. If you have had a hard time paying your bills then your credit will be blemished. For some, its no fault of there own and some its not. But for those that it's no fault of their own it's truly not fair.
For the working poor we are just a 1/2 a paycheck away from being in the streets.
These days it's even harder to get into a place. Landlords will now do a credit check before they will rent to you. If you have had a hard time paying your bills then your credit will be blemished. For some, its no fault of there own and some its not. But for those that it's no fault of their own it's truly not fair.
For the working poor we are just a 1/2 a paycheck away from being in the streets.
One Man's Story
I'll See Your One Night, and Raise You
As David Briley, Buck Dozier, and Howard Gentry get ready to take the "urban plunge" (a night where people of privledge experience a little of what its like to be homeless), one candidate for At Large says he's been there, done that.
I have gone through this before already and remember it well. I was 18 years old in 1982 right out of high school and put out on the street. I would travel up and down the streets in downtown Knoxville during the 1982 World's Fair. I slept @ a Krystals, Continental Trailways bus station and even would sneak into the back of the carnival games at the fair and sleep on the stuffed animals. My food consisted of a spoon and jar a peanut butter. When I came back to Nashville, I was working at Steak & Ale in Rivergate. To save money for a place to live, I slept on the front sidewalk of the restaurant nights and get up early, enter with morning crew and bathe in the sink. So, you can see, even though I am not homeless now, I was and understand the meaning of wanting a home. If you think this would suffice for the night on the streets, I would be glad to talk to anyone about my ordeals. This would also include being beaten up by 2 men in Knoxville and robbed of my shoes, wallet and $0.01 I had to my name.
Who is the lucky (or unlucky) candidate? J. Gower Mills. Now a prison guard with a roof over his head, Mills experienced the "loneliness and hopelessness of being homeless and hungry" in ways no person can in one night.
Source: http://seanbraisted.blogspot.com/2007/06/ill-see-your-one-night-and-raise-you.html
As David Briley, Buck Dozier, and Howard Gentry get ready to take the "urban plunge" (a night where people of privledge experience a little of what its like to be homeless), one candidate for At Large says he's been there, done that.
I have gone through this before already and remember it well. I was 18 years old in 1982 right out of high school and put out on the street. I would travel up and down the streets in downtown Knoxville during the 1982 World's Fair. I slept @ a Krystals, Continental Trailways bus station and even would sneak into the back of the carnival games at the fair and sleep on the stuffed animals. My food consisted of a spoon and jar a peanut butter. When I came back to Nashville, I was working at Steak & Ale in Rivergate. To save money for a place to live, I slept on the front sidewalk of the restaurant nights and get up early, enter with morning crew and bathe in the sink. So, you can see, even though I am not homeless now, I was and understand the meaning of wanting a home. If you think this would suffice for the night on the streets, I would be glad to talk to anyone about my ordeals. This would also include being beaten up by 2 men in Knoxville and robbed of my shoes, wallet and $0.01 I had to my name.
Who is the lucky (or unlucky) candidate? J. Gower Mills. Now a prison guard with a roof over his head, Mills experienced the "loneliness and hopelessness of being homeless and hungry" in ways no person can in one night.
Source: http://seanbraisted.blogspot.com/2007/06/ill-see-your-one-night-and-raise-you.html
The Urban Plunge
Briley, Dozier & Gentry to Take the “Urban Plunge”
Breaking news from the Nashville Homeless Power Project
David Briley, Buck Dozier, and Howard Gentry will be the first to do the “Urban Plunge” a.k.a. “A Night on the Streets.
An “Urban Plunge” is when economically‑privileged people dress down, empty their wallets, and spend time on the streets as “poor” people. The Mayoral Urban Plunge in Nashville is the first of it’s kinds according to the National Coalition for the Homeless.
The 6 Candidates for Nashville Mayor have committed to spending 10 hours (10pm – 8am) out on the streets of Nashville.
There will be a post plunge press conference at 7:30am on Wednesday, June 20th, 2007, location tba, where all candidates will converge at a location to be determined and respond to questions from the homeless community and the media.
The purpose of the plunge is to provide the candidates with first hand and direct experience of being homeless so they can fully understand the impact of public policy decision will have on those who are on the streets. The Power Project has set forth goals for the candidate during their time including:
To find a legal place to sleep outdoors
Sleep on a bench for 20 minutes or so.
Enter a restaurant and ask if you can sweep the sidewalk or do other work for a sandwich.
Find a place to eat breakfast
Ask for Money/panhandle in a place where you are least likely to be recognized.
According to the Michael Stoops, Executive Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, “Economically-privileged people across the country have done urban plunges as a way to better understand homelessness.
It is the most effective way we have learned for people to understand this reality. 10 hours is not nearly enough and the suggested minimum PLUNGE is 48 hours but we are thankful that they are willing to do this night on the street. Having said that, as far as I know, the National Coalition for the Homeless has never heard of any other city in this country in which political candidates have agreed to do the Urban Plunge. While this should be part of every candidates campaign unfortunately this is a rarity and is truly historic.”
For more information contact Matthew Leber, Organizer, Nashville Homeless Power Project, 42 The Arcade, Nashville, Tennessee 37219, (615) 733-0633, (615) 977-5098 or 414-3788, or email matt@homelesspower.org.
Source: http://www.liberadio.com/2007/06/14/briley-dozier-gentry-to-take-the-urban-plunge/
Breaking news from the Nashville Homeless Power Project
David Briley, Buck Dozier, and Howard Gentry will be the first to do the “Urban Plunge” a.k.a. “A Night on the Streets.
An “Urban Plunge” is when economically‑privileged people dress down, empty their wallets, and spend time on the streets as “poor” people. The Mayoral Urban Plunge in Nashville is the first of it’s kinds according to the National Coalition for the Homeless.
The 6 Candidates for Nashville Mayor have committed to spending 10 hours (10pm – 8am) out on the streets of Nashville.
There will be a post plunge press conference at 7:30am on Wednesday, June 20th, 2007, location tba, where all candidates will converge at a location to be determined and respond to questions from the homeless community and the media.
The purpose of the plunge is to provide the candidates with first hand and direct experience of being homeless so they can fully understand the impact of public policy decision will have on those who are on the streets. The Power Project has set forth goals for the candidate during their time including:
To find a legal place to sleep outdoors
Sleep on a bench for 20 minutes or so.
Enter a restaurant and ask if you can sweep the sidewalk or do other work for a sandwich.
Find a place to eat breakfast
Ask for Money/panhandle in a place where you are least likely to be recognized.
According to the Michael Stoops, Executive Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, “Economically-privileged people across the country have done urban plunges as a way to better understand homelessness.
It is the most effective way we have learned for people to understand this reality. 10 hours is not nearly enough and the suggested minimum PLUNGE is 48 hours but we are thankful that they are willing to do this night on the street. Having said that, as far as I know, the National Coalition for the Homeless has never heard of any other city in this country in which political candidates have agreed to do the Urban Plunge. While this should be part of every candidates campaign unfortunately this is a rarity and is truly historic.”
For more information contact Matthew Leber, Organizer, Nashville Homeless Power Project, 42 The Arcade, Nashville, Tennessee 37219, (615) 733-0633, (615) 977-5098 or 414-3788, or email matt@homelesspower.org.
Source: http://www.liberadio.com/2007/06/14/briley-dozier-gentry-to-take-the-urban-plunge/
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
BUCK DOZIER WINS!!!!!!
Congratulations for the small victory at the Republican mayoral straw poll. He got a whooping 53.6 % over second place Bob Clement. It's a small victory over a big race but a victory none the less.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
The issues and plans
Our blog is going to compile some of the issues that Buck Dozier has commented on.
Calls On The August 2007 Local Elections To Be A Referendum On Education
Nashville Mayoral candidate Buck Dozier today announced a comprehensive education agenda focused on making Nashville “The Athens Of Education In America.” Dozier called on other candidates running for office to join him in an open, public dialogue to
make education “a central issue” in the August 2007 elections.
“More than any other local issue we face, the education of our children has the broadest impact on families, on neighborhoods, on public safety, on our economy and on our future,” said Dozier. “That’s why I intend to use my political capital and campaign bully pulpit over the next nine months to turn this local election into what should be a referendum on education. I would encourage all candidates on the ballot to commit to
engaging in a public dialogue on ways to improve our system.”
Dozier said all candidates running next year will declare that they are “pro-education.”
He added that “what will distinguish one from the other will be what each candidate really means when they say they are pro-education.”
“I want this campaign cycle to be remembered not for clever slogans or slick TV ads, but as the moment when we as a community – and we as candidates for public office –
agreed to begin a real dialogue on education, with no sacred cows and no ideas too smallor too big to consider,” Dozier said.
Dozier said that Nashville in the 1800s was dubbed the Athens of the South because “we were home to progressive thinkers, home to numerous institutions of higher learning, and because, like ancient Greece, thinking and learning were held in high regard.”
“I advocate bringing the Athens theme back and focusing it on education,” Dozier said.
“We have the resources and we have the great thinkers. It’s time.”
Dozier said his education agenda for Nashville – designed to help Metro reach the goal of being “The Athens Of Education In America” – includes:
• More of an education activist’s role for the Mayor and the Mayor’s Office;
• Incorporating best practices throughout our education system;
• Creating more learning environment options for children;
• Ensuring safer learning environments for students and children;
• Forging stronger, more defined partnerships among resources in our community to support public education;
• Encouraging more outside-the-box thinking when it comes to instructional activities in learning environments;
• Working to secure a fairer share of federal and state funds to support public education locally; and
• Issuing an unprecedented challenge to all citizens.
http://buckdozier.blogspot.com
“The unprecedented challenge to all citizens,” Dozier explained, “is for all of us to work toward raising a $1 billion endowment over the next 10 years to support the introduction of innovative instructional activities in our public schools.” Dozier said a $1 billion endowment will generate an estimated $75 million each year in perpetuity for education, without ever touching the principal balance of the endowment.
“If we all agree that Nashville should be ‘The Athens Of Education In America,’ then each of us will have to think big and think outside the box on multiple fronts,” Dozier said.
Dozier said his proposed agenda “is an effort to take bold steps to bring other resources to the table, to seek out best practices wherever they are, and to look beyond our own inner circle for new ideas and a new way of teaching our children.”
To read Dozier’s full address on education, go to his campaign Web site at
www.dozierformayor.com.
Calls On The August 2007 Local Elections To Be A Referendum On Education
Nashville Mayoral candidate Buck Dozier today announced a comprehensive education agenda focused on making Nashville “The Athens Of Education In America.” Dozier called on other candidates running for office to join him in an open, public dialogue to
make education “a central issue” in the August 2007 elections.
“More than any other local issue we face, the education of our children has the broadest impact on families, on neighborhoods, on public safety, on our economy and on our future,” said Dozier. “That’s why I intend to use my political capital and campaign bully pulpit over the next nine months to turn this local election into what should be a referendum on education. I would encourage all candidates on the ballot to commit to
engaging in a public dialogue on ways to improve our system.”
Dozier said all candidates running next year will declare that they are “pro-education.”
He added that “what will distinguish one from the other will be what each candidate really means when they say they are pro-education.”
“I want this campaign cycle to be remembered not for clever slogans or slick TV ads, but as the moment when we as a community – and we as candidates for public office –
agreed to begin a real dialogue on education, with no sacred cows and no ideas too smallor too big to consider,” Dozier said.
Dozier said that Nashville in the 1800s was dubbed the Athens of the South because “we were home to progressive thinkers, home to numerous institutions of higher learning, and because, like ancient Greece, thinking and learning were held in high regard.”
“I advocate bringing the Athens theme back and focusing it on education,” Dozier said.
“We have the resources and we have the great thinkers. It’s time.”
Dozier said his education agenda for Nashville – designed to help Metro reach the goal of being “The Athens Of Education In America” – includes:
• More of an education activist’s role for the Mayor and the Mayor’s Office;
• Incorporating best practices throughout our education system;
• Creating more learning environment options for children;
• Ensuring safer learning environments for students and children;
• Forging stronger, more defined partnerships among resources in our community to support public education;
• Encouraging more outside-the-box thinking when it comes to instructional activities in learning environments;
• Working to secure a fairer share of federal and state funds to support public education locally; and
• Issuing an unprecedented challenge to all citizens.
http://buckdozier.blogspot.com
“The unprecedented challenge to all citizens,” Dozier explained, “is for all of us to work toward raising a $1 billion endowment over the next 10 years to support the introduction of innovative instructional activities in our public schools.” Dozier said a $1 billion endowment will generate an estimated $75 million each year in perpetuity for education, without ever touching the principal balance of the endowment.
“If we all agree that Nashville should be ‘The Athens Of Education In America,’ then each of us will have to think big and think outside the box on multiple fronts,” Dozier said.
Dozier said his proposed agenda “is an effort to take bold steps to bring other resources to the table, to seek out best practices wherever they are, and to look beyond our own inner circle for new ideas and a new way of teaching our children.”
To read Dozier’s full address on education, go to his campaign Web site at
www.dozierformayor.com.
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