Almost impossibly too soon, the city of Nashville has once again come to the point where they have to choose who will serve as mayor. Now, unlike what we have had to witness in recent years, things will be very different this time around. Perhaps the biggest reason for this is due to the fact that the incumbent officeholder won’t be vying to hold their seat this time around.

As we would all readily agree, this city is home to some of the best and brightest minds in the country. Because of this, it comes as little surprise that the office of mayor will be heavily contested this time around. What this translates to in a nutshell is that the people of #Music City will have a fine crop of options to choose from when election day finally rolls in.

One person in particular that has been singled out as perhaps the ideal candidate for the job is none other than incumbent state senator #Jeff Yarbro. Having spent the better half of the last eight years serving the people in such a major capacity, it should come as little surprise that he has a level of name recognition that only a few of the other contestants can truly boast of.

However, it must also be said that this name recognition is the biggest reason that #Yarbro shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the seat of mayor.

As we all know, Yarbro has been a state senator since 2014. He got into office four years after losing to the then incumbent #Senator Douglas Henry by just 17 votes. But since then, what else have we heard?

According to a report that he made to News Channel 5, Yarbro claims that he has been instrumental in the passing of more than 75 pieces of legislation in the General Assembly. The big question is, how many of these alleged pieces of legislation do the people of Nashville know? How many of these legislations have impacted our way of life in a meaningful and relevant way? How many of them are even real, to begin with?

Answer these questions keeping in mind that Yarbro has served as Minority Leader of the chamber for nearly four years as well.

The problem with Yarbro isn’t particularly a unique one. On the contrary, it’s quite common and can be readily spotted all over the country. Throw a stone today and you’ll hit at least three high-profile political individuals with zero impact in the office that they were elected to. These people have contested and won various political offices and served in various capacities yet you can’t honestly point at one accomplishment to justify their existence.

In political waters, they certainly make a huge splash. But when it comes to the things that truly matter, they just fade into obscurity. These types of individuals are essentially all show and no substance.

When it’s all said and done though, the argument can be made that any damage that his ineffectuality in the General Assembly has caused is on the whole negligible. The biggest reason for this is that most people tend not to expect the heavens and the earth from their state senator.

However, the situation becomes radically different when it’s the office of the mayor we’re talking about.

Due to the vast power embedded in that particular position, it starts to show almost immediately when a person is doing a subpar job. One possible reason for this is because, in these conditions, they have less cover to get behind.

Of course, many would proffer the argument that the office of the state senator has limited power and that is likely why we haven’t seen Yarbro at his best. That may be so. But the truth remains that if he can’t do anything meaningful with what little influence he had in the past, there isn’t any reason to believe that he would do significantly better with more power.

In all of this, it is important to remember that the Music City currently sits on a precipice and we’ve all got more than a little to lose if we appoint an ineffectual leader at this time.

Yarbro represents a league of politicians who take under the guise of serving the people. And while Nashville might need a lot of things right now, one thing we can all argue the city can do without is another figurehead leader.

Let’s take the future of Nashville seriously.

It’s high time someone saw Jeff Yarbro for what he truly is.

Let’s give Nashville the mayor it deserves.