It’s now official. The city of Nashville will be out shopping for its fourth mayor in 5 years. After several long months of teasing the issue, the incumbent mayor in person of John Cooper has opted to not seek re-election, casting what is sure to be a turbulent contest into even further disarray.

With 12 different individuals having publicly declared their interest to fill this office, this is arguably one of the largest and tightest mayoral races the denizens of Nashville have seen in recent years. Little wonder that, in a recent poll, nearly half the population of Music City are still undecided on who to vote for, even so close to D-day!

With Nashvillians faced with the paradox of choice (so to speak), it is only to be expected that options that wouldn’t on a good day hold water will become seemingly more attractive. While this statement can undoubtedly be made for any of the twelve candidates in the running at this time, it must be clearly stated that it is truer for some of them than it is for others.

And that’s why, in this particular instance, we will be considering the case of Matt Wiltshire, one of the most outspoken mayoral candidates as of the time of writing.

Going by superficial standards alone, I will concede anyone one point; Wiltshire has the looks, stature, and tone of a mayor. Beyond carrying himself well and having a good way with words, it must also be stressed that he has this knack for being able to say almost precisely what you want to hear.

So, if you were wondering why it seems that this name is getting more traction than you would normally expect, you now know why.

Of course, while all the above attributes are certainly a good thing (everyone loves a charismatic leader!), the time must come when we must make a conscious effort to dive beneath the surface to try to unveil just what the individual has to offer.

In this regard, Matt Wiltshire’s case can be closely linked to a woven basket – it just doesn’t hold any water!

Let’s start with what is perhaps Wiltshire’s biggest problem – a glaring lack of experience and expertise in these types of matters. In the spirit of transparency, it has to be pointed out that he likely has a good understanding of how much of the affairs of the city are run.

After all, he has worked for Nashville’s Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency unit. In addition to that, he has also served as the director of the Nashville Mayor’s Office of Economic and Community Development. The level of exposure that he has had during the several years he has operated in this capacity is almost certain to have given him a somewhat unique perspective on things, there can be no doubt about that.

But, before you head to the ballot box or send your vote by mail, you need to ask yourself this simple question; is all of that enough?

In asking yourself such a tough question, there’s a place for putting things in perspective. And, to do this with any degree of accuracy, there are a couple of things that you have to keep in mind.

Let’s start with the current situation of things in the city.

Take the homelessness issue for example.

As Koch, an expert on the situation put it, “For 10 years, Nashville has not concentrated on chronic homelessness, so the outdoor population has continued to grow.” Erin Evans, another consultant on the issue further adds, “It is incredibly complicated. We’re just at a point in Nashville where we have to escalate some of the housing opportunities.”

If nothing else is plain on this particular matter, there’s one thing that you can hold on to; if nothing proactive and conclusive is done about the homelessness crisis, you can expect an even larger wave to hit the streets in the near future.

So, what do we know about Wiltshire to give us confidence that he has what it takes to fix this particular problem?

Let’s consider the crime rate in the city as well.

Platforms like Neighborhood Scout put your chances of being the victim of a violent crime in the city at 1 in 84 persons right now! The situation is getting to the point that people are starting to seriously consider trying their chances in other cities.

Can Wiltshire find a viable solution to this issue?

Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be too absurd to consider the possibility that he might have the answers to these challenges.

But in saying this, let us consider that there’s a reason we’re looking for mayor number 4 in only five years right now. The bitter truth is that, ever since the scandal of Mayor Megan Barry in 2018, the office has been significantly unstable. Needless to say, this had made things much worse instead of better.

And while I’m an advocate for giving people a chance on a regular day, the fact is that the stakes are way too high this time.

The wrong mayor at this time would throw us even further off-kilter. And, who knows if we’ll be able to recover then?

Let’s just face the facts as it is and acknowledge that we need a better mayor than Wiltshire right now. It would be too painful for us to elect him into office and then find this out in practicality.

We’ve been through more than enough as it is.

You deserve better.

I deserve better.

Nashville deserves better.