Thank you, Nashville.

It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve you in the Metro Council since 2015.

Tonight is my last Council meeting. In looking back, it’s easy to focus on the things that made headlines like stadiums and pandemics. What I’ll cherish most though are the small moments. When I have received a handwritten thank you note from a teacher about working for more competitive pay, it inspired me to keep pushing for a better budget. When I’ve gotten a group hug from immigrant community advocates, it helped me envision a Nashville for all. When a stranger stopped me and told me she felt more at home and safe in Nashville because of my voice and my actions for our LGBT community, I cried.

The opportunity to improve the lives of individual Nashvillians has moved me to try to be a better person and a better Council member. Because of this, I am taking much more from the experience of being in the Council than I have given.

Through my time in the Council, I have tried to be honest, transparent, and direct. To the best of my ability, I’ve voted my conscious without consideration for what a particular vote might mean to my future political or professional career. I’ve done this in part because no politician has a crystal ball — most politicians cannot regularly predict with accuracy how zigging or zagging on a particular vote will impact their future likeability, influence, position, or success. Voting the merits of an issue and only the merits can’t ever be wrong.

Although not everyone has been a fan of how I’ve handled myself in the Council, I leave office proud to have stood with and for the people of Nashville for these last eight years. In the coming weeks and months, I’ll work to find new ways to participate in our community.

Thank you.