Bredesen featured at luncheon hosted by Republican mayor

Bredesen got a warm reception at a luncheon Thursday organized by Mayor Bill Haslam that included a question-and-answer session between the two that mirrored a town hall meeting.

Bredesen, whose 2002 election victory depended on carrying the GOP-leaning city, said he’s not campaigning for 2006 yet, but he clearly has forged a strong friendship with Haslam, whose family donates generously to Republican candidates. No serious candidate in any party has yet emerged to challenge Bredesen.

“I’m going to run for re-election, but I’m not for running for re-election yet,” Bredesen said afterward. “I think communication is one of the important things you do in public office. A chance like this to come and be yourself for half an hour and give people a little sense of what some of the underpinnings of your philosophy are … I thought was a good thing to do.”

Haslam, elected in 2003, said the event was not about politics but about “how to build better communities.”

“Obviously I tend to be a Republican and he tends to be a Democrat, but the reality is he’s the governor of the state and I’m the mayor. We’re inextricably linked regardless,” Haslam said.

“I thought it would be a great chance to have a conversation about a lot of things because I know he’s an honest guy. He’d say what he thinks instead of just giving me a political answer.”

Haslam asked Bredesen questions while they sat on stools on a small stage under a big tent in the middle of World’s Fair Park downtown. They joked together, and the audience of about 600 responded with applause and laughter.

“First of all, don’t run for governor right away,” Bredesen said when Haslam asked him for some advice as the former mayor of Nashville.

“Don’t worry,” Haslam responded.

On a more serious topic, Bredesen said the government response to Hurricane Katrina was poor with no one clearly taking charge.

“If something happened in Tennessee, to heck with the law, you’ve got to move in,” he said.

Bredesen said he was concerned about the federal government reimbursing the state and local governments for the costs of taking in some of the evacuees and putting them into the public school system. The federal government has agreed to pay for social services but not education so far.

The governor reported 2,880 student evacuees have registered in grades K-12, the most being 1,215 in the Memphis and Shelby County systems.

“We will have hard numbers and data to present to the federal government when it comes time for them to pay the bill,” he said.

One lesson from Katrina was the problem different levels of government had working together. Haslam said getting to know Bredesen now will help if a major event happens in his city.

“We’re working toward the same thing a lot of times and it helps to have practiced together if you will, to know each other better. If something comes up and he says, ‘Bill, we need to do this because here’s the situation,’ I’ve been around him before so I tend to think he means what he says,” Haslam said.

Bredesen said he has good relationships with most mayors, but not all.

“The ones like Bill here are very willing to be a strong partner in getting things done. I really enjoy working with him I have to say,” Bredesen said, before adding with a smile, “I wish he were a Democrat.”