Ep. 17: Vivian Wilhoite, Assessor of Property, Auditions to Become Music City’s next Mayor

Climbing the Charts with Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller

Climbing the Charts sat down with Vivian Wilhoite, a former two-term member of the Metro Council (District 29) and current Assessor of Property for Davidson County (since 2016). And on April 28th, 2023, she formally announced that she would be auditioning for her biggest role yet: Mayor of Music City.

Among the top ten candidates vying to become Nashville’s 10th mayor since the consolidation of the Metro Government in 1963, Vivian is now one of FOUR African-American women candidates. If elected, Vivian would become the first African-American mayor of Music City, and only the second woman. Vivian has been a trailblazer since, at the encouragement of her cousin Homer R. Wheaton - aka, “Uncle Homer" - she arrived in Nashville from Gulfport, Mississippi to attend college at Tennessee State University (TSU).

Vivian tells us her story of how she got a start in a real estate career – first as a real estate appraiser with the Tennessee Regulatory Authority (TRA), where she would become Chief of the Consumer Services Division, to her current role as the head of a team of 87 professionals at the Office of the Assessor of Property—a government services division that would be selected as a finalist for the Nashville Business Journal’s “Best of Business” awards in 2022. This episode will be of particular interest to anyone who wants to gain a deep(er) understanding of property values and property taxes in Davidson County. Vivians explains what her office does, how it differs from the role of the Davidson Country Trustee, and explains how her office’s role interplays with state law, including “equalization,” as well as the roles of the Mayor and Metro Council in the overall process (a fascinatingly complex process that few people, including even many “experts,” do not fully understand!).

Lastly, Vivian reveals her personal side, including her love of various types of music, shares some her personal and professional accomplishments, and tells us about the wells from which she derives much of her energy and motivation.

With the release of this episode, Climbing the Charts concludes its conversations with the top ten (10) candidates vying to become Nashville’s next mayor in 2023. If you or someone you know is trying to decide who to vote for, please pass along the recommendation to listen to our conversations in a long-form format that gets beneath the surface and sound bites and provides a more real, 3D, way to get to know the candidates.