Meet Mr. Politics: Bo Mitchell

Bo Mitchell

Bellevue Councilman Bo Mitchell sits in the last desk of the last row of the Metro Council Chambers. It is a perfect analogy for his political career.

Behind the scenes. Under the radar. In the background.

Mitchell doesn’t often stand up to speak at Council meetings. He doesn’t proactively call reporters or grandstand for Metro cameras.

Apart from an awkward heated confrontation with Councilman Eric Crafton after the Aug. 19 meeting, the affable Mitchell gets along with most of his contemporaries and generally goes about the business of representing his constituents in an earnest fashion.

Behind the scenes, under the radar and in the background, District 35’s Mitchell is not only an elected official but also a Democratic Party political operative with a long track record. He’s had one role or another for a Democratic campaign in every election year dating back to 1992.

Mitchell has his own cottage industry providing nuts and bolts tools and consulting to dozens of campaigns. His political consulting business has earned him thousands of dollars over the years, while Mitchell also has worked off and on for various state offices.

Mitchell has managed campaigns for State Rep. Gary Moore and the late State Sen. Pete Springer along with General Sessions Judge Leon Rubin. He ran for state office himself in 2000, losing the race for the 69th House seat.

Long story short, Mitchell’s political path has taken him from volunteer to profiteer to, finally, an elected official.

Swimming against the current

Mitchell’s passion for politics was fortified when he was an undergraduate student at Lipscomb University during the 1992 presidential election.

As he volunteered on the Clinton-Gore campaign, Mitchell found himself a Democrat swimming in a sea of Republicans at the conservative Church of Christ school.

“I learned to make a counter argument to every point anybody would say,” Mitchell said of his debates with his mostly conservative classmates.

What began as talking politics with his fellow students and volunteering in between class work has grown into something more for Mitchell. Last year, Mitchell was elected as the Council member for District 35, and he says one big issue why he ran was to prevent the landfill from coming to Bellevue.

Mitchell overcame the odds and won the race with a series of postcard mailers that painted his opponent Don Johnson as pro-development and in favor of the rock quarry landfill proposal off McCrory Lane.

Besides the postcards, Mitchell owns a “robocaller,” which he upgraded last year to feature new digital technology. He also does political consulting, mostly for state House of Representatives races, in addition to being the local rep for PC Signs, which as its name suggests does political yard signs.

“I do direct mailers, signs and robo calls. That’s literally in campaign races what I do,” Mitchell said, downplaying the notion that he’s some sort of political operative. “Candidates call with questions or to bounce ideas off me. I field a lot of phone calls. You feel like you’re more their friend than anything.”

Creating connections, adversaries

Mitchell’s for-profit political activities and connections have drawn detractors who hint at instances of impropriety that Mitchell says he is cautiously taking steps to avoid.

Acutely aware of how his political connections could potentially raise questions, Mitchell has made changes in his political endeavors. In January, Mitchell said he resigned from his position as a planning analyst for the state for that reason.

“I had too much government going on in my life,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell downplays his campaign work and involvement, calling it an after hours activity to supplement income.

“I guess people think it’s more glamorous than it really is,” Mitchell said of working on political campaigns.

However, one of Mitchell’s best years yet for campaign work has been 2008. Working as a consultant for five mid-state firemen — including two who work for Metro — running to be state representatives, Mitchell’s consulting work brought in just under $25,000 as of last month.

Prior to resigning this year, Mitchell had worked in various roles for the state on three separate occasions. Besides his final three months as a planning analyst, Mitchell was the director of community affairs for Gov. Phil Bredesen for a seven-month stint last year.

Mitchell’s various connections earned him friends and adversaries. At the top of that second list is former District 35 councilman and now At-large member and Bellevue champion Charlie Tygard.

After Tygard's second term representing Bellevue in Metro Council ended last year, he threw his support behind Johnson, Mitchell’s opponent. The two were fraternity brothers at Vanderbilt and their families are still tightly knit, according to Johnson.

So Mitchell did little to endear himself to Tygard when he ran a campaign that at times leaned negative last year. Mitchell took an unflattering picture of Johnson and labeled him pro-development in the postcard mailer that found its way around Bellevue. Mitchell won 55 percent to 45 percent.

Tygard declined to comment for this story.

Conflicts or bad timing?

After he was re-elected, Mitchell’s campaign work for the firefighter candidates led him to double-check there would be no conflict of interest since two of them (Rick Parks and Ken Wilkinson) work for Metro.

Council attorney Jon Cooper told The City Paper that Mitchell’s campaign work for Metro firefighters is in no way a conflict of interest, even though he has some sway over the department’s budget.

“There are over 1,100 [Metro] firemen. I’m not working for any of the firefighters who were rolled back [by this year’s budget cuts],” Mitchell said. “I voted for the budget. I think if you look that deep for relationships between Council members and their professions, what Metro Council member would ever get to vote for the budget?”

Mitchell also had the unfortunate distinction of working for 1Point Solutions, the 401(k) and financial management company whose president Barry Stokes was indicted two years ago for various counts of embezzlement, wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering.

More than one Councilman said their initial introduction to Mitchell came through Stokes, who was a prominent financial backer to Democratic campaigns.

In 2003, Mitchell had a two-month run as an industrial training consultant for the state. His state career began as a legislative research analyst, a position Mitchell held for two years.

Mitchell said he understood the questions that might arise from his various state jobs and political connections, but maintained he ran for Metro Council in order to serve.

Focus on Bellevue

Although his feud with Tygard is common knowledge throughout Bellevue, the two worked together to secure the tax increment financing deal to redevelop the Bellevue Mall and at long last bring a library to the community.

“I’ve known Bo Mitchell for 14 years,” District 24 Councilman Jason Holleman said. “He’s outgoing, straight-forward and hard-working. He has an ability to make friends with a wide variety of people. I think that skill has made him an effective campaigner, and I think that his constituents have already seen him use that skill on the Council to help bring a library to Bellevue."

Mitchell said his understanding of the political process remains an asset and concluded that his in-the-background approach wouldn’t change.

“I enjoy helping people. That goes back to why I got into my race, because they were trying to put a landfill in my neighborhood,” Mitchell said. “I was involved in a grassroots effort to stop it. You hear about some injustice or some community being forced to accept something detrimental and you think, ‘Why doesn’t somebody stand up and do something? That is why I ran.”