Brentwood Commission Candidates: Allison Spears

The Williamson Scene interviewed Brentwood’s five candidates for the three open seats for the Board of Commissioners in the May 2025 election. Voters can cast their ballot early at either the John P. Holt Brentwood Library or the Williamson County Election Commission through May 1. Election day will be Tuesday, May 6 and voters can cast their ballot at either the library or Brenthaven Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  

Incumbent Brentwood City Commissioner Allison Spears is hoping to earn another term on the board, a role that she’s held since 2023, after she was first elected to fill the seat left empty following the death of former Commissioner Regina Smithson.

In April, Spears took part in a candidate forum hosted by League of Women Voters of Williamson County and Bike Walk Brentwood, which can be viewed in full online here, as well as a forum with Preserve Brentwood and candidate interviews with Williamson, Inc. 

She also sat down with the Williamson Scene to detail her positions and priorities, including the hotly-debated proposed racquetball facility.

TOP PRIORITIES

Spears, like all of the candidates, has expressed her support for continuing Brentwood’s zoning and residential one-acre density standards. However, she took issue with fellow incumbent Commissioner Rhea Little’s stated support of Brentwood’s zoning standards because of two of his votes on projects in 2022 and 2011.

“The residents of Brentwood have made it clear they don't want zoning to change, and we know that developers would love to come and develop in Brentwood and then leave and leave us with the complications that come with hyper-development.”

On her website, Spears also touts her work on leading the establishment of the city’s first Veterans Day and Memorial Day ceremonies and her support of continued investment in infrastructure, including sidewalks, trails and sewer projects.

Spears says one of the things she’s appreciated learning about in her first term is the budget.

“Our budget in Brentwood is just phenomenal,” Spears says. “The budgeting process, how we prioritize, how our department heads get input, how we organize, how we don't spend more money than we make, how we're very thoughtful of all the things we do with budgeting. That, to me, has been just a wonderful confirmation about what makes Brentwood so great.”

PROPOSED RACQUET FACILITY

Spears states that she needs more information to make a decision about the proposed racquet facility project that’s been studied, discussed and debated for years.

“Why would I vote on something to say yes, or an up or down vote, or yes or no vote on something when I don't know all the information? So I can tell you if it's going to cost $50 million and we're going to make no profit on it, then I'm not going to vote yes on it. And, I can tell you that if it's going to cost $1 million, then we're going to make a million dollars a year profit, obviously I would vote for that. But, I don't know where on the spectrum it's going to come in.”

Some proponents of the project appear to believe Spears is already committed to voting “yes.”

An election flyer that was obtained by the Williamson Scene urges “pickleball and tennis families” to “only vote for 2 in 2025: Mayor Mark Gorman and Commissioner Allison Spears.” 

“I haven't said that I'm a yes vote, so I can't control what people talk about or what they say or what they do,” Spears said.

ON POLITICS

“The biggest thing at stake right now is the future of Brentwood,” Spears said. “What it will look like, how our infrastructure will function and the quality of life for the residents that have invested their time, their community, their money to live here.”

In March, the city commission unanimously voted to hire Jason Gage to serve as Brentwood's new city manager in a public meeting which was neither livestreamed nor video recorded.

The Williamson Scene was the only news outlet in the room throughout the day as five finalists for the job took part in in-person interviews with the commission. No members of the public attended the public meeting.

During that meeting, Mayor Mark Gorman, who is also running for reelection, attempted several times to pressure the Williamson Scene and staff members out of that public meeting (read more). We asked Spears and Little who were both also in the meeting, if they felt that was appropriate.

“I appreciate your question, and I'm going to reserve no comment on that,” Spears replied.

“Had you been mayor, had you been leading that [meeting], would you have asked [me to leave]?”

“No comment,” Spears said.

“Do you believe that the press has a right, or the public has a right to attend a public meeting,” we asked, but Spears only sat in silence, refusing to answer.