Nashville prepares for Gov.-Elect Bill Lee’s inauguration

NASHVILLE — Downtown Nashville is making final preparations for our next governor, Bill Lee.

“We’re encouraging people to come out and join us for this historic time, and the governor-elect is still thrilled about this weekend,” Laine Arnold, Gov.-Elect Lee’s press secretary, said.

But they are having to make some last-minute changes.

“It looks like the weather is not going to be cooperating tomorrow (Saturday),” Arnold said. “The National Weather Service issued an alert that indicated there would be some thunderstorms and heavy rain.”

Gov.-Elect Lee’s inaugural ceremonies are being moved indoors to the War Memorial Auditorium, where they’re expecting 1,500 people to attend.

Arnold says Lee’s campaign made him very approachable.

“He wants to meet Tennesseans from across the state,” Arnold said. “He did that during his campaign. He visited every county twice, and has really just made a point to be out there in our communities.”

Once he takes office, they’ve already got a plan in place for what they’ll tackle first.

“This next phase is going to be about getting the budget in order, and so it’s very important to the governor-elect to keep a conservative budget, keep Tennessee a low-tax state, and we are working through that process,” Arnold said.

The festivities kick off Friday night in downtown Nashville with Boots on Broadway.