Richard Donnell

District 4
[email protected]

Boards
- Jackson Transit Authority (Liaison)
- Health, Education, & Housing Facilities
- Jackson Housing Authority (Liaison)
- Audit Committee

Hello there and welcome to the District 4 web page! I hold the singular honor of representing the great residents of this district and I'm glad that you are here because it shows that you have a keen interest in your local government. In order for me to properly perform my duties, communication is essential. Not only will I seek your input on all issues of concern, I will allow your input to inform my votes on matters of importance that come before the Council. I have provided my contact info below so that you can reach out to me at any time via phone call, text, or email. Should you happen to reach my voicemail, I promise to contact you by the end of the same day that you reached out to me. - Councilman Richard Donnell

Biography

Richard Hulon Donnell, a life-long resident of Jackson, is the Senior Advisor to the President of Lane College. His responsibilities include providing advice to the President on a full range of operational matters. His portfolio includes advocacy for the college on federal, state, and local governmental affairs. In this role, he assists the President in developing and promoting strategies to influence and mobilize action in the U.S. Congress, State Capitol, and City Hall on public policy priorities of Lane College; and facilitates creating and editing external communications to vital constituents and stakeholders of the college on a full range of strategic matters as determined by the President.

He is the son of the late J.D. and Mattie Donnell. His father was an over-40-year employee of the Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio (GM&O) Railroad and his mother retired as an attendance officer for the former City of Jackson School System. He is a 1968 graduate of the former Merry High School (now Jackson Central Merry). He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science from Lambuth College (now the University of Memphis-Lambuth) in 1971 and obtained his law degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville in 1974. Prior to assuming his duties at Lane College, he practiced law for 15 years.

Additionally, Donnell is the host of Jackson's #1-rated Sunday morning radio talk show, “Community Feedback” that airs at 9:00am on WFKX-FM (96Kix). He is also the host of the Lane College radio talk show...Real Talk...that airs each Wednesday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. on WLCD-FM (98.7). As host, he uses his platforms to, among other things, inform his audience of vital issues and information that affect the local community, register voters for upcoming elections, dissuade young people from joining gangs, mediate disputes among gang members by urging them to resolve disputes through non-violent means, and assist 2nd graders at Lincoln Elementary School in learning to read as an active participant in the Jackson TeamRead program.

He is a past president and longtime former member of the Jackson Transit Authority Board of Directors; member of the 1992 and 2012 City of Jackson Charter Commission; past member of the Keep Jackson Beautiful Board of Directors; past Title VI presenter before the Ballet Arts Inc. of Jackson; past member of the Jackson Area Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency (JACOA); past president of the Jackson-Madison County Branch of the NAACP; and a lifelong/lifetime member, respectively, of Lane Tabernacle CME Church and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. In July of 2022, he was selected by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) as one of five recipients across Tennessee's higher education institutions to receive the Harold Love Outstanding Community Service Award in recognition of his local and state-wide public service contributions. This state sanctioned recognition program was created through legislation enacted by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1991.

Donnell was appointed to the Council in December 2022 to fill the unexpired term of his predecessor. In May 2023, the residents of District 4 elected him to a full 4-year term.

The divorced father of adult children and grandfather to four spends his leisure time reading and traveling across the western United States.

His favorite motto is, "Live and Let Live."

CONTACT
99 Hickory Hollow Drive
Jackson, TN 38305
(731)-425-8253 (o)

DISTRICT 4 MAP
Click or tap image to download .pdf