Nashville businessmen Jimmy Granbery and Bobby Joslin attended Wednesday's meeting of the Metro Nashville Airport Authority, sitting with the board and voting alongside the other members.
That's despite Mayor Freddie O'Connell and the Metro Legal Department declaring that their decision to join a new state airport board was effectively a resignation from the city board.
Granbery and Joslin, members of the mayor-appointed board prior to the conflict with the state, were appointed to the new state board after the Tennessee General Assembly passed a law giving the majority of appointments to the body to state leaders, not the mayor. Metro sued, arguing that the law violated the Tennessee Constitution's protection against laws targeted at a single city. A court panel agreed, declaring the law unconstitutional and reinstating the former board. (The state can still appeal the ruling.)
Now the reinstated board has decided to hire outside counsel as it seeks to untangle the mess. The board on Wednesday voted to hire Adams & Reese as legal counsel for three months.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, O'Connell said he is "disappointed there is still a dispute about two of the seats" but added that he is unlikely to intervene for now.
"I am not interested in creating renewed legal action there, so we are focused on operational stability and passenger safety until we get more clarity on the status of those two seats," he said, adding that Metro is "not likely to disrupt" the ongoing operations of the board.
"I would expect there would be a legal response to our trying to fill what we believe to be vacant seats," O'Connell added. "At this point, I don't believe that to be in the best interest [of the airport]."
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
