House Refuses to Honor Kay West

Honorary resolutions in the Legislature are voted on pro forma, so much so that the House voted on honoring Nathan Bedford Forest a couple of weeks back, and no one noticed until after House Speaker Beth Harwell had signed the formal resolution.

But when it comes to strong Nashville women — who also happen to be Democrats — nothing is pro forma.

On Monday night, the House voted against honoring Kay West, the former Scene restaurant critic and longtime Nashville journalist. Introduced by Rep. John Ray Clemmons, who is also a friend and neighbor of West's, the resolution read, in part:

WHEREAS, while working at Penthouse, Ms. West covered country music and became familiar with the Nashville music industry. Her exceptional work and determination did not go unnoticed; she was recruited by Joe Galante and Randy Goodman at RCA Records to relocate to Music City and become director of publicity for the organization; and

WHEREAS, Kay West accepted the offer, and though her intention was to complete a short stint in Nashville and thereafter return to Manhattan, she made a life in Music City; for thirty years, she has lived and thrived in Nashville, and it is here where her beloved children, one son and one daughter, were born and have grown up; and

WHEREAS, many Nashvillians are familiar with Kay West through her work in the Nashville Scene as a restaurant reviewer; in addition to influencing where people eat and drink in the city, she supported and championed the growth of independent restaurants and young, creative chefs. She was unafraid to write the unvarnished truth of her dining experiences, even if it meant incurring the ire of well-established chefs and restauranteurs; and

WHEREAS, Ms. West now writes as a stringer for People Magazine, serving as the popular magazine's primary authority on all things country music and bringing an insider's eye to stories of country music's most notable artists; and ...

WHEREAS, Kay West is a standout Nashvillian whose important contributions to the city have made a lasting impact, and it is fitting that she be recognized

West didn't know about the resolution, Clemmons said. He was surprised last week when it was pulled from the consent calendar, but he thought it would still pass on Monday, especially given the Forrest brouhaha.

"My pure intent was to honor my good friend and neighbor for her many contributions to our community and surprise her with a House Resolution. She is a strong woman, a great mother, and a role model. I'm fortunate to have her as a friend and constituent," Clemmons told the Scene.

But apparently screwing up one honorary resolution was not enough to give the Democrats a pass on a different one. After Clemmons introduced the resolution, he was challenged by House Majority Leader Glen Casada, a Franklin Republican who has butted heads with West in the past — not that he mentioned that on the floor.

“I know she’s your neighbor, she’s a friend, I’m sure she’s a great lady," Casada said. "But I will say as I read the resolution I just wanted the membership to realize that she does — has written for Penthouse magazine, and a lot of members would find that objectionable, and so, because the magazine — if no one’s familiar with the magazine, it does, has a tendency to make women, uh, objects. And so I just want the body to know who this person is and who she does write for, then vote your conscience."

As the resolution mentioned, West's very first job out of college was indeed as a receptionist at Penthouse, where she worked her way up into editorial. And as Clemmons pointed out, that was a long time ago.

“I appreciate the leader pointing that out and, you know, I believe she did work for that publication some several decades ago," Clemmons said, before taking a significant pause. "But I will say writing for a publication like that is much more savory than posing for publication like that, like the First Lady."

The entire chamber collectively gasped, some taking offense at Clemmons' dig at Melania Trump's history of nude modeling, and others in amusement at possibly the sickest burn on the House floor all year.

Unsurprisingly, after that, the vote failed, 48 to 25, with 7 members, including another prominent longtime Nashvillian, House Speaker Beth Harwell, not voting. Five Republicans did vote to honor West, including Smyrna Rep. Mike Sparks, the author of the much-condemned Forrest resolution. (The others were Rep. Jeremy Faison, Rep. Bill Sanderson, Rep. Art Swann and Rep. Ron Travis.)

After the vote, Clemmons was clearly incensed.

"Not one of my colleagues who voted against this resolution could match her strength, character, courage, intellect, or wit," Clemmons said. "The opposition to honoring a strong woman is only the latest manifestation of the extreme partisanship that continues to plague our government, and it is so very disheartening."

Clemmons, of course, was the House sponsor of a resolution last session honoring Renata Soto, another prominent and strong Nashville woman. Casada also tried to halt that, although it did eventually pass the House before dying in the Senate.

The Scene wasn't able to grab Casada after session before he left the building and he hasn't returned our calls, so we can't say how much of his refusal to honor West was really about politics as opposed to morality. Or maybe strong women just intimidate Casada too much to dare honor them, because then they might get some ideas in their heads about running for office? 

In any case, we at the Scene still love you, Kay. We'd sign off on an honorary resolution for you any day. Who needs the General Assembly anyway?