A $15 million state grant to the Nashville Downtown Partnership has put public surveillance and high-tech policing on Tuesday night's Metro Council meeting agenda. After a Dec. 4 deferral sent grant-related paperwork back to committees, the body is expected to pass a memorandum of understanding between the city and the NDP that spells out uses for the $15 million. The city coordinated closely with the NDP to win $15 million of Gov. Bill Lee’s $175 million Downtown Public Safety Grant Fund, which was announced in early October.
Grant from state to Nashville Downtown Partnership for security uses is likely to be deferred after negative council feedback
Councilmember Jordan Huffman tells the Scene he is “100 percent” confident the body will pass the MOU after 12 days of additional clarification around the money and its uses. Metro began working with the NDP after Lee’s announcement to secure the available $15 million rather than pursuing the money directly. The roundabout acquisition of funds has so far allowed Metro to slip certain scrutiny put in place during heated recent debates around automated license plate readers and Fusus, a police surveillance integration platform.
Past chambers, led in their opposition by former Councilmembers Freddie O'Connell and Dave Rosenberg, fought the expansion of surveillance tools, fearing abuse by law enforcement. Rosenberg joined now-Mayor O'Connell's office soon after O'Connell's 2023 election and has represented the mayor's support for the current MOU.
The state’s grant solicitation specifically qualifies business improvement districts as recipients if they coordinate with a local municipality. Metro did not apply for the funds itself, citing an overly cumbersome council-approval process.
“We started speaking with Metro to coordinate a grant application shortly after the grant opportunity was released on Oct. 2,” says Nashville Downtown Partnership spokesperson Alexis Bell.
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Several councilmembers tell the Scene that the MOU is the city’s chance to put “guardrails” on the state grant, which provides little in the way of legal restrictions. State documents list the Nashville District Management Corporation, the legal parent of downtown’s Central Business Improvement District, as the grant recipient. The NDP is the corporation’s primary contractor for services in the CBID.
A Dec. 2 press release from NDP states that roughly half the funds will underwrite “grant-funded gifts” to Metro. These include $415,000 for an armored SWAT vehicle and $2 million for a mobile command post. A late-filed amendment from progressive Councilmember Sandra Sepulveda — among the chamber’s most consistent and persuasive critics of police surveillance — would cut LeoSight and Five Cast, software that enables law enforcement to share certain data, from the list of approved Metro purchases. Sepulveda calls it a "compromise between all parties." Other capital improvements include updated video cameras, six new public restrooms, additional street lighting and unspecified "noise camera technology."
The grant sends $6 million to the NDP for staffing costs, additional downtown ambassadors and undefined homelessness outreach in downtown Nashville.
