@startleseasily is a fervent observer of the Metro government's comings and goings. In this column, "On First Reading," she'll recap the bimonthly Metro Council meetings and provide her analysis. You can find her in the pew in the corner by the mic, ready to give public comment on whichever items stir her passions. Follow her on Twitter here.
The vibes were off at Tuesday night’s Metro Council meeting — antsy, exasperated, a little hangry — but I couldn’t be happier to be back in my little pew after several meetings away from the courthouse. I even brought my white board with me to mark the occasion.
The Nihill-ists
Perhaps the highest-profile item on Tuesday’s agenda was a nonbinding terms sheet laying out the proposed financing structure for a new Titans stadium. A solid majority approved the proposal, which passed with 27 CMs in favor, eight opposed, and three abstentions. This wasn’t quite the slam dunk the mayor’s administration and the Titans’ lobbyists had been predicting behind closed doors, but it signals a general buy-in from CMs on the basic thrust of the arguments for a new stadium.
CM At-Large Bob Mendes, who chairs the council’s East Bank Stadium Committee, urged his colleagues to use their votes to send a message. “If the vote is something like 15 to eight, with 15 people abstaining — so it passes, but there’s not 21 votes — that would convey a more serious message that the Metro Council is part of the negotiation too,” Mendes said, adding that keeping the council involved in this way would, by extension, keep the community at the forefront of negotiations. His colleagues didn’t listen; they rarely do.
The ink is barely dry on Mayor John Cooper’s Chief Communications Officer TJ Ducklo’s first Boner Award, and he’s already angling for a second. Following the vote, Ducklo weighed in, tweeting, “Tough night for the loudest voices in the room.” He proceeded to obliquely accuse CM and mayoral candidate Freddie O’Connell of violating the Little Hatch Act by holding a press conference at city hall to criticize the deal. Personally, I’d spend less time worrying about my opponents and more time trying to help my boss/presumed candidate not suck.
We’re Building a Wall
“Good fences make good neighbors,” the saying goes. Sometimes, though, good fences make no neighbors. That’s the case with a resolution that passed on Tuesday night allowing Metro to accept land from the Lowe’s on Charlotte Pike for the purpose of constructing a fence to keep people from sleeping in Brookmeade Park. April Calvin, the interim director of Metro’s Homeless Impact Division, reported to the Council’s Human Services Committee on Tuesday that there are between 20 and 30 folks remaining at the large encampment that has for years kept nearby people with homes from using this public land for recreational purposes.
Erecting a fence is apparently a key aspect of Metro’s encampment closure plan for Brookmeade. Over the past several meetings, CMs and Metro officials have continuously characterized the fence as a necessary component or precursor to Metro’s ability to provide housing opportunities. CM Dave Rosenberg — who represents the district where Brookmeade is located — has steadfastly refused to buy into that proposition. He offered a substitute bill that would’ve required Metro to make good on certain promises about supportive services and to provide a clear pathway to permanent housing for Brookmeade residents — who he thoughtfully and intentionally referred to as his “constituents” — prior to closing the camp.
From his Bellevue colleagues’ admonishments, you’d think Rosenberg was actively trying to prevent people from being housed. The substitute bill failed and a watered-down amendment passed in its place. Assuming the bill passes on third and final reading at the next meeting, be on the lookout for an invitation to the ribbon-cutting ceremony. You’ll have to check your wire cutters at the wall.
Follow the Money
In the category of “important shit that is not at all interesting,” the council elected four members to the newly formed Tax Incentive and Abatement Study and Formulating Committee. The committee will spend six months diving deep into how Nashville awards various tax incentives and property tax abatements, with the goal of issuing guidance to help us avoid the type of “slow speed crash” CM Mendes has warned about.
CMs Burkley Allen and district CM Kyonztè Toombs will represent the council on the committee. Allen is the council’s compromiser-in-chief, a technocrat who engineered the city’s failed short-term rental regime. Toombs, a Vanderbilt-educated attorney with an MBA to boot, has emerged as a council darling. She currently serves as the council’s president pro tempore, she sits on Metro’s Internal Audit Committee, and she was the chair of the Budget and Finance Committee in her second year on the council.
The council also elected Charles Robert Bone (a local attorney who, like most everyone else in Nashville with a recognizable surname, once ran for mayor) and Fiona Haulter (a VP at GBT Realty once dubbed a “Person on the Move” by the Nashville Business Journal) to serve on the committee.
It’s been a hell of a year. Thanks to all of you for your continued support. I literally would not have a column if there weren’t people like you to read it. In the spirit of giving, I will leave you with this clip of CM Joy Styles attempting a do-over on a bill that passed while she was sleeping.
