On First Reading: Jonathan Hall Censured, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce Condemned

@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. 

At Tuesday’s meeting, the Metro Council voted to censure Councilmember Jonathan Hall and condemn the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. 

We’re Back! 

After a three-week hiatus — which your friendly neighborhood council watcher celebrated with a trip to the beach, complete with parasailing and dolphin sightings — the Metro Council is back in action! Vibe check: chaotic and messy. 

High-Rise Humbuggery

Continuing the age-old tradition of rich people with multimillion-dollar high-rise condos opposing proposals for similarly swanky high-rise developments anywhere near them, a line of folks who recently purchased real estate in the brand-new Broadwest development on West End lined up Tuesday night to air their grievances on a proposed rezoning. 

In an apparent attempt to convince the council that this wasn’t another case of “Your high-rise is blocking the view from my high-rise,” Broadwest residents focused their comments on things like traffic and infrastructure. Apparently the city’s strained roads could handle their high-rise, but one more high-rise is one too many. 

If you’d like to learn more about this community’s totally altruistic and not even remotely self-interested concerns, please visit the Change.org petition they created to spread awareness of their plight.  

Self-Censured

Among the more controversial pieces of legislation on Tuesday night’s agenda was a resolution censuring CM Jonathan Hall. It was a procedural requirement arising from Hall’s recent appearance before Metro’s Board of Ethical Conduct, which found that he violated several provisions of Metro’s Code of Ethics related to campaign finance disclosures. 

As chair of the Rules, Confirmations and Public Elections Committee, CM Tanaka Vercher — who was wearing rainbow Crocs at Tuesday’s meeting, just FYI — was required to sponsor the censure resolution. But, boy, did she fight it on the floor. After trying (and failing) to get the resolution deferred until August — citing concerns about “due process” and ongoing state proceedings that have nothing to do with Metro’s Code of Ethics — Vercher tried (and failed) to simply withdraw the resolution so as to avoid a vote. 

You might think Hall would’ve been similarly eager to convince his colleagues not to censure him. You would be wrong. In a soliloquy that left some CMs more than a little confused, Hall basically gave his blessing for colleagues to vote in favor of the censure resolution ... I think? I’m honestly still not sure what happened, and I’ve rewatched the speech several times since last night. In any case, the censure resolution passed overwhelmingly, with Hall actually voting in favor of it himself. 

I asked CM Hall for comment about the censure and got ... more than I bargained for. “I don’t mind being the lightning rod or the sacrificial lamb,” Hall told me. And because no one can talk about ethics in Nashville without invoking the name of a certain former Nashville mayor, he added, “But for Christ’s sake, you didn’t censure Megan Barry when she got convicted of two felonies.” (Note: Barry, in fact, entered a conditional guilty plea for one count of felony theft of property over $10,000. The council opted not to censure her in light of her resignation.)

Regarding his decision to vote in favor of his own censure, Hall said he’s never tried to argue against the underlying facts of his case. “I’m a kid with ADHD with an IQ over 140,” Hall said, “and I just can’t focus on things I don’t think are important. But at the end of the day, rules are rules. And now it’s time to get back to the people’s business.” Hall says he wants to focus now on the budget process, during which he says he’ll “continue to be the bull in the china shop; censure be damned.”

If you’re wondering about the immediate consequences of a censure, by the way, there aren’t any. It doesn’t force resignation; it doesn’t preclude a CM from running again; it’s basically just a black mark on their permanent record. But, like, a microscopic black mark, because let’s be real — who’s Googling, “Has this elected official received a public rebuke from his colleagues?” before they enter the voting booth?

Dave Rosenberg and the Chamber of Jackassery

CM Dave Rosenberg has had the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce in his crosshairs for years. His rage is always bubbling under the surface, but he’s usually most vocal about it around budget time every year when he tries (and fails) to eliminate Metro’s annual payments to the chamber for economic development activities. 

Tuesday night marked Rosenberg’s first major, if symbolic, legislative victory in his quest to vanquish the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, when the council passed a resolution condemning the chamber for lobbying in favor of a state bill that could basically set up Mayor John Cooper to appoint his own school board. Sure, it was effectively just an official statement of discontent, but hey, now the chamber has a microscopic black mark on its record, too!

I don’t know what it was about this week’s live tweeting, but people seemed particularly thankful for it. Like, multiple people thanked me for this particular tweet thread. My love language is words of affirmation, so please don’t hesitate to thank me again in the future.