@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.
I’m not going to lie to y’all. I’m scared about what last week’s election means for — and says about — our country.
As we look ahead to four more years of having a wannabe dictator as our president, I’m reminded once again of the importance of our local legislative bodies. The ghouls who will control the federal government in a few short months are going to do what they’re going to do. There’s not much you or I — or anyone else who doesn’t worship at the altar of our soon-to-be malevolent overlord — can do about it.
Instead, we need to shift our focus, doubling down on efforts to shape our local government in a way that reflects the will of its people. That means pushing the Metro Council to make life as minimally shitty as possible for the marginalized groups who will face the brunt of harm from bigoted policies and directives at the federal level. And it’s going to take everyone paying attention, reaching out to councilmembers, and putting pressure on the council and the mayor’s office to make sure that happens.
Rent Is for Socialists
In times of intense political and personal strife, there’s a type of lukewarm comfort that comes from watching the council go through the motions like it’s just another Tuesday (or Thursday, in this case). One of those motions is listening to people make off-the-wall arguments during public hearings.
During a public hearing on a proposed rezoning in Councilmember John Rutherford’s district, a community member had a puzzling warning about the danger of apartment buildings. She started off with your typical arguments against increased density: traffic, changes to neighborhood character, strain on existing infrastructure and so on. Then came the hard left turn to ... socialism.
“Apartments do nothing, except create socialism and communism,” she said, “because once all of Nashville is going to be rented out ... all the rent’s going to be controlled.”
Development has become concentrated along corridors and in low-income areas
Setting aside the fact that socialism and communism are not synonymous, rent control isn’t a core tenet of either doctrine. Rent control is a fundamentally capitalist project — an attempt to ease the burdens of capitalism on people who struggle to pay their bills every month.
But never fear, ma’am, rent control is not allowed in Tennessee. The state legislature has literally outlawed it, along with a number of other tools communities may use to address the housing crisis. As long as Republicans control the statehouse, rent control is dead on arrival.
Councilmember Sean Parker, the council’s lone Democratic Socialist, set the commenter straight. “The private extraction of rents in, say, an apartment building for a scarce resource like housing that is necessary for humans to live is, by definition, not socialistic,” Parker clarified. “That is capitalism, very simply and straightforwardly.”
Not With a Bang
Cop Caucus Councilmember Bob Nash had another run-in with Community Review Board director Jill Fitcheard on Thursday. Fitcheard attended the council meeting to speak during the public comment period. She expressed concerns over a grant that will allow the police department to outsource DNA testing. The program aims to reduce the significant backlog in processing samples across the country — a backlog that delays justice for victims and people accused of crimes.
Fitcheard requested a deferral on the resolution to allow the Community Review Board time to review the details. She also had questions about chain of custody, credentials of the testers and the process for selecting the laboratories to perform the testing.
When the resolution came up for a vote, Nash noted that many of Fitcheard’s concerns had already been addressed in committee. “Ms. Fitcheard has every right to call up Chief Drake,” Nash said, “and ask any question prior to coming to the meeting and kind of throwing a bomb out.”
“I understand the Citizen Review Committee is here to check on complaints about police officers, and how those complaints are handled,” Nash continued. “They must not have enough to do, because this is not the first time that Ms. Fitcheard has come up here ... and dropped a bomb about management decisions and process decisions made by Chief Drake.”
According to Fitcheard, Chief Drake has refused to meet with her for more than a year. Perhaps Councilmember Nash is unclear on the fact that the CRB exists not only to investigate complaints, but also to provide policy recommendations — which is exactly what Fitcheard was suggesting they do here.
In any case, characterizing Fitcheard asking questions as “throwing a bomb” seems a little over-the-top. And Nash didn’t seem to take issue with Metro Human Relations Commission director Davie Tucker appearing during public comment to raise his own concerns about a separate police-related resolution.
Several of Nash’s colleagues pushed back on his rhetoric, encouraging respect for all department heads at Metro. Ultimately, Nash got his way, which he could’ve done without throwing his own bomb in the direction of the CRB. The resolution passed easily.
Meanwhile, Councilmember Jeff Preptit abruptly withdrew a controversial ordinance that would have explicitly prohibited Metro employees’ participation in hate groups and paramilitary gangs. The ordinance has been deferred multiple times, and I was expecting a showdown over a proposed substitute from Councilmember Jordan Huffman.
In a statement to the Scene, Preptit writes: “I am proud of the work that has been done on addressing this critical issue.” He adds, “There is more work to be done to make sure we are addressing these issues in the most effective way possible, and that work is continuing.”
Preptit plans to bring the legislation back in some form in the future.
Be Good to Each Other
This Is Nashville host Khalil Ekulona signs off every episode with a simple request: Be good to each other.
I’m going to take a bit of creative license and add something to Ekulona’s signature sign-off: Be good to yourself. Take time for intentional self-care. Reflect on what’s bringing you joy, and focus on maximizing that, whatever that is for you. And then try to minimize all the other shit. For me, that has meant taking a break from Twitter, learning to bake cookies, and hanging out with my dad.
You may feel like everything is going to shit — I know I do. But if we can all be good to each other and be good to ourselves, I think we’ll be OK.
And please email me at startleseasily@gmail.com if you want some cookies. I’m eating way too many cookies. You think I’m kidding, but I’m dead serious. I’m literally eating cookies as I write this. It has to stop.
