@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 a tense, emotional meeting on Tuesday, the Metro Council avoided a vote on the 2024 Republican National Convention and condemned the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
RNCDEFU
As you may have heard from literally every single source of news in Nashville, Councilmember Robert Swope withdrew a bill on Tuesday that would’ve paved the way for Nashville to host the 2024 Republican National Convention. After 10 days of drama, rumors and speculation, the suspense ended in rather anticlimactic fashion, with Vice Mayor Shulman announcing at the beginning of the meeting that CM Swope would be pulling the bill.
Personally, I obviously wanted the bill to fail. But I was hoping the failure would be a teensy bit more dramatic. I would’ve liked a floor speech from CM At-Large Bob Mendes, for example, like the time he played zombie slayer and teamed up with fellow Tall Dads Dave Rosenberg and Freddie O’Connell to kill a resolution from then-CM Steve Glover.
As with that resolution, I think it’ll take a few swings to put the final nail in the coffin of RNC 2024: Broadway Edition. The administration may be bringing another bill at the next meeting at the behest of the “Nashville 2024 Host Committee,” which is apparently just a bunch of rich dudes sitting around deciding the fate of our city? All I know is, it ain’t over till CM O’Connell makes a motion to defer to the second meeting in August 2023.
LPR Landlords
You didn’t think you’d heard the last from me on license plate readers, did you? The Metro Nashville Police Department received a conditional green light from the Council earlier this year to implement a six-month LPR “pilot” program. The condition is baked into the law: Before any department can install a new type of surveillance technology onto our city streets, there must be a public hearing and a resolution approved by the Council. This includes LPRs.
The LPR bill the Council approved in February also laid out a host of requirements for developing and documenting policies, procedures and safeguards that they hoped would reduce the risk of misuse or abuse of the data. Here’s where things get tricky: Those requirements only come into play if the MNPD wants to acquire the technology. But if, say, a neighborhood association purchases its own LPRs and shares the data with MNPD? Well that’s fair game — no policies, no procedures, no safeguards, no oversight. MNPD is already exploiting that loophole, making the rounds to apartment complexes and homeowners associations and extolling the virtues of LPRs.
And based on their comments during the Budget and Finance Committee meeting Tuesday afternoon, the MNPD seems poised to find new and creative ways to skirt the spirit of the law. An MNPD representative, explaining the department’s reserve fund request that included a curious “substitute” line item for an LPR pilot program, described plans for a “demonstration” of the technology that was news to me and most everyone else in the chamber. (Not pictured: me, sitting in the gallery, frantically waving my hands and mouthing “What the FUCK is she talking about?” to CM John Rutherford.] I’m trying to walk that thin line between “overly credulous” and “assuming the worst,” but damn if this doesn’t sound fishy.
Be It Resolved
On Tuesday, the Council approved a resolution opposing the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Tennessee is weeks away from fully outlawing abortion, and shit feels downright dystopian. And because of a Republican supermajority in the state legislature, there’s very little we can do about it.
I’ve struggled with how to cover this resolution, because I’m really proud of the CMs who voted for it. Having elected officials who speak out against injustice is important. And I don’t want to diminish that or dampen the joy of anyone who’s feeling really encouraged by the passage of the resolution, particularly in a time when joy is so fleeting. Basically, I don’t want to be a bummer.
But I also want to be super clear on what this particular resolution does. In the past couple of days, I’ve seen it described as “decriminalizing abortion” and “ordering” the MNPD and the district attorney not to pursue criminal charges in abortion cases. This resolution does not decriminalize abortion. The Metro Council does not have the power to decriminalize abortion, or any other crime. And they cannot order Metro police or the DA not to pursue criminal charges. They don’t have that power either.
The resolution simply puts the Council’s preferences on record. It’s a memorializing document in which the Council makes certain requests, but does not — because it cannot — make any demands. The floor discussion Tuesday night was an important signal that Council is determined to do what they can to protect reproductive rights. But their options — like mine, as a woman of childbearing age — are severely limited.
CMs Jonathan Hall, Robert Swope, Tonya Hancock and Joy Styles — the latter of whom chairs the board of a local crisis pregnancy center — chose to “take a walk” so as not to be present during the vote on this resolution. It was a cowardly move. Swope is term-limited, and Hall has announced he won’t seek a second term in office. But Hancock and Styles are up for reelection next year, and I know some folks who’d be thrilled to knock some doors for a worthy opponent.
The Scene's Erica Ciccarone dropped a post last week about Mayor John Cooper’s attempts to overhaul the Metro Human Relations Commission. All 10 of those appointments were deferred on Tuesday. After you’ve read Erica’s piece, watch this video of Kelly from People’s Alliance for Transit, Housing and Employment. Two badass women, speaking truth to power.
