On First Reading: Skaters, Arts Funding and Low-Stakes Drama

@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 opinions and 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.

It’s official. The skaters have organized.

Among a litany of requests made during the Metro Council’s annual pre-budget public comment period, a group of local skaters urged the council to invest in skate parks. Nashville’s only public skate park is the Two Rivers Skatepark. One public commenter described Two Rivers, which is close to 20 years old, as “decayed and eroded.” 

If we can invest literal billions of dollars in a new stadium for a private sports franchise, I’m certain we could find a few bucks lying around for a new skate park. Hell, maybe the Tennessee Titans could contribute.

Hello? Is This Thing On?

Not a single speaker on Tuesday requested more funding for the Metro Nashville Police Department. In fact, a few folks explicitly advocated for redirecting funds from the MNPD to invest in social programs proven to increase safety and quality of life for residents. Angus Purdy, a District 18 resident who mounted an unsuccessful campaign to unseat Councilmember Tom Cash in 2023, highlighted this in his public comment.  

“Tonight, you’ve heard requests for money for skate parks, affordable housing, the Varsity Spending Plan, safer streets, mental health crisis resources, spay-and-neuter programming, libraries, Nashville General Hospital, the arts, public education,” said Purdy, “but not one request for an increased MNPD budget.” The fact that the council continues to fund the MNPD at an ever-increasing level, Purdy said, “seems like a pretty damning indictment that this body is failing the people.” 

Past doesn’t have to be prologue here. An indictment is not a conviction! The mayor gets a brand-new chance every year to craft a budget that reflects the stated priorities of his constituents. And if the mayor falls short, the council can — and should — step in to ensure the people of Nashville get what they’ve asked for. 

Better Than Nothing

On First Reading: Traffic Stops

In her latest recap, @startleseasily reports on a measure honoring Vencen Horsely, plus Jeff Eslick's resolution to slow drivers down

Artists who receive funding from Metro Arts will get a bit more time to spend down the money — which they have not yet received — before the fiscal year ends. At its last meeting, the council approved funding criteria for use in determining award amounts. That legislation included a spending deadline of June 1. On Tuesday, the council extended the deadline to June 30. 

It’s not much, but it’s not nothing.

Councilmember Erin Evans voted against the extension. She wasn’t present at the last meeting, but she tells the Scene that if she had been, she would have voted against the funding criteria as well. “This is my protest vote for an unfortunately flawed outcome that will put a lot of burden on artists to manage their projects under a very condensed time frame,” says Evans. 

Not Sending Our Best

A seemingly innocuous bill generated a boatload of debate at Tuesday’s council meeting. The winding, comically messy discussion culminated in a Parks and Rec-level procedural fiasco. I unironically loved every second of it.

The Late-Night Issue: Night Mayor on Safety and Nashville’s Reputation

Benton McDonough is tasked with making nightlife better for businesses, residents and visitors

At issue was a memorandum of understanding that would transfer $171,700 from the Metro Codes Department’s budget to the Office of Nightlife. The office, helmed by “night mayor” Benton McDonough, plans to use the funds to hire two full-time employees to help enforce alcohol and noise ordinances.

The program will start with a limited pilot focusing on downtown. If the effort proves successful in curbing some of the more objectionable aspects of downtown nightlife, it could expand to include nighttime enforcement of codes violations throughout the county.

There was unexpected pushback from a contingent of councilmembers on the Government Operations and Regulations Committee, who recommended the council defer further consideration of the bill until April. This would allow time for Councilmember Tasha Ellis to hold a mid-March community meeting with Codes Department staff. It’s highly unusual for the council to build its legislative calendar around the schedule of a single district councilmember. That type of deference is typically reserved for district-specific issues like rezonings.

Ellis, who had some harsh words for Codes Director Bill Herbert in committee, was determined to slow down the proposal. She accused Codes of failing to address findings from a 2021 internal audit of the property standards complaint process and expressed little faith that nighttime enforcement would ever reach her Southeast Nashville district. 

Ellis is absolutely correct in her assertion that Codes has not yet fully implemented every recommendation from the 2021 audit. But it’s unclear how transferring some funds to the office of nightlife would interfere with addressing the audit findings. In fact, most of the outstanding items in a follow-up report last year just call for formal documentation of processes that have already been established.

If Ellis was looking for a fight, the council wasn’t interested in joining her. Her tenuous grasp of parliamentary procedure certainly didn’t help her case, but it did seem to win the support of Councilmember Antoinette Lee. In a charmingly self-aware monologue, Lee chastised her colleagues for laughing at each other. “We all do not know things,” said Lee. “I know I am very inept sometimes.” 

Girlies have to stick up for each other.

Ellis applauded Lee. Vice Mayor Angie Henderson, who was herself struggling to maintain order, admonished Ellis and instructed the council to “simmer down.”

They did not simmer.

Ellis’ motion to defer failed. Another motion to defer, this time for one meeting, also failed. And after an hour of debate, the bill passed on second reading, with only three councilmembers voting no.

This was vintage Metro Council, y’all. This low-stakes, high-drama nonsense is exactly why I started watching these meetings. In 2025, I’m advocating for a return to comic relief in the Historic Metro Courthouse. My pitch is simple: It grows the economy. Benefits everybody. Hurts nobody!