Councilmanic Rubber Stamp
🙉 CM Horton doesn't want to hear it · Will Blackburn debate · Council musical chairs · The office of family safety · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone. The proposed Nations upzoning will go down to the wire... Will Marsha Blackburn debate... The council makes some appointments... And much more!
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Councilmember Rollin Horton wants to upzone the Nations against the wishes of its residents.
From Davis Hunt
If you’re a councilmember and want to pass a bill that only affects your district, there are generally two ways to build support for it.
The first is to hold the requisite public meetings, receive community input, and factor the feedback you receive into a bill that attempts to appease all parties. This is often a long, difficult process that requires diligence, patience, and the ability to understand and reconcile varying viewpoints on a topic.
The other way is to skip this step, put it up for vote in front of the council, and cash in on the councilmanic courtesy afforded you as a representative of your district. Presumably, the district councilmember knows about his district better than all the other council members, and thus, the council in general will trust your judgment.
Councilmember Rollin Horton’s proposed upzoning of the Nations is of the latter variety, if the massive groundswell of public opposition that has arisen in just the past five weeks is any indication.
The opposition was so fierce at the last council meeting that Councilmember Joy Styles stepped in, violated the councilmanic courtesy, and pushed for a six-meeting deferral of the bill. Her effort failed, but one district council member stepping in for another like this is rare enough to warrant comment and to examine how much public support the initiative actually has.
Yesterday, a community meeting hosted by the Voice of the Nations, which has organized in the past five weeks against Horton’s proposal, held an impromptu meeting. Leaders of the group described their learning of the proposal five weeks ago as an “earthquake” that has since shaken the neighborhood into action. Over the past five weeks, VOTN has obtained 804 signatures on a petition opposing the legislation.
Horton was in attendance, albeit spending most of the time on his phone, as the opposition made their arguments about why the proposal was misguided, unnecessarily rushed, half-thought-out, and lacking in various subtle provisions that would aid in promoting a more habitable environment.
Horton points to his meetings with the Nations Neighborhood Association as proof that he has interfaced adequately with the public and consistently cites the 51 people in the neighborhood association who voted in support of the proposal in March 2024
Despite the “public” nature of neighborhood association meetings, they are not registered on Metro’s calendar and are not a meeting that the councilmember himself has hosted for public input.
In fact, since taking office in 2023, the Metro calendar only shows one public community meeting put on by council member Horton.
That one meeting was a video call he hosted on Thursday last week.
The bill is up for its third and final reading at tomorrow night’s council meeting.
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🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.
👨👩👧👦 Codifying The Office of Family Safety During tomorrow’s Metro Council meeting, the body will be considering a bill on second reading that would codify Nashville’s Office of Family Safety in the Metropolitan Code of Laws. Recently, the office released a 10-year assessment celebrating a decade of progress addressing domestic violence in Music City. Previously, the Office of Family Safety was uncodified in local law, but was protected and funded as outlined in an ordinance passed in 2015.
According to officials, keeping the office under the purview of Metro government will help it maintain steady funding as federal grants fluctuate. “We've been preparing for federal funding or state funding issues since we began,” said Diane Lance, Director of Metro's Office of Family Safety, when explaining how the city has invested in the office since its start. “Our core services are not 100 percent reliant on any state or federal funding.”
🪑 Council Musical Chairs It’s that time of year when Vice Mayor Angie Henderson does the council committee shuffle. On Friday, her office released the list of newly appointed chairs for 2025-2026.
After two budget cycles, Councilmember Delishia Porterfield will be replaced by Councilmember Kyonzté Toombs as chair of the Budget & Finance Committee. Other important changes include:
- Quin Evans Segall will succeed Sean Parker as chair of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee
- Jordan Huffman will succeed Erin Evans as Public Health & Safety Committee Chair
- Terry Vo will succeed Brenda Gadd as chair of the Arts, Parks, Libraries & Entertainment Committee
- Tom Cash will succeed Jeff Preptit as the chair of the Rules, Confirmations & Public Elections Committee
You can review the full list of committee changes here.
🗣️ Will Blackburn Dodge Debate? Senator Marsha Blackburn recently dodged the topic of debate when asked whether she would participate in public forums alongside fellow gubernatorial opponents during an interview with Steve Hartline, host of Cleveland Mix 104.1 radio. “We’re out here every single day. We’re constantly talking to people,” Blackburn said, avoiding the fact that she hasn’t debated an opponent since 2018.
“The people of Tennessee deserve to know what she would do as governor. Why does she want to be governor?” said current District 6 Congressman and Blackburn’s Republican primary opponent, John Rose, during an interview on NewsChannel 5’s Inside Politics. “I think a debate or debates would be the way to get at that.”
Rose continued by highlighting his unwavering support of President Trump. "I supported the President on January 6th, in what I would say is maybe the darkest hour for President Trump," he said. Back in 2021, Rose formally objected to the 2020 election certification. As for Blackburn, she decided to certify the Electoral College votes following the events on the 6th.
DEVELOPMENT
- Luxury golf club fitter True Spec opens first Nashville location (NBJ)
- Wawa to open six Tennessee locations in 2026 (NBJ)
- Downtown skyscraper sells for $55.25M (Post)
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THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here and for more recs, click here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🪕 Kyle Tuttle's Bluegrass Mondays @ Dee's Lounge, 6p, $10, Info
🎸 Cardinal Black w/ Zach Person @ The Basement East, 8p, $33.44, Info
🪕 Val Storey, Carl Jackson, Larry Cordle & New Monday @ Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info
💀 Grateful Monday @ Acme Feed & Seed, 7p, Free, Info
🕺 Motown Monday @ The 5 Spot, 9p, $5, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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Today's newsletter is brought to you by Megan Podsiedlik (Nashville), Jerod Hollyfield (Crowd Corner), Camelia Brennan (Local Noise), and Davis Hunt (everything else).