Dawn of a New Age
💸 Transit funding pickle · Budget battles · More police · Week in streaming · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone.
Yesterday, we reported on Mayor O’Connell’s response to questions about whether the potential loss of federal funding for his transit plan would mean higher costs for taxpayers. We mistakenly interpreted part of his answer—he said wouldn't, but we heard would. O’Connell’s full quote: “If [federal funding is] not there, it would result in value engineering. It would not result in, for instance, a cost increase to people here.” The story has been updated to reflect this.
Nevertheless, the anxiety around access to the federal funds outlined in the Choose How You Move plan remains. Last week, Trump’s Department of Transportation appointee Sean Duffy issued an order attaching strings to the grants the department disburses. The order prohibits recipients of DOT support or assistance from “imposing vaccine and mask mandates” and requires local compliance with Federal immigration enforcement. Additionally, communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average will receive preferential treatment.
As Megan mentioned yesterday, a key component of the funding for O’Connell’s plan is the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grant program which is available specifically for costs associated with new transit infrastructure. The FTA is an agency within the DOT, and thus, subject to the order.
There is little doubt that if the grants do not materialize, blame will be placed squarely on the Trump administration, but it was O’Connell who led the charge and gambled the city’s finances on his transit expansion, knowing full well that a Trump victory could jeopardize his access to the federal grant programs around which his entire pitch was based. Nevertheless, he persisted.
The administration remains stoic in the face of such uncertainty, but just imagine what will happen if and when a federal grant coming from the DOT runs through this council requiring the city to comply with Trump’s immigration policies.
As an aside, I think what we’re seeing with Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency is a Berlin Wall-like moment. The tangled web of NGOs working hand-in-glove with the federal government to push and promote arcane policies both locally and abroad looks like it might be on its last legs. No more money for “transgender operas” in Colombia. No more slush funds to facilitate illegal immigration. No more $500 million purchases of cargo planes in Afghanistan that were unsafe to fly and sold as scraps for about $30k. It really does feel as if we are entering a new era. Exciting.
And finally, a brief rant: the “temporary” barrier along the Natchez Trace bridge is really a testament to the times. Celebrated by advocates across the mid-state on its construction for deterring suicidal people from jumping from the bridge, the garish chainlink fence topped with barbed wire lines the beautiful archway giving the impression of walking along a gangplank when you drive over it.
Instead of an awe-inspiring view from this marvel of human ingenuity, I am reminded only of death and despair, the failings of society, and the saddest possible outcome for a person. I don’t understand how one can celebrate the erection of such barriers as progress in any real sense. This kind of stuff weighs on the mind. It’s foolish to believe that chain link, barbed wire fence along one of the state’s most beautiful roads does not affect the psyche of those who cross it.
I reached out to the National Parks Service about when a more permanent, less oppressive, barrier will be constructed. Will update if I get a response.
Onward.
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💰 Budget Battles Tonight’s Metro Council meeting will begin with a two-hour pre-budget public comment period. During the meeting, council members will hear how Nashvillians would like to see the dollars flow through Metro government. According to the Banner, new or increased spending may be off the table unless Metro leaders decide to increase property taxes. “The high level view is that our revenues are kind of flat,” Metro Finance Director Jenneen Reed told the publication.
The mayor will be weighing proposals submitted by Metro departments and preparing his budget over the next two months. The council will then have through June to make any changes to O’Connell’s final proposal.
🚨 Upping Police Presence On Friday, Metro Nashville Police Department established an additional officer shift “to enhance police visibility during peak hours and reduce response time for non-emergency calls.” Mayor O’Connell commended Chief Drake’s initiative last week. “The D-Shift will be staffed by a total of 41 officers, 5 sergeants and 1 lieutenant,” said the mayor. “The new shift will provide additional capacity and support districts experiencing high call volumes.”
According to MNPD’s press release, the officers making up D-shift were pulled from the “precinct-based community engagement teams, which continue to be fully operational, just with fewer personnel.” Yesterday, 22 people were welcomed into the newest MNPD recruit class. “...We're on track to have fewer than 100 vacancies below currently authorized strength,” said O’Connell. “I want to recognize the work of Chief Drake and his team to reduce those vacancies and focus on recruitment and retention as we ensure that our community has an appropriately staffed police force to support public safety.”
🗑️ Untrashing The Trash Over the last few years, the imminent closure of landfills in Nashville, and across Tennessee, has been threatening to become a stinker of a problem. Nashville Senator Heidi Campbell has introduced a recycling solution by sponsoring the Tennessee Waste to Jobs Act. “What's different about this is that we're trying to do this in a red state,” Campbell told WUOT. “And so we're trying to basically find a more creative way that works for a red state…by actually centering business.”
The bill would require “producers of goods to participate in a responsibility organization for recycling, reuse, and composting of certain packaging material.” It does this by charging businesses a packaging fee to help pay for recycling programs in the state, and creating a recycled material buy-back program. The bill also establishes a Producer Responsibility Program Advisory Board, and it would eventually introduce civil penalty fees for businesses who do not comply with new regulations.
DEVELOPMENT
- New York firm under contract to buy Vanderbilt-area hotel at significant discount (NBJ)
- Midtown tower project underway on Church Street (Post)
- Downtown’s Berger Building set for high-profile tenant (Post)
✹ THIS WEEK IN STREAMING (February 4th)
Challengers (Prime) The Oscars’s obsession with identity politics may finally have come undone thanks to the cancel-culture conundrum that consumed Hollywood last week. But the real outcry should have stemmed from the total exclusion of this sudsy melodrama from the nominations. Zendeya forms the center of a decades-spanning love triangle set in the upper echelons of professional tennis. As we said last spring, “With Italian director Luca Guadagnino at the helm, Challengers not only succeeds as a gripping and epic sports drama, but as a film unafraid to take seriously the innate human drives for dominance and competition that many of our most lauded pundits would pretend don’t exist.”
Rescue Me (Hulu) While Mad Men remains the quintessential difficult dude story from the second golden age of TV, its success owes a debt to Denis Leary’s FX drama about the FDNY’s finest coming to terms with the post-9/11 world. Raunchy, hilarious, and game to take on survivors’ guilt without resorting to platitudes, it's a model for the great TV we hope will soon return.
My Bloody Valentine (1981) (AMC+) Those who tired of Hallmark movies in mid-December can now celebrate V-Day and Justin Trudeau’s final ride at the same time with this early Canadian slasher film. Two decades ago, rogue miner Harry Warden went on a killing spree sparked by a preventable explosion that killed his friends. Now, the opportunistic mayor of a company town wants to reinstate the annual Valentine’s Day dance. But Warden may well be back to finish the job. Horror fans will appreciate the inventive set pieces, but the real draw is the film’s dissection of small-town bureaucrats and corporate collusion.
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown 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
🎸 Old Dominion @ Ryman Auditorium, 7p & 9:30p, $149+, Info
🎸 Christian Lee Hutson @ Blue Room, 7p, $23.30, Info
🪕 Twang Tuesday ft. Andy Kahrs @ Acme Feed and Seed, 7p, Free, Info
🎸 Zach Bryson with Jesse Gray Residency @ Dee's Lounge, 9p, $5, Info
🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ Eastside Bowl, 8p, $10, Info
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p
🎸 Cole Ritter and the Night Owls @ The Underdog, 11:30p, Free, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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