Feinting Across the Aisle

Last night at the Metro Council

From Megan Podsiedlik

At last night's council meeting, elections were held to place a handful of council members on different boards and committees. When presented with a choice between a progressive or more moderate nominee, the votes were split down the middle on multiple occasions, indicating that the council could be moderating itself.

Even Councilmember Delishia Porterfield, one of the body’s most progressive members, made an appeal across the aisle. “I will say that we have a variety of beliefs on this body,” she said. “I think we see that every meeting, but I have been able to work with people regardless of their political beliefs.”

But despite all the rhetoric, the only show of bipartisan cooperation that felt genuine took place between at-large Councilmember Burkley Allen and District 26 Councilmember Courtney Johnston — Allen, known for her pragmatism and unwillingness to rock the boat and Johnston more than willing to play the heel against the council’s more outlandish efforts.

Differences aside, Allen nominated Johnston for one of the two positions on the Metro Audit Committee. “I've had the pleasure of serving for the last two years on the Audit Committee with Councilmember Johnston, and I can speak to the fact that she is very thorough, very detail oriented, and never afraid to ask hard questions,” said Allen.

Ultimately, the council didn’t send Johnston back to Audit. Instead, in a very close vote, the body sent Councilmembers Jason Spain and Delishia Porterfield to serve on the committee instead. In a tiebreaker decision made by Vice Mayor Angie Henderson, Porterfield also landed the position of pro tempore—which is the position that assumes the leadership role of the council if the Vice Mayor cannot fulfill their duties.

Councilmember Rollin Horton secured the chair position on the Planning and Zoning Committee and will also be a representative on the Planning Commission for the next two years. Unsurprisingly, Councilmember Sean Parker reclaimed his spot on the Traffic and Parking Commission. Lastly, Councilmember Tom Cash faced no competition for the non-voting member position on the Short-Term Rental Appeals Board.

As for the actual business of the evening, the council passed all four zoning bills propped up as affordable housing solutions on first reading. That said, the second reading of the ordinances that would upzone two-family dwellings and relax restrictions on building detached accessory dwelling units were deferred until November.

It’s worth noting that Councilmember Thom Druffel is not convinced that the densification of Nashville is the cure-all it’s being promoted as. “I think we're sort of missing this infrastructure component that will be very important,” he said, indicating that the Planning Department is coming up short when it comes to factoring in how neighborhoods are supposed to sustain large increases in density.

There was also a deferral on second reading for a bill that differentiates between regulations set for entertainment transportation vehicles and seated sightseeing vehicles. Lastly, a bill that would expand upon recent standards placed on vape shops by the state passed on second reading, but according to Sponsor Emily Benedict there will be a substitute that will rewrite the bill on its third reading.

🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.

🚍 Is Freddie A Liar? Councilmember Courtney Johnston is questioning the transparency of the mayor’s office around tunnel negotiations with Elon Musk’s Boring Company. “When they say they were blindsided and that it was 'informal chatter,' it's nonsense. It's beyond nonsense. It's a straight-out lie," Johnston told NewsChannel 5. 

Last week, Nashville Business Journal uncovered an eight-page internal memo revealing that the mayor’s office asked the governor’s office to put off discussions with the Boring Company about the Music City Loop until after O’Connell’s transit referendum passed. According to the report, “the mayor's office didn't oppose the tunnels, but also ‘needed to distance themselves’ from the project.”

During the initial announcement of the project, the governor gave a glowing review of the mayor’s cooperation throughout negotiations which O’Connell downplayed. To many observers, the mayor’s lukewarm reaction to the project seems politically motivated and an indication that he doesn’t want to rock the boat with his left-wing supporters who despise Musk.

💥 The Gun Showdown Yesterday, state Representative Monty Fritts sent a letter to Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti requesting that the state accept the recent Chancellory Court decision to uphold Second Amendment rights. The recent ruling, which was for the case Hughes v Lee, rejected the implications of a Tennessee law placing gun restrictions on Constitutional carry in public recreational areas and another law creating a vague definition of “intent to go armed.”

“We understand that part of your role as the Attorney General for Tennessee is to act to defend the laws of our State, and those involved in carrying out the enforcement of those laws, in court,” reads the letter. “However, at what point do we say that the laws are not worth defending because they rob our citizens of their God-given and Constitutionally guaranteed rights?”

Fritts was joined by state Representatives Michele Reneau, Tom Stinnett, Ed Butler, Rush Bricken, Debra Moody, Todd Warner, Jody Barrett, Jerome Moon, Bud Hulsey, Jay Reedy, and Kelly Keisling. “We need liberty and less government in Tennessee,” Fritts told us. “Hughes v Lee was a great win for liberty. This appeal is a constitutional apostasy.”

🗳️ Humble Challenges Johnson Conservative grassroots activist Gary Humble officially announced that he will primary state Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson for his seat in District 27 next year.  Humble, who is the leader of the policy and advocacy organization Tennessee Stands, has gone toe-to-toe with Johnson before, coming within 800 votes of unseating him in 2022. In the interim, the rivalry has transformed from petty politicking into full-on political warfare. “It's time to restore the voice of the People and fight back against special interests and career politicians,” Humble announced on social media. 

🪪 TN License plate reaches nation's highest court A Nashville woman, Leah Gilliam, is taking her fight over a revoked vanity license plate to the U.S. Supreme Court after Tennessee’s high court ruled against her. Gilliam had used the plate “69PWNDU” for more than a decade before officials revoked it in 2021, claiming it referenced “sexual domination.”

She sued, arguing the decision violated her First Amendment rights, but in February the Tennessee Supreme Court held that personalized plates are government speech—not private speech—and thus not constitutionally protected. Gilliam now asks the Supreme Court to decide whether vanity plates are expressions of individual speech or state-controlled messages, a ruling that could reshape how states regulate custom tags across the country

DEVELOPMENT

• Nashville Barrel Co. to open $3M Kentucky whiskey venue (NBJ)
• Persian restaurant Noôsh to open in Belle Meade (NBJ)
• West Nashville office building sells for $4.5M (Post)

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✹ LEGAL LOOPHOLE OF THE DAY

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes granted pretrial release to Penelope Convertino, a 22-year-old who is a transgender woman, according to the Tennessee Star, and is accused of threatening to kill Senator Marsha Blackburn. Holmes has drawn similar scrutiny before, including in the case of Kilmar Abrego García, a Salvadoran man wrongfully deported but later charged with human smuggling, whom she also allowed release after ruling the government failed to show he was a danger.

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

🎸 Coheed and Cambria & Taking Back Sunday with Foxing @ Ascend Amphitheater, 6:30p, $32+, Info

🪕 The Woods with April Kry @ 3rd and Lindsley, 7p, $15.91, Info

💀 Tennessee Dead @ Tennessee Brew Works, 6p, Info

🪕 Bluegrass Night @ The American Legion Post 82, 7p, Free, Info

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.

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🥞 Uncle Hershel’s Shell Game · How the mayor controlled transit conversation · Analyzing D7 · Much more!

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An Authority with Authority

💸 Bob Mendes’ pricey “seat at the table” · Election update · General Robertson’s founding of Nashville · Illegal offender of the day · Much more!

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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).