Freddie Goes Fishing
💵 Mayor bankrolls progressive non-profit · NES to bury power lines · House 60 candidate launches petition to cap property taxes · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone. Mayor bankrolls progressive non-profit in this year's budget as one-time funding runs out... NES to test methods of burying power lines as part of new pilot program... House 60 candidate launches petition to cap property tax increases... And much more!
Correction issued (yesterday) Kyonzté Toombs is the Chair of Budget and Finance, not Jennifer Gamble.
New TN U.S. Congressional District lookup Use your address to find your new district here.
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Mayor allocates $735k to progressive non-profit in latest budget proposal.
From Davis Hunt
Mayor Freddie O'Connell's proposed FY2027 budget moves $735,000 in taxpayer funds to the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (whose funding we've covered previously), a nonprofit whose political affiliate has endorsed and campaigned for him since its inception. The line item, folded quietly into the general fund as the group's pandemic-era federal grants expire, marks an escalation in the relationship between Metro and the immigrant focused organization.
The nonprofit’s presence in Metro affairs has increased steadily over the past decade. In 2022, the city initiated a two year pilot with the organization to provide legal aid to immigrants, awarding the nonprofit $1,820,585 in American Rescue Plan funds.
In 2024, the council and Mayor O’Connell signed on for an additional two years, sending the group $797,484 in ARP funds to go through June 2026. As the contract runs out next month and ARP funds expire, the mayor has moved funding for TIRRC into the general fund, awarding them $735,000 in the proposed FY2027 budget.
A third funding pipeline opened in May 2025. After Tennessee Highway Patrol's joint operation with ICE, the mayor's office partnered with the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to launch the Belonging Fund, an emergency assistance fund for affected immigrants. TIRRC was named as a founding partner and contributed seed money alongside Conexion Americas and Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors. The fund was initially pitched as emergency cash assistance only; by August it had quietly expanded to cover legal services.
All told, Metro has appropriated roughly $2.6 million to TIRRC since 2022 through ARPA grants alone, with the FY2027 proposal converting that arrangement into a recurring $735,000 annual line.
TIRRC runs the structure many nonprofits use: a 501(c)(3) that's legally prohibited from backing candidates, paired with a 501(c)(4) that isn't. The (c)(4), TIRRC Votes, founded in 2018, endorses a slate each cycle and campaigns to elect them.
In 2019, TIRRC Votes endorsed 25 candidates, including now-mayor Freddie O’Connell, 21 of whom won their seats. During that election cycle, the group contacted more than 42,000 voters, knocked on more than 14,000 doors and made nearly 2,000 phone calls to immigrant voters. One of the endorsed candidates, District 30’s Sandra Sepulveda, sponsored the initial 2021 bill requesting $1.8 million for immigrant legal aid.
For 2023’s Metro election, TIRRC Votes endorsed 26 candidates. 21 of those, including Mayor Freddie O’Connell and at-large councilmembers Delishia Porterfield, Olivia Hill, Zulfat Suara, and Quin Evans Segall, won their races. During the most recent cycle, the group scaled up their operation, reaching 470,221 voters total, including 27,779 households door-to-door and 233,935 text messages.
Heading into 2027’s Metro elections, TIRRC and its affiliate TIRRC Votes are flush with cash, coming off their most lucrative year in the history of both organizations. In 2024, TIRRC raised $7.9 million, bringing their cash reserves to nearly $10 million. TIRRC Votes hauled in an additional $991,000.
Beyond electoral work, TIRRC has used litigation to advance its agenda. They filed and won a 2025 records lawsuit against the Tennessee Highway Patrol over withheld footage of last May's Nashville ICE raids, and earlier this month filed a second suit — joined by Councilmember Terry Vo, one of the 2023 candidates TIRRC Votes helped elect — seeking to block THP from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement.
In short, the mayor has proposed making permanent a $735,000 annual transfer to a group whose political arm has elected him twice.
✹ SEVEN AUTHORS OF IMPACT
HEADLINES
- ⚡️ NES testing out four ways to bury power lines to potentially help prevent power outages. In response to the ice storm, the Electric Power Board approved $9 million for a pilot program to test moving power lines underground in four neighborhoods. Construction is expected to start later this summer along streets in Old Hickory, Cane Ridge, Thompson Lane, and Charlotte Park. (WSMV)
- 📝 House 60 candidate launches property tax petition. Republican candidate for Tennessee House District 60, Eva Romero, has launched a property tax petition. The petition urges the Tennessee General Assembly to cap annual residential and small business property tax increases at 2 percent per year and completely freeze property taxes for all homeowners aged 65 and older. In her challenge against incumbent state Representative Shaundelle Brooks, Romero is positioning the effort as a bipartisan push to prevent longtime residents from being priced out due to rapid tax hikes in Nashville. (Press Release)
- 💻 Metro Council to discuss new bill addressing data centers in Nashville at upcoming meeting. Council member Rollin Horton filed a new bill to address data centers by adding them as a defined land use in the zoning ordinance, specifying locations for different sizes, and imposing operational restrictions. It requires closed-loop cooling systems, noise limits, water and energy sustainability plans, and annual compliance reports. The bill is scheduled for discussion at the June 2 Metro Council meeting. (WSMV)
- 🧊 ICE arrests Honduran national following release from prison. ICE arrested 37-year-old Kelvin Mejia-Romero on April 20 after he completed a state prison sentence for a 2022 deadly wrong-way crash on I-24 in Nashville. He was convicted of vehicular homicide by reckless conduct for the New Year’s Day 2022 head-on collision that killed 66-year-old musician Samuel Dismuke Sr. Mejia-Romero had prior DUI convictions and remained in the U.S. unlawfully after being denied immigration applications. (TN Star)
- 🪧 Oliver removed from committee, denied per diem after Senate protest over redistricting. State Senator Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville) was removed from her off-session committee and denied per diem payments after leading a protest during a Senate redistricting-related special session. (TNJ)
✹ METRO COUNCIL WATCH
New Council Watch Features We've added additional features to Council Watch. In addition to who's funding your council member, you can now see how they vote and who they vote with most frequently. (Take a Look)
DEVELOPMENT
- BNA now ranks among 10 largest for Southwest operations (Post)
- Private equity firm snags Nashville data center in $225M portfolio deal (NBJ)
- First Horizon Park-area building offered for sale (Post)
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week 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
🎸 America @ Ryman Auditorium, 7p, $138, Info
🎸 Bleary @ The Blue Room, 7p, $19, Info
🎸 Music City Rodeo followed by Miranda Lambert | A PRCA ProRodeo @ Bridgestone Arena, 6p, $48, Info
🎸 Kelley’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info
🎸 Open Mic @ Fox & Locke, 6:30p, Free, Info
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Today's newsletter is brought to you by Davis Hunt, Megan Podsiedlik, and Camelia Brennan.