Local politics without locals
💸 Who funds the Southern Movement Committee · How Metro assesses local NGOs · Invasion is Nigh · Blackburn against doxxing · Government Gangsters · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone. Today, we uncover the funding of yet another local NGO, look at how Metro assesses nonprofits it works with, catch up on another interesting aspect of Tuesday’s council meeting, and review FBI director Kash Patel’s book. First time reading? Sign up here.
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Two organizations had an outsized presence at Tuesday’s council meeting: the SEIU, a public sector labor union, and the Southern Movement Committee, a “local” nonprofit whose stated mission is to organize “for racial justice and human rights.”
Similar to the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition and Stand Up Nashville, whose funding sources we previously reviewed, the Southern Movement Committee receives much of its funding from large, out-of-state NGOs.
In 2022, SMC raised a flat $400,000, $125,000 of which came from the CCP-linked Chinese Progressive Association. In addition to the lavish grant from the CPA for “black organizing innovations,” the so-called local nonprofit received $60,000 from Borealis Philanthropy in Minneapolis, $100,000 from New Profit Inc in Boston, and $50,000 from the New Venture Fund in Washington D.C. among others.
In total, for the year 2022, 86 percent of the group’s funding came from large, out-of-state NGOs.
In 2023, they raised $572,000. Borealis Philanthropy upped its grant to $200,000, and the Public Welfare Foundation out of D.C. chipped in $132,000 among others.
In total for 2023, 69 percent of the group’s funding came from large, out-of-state NGOs.
What makes SMC different from TIRRC and Stand Up is that they came to the meeting on Tuesday with a specific ask: $10 million for expenditures related to restorative justice, which they call the “Varsity Spending Plan.”
NewsChannel 5 produced a glowing profile of the group after Tuesday’s meeting. "We want to see those that program and that restorative justice, conflict resolution increase throughout Nashville," Erica Perry, executive director of the Southern Movement Committee, told the station.
Last year, the council granted SMC’s request for $1 million to create the Office of Youth Safety. The office is tasked with “taking a proactive, evidence-based, people-informed approach to youth safety and well-being.” In the mayor’s statement on the creation of the new office, he explicitly thanked the Southern Movement Committee and councilmember Delishia Porterfield, among others.
Over the past four years, we’ve witnessed the rapid growth of supposedly local nonprofits that receive lavish funding from groups like the Bay Area-based Tides Foundation, the D.C.-based New Venture Fund, and most interestingly, the CCP-linked Chinese Progressive Association. Who do these groups represent? What do they want for the city? DAVIS HUNT
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🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.
💸 We Should Know Where Metro Nonprofit Grants Go During yesterday’s Budget & Finance Work Session, members reviewed 32 pages of “wishlist” items, which include ways council members hope to modify the budget to accommodate certain initiatives. Chair Delishia Porterfield repeatedly reminded those in the meeting room that there was a hot mic in the ceiling that could pick up side conversations.
During the discussion, Metro Finance Assistant Director Mary Jo Wiggins emphasized the importance of reviewing Metro’s grant process before allocating funding to nonprofits. “I just wanted to remind council members to make sure that we are directing these nonprofits to partner with the department that will manage these grants,” she said.
Wiggins also explained that not only do Metro departments have subject matter experts who can help avoid snags—“sometimes there are good ideas that have already been tried, and there's a reason…it won't actually…or there's just more efficient ways to do it by working with the department”—but there’s a criterion nonprofits sometimes don’t meet: the auditing process.
In Metro code, there are six criteria nonprofits must meet, including providing a statement of intent, disclosing their corporate charter, outlining the use of funds, and submitting all line-item expenditures. Nonprofits are also required to submit an annual audit, a review or compilation of financial statements put together by an independent CPA, or internally prepared financial statements, depending on the amount of annual revenue or Metro grants they’re receiving.
“You are not supposed to approve any funding to a nonprofit that has not met all of the eligibility criteria that's in the Metro Code,” said Wiggins. “Every now and then it happens, and we have to hold the contracts until all the eligibility requirements are met. But the biggest one that takes the longest time is an audit.”
🗺️ The Invasion Is Nigh During Tuesday’s council meeting, public comment speakers expressed their fear of being invaded by the red counties that surround Nashville. “Up in Portland, just the other day, up in Robertson County, also just yesterday, ICE agents are riding with police officers arresting people,” said recurring commentator, protester, and activist Michele Flynn. “What's going to happen are these counties around here can apply their police and their councils can apply for grant dollars to partner with ICE people to enforce 287(g) and arrest people. We're going to be surrounded by these folks.”
Joe Lee also spoke of an “invasion” at Davidson’s southern border while commenting on the council’s recognition of Immigrant Heritage Month. “As an immigrant from Taiwan, I sincerely thank all the sponsors for the resolution, and also, you're welcome for doing all the work that you can't do or you don't want to do and putting spices in your food,” he quipped before explaining how he gave up free healthcare, walkable cities, and world-class transit to move to America.
“Like at least one of you here, I am worried about an invasion coming from our southern border. I'm of course talking about our border with Williamson County,” he embellished his bit, blaming Williamson residents for “stealing our jobs,” Nashville’s traffic, and being the home of distasteful political leaders in Tennessee.
In Sumner County, they’re also afraid of a southern border invasion. Located to the north of Nashville, Sumner County GOP fears a progressive policy invasion from Davidson County. “Sumner County is working hard to emulate Metro,” the county party posted on X. “Stay away from Sumner County Freedom Caucus Candidates. They’re tax and spend liberals.”
🔎 Blackburn Comes Down On Doxxing Add it to the timeline: Senator Marsha Blackburn introduced the Protecting Law Enforcement from Doxxing Act, which would make it “illegal to publish the name of a federal law enforcement officer with the intent to obstruct a criminal investigation or immigration operation.” The legislation was filed yesterday in response to “the dangerous actions” of Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s administration after his office publicly released the names of law enforcement officers involved in Nashville immigration enforcement operations. “This puts them at a higher risk of being targeted by criminal gangs, including MS-13 and Tren De Aragua,” reads the press release.
DEVELOPMENT
- Jane's Hideaway to close in East Nashville (Post)
- MetroCenter office building sells for $12.58M (Post)
- Centennial Park-area building sells for $3.9M (Post)
- South Davidson County property eyed for project (Post)
✹ REVIEW: KASH PATEL'S GOVERNMENT GANGSTERS
For years, Kash Pramod Patel has fantasized about remaking the F.B.I. “in his own image.” At least that’s what The New York Times’s Adam Goldman reported this weekend in his article, “Unease at F.B.I. Intensifies as Patel Ousts Top Officials.” Citing Patel’s 2023 book Government Gangsters: The Deep State, The Truth, and The Battle for Our Democracy, Goldman recounts the new F.B.I. director’s attempt to dismiss political partisans and find the sources of leaks with polygraphs.
More than any other Trumpworld personality, Patel has, through a mix of achievement and fortuity, remained at the forefront of every manufactured scandal that plagued the 45th president's tenure. After joining the Justice Department to work in counterterrorism during the Obama Administration, Patel took a job as a senior aide to Devin Nunes, then chief of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
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
🎸 Illiterate Light @ The Blue Room, 7p, $26, Info
🎸 Perpetual Groove @ The Basement East, 8p, $33.44, Info
🎸 Fireside Collective @ Dee's Lounge, 9p, $10, Info
🪕 The Kody Norris Show @ Station Inn, 9p, $20, Info
🎸 CMA Fest @ Various Venues, Info
🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info
🎸 Kelly’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 Megan Podsiedlik (Nashville), Jerod Hollyfield (Crowd Corner), Camelia Brennan (Local Noise), and Davis Hunt (everything else).