Metro Council 1 - Surveillance State 0

During last night’s Metro Council meeting, the body shot down the Fusus agreement that would have extended a contract that allows certain businesses and residents to voluntarily integrate their private security cameras with Metro Nashville Police Department’s network. The proposal, which has been hotly contested since its introduction in October, ultimately failed by one vote. 

Over the last month, members of the public opposed to the contract expressed their fears of a surveillance state that would target minority communities and illegal aliens, while those in support urged council members to implement the technology to protect victims of crime. During the floor discussion, Councilmember Erin Evans—who filed multiple guardrails and changes to the resolution in hopes of helping it pass—shared a few stories of horrific crimes that have spurred conversations about access to surveillance cameras, including a double homicide witnessed by a seven-year-old, and an unsolved incident where 20 half dead cats were left in a dumpster.

Leading up to the meeting, Mayor O’Connell took to X to voice his support for the contract and exposed the foreboding that seems to fuel resistance to such technology. "Fundamentally, I think this is a question about whether we trust ourselves—local government, local law enforcement—to perform a core mission of public safety against a backdrop of lack of trust in higher authorities,” he posted. “I’m still an optimist in this regard."

🏛️ SCOTUS Takes Up Skrmetti’s Case The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments today on United States v. Skrmetti, which seeks to ban hormone replacement therapy, gender reassignment surgery, and puberty blockers for minors. Skrmetti argues that there is a “compelling interest” to protect minors from physical and emotional harm. The DOJ and plaintiffs, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, argue that the law discriminates on the basis of both sex and “transgender status.”

The ACLU’s attorney arguing the case is a transgender man named Chase Strangio. Just so you can get a sense of the vibe, yesterday, Strangio published an op-ed in the New York Times titled “At the Supreme Court This Week I Am Arguing for My Life.” After hearing oral arguments, the court is expected to issue its opinion by the end of June. If you’re so inclined, you can watch the proceedings here.

👎 The Council Fails Freddie "I'm disappointed that Metro Council was unable to pass a Fusus contract update that offered clear benefit to the safety of Nashville,” explained Mayor O’Connell in a press release this morning. “Not only will Metro Police not get a helpful tool, but they will also lose existing Fusus tools that they have been using to dispatch officers to residents in need and identify officers' locations.”

Last night, the council voted down the technology contract that would have allowed Nashvillians to voluntarily integrate their security cameras into MNPD’s network. During the Council meeting, the mayor’s director of legislative affairs, Dave Rosenberg, clarified that Fusus was not a data platform and the police wouldn’t be able to tune into cameras or store footage at will. “There is no data for anybody to obtain,” he said. “The only data that is stored by Fusus is video that was retained because it's part of a crime.”

“Over the course of the discussion about this technology, we heard concerns from the community and worked to strengthen the guardrails that prohibit its misuse,” continued O’Connell in today’s statement. “The timing of Fusus legislation at council made it easy to attach fears about unrelated possibilities to it, but passage of this legislation would have allowed Metro Police to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively and keep Nashvillians - particularly those in vulnerable communities - safe. I hope we'll have opportunities in the future to work together as a city to ensure that our police department has effective tools as we work to keep people safe."

🗑️ Junkyard Kings Local investors may buy the metal scrapyard located near the new Imagine East Bank site across from Downtown Nashville. According to Nashville Business Journal, “veteran investor J. David Byerley as well as Sam Lingo, former president of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center,” have been putting together a group to buy up the SA Recycling site owned by billionaire Carl Icahn. 

The 45-acre plot is situated close to the new Titan’s stadium and is within the area Metro will be developing into a commercial destination and entertainment district over the next few decades. Back in March, when asked whether the mayor’s administration had been in talks with Icahn about the advantageously situated land, Chief Development Officer Bob Mendes answered, “No”.

HOW THE STATE VOTED

DEVELOPMENT

• Fat Tiger Brings Authentic Korean Food to White Bluff (Scene)
• Nashville Sports Council bids for FCS national championships Post)
• Major permit issued for $211M Pie Town tower (Post)

✹ THE DONUT EFFECT MAY BE HERE TO STAY

What is the shelf life of a freshly baked donut? Two days, tops. But when it comes to an entirely different kind of donut—one that Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom described early in the pandemic when he measured the exodus of people from city centers to city suburbs—there appears to be no expiration date.

That's the key takeaway of Bloom's research of the "donut effect," a term he helped coin that refers to the hollowing out of big-city financial districts, the rising attraction of surrounding areas, and the impacts on local economies.

Since the pandemic, the country's 12 largest cities have cumulatively lost 8% of their downtown dwellers. Three-fifths of the households that left moved to nearby suburbs, according to the study, which was published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Bloom also finds a steep drop in the number of businesses located in the business centers of these major metro areas, which include New York, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Meanwhile, the donut effects for other U.S. cities have either been much smaller or haven't happened at all.

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 and yearly festival guide.

TONIGHT

🎸 Lauren Daigle @ Ryman Auditorium, 7:30p, $38+, Info

🎄 Girl Named Tom: The Joy of Christmas Tour @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $42+, Info

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

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.