Taming the Tech

Jun18Thu

Bards get in free

The Rise of Spencer Pratt

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Filmmaker Gabriel Mann, a California native who fled to Nashville in 2021 and made his name with the wildfire documentary Hotshots, has been behind the scenes for Spencer Pratt's improbable rise from reality-star-turned-aggrieved-homeowner after the Palisades fire destroyed his home to a competitive candidate in LA's mayoral race.

Mann witnessed Pratt's transformation firsthand, starting in the aftermath of the fires, and has produced every one of the groundbreaking campaign ads that've captured the nation. Join us Thursday, June 18, at Bungalow Studios for the inside story.

This event benefits The Pamphleteer, Nashville and is priced with that in mind. Bard-level subscribers receive free admittance.

The Mayor is Buying Votes with TIRRC Funding

From Davis Hunt

Since our report last week on the Mayor’s allocation of $735,000 to the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition in this year’s budget, Republicans across the state have drawn attention to the matter.

First the Tennessee Star picked it up and then Senator Marsha Blackburn chimed in, tweeting, “I urge the Metro Council to reject this. Anti-ICE groups like TIRRC should not receive a dime of Tennesseans’ hard-earned money.”

House Speaker Cameron Sexton followed suit, tweeting, “Metro’s budget request of $735k for TIRRC could be in violation of Tennessee’s no sanctuary cities law.”

Fox17 asked the mayor about the grant and whether “public money will go to undocumented immigrants.” O’Connell responded with typical word salad.

The story has become all about the city’s open support for TIRRC, and less about O’Connell’s naked purchase of votes. But as we made clear in our initial reporting, TIRRC Votes – the political arm of TIRRC – endorsed and campaigned on behalf of Mayor Freddie O’Connell in 2023.

I don’t know about you, but by my estimation, the story here concerns a mayor who is blatantly purchasing votes from a lavishly funded NGO.

Additionally, the mayor’s support for TIRRC creates major political risk for those that object to the expenditure, warping the electoral calculus for would-be candidates. Support TIRRC or else you will have to fight against the $10 million war chest the organization has at its disposal.

So, how deeply entwined are the two organizations?

Independent auditors have flagged financial-control failures at TIRRC in each of the last three years, including back-to-back qualified compliance opinions in 2022 and 2023 on the ARPA funds Metro routed to the group.

Those same audits also describe the two organizations as operating under "common control." In other words, TIRRC fronts the staff, supervision, and overhead costs, and TIRRC Votes reimburses its share based on how much of each employee's time goes to political work.

Since 2021, TIRRC has transferred more than $755,000 in direct grants to TIRRC Votes, on top of cost-sharing reimbursements that fund shared staff and overhead. As a reminder, TIRRC reached 470,000 voters during the 2023 election in support of their slate, which included Mayor Freddie O’Connell.

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)

OPINION: Don’t Let Credit Scoring Reform Put Taxpayers at Risk

By Patrick Gleason

When Washington Rewrites Mortgage Rules, Taxpayers Bear the Risk

The Great Financial Crisis of 2008 provided a case study on the way in which government manipulation and forced suppression of credit standards can result in unintended negative consequences not just for lenders and borrowers, but also the broader economy. At a time when the housing market is already under pressure, changes to how mortgage credit is evaluated should be approached with care. That’s why the current conversation around credit scoring reform deserves a more measured approach.

At the center of this debate is a proposed shift in how mortgage creditworthiness is evaluated. Today, mortgage underwriting largely relies on established models. However, federal regulators are now considering changes that would allow lenders to use multiple credit scoring models when issuing mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In that mix is VantageScore, a scoring model that is jointly owned by all three credit bureaus themselves. While intended to introduce more flexibility, this change raises important questions about how risk is measured and whether underwriting standards will remain consistent.

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• ⚡️ Tennessee powers up with fusion regulations starting June 9.

  Next week,Tennessee will become the first state in the nation with its own regulatory framework for nuclear fusion machines. The new rules establish licensing requirements for fusion machines, with Type One Energy’s commercial site near Oak Ridge expected to be among the first licensees for its stellarator-based fusion power plant development.

  TN Gov

• Smokin' Oaks Organic Farms files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

  NBJ

• Infinity Hospitality plans glass events building

  Post

• Demure Cocktail to soon open in Germantown

  Post

• 📅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 Thu, Jun 4

Today's newsletter is brought to you by Davis Hunt, Megan Podsiedlik, and Camelia Brennan