The Wrecking Ball of History

The state is putting up a statue of Davy Crockett in front of the State Capitol where former US Senator Edward Carmack’s statue used to stand. Protestors toppled Carmack’s effigy during the Summer of Floyd protest that washed over the city on May 30, 2020.

Crockett is a less controversial figure than Carmack, whose colorful career involved a war of words with Civil Rights activist Ida B. Wells. Matters of distant history aside, the circumstances in the city leading up to his statue’s toppling are recent enough to still scandalize.

The May 30th “I Will Breathe” protest-cum-riot was the one that John Cooper tweeted about attending and encouraged his colleagues to do the same (while also wearing masks and social distancing). By nightfall, rioters destroyed six police vehicles, looted 30 Broadway businesses, burned an American flag outside the Metro courthouse, and attempted to set the courthouse itself on fire.

As a result, Cooper declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew while Governor Lee sent in the National Guard. Somewhere in the day, Carmack’s statue got tipped over.

A couple of days after the riot, news broke that Governor Lee expressed interest in bringing the Republican National Convention to Nashville. Mayor Cooper immediately shot back that the city wasn’t ready from a public health perspective. And with partisan fireworks illuminating the darkening horizon, a year later, the council voted against hosting the RNC, and thus began the state’s vendetta against the city.

Looking back, what we witnessed in 2020 was a mass hallucination that city leaders actively participated in and indulged. Amid lockdowns, shuttered businesses, and mass hysteria over the deadliness of COVID-19, a large group of health professionals authored a letter advising against shutting down protests due to the virus. The World Health Organization agreed. 

And to boot, data has revealed, again and again, that blacks are not disproportionately killed by police when compared to other races. Systemic police racism—the casus belli of much of the damage from the period that we still reckon with—is a myth.

One local side effect of downtown rioting in Nashville that we reported on is the changes MNPD enacted in the way it moved police around the city. As a result of the concentration of force required downtown, officers became overworked and disoriented, sending many to early retirements and resulting in a staffing shortage the city is still fighting.

I don’t say all this to get your blood pressure up for no reason. The victory of avowed socialist Zohran Mamdani—whose platform would’ve fit right in during the Summer of Floyd—over former New York governor Andrew Cuomo in yesterday’s Democratic primary for mayor of New York City shows us that the energy that fomented the Summer of Floyd is still alive and well in the hearts and minds of the American left. Nashville is not immune to any of this.

There’s a common understanding that history is like a pendulum, swinging from one extreme to the other, as we march toward a sunnier, more just tomorrow. But I think a better metaphor is that history, as understood by progressives, is a wrecking ball. Sure, it swings back the other direction, but only to gain enough momentum to topple the building sitting in front of it. DAVIS HUNT

🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.

💸 Council Members Sue Over TN Sanctuary City Restrictions Seven council members are suing over a Tennessee State Law established during this year’s special session that introduces harsher punishments for local policymakers who try to establish sanctuary cities. At-large council members Delishia Porterfield and Zulfat Suara, along with district council members Clay Capp (District-6), Brenda Gadd (District-24), Sandra Sepulveda (District-30), Terry Vo (District 17), and Ginny Welsch (District 16) are listed as plaintiffs on the suit.

In 2019, a state law went into effect that prohibits state and local governmental entities and officials from adopting sanctuary policies. The General Assembly expanded on the law this February and established criminal penalties that go into effect on July 1. Any official convicted of proposing sanctuary policies will also be removed from office.

“This snapshot of the political climate demonstrates the State’s aggressive anti-immigrant stance and the federal government’s equally aggressive efforts to attack any local governmental entities or officials that stand in the way of their immigration enforcement goals,” reads the complaint. “Local officials, therefore, face a profound and concrete likelihood of criminal prosecution under the Act.”

The council members are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee and claim the law violates First Amendment rights of locally elected officials. The ACLU has been involved in numerous lawsuits taken up against the state. Notably, they challenged Tennessee’s law that restricts gender-transition interventions for minors. The case was taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ultimately upheld the state's authority to protect kids from life‑altering medical practices in an opinion that came down last week.

During a press conference last Wednesday, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti acknowledged ACLU’s involvement in the courtroom battle when explaining the abundance of resources deployed to try to impose policy preferences through lawfare.

🏗️ East Bank Puppet Authority During yesterday’s East Bank Development Authority meeting, board member and Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton tried to establish who, exactly, is in control over decisions regarding the East Bank. After the Speaker fired off a series of questions, it became clear that as long as Metro is funding the Authority's operating budget, they’re running the show. That said, once the Authority is taking in revenue and funding itself, Metro Legal Deputy Director Tom Cross said they can enter into a new contract to establish their oversight. 

When taking a closer look, the question of who has final say is still a bit murky. Land use and zoning decisions are delegated to Metro. Furthermore, the Authority only has as much authority as is established in the master agreements entered into by Metro. For example, though the Authority CEO Ben York clarified that “the initial development area of 30 acres conveyed, plus the parcel adjacent to the stadium, known as the South Plaza, will be transferred to the Development Authority,” the contract entered into by Metro with The Fallon Co. to develop that area will dictate the authority’s purview.

“My understanding is the Authority has the authority, not Metro and all this stuff,” concluded Sexton. “And so it seems like we're somewhat in a disagreement on exactly how much authority each part has.”

🏘️ Request To Audit Nashville’s Property Assessment During last night’s Metro Audit Committee meeting, a request to audit the Davidson County Property Assessor's Office caught Assessor Vivian Wilhoite off guard. Instead of receiving notification through official channels, Wilhoite found out her office was on the committee’s agenda via a text from a lawyer while she enjoyed an evening out with friends. “I think this is kind of not appropriate in the sense of me, of us, being blindsided,” she told the committee. Metro Auditor Lauren Riley acknowledged the mistake, and the body clarified its notification protocol later in the meeting in order to prevent future blunders. 

The request for an audit came in anonymously by a council member following this year’s property assessment. During discussion, it was clarified that the request was not a complaint or an accusation and that the committee is considering an audit, not an investigation. 

“We have to respond, I think, to requests that are made to the audit committee and are kind of bound to fairly evaluate those,” said committee member Matthew Scanlan. “It is important for our government to be transparent, and I think the very methodical way that we do this is an important part of that,” said committee member and Councilmember Burkely Allen.

The body decided to defer their decision and call a special meeting after more information is collected so the committee can make an informed decision once they know what data has already been gathered in previous audits.

DEVELOPMENT

• Local beer vets plan new brewery, barbecue joint for East Nashville (NBJ)
• East Nashville property once eyed for residential building listed for sale (Post)
• Sales finally underway at luxury West Nashville residential building (Post)
• Germantown office building listed for sale (Post)

✹ LOCAL ACTIVIST ALL-STAR OF THE DAY

Carl Joseph Blahnik has a knack for making headlines. His latest caper involved setting a dumpster on fire in downtown Nashville in protest of Mayor O'Connell's "lack of help for the homeless." Previously, Blahnik made headlines in a Florida Man incident involving him driving a stolen backhoe down the famed Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys. He's old, but he's still kicking. Fans are making bets on what his next act of defiance will be. (More Info)

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

🎻 The Voice of Whitney: A Symphonic Celebration with the Nashville Symphony @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $64+, Info

🤘 Incubus @ Bridgestone Arena, 7p, $24+, Info
+ Performing MORNING VIEW In Its Entirety

🎸 Outlaw Music Festival @ First Bank Amphitheater, 3:45p, $64+, Info
+ Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Nathaniel Rateliff & More

🤘 George Thorogood & The Destroyers: The Baddest Show On Earth @ Ryman Auditorium, 7p, $59+, Info

🪕 Analog Bluegrass presents Jason Carter Band @ Analog at Hutton Hotel, 8p, $15, 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.

Today's newsletter is brought to you by Megan Podsiedlik (Nashville), Jerod Hollyfield (Crowd Corner), Camelia Brennan (Local Noise), and Davis Hunt (everything else).