Unprecedented Times

Two controversial bills passed on final reading at last night’s Metro Council Meeting. As expected, several dissenters spoke out against legislation introduced by Councilmember Emily Benedict that would place the Historic Zoning Commission under the purview of Metro’s Planning Department. Councilmember Rollin Horton’s bill establishing new Metro Nashville Police Department camera surveillance guidelines also faced opposition. 

Randy Horick, a Nashvillian who lives in Councilmember Brenda Gadd’s district, spoke during the historic zoning bill’s public hearing on third reading. He compared how Music City has changed under the guidance of the Planning Department to Mr. Breaux’s sausage making process at Bro’s Cajun restaurant. “I can tell you, the sausage was a lot easier to watch and it had a lot less suspicious ingredients in it,” he said, balking at how the department has handled Nashville’s growth over the last 30 years. “When it gets to the point where a mayor has to run on a platform of, ‘Please don't leave, I hope you'll stay,’ that's a problem.”

Council members who supported the bill defended its merits, emphasizing that the historic commissions could draft memorandums of understanding with the Planning Department and that the changes would lead to efficiency. Yet, representatives opposed to the bill continued to question the timeline. Councilmember Tonya Hancock quoted Dr. Learotha Williams regarding the pressure put on the council to support the bill in the face of more restrictive historic zoning legislation making its way through state legislature: “Appeasement is not good policy.” Hancock also revealed that state legislators informed her that the “bills that were attached to the letter we got today are not going to move forward tomorrow.”

Councilmember Clay Capp exposed the underlying question that remains unanswered: If the problem is with historic overlays affecting downtown and commercial properties, why is moving the entire Historic Zoning Commission process under the purview of the Planning Department the solution? “We are telling every lobbyist in town all you have to do to get whatever you want out of the Metro Council is go file a bill in the legislature and we'll give you whatever you want,” said Capp. “I don't go in for those tactics.”

The bill passed with 24 yeses, and the council swiftly moved through its agenda until it reached Councilmember Rollin Horton’s bill that restricts MNPD’s use of camera surveillance.

During discussions, Councilmember Sandra Sepulveda quoted Sam Seaborn, a fictional character from the television series The West Wing: 

“It's not just about abortion, it's about the next 20 years. In the '20s and '30s it was the role of government. '50s and '60s it was civil rights. The next two decades are going to be privacy. I'm talking about the Internet. I'm talking about cell phones. I'm talking about health records and who's gay and who's not. And moreover, in a country born on the will to be free, what could be more fundamental than this?”

Despite supporting the bill, Councilmember Quin Evans Segall warned that we are living in unprecedented times. “Make no mistake, we cannot and should not assume that our courts will save us, we cannot and should not assume that the laws that have protected us still matter, we cannot and should not assume that our local Fusus policy for MNPD will protect Nashvillians from outside forces,” she said, referencing the Trump administration’s ongoing struggle with the judiciary.

Horton attempted to appease his colleagues by reminding them that passing his legislation does not mean they must approve a Fusus contract. “I'm aware [of] some of the council member’s concerns, as well as concerns that were raised in the public, that this body, as a local, municipal body, does not have the ability to limit every single law enforcement agency in the country,” he said. “We do have the ability to regulate MNPD and our inability to solve every problem shouldn't stop us from solving the problems that we do have control of, and that's what this legislation does.”

The bill passed with a 2/3rd’s majority on its final reading. 

From Megan Podsiedlik

🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.

⚖️ AG Could Take Control Over Discrimination Investigations Yesterday, the House Departments & Agencies Subcommittee approved Representative Johnny Garrett’s (R-Goodlettsville) bill to move Tennessee’s Human Rights Commission under the control of the attorney general’s office. If passed by the General Assembly, “the enforcement rights of the Attorney General will start July 1 by creating what is called the Division of Civil Rights Enforcement,” explained Garrett. “They will be charged with the ability to investigate [and] adjudicate discrimination as it relates to the Human Rights Commission so we can…streamline and make this process a whole lot better.”

According to Garrett, unresolved discrimination cases continue to pile up under current conditions. “I don't know any better place than to put it under our attorney general's office to make sure if they get a letter, if they get a summons, if they get a notice that has our Attorney General on it, someone's going to pay attention to that,” he said. “And someone, I think, is going to be a little bit more deterred to discriminate in this state if we enforce this through the Attorney General instead of where we are now.”

If approved, Garrett assured his colleagues that any unresolved cases can be refiled with the new Division of Civil Rights Enforcement. For now, the legislation is headed to the House State & Local Government Committee but has yet to be placed on the Senate’s Judiciary Committee calendar.

🪪 House Sub Votes Down English Drivers Tests While Representative Garrett’s bill is moving right along, the House Transportation Subcommittee killed a bill that would have required “all written driver license examinations to be administered in English.” According to the Lookout, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development flagged the bill given that the state benefits from actively recruiting international companies.

“Volkswagen is close to my district that has 5,000 or 6,000 people, and these companies send a large part of their executive staff here with their families,” said Representative Dan Howell (R-Cleveland) during yesterday’s meeting. “They’re here legally and some of them may not speak English.” While illegal aliens can’t obtain a license in Tennessee, legal immigrants with work visas or green cards can take a drivers test in four different languages aside from English.

🏛️ Council Shrinkage The Tennessee Court of Appeals heard arguments this morning at 9 a.m. regarding a 2023 state law that aimed to reduce Nashville's Metro Council from 40 to 20 members. A three-judge panel had previously blocked the law, citing a violation of the Home Rule Amendment, which prohibits legislation targeting specific local governments. The state argued the law is constitutional and applies to all metropolitan governments, while Metro Nashville maintained it solely impacts them. Other Metropolitan governments in the state to which the law would apply include Moore County/Lynchburg and Trousdale County/Hartsville.

DEVELOPMENT

• Inside Neuhoff District's first restaurant, Atlanta-based Fishmonger (NBJ)
• Indoor golf venue, bar concept plans multiple Nashville locations (NBJ)
• Ladybird Taco plans third Nashville location in hot development (NBJ)
• Storyville Gardens Team Says Theme Park Is Still Underway (Scene)
• Demo begins for ex-Belle Meade Kroger building (Post)

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

✨ Nanocluster (Immersion | SUSS) @ The Blue Room, 7p, $25.88, Info
+ One performance comprising a set each from Immersion & SUSS followed by a collaborative set

🎸 Troubadour Blue @ The Basement, 7p, $27.22, Info

🎸 Riley Green @ The Bluebird Cafe, 9p, $100, Info

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

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.

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