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🏛️ Last night at the Metro Council · Free tickets to illegals · More Boring News · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone. Is the city indiscriminately giving away free, taxpayer-funded bus passes... We recap last night's Metro Council meeting... More Boring News... And much more!
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Last night at the Metro Council: Unhoused Animals and a Metro Job for the Grinch
From Megan Podsiedlik
The council breezed through last night’s meeting without any public comment, taking one hour and thirteen minutes to get through the 119-item agenda.
Two big development deals on the East Bank, the Cayce Place and East Bank redevelopment plans, moved forward on first reading. The Council also approved the rezoning for Oracle's River North Campus project on its final reading.
Across the river, council members green lit the 10-year agreement with Opry Entertainment Group to become the new operator for Ascend Amphitheater on its second reading. The bill was amended to allow the company to begin construction sooner. If passed, the group has agreed to invest in facility improvements and to fix access to the greenway during events.
Representatives from the Opry Entertainment Group voluntarily committed to taking diversity into account for the construction and use of the venue during yesterday’s Budget & Finance Committee meeting.
“On record, even though this is not required by law, it is not required by Metro…they committed to making sure that there is representation in the hiring this staff in the vendors that are working on the project, as well as the entertainers that are performing at this property,” said Councilmember Zulfat Suara.
A number of deferrals also took place during yesterday’s meeting, including a few grants related to responding to acts of terrorism. A Homeland Security Grant and an Urban Area Security Initiative grant were deferred two meetings.
Councilmember Jordan Huffman made sure to get on the record that “the reason for this two meeting deferral was the federal government shutdown.”
Councilmember Sheri Weiner begrudgingly deferred her long-awaited bill that would establish the Metropolitan Animal Care and Control Commission on its second reading. Despite securing approval from the Public Health & Safety Committee and having 27+ cosponsors, the legislation was deferred two meetings to accommodate the Board of Health.
“There have been constant delays and push back on this bill from the Department of Health, and I'm going to assume the administration,” said Weiner. She went on to explain that she has redrafted the bill at least five times and accused the Department of Health of dropping the ball: “....because somebody wasn't paying attention, [the Board of Health] did not get a copy of this, and they wanted to have an opportunity at their November 13 meeting to read it.”
During the Public Health & Safety Committee meeting yesterday, Councilmember Russ Bradford came to Weiner’s defense. “I don't know why people are just now doing their job and reading their emails and trying to talk with folks about this,” said Bradford. He went on to commend the hard work of the Metro Animal Care and Control despite the lack of support from the Health Department.
Lastly, three bills passed on final reading and one that passed its second reading could change up the neighborhood. The council approved legislation that defines new allowances for “natural landscaping,” creates new restrictions on motor vehicle noise, and moves fence regulation enforcement exclusively to the Property Standards Board.
Councilmember Jordan Huffman and Rollin Horton also secured approval for a bill that would regulate holiday lights on second reading. Huffman says “people are weaponizing codes” and creating unneeded hassle for Metro over Christmas and other holiday lights. The legislation would establish that “lights and decorations shall be maintained in good, functional condition and shall not impede any ingress or egress to the property or any structures upon the property.” As far as enforcement, it seems like a job only the Grinch would volunteer for.
🖋️ Edited by Davis Hunt and Megan Podsiedlik.
🎟️ Free Ticket To Ride Is the city using your tax dollars to give out free bus passes behind your back? You may or may not know that today is the first day Nashvillians can apply for a free, three-year bus pass. WeGo Transit, in collaboration with Choose How You Move, officially introduced the Journey Pass, which is available to “income-eligible residents.” You can get your free ticket to ride around the city today, on November 11, and on November 17 between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
According to the Metro Action Commission, all you need to bring is proof of your monthly income. If you are already a Metro Action Commission customer, you will not need to provide any additional documentation to receive a Journey Pass. When answering questions on MAC’s Facebook announcement, the administrators of the social media page said you only need to provide “very basic information like your name and address.”
Based on people who’ve reported their experience on Bluesky, the vetting process seems lax when it comes to proof of residency and income. “I have not been helped by MAC before and got a journey pass,” wrote one commentator. “I make $21-$25/hour, but they didn’t care about my income or ask me for any documentation when I went.”
🚇 Boring Back-And-Forth: Cont. At-Large Councilmember Delishia Porterfield says Elon Musk’s Boring Company and the State cut the council out of Music City Loop discussions. "I'm looking at a back-room deal that our state did with the company without engaging the people or the local government," Porterfield told News2.
That said, Governor Bill Lee thanked Mayor Freddie O’Connell during the initial announcement of the underground transit solution for travel between the airport and downtown in July. “Our conversations along the way have been incredibly productive to get us to the point that we are today,” Lee said of his interactions with the mayor.
Instead, it looks as though Porterfield should be pointing the finger at the mayor’s office. Initially, O'Connell indicated that he hadn’t taken much part in the process leading up to the announcement. In contrast, when we asked him whether he felt included by the state before the announcement during a media roundtable in August, he said he “definitely felt like they were making us aware.”
The Nashville Business Journal also uncovered an eight-page internal briefing memo revealing that the mayor’s office knew about Music City Loop discussions back in 2024. The document requested that the governor’s office put off discussions with the Boring Company about the project until after O’Connell’s transit referendum passed.
The Boring Company has since released answers to the 78 questions submitted by the mayor’s office. According to the company’s blog updates, it has continued to arrange meetings with local leaders and have been actively engaging the community.
📺 Media Turf War A turf war is breaking out in Tennessee lib media. Democratic congressional candidate Aftyn Behn spoke to the Tennessee Lookout, but declined to answer questions from the Nashville Banner about her race against Republican Matt Van Epps for the state’s seventh congressional district.
Banner EIC Steve Cavendish let fly the invectives in a column on the matter: “Cowards. The word I keep coming back to is cowards.” Cavendish’s column targeted both Van Epps and Behn for not answering their questionnaire. Van Epps declined to speak to either outlet.
HEADLINES
- 💸 “You can’t raise the price of beer or pizza much more,” Councilmember Jacob Kupin told News2 regarding the struggle downtown business owners are having due to the new property tax increase and sky-high reappraisals. A quick look at the numbers tells the reappraisal story. The total appraised value of Acme Feed & Seed’s downtown parcel, located at 101 Broadway, was just under $9.6 million in 2021 compared to the newly reappraised value of just over $50 million this year.
- 🎓 Williamson County Schools saw enrollment fall nearly 1% this year — an unexpected turn in one of Tennessee’s most affluent and fast-growing counties. Superintendent Jason Golden says the decline isn’t due to parents pulling kids for homeschooling, but to “lower birth rates” and “the cost of housing [that] has substantially changed in the last few years.”
DEVELOPMENT
- Cilantro Mexican Grill & Tequila Bar eyes Gulch for third location (NBJ)
- Ritz-Carlton project seemingly takes step forward (Post)
- Oracle rezoning effort passes final hurdle (Post)
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here.
đź“… 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
🪕 Alma Russ @ The Underdog, 7p, $10, Info
🎸 Mumford & Sons @ Bridgestone Arena, 7p, $41+, Info
🎸 Bill Murray & His Blood Brothers @ Ryman Auditorium, 8p, $73+, Info
đź’€ Tennessee Dead @ Tennessee Brew Works, 6p, Info
🪕 Bluegrass Night @ The American Legion Post 82, 7p, Free, Info
đź“° Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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Today's newsletter is brought to you by Davis Hunt, Megan Podsiedlik and Camelia Brennan.