Yet Another Zoning Spat
🏚️ Another CM gets complained on · Parental rights at the state · The library might finally open · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone. Yet another ethics complaint around zoning bites the dust... Parental rights up for grabs in the general assembly... The library might finally open... And much more!
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Land Use Spats Continue to Checker the Ethical Board's Agenda
From Davis Hunt
Yet another ethics complaint is lobbed at a councilmember over a land use dispute and dismissed by the Board of Ethical Conduct. The latest CM caught in the crossfire is District 3's Jennifer Gamble.
At question was whether Gamble falsely accusing one of her constituents of going on a “racist tirade” against her and causing such a stir at community meetings that police presence was required constituted an ethics violation.
Included as evidence is the voicemail Gamble left with a member of the Planning Department, making the claims. Also included was a corrobarting phone call between the constituent and the department official Gamble left a message with undercutting Gamble's accusations. The constituent's complaint alleged a number of code violations including acting in a manner that undermines public trust.
Metro Law’s opinion on the matter was that the “allegations in the complaint, if true, would not give rise to a violation of the standards of conduct” and recommended dismissal. Yesterday, the Board of Ethical Conduct quickly voted in favor of that opinion and added another case of electeds behaving badly to a pile.
Soon after the current Metro Council was elected to office, a flurry of bills put forth by at-large councilmember Quin Evans Segall addressing the "affordability crisis" through zoning reform hit neighborhoods across the county. In the interim, there have been many high-profile spats and conflicts over how the city and the council approach the issue.
Open public conflict with the council over land-use matters began in the summer of 2024, when Antioch councilmember Joy Styles was hit with an ethics complaint by a developer who alleged prejudicial treatment against him in his efforts to sell and rezone a property in her district. For flair, he threw in some inaccuracies about her financial disclosures. Styles survived the "prejudicial," but received a slap on the wrist for her sloppy campaign filings.
And last fall, CM Joy Kimbrough was tied up in a complaint alleging she demanded $500,000 in exchange for her support of a liquor distribution warehouse in her district.
The Board of Ethical Conduct dismissed that case. In an interesting wrinkle, Gamble has since turned around and filed a $40 million defamation lawsuit against the complainant.
Then at the end of last year, Councilmember Rollin Horton got into a tangle with constituents attempting to recall him. Horton pushed through an unpopular zoning bill which increased density in the Nations neighborhood by a significant factor, raising the ire of his constituents.
During the recall effort, Horton engaged in all manner of questionable behavior and was accused of doxxing constituents, loosing law enforcement on petitioners by proxy, and other acts of intimidation. Though much of the board agreed that the accusations formed a concerning pattern of behavior, they ultimately elected not to take action against the CM, dismissing the complaint.
How the city understands and addresses affordability concerns and balances it with the position of residents is the issue heading into 2027. The ethics complaints that have been piling up are all the evidence you need.
✹ METRO COUNCIL WATCH
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In post-pandemic America, parents continue the fight for their right to raise, educate, and treat their children.
From Megan Podsiedlik
In Tennessee, we’ve witnessed lawmakers wrestle over everything from gender-affirming care for minors to religious freedom in schools. But not all legislative protections have teeth. While legislators tout records of passing laws to codify parental rights and the public assumes reform has taken place, it turns out that government agencies continue to preserve their authority using carve-outs and other technical mechanisms.
An interesting article was recently published by the Tennessee Freedom Initiative, a nonprofit policy research group, outlining how parental rights protected in Tennessee’s 2024 Family Rights and Responsibilities Act are blunted by layers of statues and legal wizardry.
“At the time this bill passed, DCS [Department of Children’s Services] did not have statutory authority to provide medical treatment to minors outside established custody or abuse circumstances,” reads the report. “The following year, the General Assembly passed Public Chapter 387, which explicitly granted DCS authority to ‘receive medical, dental, vision, and mental health services as recommended by an appropriate professional…’”
TFI went on to point out a second example of how crafty drafting enabled a bill, passed the same year as the FRRA, to technically claw back some of the parental access to certain mental health records for minors aged 16 and 17.
On the other side of the issue, in December, Vanderbilt Law student and Editor of the Social Justice Reporter, Oluwafunmilayo Oguns, published an article calling the parental rights set up in Tennessee’s FRRA “a risky gamble” that “threatens to strip away” children’s “fragile sense of safety.”
And so the struggle over parental rights continues.
HEADLINES
- ⛏️ Council to vote on a resolution condemning the Boring Co. and the Music City Loop during tonight’s meeting. Last night, Democratic lawmakers, including Councilmember Delishia Porterfield, hosted a community meeting opposing the project. “Dozens” attended. (NewsChannel 5)
- 📚 Downtown’s Nashville Public Library tentatively is scheduled to reopen Monday, March 30. The branch is set to open more than nine months after a fire caused the closure of what serves as the county-wide system’s main branch and administrative headquarters. The opening is pending a final fire marshal and Metro Codes Department inspection required before library staff can reoccupy the building. (Post)
- 🎒 TN Representative William Lamberth drops bill language requiring schools to ban or charge tuition for illegal students. Instead, Lamberth has revised the proposal to require districts to count how many noncitizens they have enrolled at their schools. (State Affairs)
- ⚖️ Former Nashville City Chief Development Officer lands new job. Bob Mendes has joined Epstein Becker Green as a member of the Nashville firm: “Mendes has over 30 years of legal and executive leadership experience, helping businesses and stakeholders navigate high-stakes business transactions, complex financial restructurings, and critical governance matters. (EBG)
DEVELOPMENT
- Grilled Cheeserie in Hillsboro Village closes after 9 years (NBJ)
- AJ Capital lands tenants – Bell Bird Books, Bower, Culture Club – for Wedgewood (Post)
THINGS TO DO
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
🪕 Troubadour Blue @ Station Inn, 8p, Info
🎸 Twang Tuesday feat. Nathan Kalish @ Acme Feed and Seed, 7p, Free, Info
🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ Eastside Bowl, 8p, $10, Info
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p
📰 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.