Happy Birthday Metro Nashville!

Today was a great day for an outdoor event; perfect weather to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Metro Nashville on the courthouse lawn. The party started at noon and lasted till a little past 3PM.

Emmylou Harris entertained and also manned
a booth promoting an animal rescue project. 

A crowd of at least a couple thousand, maybe a lot more,
enjoyed the festivities. A display inside a tent told
the history of Nashville from 1491 when the Cherokee
and the Chickasaw drove out the Shawnee, through
the earliest French trading post, through the Civil
war to recent history. Food trucks provided a variety
of food and there was a dog area, and kids area and
beer sold on site and various vendors promoting attractions
and causes and selling products.

Self photography: Louella and I enjoying
the music. I did not know I was going to get
VIP treatment but former and current council
members and people important in the history of
Nashville were treated to a meal under a tent in
a restricted area side stage. It was great to see
old friends.

Sam Bush and Dell McCoury were fantastic!  I could listen to
Sam Bush play mandolin all day long. They harmonized beautifully.
They played about 40 minutes.

The Mayors: Fulton, Purcell, Bredesen, Dean

Bobby Hebb performs "Sunny."  Nashville had a thriving rhythm
and blues scene and a lot of R&B was recorded in Nashville
from about 1945 to the early 70's. A couple years ago,
The Country Music Hall of Fame featured the R&B side
of Nashville and produced a Grammy winning CD series called
Night Train to Nashville and revived the history and
the careers of some of Nashville's almost forgotten R&B artist.

I love Nashville and feel fortunate to live in this city. I would not want to live anywhere else.
I think the Metropolitan form of government has served us well.  

 Happy Birthday Metro Nashville!

Top Stories

Nashville School Board Youth Safety Summit

Join the Nashville School Board on Saturday, April 6, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. for the annual MNPS Youth Safety Summit. This year's summit, at McGavock High School, 3150 McGavock Pike, focuses on "Rachel's Challenge," the national movement to create a safe learning environment for all students.

The initiative is named for Rachel Joy Scott, the first person killed in the Columbine High School tragedy on April 20, 1999. Delivering the keynote speech will be Craig Scott, Rachel's brother.

Top Stories

The DHS Ammunition Stockpile

The Great DHS Ammunition Stockpile Myth 

by Tom Stilson,  Bretbart, 4 Apr 2013 - There are dozens of articles hyping government purchases of ammunition over the last nine months. After spending weeks researching this topic, this is a collection of commonly held myths that are based more on panic than fact.

With the recent release of a letter from the Department of Homeland Security to Senator Coburn, the numbers we calculated independently seem to corroborate the narrative coming from DHS. The concerns surrounding DHS stockpiling ammunition are nothing but more fear-mongering and largely unwarranted. For once, here are the facts to set the record straight: (read more)

Top Stories

Steve Abernathy: Election Officials are sworn to uphold law.

Election officials are sworn to uphold law 

By Steve Abernathy, The Tennessean, Editorial Page, April 5, 2013 -  I have served on the Davidson County Election Commission (DCEC) for four years and worked as a poll officer for several federal, county and state elections. The oath of office I took for both jobs is the same:

 “I, Steve Abernathy, do solemnly swear (affirm) that I will support the Constitution and laws of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the State of Tennessee and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of my office.” I must support that oath even if it results in my being criticized.
....

Enforcing election law is not about whether “Nashville is a welcoming city,” as Tennessean columnist Gail Kerr wrote on March 25. It is about ensuring that our voting rolls are accurate and those casting a ballot are U.S. citizens by birth or by completing the naturalization process. Legal immigrants are welcomed in Nashville but not allowed to vote until they complete the naturalization process.(read more)

Top Stories

What happened at the Council on April 2nd, with summary and notation.

This is a short meeting at only 49 minutes. To really understand what is going on you may want to view the Council agenda and the analysis. You can find them at this link.

ORDINANCE NO. BL2013-395 is on public hearing and approves a settlement agreement with Comcast and approves a new cable franchise agreement with Comcast. Bill 396 is closely related and these two bills are taken together. This new agreement covers a lot of ground. (To view the council discussion see 12:14 to 22:06) No one speaks in opposition and the only person speaking in favor is Tom Weber, Chairman of NECAT. NECAT stands for Nashville Education, Community and Arts Television which operates channels 9, 10 and 19 on Comcast Cable and they are funded out of franchise fees. Councilman Charlie Tygard raises some good issues regarding this bill and proposes three amendments, two of which he withdraws and one of which fails. If you have an adapter box, did you know you are going to have to start paying a new fee for it? The bill passed second reading by voice vote, which means no one asked to be recorded as voting "no."

 Below is how The Tennessean covered this issue.

 Metro Council advances deal with Comcast that includes 5-cent fee increase 

 After three years of negotiations, Metro and Comcast are nearing approval of a new franchise agreement that would let the cable giant run lines all over the city for the next 10 years. The agreement allows Comcast to increase its fee to subscribers from 5 cents to 10 cents a month for running public access television channels. The Metro Council voted unanimously Tuesday to advance a deal on a second of three votes ahead of a May 5 expiration date on the parties’ existing contract. (read more)

All of the Resolutions on the consent agenda pass without any being pulled off.

RESOLUTION NO. RS2013-640 which allows Metro to accept certain incomplete infrastructure located within the River Landing subdivision left incomplete by the developer was no longer on the consent agent and it was considered separately and was deferred one meeting.

All of the bills on first reading passed without any being pulled.

Bills on Second reading: 

BILL NO. BL2012-292 is the bill that would liberalize the policy on home recording studios. It adds a new land use specific to home recording studios and would permit studios to have up to ten clients, customers, musicians, or other visitors come to the property per day. Sufficient off street parking would have to be provided and home recording studios would be subject to the residential noise restrictions in the Metro code. (For discussion of this bill see 29:19 to 37:20 in the video.) I support this bill. I think we should support the music industry and our song writer and musician neighbors. This bill passes on a voice vote but it may be close on third reading. Several Council members express reservations.

Top Stories

The next meeting of NashvilleNext is Monday April 8th:Ways of bringing new life and additional sustainability to our suburbs.

From NashvilleNext

Dear Rod,

Our next event's coming up next Monday, April 8, as Ellen Dunham Jones, professor of architecture and urban planning at Georgia Tech, discusses possible ways of bringing new life and additional sustainability to our suburbs.

 Please join us for this visionary presentation - and share this message with others who have an interest in Nashville's future.

Connect with NashvilleNext Be sure to find NashvilleNext online!

Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Share your ideas on MindMixer

Top Stories

Rep. Blackburn Asks Planned Parenthood to ‘Fully Repudiate’ Killing Babies Who Survive Abortion

Rep. Blackburn Asks Planned Parenthood to ‘Fully Repudiate’ Killing Babies Who Survive Abortion

April 4, 2013 (CNSNews.com) – When does Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, believe a child’s constitutional rights begin? That’s what Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R- Tenn.), vice chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, wants to know after a Planned Parenthood representative told Florida lawmakers that it would be up to the mother and doctor whether to kill a baby born alive after a botched abortion.
....
“It is beyond question that babies born alive, despite being targeted for abortion, are entitled to full legal protection,” Blackburn wrote. “However, your organization publicly argued that the rights of American citizens are not even bestowed upon birth, but rather at an arbitrary time that benefits your abortion agenda.”

Blackburn has introduced the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act to prevent tax dollars from going to large abortion providers.

According to Planned Parenthood’s annual report, the organization received $542 million in federal and state taxpayer funds for the year ended June 30, 2012. (read more)

Top Stories

The Nashville Scene spin on the Gotto appointment

So Jim Gotto and Two Attorneys Walk Into an Election Commission ...
Just five months after losing his bid for re-election to the state legislature, Jim Gotto is back, y'all. Last night, Nashville's Republican state ...
www.nashvillescene.com/.../so-jim-gotto-and-two-attorneys-w...

Top Stories

Jim Gotto appointed to Election Commission

Jim Gotto

Former Metro Councilman and State Representative Jim Gotto has been appointed to the Davidson County Election Commission as one of three Republicans on the five-member board.  The other Republicans on the Board are Ronald Buchanan and Jennifer Lawson.

None of the Republicans have served in this capacity before.  None of the Republican who were on the Commission were reappointed.  I do not know the other Republicans but a good choice has been made in appointing Jim Gotto.  Jim is a person of the utmost integrity and is thoughtful and fair and hard working. I would suspect he will be elected Chairman of the Commission.

Top Stories

New Davidson County Election Commission should ask for more time to study report. No rush to judgement.

The minutes of the March 11th State Election Commission meeting, under "old business" said, "Coordinator Goins gave an overview on where the Election Commission is on completing a report on the Davidson County Election Commission. The final report will be presented to the State Election Commission (SEC) on April 8, 2013."

It has been told to me by several sources that a list of 200 complaints critical of the operation of the Davidson County Election Commission was being compiled to present to the SEC at the April 8th meeting. This was going to build a case to justify the firing of Davidson County Coordinator of Elections Albert Tieche. However, one of the commissioners told me that he was told by the SEC that the Davidson County Election Commission would get a chance to view the list of complaints prior to the April 8th meeting and as of mid last week they had not yet received them. I noticed on the SEC website that now the April 8th meeting had been canceled so I called the SEC to ask what was going on.

I was told that the Davidson County Election Commission had now received a draft of the complaints and had asked for additional time to review the report. They need additional time.  As of now, there is no Election Commission and no one to review the report.  Two Democrats have been appointed, one of them new to the Commission, but the three Republican seats are vacant. The report will be taken up by the SEC at the May 13 meeting.

There will be a telephone meeting of the SEC on April 15th to appoint remaining county election commissions that have not yet been appointed. Across the State, 415 of the 475 county election Commissioners were appointed at the April 1st meeting. Of the 60 yet to be appointed are the three Republicans to the Davidson County Election Commission. Assuming they are appointed at the April 15th meeting, they will have to immediately take up the issue of the SEC's report on the Davidson County Election Commission and four of the five will be brand new commissioners.

 The departing commissioners had many years of experience. Patricia Heim had been on the Commission for twenty years and Lynn Gear had served for ten. Several others had served for a long period of time. Furthermore, they were the ones who had hired Albert Tiche and had worked with him for the last two years. The new Commission will have their work cut out for them in quickly learning the operations of the Election Commission and developing a response to the State Election Commission's Report.

It is my understanding that the detail complaints contained in the report were compiled by liberal activist Mary Mancini who reportedly has the ear of State Election Coordinator Mark Goins.  I have not seen the draft report but understand the list of complaints is a lot of nitpicky stuff.  There are no serious charges of wrong doing. Albert Tieche has had a challenging job to do at the election commission. Since he has been hired we have had a legislative and county redistricting, a Lakewood election that was won by only 11 votes, a City Council race that was won by only fifty-some votes, and in 2012 Jim Gotto lost a House seat election by only 91 votes. Anytime an election is close there will be intense scrutiny given to the election process. In addition, the Commission has had to learn new technology and train people in its use and comply with the new picture Id law. All of this occurred within two years. With these challenges, I think Albert Tieche has done an admirable job.

I do not see how a new commission can, in less than four weeks, become expert enough to judge the list of complaints designed to justify firing Albert Tieche. We do not yet know who the Republicans appointees to the Election Commission will be. Whoever they are, I hope they will ask for more time to become familiar with their new job and the workings of the Election Commission and ask the State Election Commission to hold off on making any decision on Tieche.

Top Stories

The City Paper's profile on Marsha Blackburn

In case you missed the City Paper's profile on Marsha Blackburn: Blackburn again finds herself in middle of political fray, this time with GOP course at stake.

Congressman Blackburn was the guest at First Tuesday today and her talk focused on the federal deficit and budge. It was very informative. 

Top Stories

Tennessee Republicans threaten to kill GOP voucher bill over fear of funding ...

Tennessee Republicans threaten to kill GOP voucher bill over fear of funding ...
Raw Story
Jim Tracy (R) had told The Murfreesboro Post that he had “considerable concern” that tax dollars could go to schools that teach principles from the Quran. Tracy, who is on the Senate Education Committee and identifies himself as a member of the Church ...

My Comment: While I generally am in favor of vouchers and school choice, I do think the view expressed by Senator Tracy is a legitimate concern. While I not only have a concern that Wahhabi Jihadist schools funded by Saudi Arabia may qualify for vouchers, extreme Christian fundamentalist schools teaching creationism and that the world is only 6000 years old may get public funds, the Ku Klux Klan may open schools that get public funding, Black nationalist may open schools, and communist may establish schools that get public funds. If the response to this concern is to regulate what these charter schools may teach, then we are in the position of dictating the curriculum to private schools. I do not want to do that. Nevertheless, I still support vouchers but advocate taking it slow and see how it works before we expand it. Actually, I think very few parents would put their children in schools teaching subversion or ignorance. Even if a few students do get educated in a curriculum that I find abhorrent or of which I disapprove, I could still support vouchers if on balance it improves education, which I think it would.  The GI bill was a voucher program allowing veterans to spend public education dollars at the school of their choice and that worked out pretty well. 

Top Stories

The Sharia mop sink at the State Capitol building

In Case you missed it:




Tennessee: Paging H.L. Mencken 

The Boston Globe, Editorial, April 01, 2013- ....

Fast forward to today’s Tennessee, and “Neanderthal man” has a new target: Islamic law. Right-wing blogs and talk radio inflame listeners with conspiracy theories about supposed efforts to impose sharia law in the United States, and a few unscrupulous politicians, following in the tradition of Scopes’ persecutors, are ready to exploit those fears.

The latest episode came recently when two lawmakers, state senator Bill Ketron and state representative Judd Matheny, reportedly raised questions about the installation of a new floor-level sink in the state capitol that, they theorized, could be for Muslims to wash their feet before prayer. (The sink, in fact, is for mops.) The same two men had sponsored a bill in 2011 that made the enforcement of sharia law punishable by up to 15 years in jail.(link)

TN lawmakers confuse mop sink for Muslim foot-washing sink

The Tennessean, Mar 25, 2013 — Sometimes a mop sink is just a mop sink.

Building managers and legislative staffers have sought to reassure some concerned Tennessee lawmakers that recent renovations at the state Capitol did not install special facilities for Muslims to wash their feet before praying.

My Comment: No comment

Top Stories

Jim Tracy gets State Rep, Womick's endorsement

Rick Womick endorses Jim Tracy for Congress
The Tennessean (blog)

State Rep. Rick Womick, R-Rockvale, has endorsed state Sen. Jim Tracy's run for Congress, the Tracy campaign said Monday. Perhaps best known for his strident views on Islam and national security issues, Womick is the fourth state lawmaker from ...

Top Stories

Democrats smack Huffman for turning down Metro school board invitation

 The Tennessean,  by Joey Garrison, April 1st, 2013 - Nashville Democrats are piling on Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman for his decision not to attend this afternoon’s special Metro school board meeting where controversial state charter authorizer legislation will be the focus.

A Friday letter signed by Democratic Reps. Sherry Jones, Mike Stewart, Jason Powell and Darren Jernigan expresses “disappointment” over Huffman’s unwillingness to visit Metro’s Bransford Avenue boardroom at the invitation of the board.

“Your office is less than four miles from those of the school board,.....(read more)

Top Stories

What is on the Council Agenda for Arpil 2nd.

You can get your own copy of the Metro council meeting agenda at this link: Metro Council Agenda. You can find the analysis at this link: Metro Council Agenda Analysis. Council meetings can be really, really boring if you don't know what the Council is voting on. With an agenda and analysis, they are just boring.

There are only three bills on public hearing. The first one is a local zoning issue which should be of no interest except to the immediate neighbors. ORDINANCE NO. BL2013-394 adds community education as a permitted use in three additional categories of commercial zoning. This would encourage infill development and the adaptive reuse of existing vacant buildings. ORDINANCE NO. BL2013-395 approves a settlement agreement with Comcast and approves a new cable franchise agreement with Comcast. This new agreement covers a lot of ground. If one wants to know more, see the analysis.

There are seventeen resolutions all of which are on the consent agenda. A resolution is put on the consent agenda if it is likely to be non-controversial and it stays on the consent agenda if it passes the committees to which it was assigned unanimously. Bills on the consent agenda are usually not controversial and tend to be routine matters, such as accepting grants from the Federal or State Government or authorizing the Department of Law to settle claims against the city or appropriating money from the 4% fund. Resolutions on the consent agenda are passed by a single vote of the Council rather than being considered individually. However, any member of the body may have a bill pulled off of the consent agenda. I do not expect any to be pulled off of the consent agenda. I don't see any controversial resolution and would not expect any opposition. However, there are two bills that worth being aware of that I hope are given scrutiny in committee.

• RESOLUTION NO. RS2013-633 appropriates $11,054,900 in supplemental appropriations to various departments to balance their fiscal year 2012-2013 operating budgets. It is normal to do a supplemental appropriation in the spring, however this is a lot of money. It is larger than normal because of the cost of the early retirement buy-out program, which has upfront cost but will save Metro money in the long run.


• RESOLUTION NO. RS2013-640 allows Metro to accept certain incomplete infrastructure located within the River Landing subdivision left incomplete by the developer. The cost to complete this infrastructure is estimated to be $489,560. Metro has sued the developer and collected $54,000, yet Metro will be stuck with the balance. I hope that in committee, Council has been reassured that changes have been put in place so that Metro will not be left holding the bad in future developments. 

Bills on First reading almost always pass. There are sixteen bills on first reading. They are considered as a group and are seldom discussed. First reading is a formality that allows the bill to be considered. Bills are not assigned to committee or analyzed by council staff until after they have passed first reading. I have not carefully reviewed the bills on first reading, but will before second reading. 

Bills on Second Reading. It is on Second reading, after bills have been to committee, that discussion usually takes place. There are eight bills on second reading. None of them seem terribly important but below is one worth noting:

• BILL NO. BL2012-292 is back on the agenda. This is the bill that would liberalize the policy on home recording studios. It adds a new land use specific to home recording studios and would permit studios to have up to ten clients, customers, musicians, or other visitors come to the property per day. Sufficient off street parking would have to be provided and home recording studios would be subject to the residential noise restrictions in the Metro code. The ordinance would retain the existing prohibition on signage. This issue was before the council on public hearing on December 4th, 2012 when it generated a lot of comment. To see that public hearing follow this link. There is a proposed substitute for this ordinance making home recording studio a separate accessory use from other home occupations and clarifying that home recording studios would be permitted in accessory structures. There could be some discussion of this bill. I don't know if this is the perfect bill or not, but this being Music City, I think it is proper that we accommodate the people with home recording studios. We should encourage and support the music industry. 

Bills on Third Reading: Third Reading is the final reading. If a bill passes third reading it becomes law unless it is vetoed by the Mayor, which has only rarely happened. There are not any controversial bills on third reading. The following bill I do not expect to generate controversy but they are worth mentioning.

• BILL NO. BL2013-381 by Councilman Tygard would require periodic reports regarding the energy and water savings from Metropolitan Government buildings and facilities constructed using sustainable building principles and practices. This report would determine if LEED certified building are saving any money over non-LEED certified buildings of similar size. This seems like a good move. We need solid data to determine if the cost of expensive energy efficiency measure pay for themselves or if they are just feel-good measures. 

• BL2013-388 repeals the local residency requirement for liquor store owners. The Tennessee Attorney General recently opined that the residency requirement violates the U. S. Constitution because it discriminates against interstate commerce. This opinion is based on a recent ruling in a similar matter. 

•  BL201-390 would require that parking lots and garages used for special event parking place a sign indicating the fee to be charged for such special event parking at the entrance of the parking lot or garage. That sounds reasonable to me.

There are no memorializing resolutions on this agenda.

Top Stories