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Saturday, April 05, 2014
Art Break: Art for the Paulanistas
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Obamacare’s Phony 7.1 Million Enrollment Number.
The administration and the liberal supporters of the administration are celebrating the 7.1 million people who signed up for Obamacare. Most of the media are accepting the claim of 7.1 million as gospel and reporting the news with a straight face if not with glee. The truth is we don't know how many net new people got covered by insurance.
In Tennessee alone, 82,000 people lost their private insurance plans due to Obamacare and in October Forbes magazine said 92 million Americans would be unable to keep their plans under Obamacare. How many of those ended up enrolling on an exchange? Due to the Obamacare prohibitions on limited-benefit plans, TnCover was no discontinued by the State and 16,000 lost coverage. Also, due to Obamacare, most child-only insurance plans have been discontinued.
Of the 7.1 million we don't know how many actually sent in a premium. We don't know how many were ordering insurance on an exchange after they lost their private coverage. We don't know how many were covered by programs like TnCover and we don't know how many were covered by programs like Bridges to Care. Also, we don't know if those who did sign up were young and health which the programs needs in order for it to work, or if they were the expensive to serve sick and dying.
For all we know there may have been a net loss of people covered by insurance under Obamacare. Unfortunately, the Obamamedia are not going to dig for the truth and the administration is still not providing answers.
Here is Charles Krauthammer's commentary on the 7.1 million phony number.
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Friday, April 04, 2014
Why is it taking so long for the Election Commission to verify qualfying petitons?
The dead line for submitting qualifying petitions for the August 7th primary was yesterday, Thursday April 3rd at 12 noon. As of today, Friday April 4th qualifying petitions have not yet been verified. I called the Election Commission office at 4:30 PM today and was told that they were still working on them and that they would be completed as of Monday.
This does not speak well for the efficiency of the election commission. It only takes the signature of 25 qualified voters on a candidates qualifying petition to get one's name on the ballot. Once 25 names of registered voters have been verified the candidate is qualified. I have not been able to verify this, but a person deemed to be reliable told me that in Memphis, that by 1PM yesterday the Shelby County Election Commission had completed verification of petitions and had issued a list of candidates for the August primary.
I don't know how the Davidson County Election Commission is going about the process of verifying petitions, but someone who is critical of the delay said that the procedure that should be followed is that as soon as a petition is submitted staff should start verifying the names. While some candidates wait until the last minute to turn in their petition, some do turn them in early. Those could already be verified. On the day of the deadline, all election commission staff should be required to take an early lunch and then a skeleton staff should answer phones and man the front office and every available person should work verifying petitions as soon as the petition is submitted.
Update: I have verified that Shelby County Election Commission has posted on their website a link to a PDF file listing all of the candidates who have submitted petitions. It list the candidate, his office, when he submitted a petition and if the petition has sufficient signatures. Here is a link to the file: http://www.shelbyvote.com/DocumentCenter/View/8407.
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Thursday, April 03, 2014
Council meeting of 4-1-2014 update: The $719,000 more thrown at Farmers Market meeting.
This is a relatively short meeting at just over an hour long. Council meetings can be really boring it you don't know what the Council
is voting on. When you do, they are still boring, but not quite as
boring. To get your own copy of the Council agenda click here; to get your copy of the agenda analysis you can download it here.
There are several zoning bills on pubic hearing that generate citizen participation but they would interest no one except those in the vicinity of the subject properties so I am not reviewing them. I skimmed this part of the meeting quickly so I could have missed something of interest.
BILL NO. BL2014-715
by Council Member Blalock on public hearing would require the zoning application fees and public hearing notice
costs be borne by the city for amendments to the official zoning map
initiated by a member or members of the Metropolitan Council. The
Director of Finance has said this would cost over $93,000 a year and did
not approved it for availability of funds. The administration can find $9 million for budget overruns but rejects this bill as too costly. No one speaks in opposition to the bill. Former Councilman John Summers speaks in favor. I think this is a reasonable bill.
As Summers explains, at one time there was no single family zoning in Nashville. Duplexes were permitted in any residential zoned area. If a neighborhood wants to change the zoning of their neighborhood from current zoning to single family or make other changes, the fees could cost thousands of dollars. This bill passes on second reading. I hope the Council stands up to the administration and approves this good bill. However, I would be pleased if the Council cut $92,000 of wasteful spending elsewhere, such as farmers market, to make up for the projected cost. (see 37:11 - 42:07)
Resolutions that made it to the consent agenda pass without any being pulled.
RESOLUTION NO. RS2014-1031
appropriates over $9 million to various agencies mostly from the 4% fund to
fund departments that exceeded their budget. The largest is $5.2
million to the hospital authority to fund the transition payments to
employees of the nursing homes metro is privatizing. Some of this money
will be offset from payments to the city from the companies taking over
the two metro facilities.
$714,900 is going to Farmers market. Farmers market continues to
be an expensive drain on the city and cannot break even. They got a
subsidy of $214,600 in this year’s budget and now need an additional
$714,900. To learn why the Farmers market is such a wasteful enterprise read this post from citizen activist Ken Jakes: Why the Farmers Market is a failure and should not be bailed out.
I an disappointing that not a single council member would take the Farmers
Market to task for their failure to operate efficiently and let it be
known that they must figure out how to be self-sufficient or at least
operate on a much smaller subsidy. I do not expect much from most of our council members but there are about a half dozen "conservative" council members who ought to be ashamed for not taking the opportunity to advocate for efficient and oppose waste. The resolution passes unanimously. I still wonder what is the difference between a liberal council member and a conservative council member.
BILL NO. BL2014-696
by Councilman Claiborne on Second reading amends the Metro code to require the Director of Finance to submit
an annual debt report to the Metropolitan Council. This is a good bill. I don't know why no one thought of this before. The council needs to know the debt of the city and future obligations as they consider the annual budget. This bill passes unanimously.
Here is the Nashville Scene's report:
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It was Beth Harwell who killed for-profit charter schools.
From The Tennessean:
A bill that would have let for-profit companies operate charter schools in Tennessee was killed Thursday after House Speaker Beth Harwell made a rare display of public opposition to the measure.
House Bill 1693 was defeated Thursday at the urging of Harwell,
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Federal Judge Denies Nashville’s Motion for Costs In Metro Livery Case
by Daniel Horwitz
 |
| Daniel Horwitz |
As I begrudgingly predicted at the outset of the lawsuit, the plaintiffs faced a steep uphill climb from the beginning. They initially lost the battle when a jury rejected their claim that the challenged regulations violated their rights under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. However, they ultimately won the war after Metro slashed its minimum fare from $45.00 to $9.00 just a few months ago, allowing the discount limousine companies to continue serving their customers.
Federal law provides that certain costs of litigation—such as the cost of obtaining transcripts or making copies of key documents—“should be allowed to the prevailing party.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(d)(1). However, judges retain discretion to deny costs under appropriate circumstances, and in exercising that discretion, they may consider factors such as the losing party’s good faith, the difficulty of the case, and the prevailing party’s conduct.
Describing Mr. Bokhari’s lawsuit as “a close case and one worth litigating,” Judge Sharp’s Order was based on the first of these factors. He also noted that “imposing costs would have a chilling effect on similarly situated litigants” that could discourage them from “pressing important public interest issues.” Most crucially, though, Judge Sharp explained that the case “was important because it allowed the public at large to scrutinize Metro’s actions, actions which the jury ultimately decided passed constitutional muster.”
Certainly, this case brought much-needed attention to the ridiculous and highly suspect set of limousine regulations enacted by Metro at the request of the expensive limousine lobbying organization TennLA. Accordingly, it stands to reason that the case played a key role in the ensuing legislative repeal of Metro’s $45.00 minimum fare, although the sudden entrance of companies like Uber and Lyft to Nashville’s transportation market undoubtedly contributed as well. As a result, Judge Sharp’s Order denying Metro’s motion for costs in this case was right on the money, and his obvious understanding of the importance of public interest litigation and the benefits of a free market economy should be applauded by all.
Daniel Horwitz is an attorney in Nashville and a 2013 graduate of Vanderbilt Law School. He can be reached at daniel.a.horwitz@gmail.com.
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For-Profit Charter Schools Bill Fails In House
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A proposal to allow charter schools in
Tennessee to be operated by for-profit entities has failed its last
committee vote before reaching the House floor. (link)
My Comment: Too bad, maybe next year. Here is why I think we should have for-profit charters:
To get the
efficiency of scale and modern management best practices, we need
corporate for-profit charter schools or for-profit charter school
management teams. There have been remarkable successes with charter
schools, but charter schools cannot reach their full potential when they
are handicapped by being prohibited from hiring professional management
companies. Why there is a reluctance to allow for-profit charters, I do
not know except that many have absorbed a socialist bias that thinks
profits are just another cost and are ill gotten gains. Almost
everything that works well, works because of the profit motive. Shelter,
food, healing, banking, transportation, entertainment, and funeral
services are provided, for the most part, by for-profit companies. Why
not education?
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update: More Metro budget hearings: Human Relations, Codes, Library, Planning, Election Commission, MTA, more.
Human Relations Mayoral Budget Hearing,
Human
Relations is the metro department responsible for promoting political
correctness. They teach young Nashvillians that homosexuality is normal
and they sponsor a Youth Pavilion at the Nashville Gay Pride festival.
This department should be abolished. They do a few good things but those
could be done by non-profits or other agencies. This hearing is only 16
minutes long. The commission ask for funding for two additional people.
One of them would be in pubic relations. They currently have four staff
members. Part of what they do is handle complaints of discrimination.
In the seven months before the current commissioner got there the agency
had "two or three" complaints in the previous seven months. They now
get about two or three complaints a week. It sounds like they must be
drumming up business.
Historical Commission Mayoral Budget Hearing,
Planning Department Mayoral Budget Hearing, 04/02/14
Nashville Public Library Mayoral Budget Hearing,
New libraries need staffing.
Election Commission Mayoral Budget Hearing, 04/02/14
More funding requested for more early voting sites.
Information Technology Services & P.E.G. Mayoral Budget Hearing, 04/01/14
MTA (Metro Transit Authority) Mayoral Budget Hearing, 04/01/14
by
Public Defender Mayoral Budget Hearing, 04/02/14
Public Works Mayoral Budget Hearing,
Water Services Mayoral Budget Hearing
Arts Commission Mayoral Budget Hearing
Beer Permit Board Mayoral Budget Hearing
Community Education Commission Mayoral Budget Hearing,
General Services Mayoral Budget Hearing
For video of additional budget hearings follow this link.
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Southeast Nashville Conservatives' Breakfast Saturday April 19
Southeast Nashville Conservatives' Breakfast
Saturday, April 19
Breakfast/Social: 8:30 - 9:00 am, Meeting/Speakers: 9:00 - 10:00 am
Shoney's (Antioch), Bell Rd. @ Cane Ridge Road, (I-24E, Bell Road Exit)
Speakers
May 6 County Primary Republican Candidates
Jim Roberts
- Chancellor, Chancery Part II
Sabrina Johnson-Orr - Chancellor,
Chancery Part IV
Marian Fordyce - General Sessions
Judge,Div II
Rick Dumas - General Sessions
Judge, Div VIII
Adam Dread - General Sessions
Judge, Div IX
Toni Eaton - County Clerk
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Best and Worst small business metro areas. Nashville is not in the top ten. Why?
While for the last few years, Nashville has captured the top spot or at least been among the top ten in all kinds of list, everything from best place for live music, best place to visit, foodie towns, best place for corporate reallocations, most people employed in the arts, most compassionate, to best place for a bachelorette party, Nashville is not among the top ten places to start a small business. We score a respectable 29th position out of the top 101 but we lag behind Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, and Washington D.C. While 29th out of 101 is not bad, I have come to expect Nashville to be in the top rank of everything and am disappointed when we are not. (link)
While number 29 may be respectable, it does not give us bragging rights, yet we are ahead of Knoxville at 79, Chattanooga at 96, and Memphis dead last at 101.
There were six factors that went into compiling the rating for a city. They are:
- Concentration of small businesses, expressed as a ratio per 1,000 residents
- One-year change in concentration, expressed as a percentage
- One-year change in the total of small businesses
- Two-year change in population
- One-year change in private-sector employment
- Five-year change in private-sector employment
I don't know Austin, but maybe one reason Nashville scores lower is because of our crony capitalism and price-fixing environment. The way we tried to stamp out an innovative livery service to protect existing luxury limo companies is not an environment that is welcoming to innovation and start-ups. The way the city tried to take Joy Ford's property and destroy a small player in the music business in order to benefit a large corporation is not conducive to a climate that favors small business. We have made strides in streamlining the process for developers to start construction projects but maybe we need to look at the obstacles to new small businesses and see if we are putting unnecessary obstacles in the way.
Maybe one thing inhibiting the growth of small business in Nashville is Tennessee's over regulation of business. I don't know what the requirements are in Texas, but in Tennessee anyone who wants to give manicures or engage in natural hair styling or give shampoos must be licensed. To become a beautician requires completion of 1,500 hours in practice and theory at a school of cosmetology. To just be "shampoo tech" requires 300 hours in the practice and theory of shampooing at a school of cosmetology. This is ridiculous! The practice and theory of shampooing? What do they do that requires 300 hours of training before you can wash someone's hair?
Since the State governors office and legislature has been taken over by Republicans we have made strides in improving education and cutting taxes and getting wine in grocery stores. The next thing I wish Republicans would tackle would be regulations. I think all regulations should have a sunset provision and be reexamined for reasonableness and cost effectiveness every so often. In my view one should not have to be licensed just to wash hair.
When I was first elected to the Council back in 1980, one of the issues we had to gabble with early in my first term was passing a bill to remove the requirement that movie theaters have licensed projectionist operate the equipment that plays the movies. This seemed like common sense to me. At one time in the early days of cinema apparently there were fire hazards associated with showing movies and government wanted trained licensed projectionist. I don't know when that hazard went away, but by 1980 most movies were the automated equivalents of a DVDs, yet there were still laws on the books requiring that only licensed projectionist could run movies and I think there was supposed to be a projectionist in the booth at all times. The Council changed the law but the unions fought it. They wanted to preserve the job of licensed projectionist.
The City and the State should look at regulations that prohibit growth and innovation and fix those that need fixing and that no longer serve a useful purpose and we should stop practicing price controls and crony capitalism and unionist favoritism and eminent domain abuse. I don't know if this would make us competitive with Austin Texas, but it sure wouldn't hurt and it would be the right thing to do.
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Wednesday, April 02, 2014
For-profit charter schools bill clears major hurdle
A bill that would authorize for-profit
charter schools in Tennessee cleared a key hurdle Tuesday. Knoxville
News Sentinel reports that the House Education Committee...
Business Journal
2014-04-02
My Comment: This needs to pass. To get the efficiency of scale and modern management best practices, we need corporate for-profit charter schools or for-profit charter school management teams. There have been remarkable successes with charter schools, but charter schools cannot reach their full potential when they are handicapped by being prohibited from hiring professional management companies. Why there is a reluctance to allow for-profit charters, I do not know except that many have absorbed a socialist bias that thinks profits are just another cost and are ill gotten gains. Almost everything that works well, works because of the profit motive. Shelter, food, healing, banking, transportation, entertainment, and funeral services are provided, for the most part, by for-profit companies. Why not education?
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Welcome Home Parade and Job Fair for Iraq War Veterans needs your help.
WSMV Channel 4
This event is more than a patriotic parade and a "thank you," but is a job fair for veterans and assistance for those who need it. If veterans need a haircut for a job interview and are short of funds, or a ride to job interview, this programs will help them.
This event is being organized by our friend Daniel Horwitz, who is an occasional contributor to this blog. You can read his post at this link. This is a great thing Daniel is doing, and I have made a contribution. Want you please help this worthy cause?
Please follow this link and make a contribution today.
If you are an employer who would like to take part in the job fair, or someone who would like to volunteer to help with the event or provide services to veterans or make a monetary contribution, visit: http://facebook.com/NashvilleWelcomeHomeParade and http://www.youcaring.com/welcomehome.
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Tuesday, April 01, 2014
Caffeinated Conservatives to meet Saturday April 19th 12-2PMP: sales pitch for medical marijuana legalization from the TN NORML.
From Caffeinated Conservatives:
Hi everybody,
Saturday April 19th from 12 - 2 PM at Bagelface Bakery (700 Main Street in East Nashville), come hear the sales pitch for medical marijuana legalization from the TN NORML (the pro legalization lobby in TN) spokesperson and talk back! Some say marijuana is a miracle drug that can save lives; some say it's a harmless drug that it's nobody's business if you smoke it or not; and some say it's a gateway to ruin. Bring your opinions for great coffee, mind blowing bagels, and good conversation! All opinions welcome!
Stephen Clements
Caffeinated Conservatives
Also, THIS THURSDAY, the Tennessee Republican Minority Coalition is hosting a battle of the bands! All the details are at the link: https://www.facebook.com/events/353141374826529/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming
Some news you can use from our buddy Rod Williams' blog "A Disgruntled Republican in Nashville":
Metro Council Candidate Ken Jakes talks about why the Farmers Market is trying to stay afloat with our tax dollars and how to make it profitable again - http://www.adisgruntledrepublican.com/2014/04/why-farmers-market-is-failure-and.html
Metro Nashville Government's credit rating is downgraded by Moody's credit rating agency - http://www.adisgruntledrepublican.com/2014/04/metros-credit-downgraded-by-moodys.html
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Why the Farmers Market is a failure and should not be bailed out.
by Ken Jakes
 |
| Ken Jakes |
The
Old Farmers Market was always self sufficient. As a matter of fact it
went well beyond being self sufficient to actually collecting a surplus
of funds for Davidson County each year. Now they are seeking $
714,900.00 in the budget from the Council. I own Jakes Produce Company
and certainly have an interest in the Farmers Market and it becoming
what a farmers market should be, however I would request each Council
member to vote not to provide this tax payer monies to be thrown in the
wind. I promise you next year they will be seeking more.
Lets look at some of the things that have changed.
Jakes Produce and Ernest Williams Produce were the largest wholesalers on the
old market securing about a total of 42 stalls or sheds year round. I
can think of about 20 more sheds that were rented year round to others
for wholesale sales. This was income for the city to pay overhead year
round. When the new market was built all were told that it would not be a
welcoming place for wholesale business. The new market would not allow
for commercial trucks to deliver or pick up. Also the fee structure
increase from the old market to the new market drove all wholesalers
away. The ideal market is set up with wholesalers on one portion of the market and retail vendors located on another part of the market.
Only
a market driven with wholesale vendors like the old can survive. Just
think about it for a moment. The intent of the Davidson County Farmers
Market was to create a place for the farmers to sell their goods. Many
of the farmers needing to get back to their farms would deliver their
goods to the wholesalers and return to harvest for the next day
deliveries. Because of the way the new market was setup without
wholesalers, many of the local farmers started taking their goods to
other markets within driving range such as Knoxville, Chattanooga,
Birmingham, and others.
Another change that hurts the Farmers Market was that in the old farmers market retail
vendors from the region would travel to Davidson County to purchase
from the local farmers and then would load the rest of the truck's volume from
the wholesalers with items not locally grown, such as bananas, grapes,
lettuce and many many more items. If the retail vendors coming to
Nashville to load could leave with a fully loaded truck, it was
economical to drive the distance. However, to come for a few sweet
potatoes and what other local vegetables were being offered by
local growers and leaving only partially loaded, because all the wholesalers were
gone, no longer made economical sense. The retail vendors were
hurt because it took away the incentive to come, and the farmers were
hurt because it took away their much needed sales both to the
wholesalers on the market and the retail vendors who supported the
market.
Lets
talk about how they have failed for the retail vendors and the public.
For those who remember the old farmers market you could actually drive
your vehicle into the market, pull up to the shed or grower you were
trading with, purchase your items, load them in your vehicle and drive
away. A farmers market although it has sales by the pound such as tomatoes
and other vegetables, it is for most part people seeking bushel and
volume sales to can and freeze. The new market is by design set up for
only retail sales by the pound.
How
many people do you know who would buy a bushel of beans, a bushel of
corn, a bushel of apples, three watermelons and five cantaloupes and
then take them to their vehicle parked in the outside parking lot of the
Farmers Market ? Do you see the picture ? A farmers market should be a
farmers market.
There
are retail vendors that have cut their teeth, so to say, on the Farmers
Market. They were on the market in the old days before my time and are
there today. However their future looks grim and I see them as all being
gone in a short while because of the ridiculous decisions the Farmers
Market Board has made on the shed rental for these vendors. The Board
keeps increasing their rental fees for the board's and staff's
mismanagement of the market. They are pricing them out of the market.
Economics applies to everything and the vendors are getting to the point that they can not endure any longer.
The
Board is appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Council. There are many professions on the Board, however what qualifies a person to sit on the Board other than having a prestigious position? The
Board would do much better having professions on
the board such as farmers, retail vendors, wholesalers, and transportation
people. If the board had a different make up you would certainly see
different decisions being made.
It
has come to the time for the Farmers Market to stand on its on feet. No
more subsidy from the Council, the tax payer just can't endure the
wasted funding to a department that is surely set up for defeat.
Ken Jakes is a citizen activist exposing waste and corruption in Metro Government and is a former, and probably a future, candidate for a seat on the Metro Council.
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Metro's credit downgraded by Moody's rating agency but Dean says full steam ahead. Spend, Spend, Spend!
From Moody's:
The Tennessean, April 1, 2014 - A major municipal bond rating agency has downgraded Metro government's credit, reflecting the city's "above average debt burden."
Moody's Investors Service also cited two other financial and strategic challenges for Metro: ongoing subsidies for the city's hospital authority and vulnerability to public referendums for some property tax increases.
But a top aide to Mayor Karl Dean said the finding won't necessarily slow the administration's building and borrowing plans after more than six years of ambitious growth, highlighted by a new convention center, a new baseball stadium and a controversial mass transit proposal. The administration expects to send a capital spending plan to the Metro Council this spring.
"We've got to keep moving forward," Metro Finance Director Rich Riebeling said. "And we can afford it." (link)
Rating Action: Moody's downgrades Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, TN's GO bonds to Aa2 from Aa1; outlook is stable
My Comment: I hope the Metro Council is paying attention. It is time to stop borrowing and spending. We should have stopped all financial support to Metro General Hospital long ago. We should do it now! The Mayor should announce that due to this report that says a sizable increase in debt burden could make the ratings go down further, that the $175 million + AMP project is being deferred indefinitely.Global Credit Research - 31 Mar 2014Affects $2.2 billion in outstanding GO debt
New York, March 31, 2014 -- Moody's Investors Service has downgraded to Aa2 from Aa1 the rating on Metro Nashville Davidson County's (TN) $2.2 billion in outstanding general obligation bonds. Concurrently, Moody's has also downgraded to Aa3 from Aa2 the ratings on the Sports Authority of Metro Nashville's outstanding debt ($157 million) and the Convention Center Authority of Metro Nashville's Series 2010B bonds ($419 million). The outlook on all bonds is stable. The GO bonds are secured by Metro's unlimited ad valorem tax pledge. The Sports Authority and Convention Center Bonds are ultimately secured by a pledge of Metro's non-ad valorem revenues. This action concludes a review for possible downgrade that Moody's initiated on January 15, 2014 in conjunction with our updated local government general obligation methodology.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The Aa2 GO rating reflects Metro's favorable overall economic factors given the city's position as the state capital, and regional economic center, stable financial position with below average reserve levels and manageable debt levels. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that Metro's regional tax base will continue to grow and provide the necessary revenues to support ongoing governmental operations, including annual financial support to Metro's Hospital Authority.
STRENGTHS
-Metro's role as state capital and regional economic center
-Strong management
CHALLENGES
-Financial support of Metro General Hospital Authority
-Property tax referendum requiring public vote in order to raise property tax rate above cap
-Above average debt burden
OUTLOOK
The stable outlook reflects our expectation that Metro's regional tax base will continue to grow and provide the necessary revenues to support ongoing governmental operations, including annual financial support to Metro's Hospital Authority.
WHAT COULD MAKE THE RATING GO UP:
-Increases in reserve levels
-Sizeable growth in Metro's tax base
-Elimination or a significant reduction in Metro's annual subsidy to Metro General Hospital Authority
WHAT COULD MAKE THE RATING GO DOWN:
-Declines in Metro's current reserve and cash levels
-Sizeable increase in debt burden (link)
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Monday, March 31, 2014
Update: Mayor's budget hearing for police, fire, sheriff and related departments
The 2014 Mayor's office budget hearings started today. Below are links to the Metro Police Department, Fire, Sheriff's Office and some other related departments. I will be watching some of them and summarizing and commending but will not watch them all. Anyone contemplating running for Metro Council should watch all of the hearings. Since Metro had a property tax increase last year, I doubt a property tax increase will be proposed this year. Unfortunately, metro departments only get close scrutiny during years in which a tax increase is proposed.
FY15 Office of Emergency Management Mayoral Budget Hearing
Police ask for additional funding to open a new precinct. FY15 Sheriff's Office Mayoral Budget Hearing, 03/31/14 by MetroGovNashville
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What is on the Council Agenda April 1, with commentary and analysis.
Council meetings can be really boring it you don't know what the Council is voting on. When you do, they are still boring, but not quite as boring. To get your own copy of the Council agenda click here; to get your copy of the agenda analysis you can download it here.
There are 16 bills on public hearing. They are mostly zoning bills except for couple and they would interest no one except neighbors of the proposed rezoning. Here are a couple of interest:
- BILL NO. BL2014-714 is a text change that would require new development or expansions in certain zoned districts to provide parking spaces for bicycles.
- BILL NO. BL2014-715 would require the zoning application fees and public hearing notice costs be borne by the city for amendments to the official zoning map initiated by a member or members of the Metropolitan Council. The Director of Finance has said this would cost over $93,000 a year and has not approved it for availability of funds.
RESOLUTION NO. RS2014-1031 appropriates over $9 million to various agencies from the 4% fund to fund departments that exceeded their budget. The largest is $5.2 million to the hospital authority to fund the transition payments to employees of the nursing homes metro is privatizing. Some of this money will be offset from payments to the city from the companies taking over the two metro facilities.
$714,900 is going to Farmers market. Farmers market continues to be an expensive drain on the city and cannot break even. They got a subsidy of $214,600 in this year’s budget and now need an additional $714,900. I would hope some council member would take the Farmers Market to task for their failure to operate efficiently and let it be known that they must figure out how to be self-sufficient or at least operate on a much smaller subsidy. It appears to me that the market is not really a farmers market where farmers can sell in bulk to retailers such as restaurants and grocery stores but is designed to cater only to consumers who purchase for their own use. I like the farmers market myself and in the summer I go about once a week, but it is not really a farmers market. To support farmers, farmers need to be able to sell bushels of tomatoes at a time time not four or five at a time.
There are 17 bills on First Reading. First reading is a formality that allows bills to be on the agenda. Merits of the bills are not discussed until second reading. I have not reviewed the bills on first reading.
Bills on Second Reading: BILL NO. BL2014-696 would amend the Metro code to require the Director of Finance to submit an annual debt report to the Metropolitan Council. This is a good bill and deserves to pass.
Bills on Third Reading:BILL NO. BL2014-699 expands the Tax Increment Financing capacity of the city by modifying several redevelopment zones. Some redevelopment district that were to expire are extended another ten years. Other districts have their maximum TIF capacity increased. TIF is a form of financing, whereby a loan is repaid with the additional tax income the development generates. This development tool has been used to finance such projects as the County Music Hall of Fame and the Omni Hotel. This ordinance does not appropriate any money but increases the lending capacity. TIF is an important tool to encourage downtown development.
RESOLUTION NO. RS2014-1029 is a memorializing resolution asking the state to provide driver’s license in Arabic. This resolution will probably be on the consent agenda. In addition to English, drivers license test are now offered in Spanish, Korean, and Japanese.
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Senator Mark Green added to 1st Tuesday lineup
From First Tuesday:
You likely attended the recent CPAC conference....or saw some notable clips from it.
Senator Mark Green One of our own, TN St. Senator, Dr. Mark Green, not only attended, but was 1 of the memorable speakers. Following our Q&A session, Mark will provide a 1st-hand account to those attending 1ST TUESDAY !!!What a way great way to cap a great Tuesday !!If.... you have not already secured a seat for lunch on Tuesday, please visit http://www.1sttuesdaynashville.com/Scroll down for details for lunch and our pre-event._______________________________________April 1st will be at 1ST TUESDAY [ yes, it will be on the 1st Tuesday of the month... and NO.. it won't be an April's Fools joke ! ]There is SOOO much going on in Washington DC right now... AND...the TN Legislature is fast approaching the end of the 2014 Session... with the State Budget, the end of Hall Tax, the Common Core education hoopla and more still unresolved.No one in TN is talking to more people and answering more question on all these topics ... AND MORE... than our next featured speaker ...TN State Senator... [ and most expect in November will become Congressman-elect ] ....JIM TRACY
Senator Jim Tracy Given that filing deadline for office this year will also be next week... we are inviting all prospective candidates for the Legislature, Judge or Metro office and Jim to come for a meet-and-greet prior to lunch. You will have a chance to meet 1st-hand and speak with those who will be vying to represent you on the ballot in August and November !YES... our April 1ST TUESDAY event will be on the 1ST TUESDAY of April.As usual... doors at Waller Law will open at 11:00AM for Coffee and Social time. Lunch will be ready at 11:25 and our program will start at Noon. Each of our candidates in the room will get 1 minute [Tootie will have the STOP-clock !! ] ... Once they are done... we will hear from Congressman-To-Be Tracy. Our noted Q&A session will follow. You are free to ask questions that apply at the Federal or State level !! Given we are likely to have multiple members of the State House attending who can also contribute.. this out to be a remarkable Q&A sessionLunch is $20 for Members and $25 for Guests. Secure your seat(s) by visiting the 1ST TUESDAY website at http://www.1sttuesdaynashville.com/ ...and click on Shopping Cart. Please forward on to those you know who care about politics at any level ... for we will have something for everyone on Tuesday, April 1st !!Looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday !Tim SkowHost of 1ST TUESDAY
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