If you are going to watch this council meeting you will get more out of it if you have the agenda, the Council staff analysis and my commentary; follow this link for access to all.
No surprises in confirmation of appointees to boards and commissions; all are approved. As is customary, all bills on First Reading pass.
Bills on Public Hearing: Public hearing are really boring so I skimmed that part of the meeting in double speed. I only pay attention to those that have general application or for some other reason I think are important. Most zoning bills impact and concern only a few nearby neighbors. Here are the ones I find of interest.
BILL NO. BL2016-265 which would make changes to the determination of inactivity of a planned unit development was withdrawn. This
was on the agenda of July 5th and deferred to this meeting. If no
action has been taken on developing a PUD in six years, then the
Planning Commission can declare it inactive and the PUD is voided. One
thing currently the Planning Commission can consider in making that
determination is "aggregate of actions." This bill would have removed that
consideration. I am pleased to see this bill withdrawn.
BILL NO. BL2016-411 which would change from R20 to RS20 about 23 acres of property in the Bowling Avenue-Lynnwood Drive neighborhood is deferred to the first meeting in December. Decreasing density in large swaths of the county is bad policy in my view, but I expect this will pass at a future meeting.
BILL NO. BL2016-415 is a bill that would create a mechanism for the zoning and permitting of small cell telecommunications uses and to update existing zoning provisions for other kinds of telecommunications uses. Several people including an ATT representative and a Verizon representative speak in opposition. It is approved.
BILL NO. BL2016-455 which would annex into the urban serviced district various properties
located in
Council Districts 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, and 31 passes second reading. Member of the public speak in favor and in opposition to the proposed annexation. While Nashville has a
single government instead of a city and a county as do most places, we
still have two tax districts. The rural parts of the county are in the
General Services District and the more developed parts of the county are
in the Urban Services District. The only thing the people in the USD
get that those in the GSD do not, is garbage collection and street
lights. They have the same street cleaning, fire, police, schools,
libraries, parks, etc. The 2016 tax rate for Urban Services District is
$4.516, and the rate for General Services District is $3.924 per hundred
dollars of assessment. If these areas are annexed then the city would
be responsible for garbage collection and would provide street lights. For those who think this would get them sidewalks, they should be aware that many, many neighborhoods already in the GSD do not now have sidewalks. Sidewalks is not factor in this annexation proposal. Several people who speak in favor of the annexation seem to think they will get sidewalks if annexed.
One impact of increasing these taxes is that this will likely increase rents in multifamily apartments in these areas to be annexed.
While renters do not directly pay property taxes, they pay indirectly
it in the rent they are charged. Residential property is assessed at 25%
of appraised value, yet commercial and multi-family property is
assessed at 40% of value. At a time when there is much concern about
affordable housing, affordable housing advocates should advocate against
this tax which will hit renters harder than property owners. They do not.
Currently, for most people the increase in taxes, if annexed, would not be much more than they currently pay for private trash collection. However, if taxes are increased next year, which I anticipate to occur, then the new tax payment would most likely be considerably more than what residents in the GSD pay currently for private trash collection.
Resolutions: There are 23 resolutions. These are the one's of interest.
RESOLUTION NO. RS2016-382 which urges Live Nation to take action to combat scalping of tickets to events at Ascent Amphitheater is deferred two meetings.
RESOLUTION NO. RS2016-406
which would expand from one year old to three years old the vehicles that
are exempt from being required to be tested for auto emissions is deferred again.
Bills on Second Reading. There are only 7 bills on Second reading and these are the one's of interest.
SUBSTITUTE BILL NO. BL2016-381 which is another anti Short Term Rental Property bill is deferred one meeting. It would make it more cumbersome to get a STRP permit and further
restrict the number of permits allowed in any census track.
BILL NO. BL2016-454 which amends the Metropolitan Code to remove the requirement that
only restaurants that possess a license liquor license can obtain an exemption
to the minimum distance requirements for beer sales passes. Currently if
an establishment wants a beer license, they have to be 100 feet from away from a home, or a school, or church or park. Liquor
license are issued by the State and beer license by Metro, so some
establishments have liquor license but not beer license. For those
establishments, the city can now make an exception to the distance
requirement. The city can not, however, grant an exception for any
other establishments. This would allow others establishments to also apply for an exception from that distance requirement. This bill would require a pubic hearing on the
proposed exemption. I am pleased to see this pass.
Bills on Third Reading. There are 13 bills on Third Reading. These are the bills of interest.
BILL NO. BL2016-219 is a bill that would trample an owners property rights and kill an affordable housing development. It is deferred to the second meeting in April 2017. Please see this link for background on this very bad bill.
BILL NO. BL2016-308
which requires
tenants of housing funded by the Barnes Trust Fund to comply with
certain maintenance and standards of conduct and to refrain from
any
illegal activity on the premises of the dwelling being rented is deferred to March 17th 2017.
Something so simply has proven very controversial. Opponents of this simple bill think that requiring minimum standards of conduct on the part of those who will live in Barnes Fund housing is somehow stigmatizing and racist. To see the discussion see time stamp 1:58:19 - 2:02:47. The way Councilman Hastings has handled this issue has caused me to develop a great deal of respect for the councilman. To learn more about this issue, see this link.
BILL NO. BL2016-417 which would prohibit one from putting a "for sale" sign on their vehicle parked on residential property passes on a roll call machine vote of 22-11-1. For the discussion see time stamp 2:04:25- 2:11:26 in the video.
'
I essentially agree with the analysis. The Republican Party is not the party of principled conservative idealism, but the party of tribal identity and populist resentment. I hope the adults can regain control of the party after this election.
Government/Politics columnist
Ryan Haynes will resign his post as state GOP chair a few weeks
after the Nov. 8 election. Haynes, a former state legislator who
represented Farragut and West Knox County, has been unhappy with the
position. He is a more policy-oriented person and does not like the
internal GOP politics on the state executive committee. He was
also blindsided by Gov. Bill Haslam’s rejection of Donald Trump, which
fell on him to explain.
When Gov. Haslam repudiated Trump, the party headquarters was swamped
with irate Republican calls and Haynes was attacked, too. He received
only six hours’ notice on the Haslam move to prepare when it hit the
media. (link)
by Congressman Phil Roe, 1st District TN - Just
days after President Obama gave another speech
touting the success of
his health care law while blaming Republicans for its failures, the
Obama administration confirmed premiums for the average insurance plan
on the exchange will increase an average of 22 percent.
Additionally,
roughly 1 in 5 consumers will have only one health insurance provider to
choose from. In Tennessee, things are looking even worse. Exchange
beneficiaries will see their premiums increase an average of 56 percent
if they stay on their health plan, and BlueCross BlueShield of
Tennessee, the state’s largest insurer, pulled out of the exchanges in
Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville, leaving roughly 131,000 Tennesseans
without coverage. It is clearer than ever that Obamacare is failing.
During
the health care debate, I predicted many of the things we’re seeing now
would happen. As an OBGYN who practiced medicine for more than 30
years, I was keenly aware of the challenges in the American health care
system. In fact, it’s what encouraged me to come to Congress. I knew the
health care debate would be moving forward and hoped to bring my
real-life experience to the discussion. Unfortunately, Democrats cut
Republicans out of the legislative process and moved forward with
partisan health care reform. I’ve never once treated a Republican or
Democrat cancer in my life, and health care reform should have never
been a partisan mission. Unfortunately, now the American people are
paying the price because Democrats in Congress prioritized politics over
sound policy.
Rather
than acknowledge the problems his law is causing, President Obama
instead chooses to pretend there aren’t any other options to reform
health care. This couldn’t be further from the truth; the president is
deliberately misleading the American people. For the last four years, I
worked to create a commonsense, patient-centered alternative to
ObamaCare, the American Health Care Reform Act, which was cosponsored by
more than half of the Republican conference. My bill would repeal and
replace the president’s law with free market reforms that return health
care decisions to patients and their doctors, lower costs for all
Americans and improve the quality of health care.
I
was pleased when House Republicans prioritized six issue areas to
develop bold solutions to address some of the most pressing issues
facing our country, including health care. I attended nearly every
health care task force meeting to discuss my ideas and experiences, and
several were included in the final proposal released last June. This
proposal fully repeals Obamacare; provides all Americans with more
choices, lower costs and greater flexibility; provides protections for
patients with pre-existing conditions; encourages innovation in health
care; and protects Medicare for future generations. These are the kinds
of reforms we need to fix health care.
The
agenda released by the task forces isn’t just called a Better Way –
these policies are truly a better way to move our country forward. Like
you, I am frustrated by the direction our country is headed. I see too
many Tennesseans who are struggling to make ends meet, whether it’s
because of their skyrocketing health insurance premiums or their
inability to find a job and provide for their family. We cannot afford
more of the same failed policies, but Republicans also cannot just be
the party of no. You know what we’re against, and it’s time to tell you
what we are for. We have a responsibility to introduce real, bold policy
proposals to show how we want to shrink the size of government while
making it more efficient. You deserve to know what we’d like to do to
reform health care and get our economy back on track. That’s what a
Better Way is, and I hope you’ll take a moment to read these proposals
at Better.gop and share your thoughts on the agenda with me.
The Metro Council will meet Tuesday, November 1, at 6:30 PM in the
Council chamber at the Metro Courthouse. To watch the Council meeting,
you can go to
the courthouse and watch the meeting in person, or you can watch the
broadcast live at Metro Nashville Network's Government TV on Nashville's Comcast Channel 3 and AT&T's U-verse 99 and it is streamed live at the Metro Nashville Network's livestream site. You can catch the meeting the next day (or the day after the next) on the Metro YouTube channel. If
you will wait, I will watch it for you and post the video and point out
the good parts so you can go to that point in the video and watch just
those segments. Also, I will tell you what I think about what happened.
Council meetings are really boring and I watch them so you don't have
to.
If
you are going to watch a council meeting, you really need the agenda and the Council staff analysis. You will have a better understanding of what is going on. Follow the highlighted
link to view the agenda. Here is my commentary and analysis.
There are eight people up for confirmation to Boards and Commissions. These are people appointed by the mayor subject to approval by the Council. They will be approved as always.
There is one insignificant resolution and 26 bills on Public Hearing. Most of the bills are zoning bills, of interest only to nearby neighbors of the proposed rezoning. I don't even attempt to understand the pros and cons of each rezoning bill. Opposition to rezoning bills usually falls into one of these four categories: increased traffic, increased water runoff problems, increased strain on infrastructure and services such as schools, and detriment to the character of the neighborhood. Almost everyone who speaks against a rezoning will offer some variation of one of these reasons. These are the only bills on public hearing that I find of interest.
BILL NO. BL2016-265 makes changes to the determination of inactivity of a planned unit development. This was on the agenda of July 5th and deferred to this meeting. If no action has been taken on developing a PUD in six years, then the Planning Commission can declare it inactive and the PUD is voided. One thing currently the Planning Commission can consider in making that determination is "aggregate of actions." This bill would remove that consideration. I think "aggregate of actions" is a legitimate reason to extend a PUD. For instance, due to economic conditions or whatever, it may have taken a while to put together the financial package for a proposed development. If the developer now has his ducks in a row, it would be wrong to pull the PUD. If the development community opposes this bill, I would hope the Council would disapprove it.
BILL NO. BL2016-411would change from R20 to RS20 about 23 acres of property in the Bowling Avenue-Lynnwood Drive neighborhood. "R" zoning permits duplexes; RS does not. One tool to promote affordable housing and mass transit and combat urban sprawl is greater density, yet these bills to ban duplexes in established neighborhoods where they are currently permitted are approved by the Council all the time. I think the Planning Commission should recognize the disadvantage to rezoning for lesser density and as a policy matter disapprove all bills of this nature. Advocating for affordable housing, mass transit and opposing urban sprawl and also advocating lesser density for your neighborhood seems hypocritical.
BILL NO. BL2016-455 would annex into the urban serviced district properties located in
Council Districts 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, and 31. While Nashville has a single government instead of a city and a county as do most places, we still have two tax districts. The rural parts of the county are in the General Services District and the more developed parts of the county are in the Urban Services District. The only thing the people in the USD get that those in the GSD do not, is garbage collection and street lights. They have the same street cleaning, fire, police, schools, libraries, parks, etc. The 2014 tax rate for Urban Services District is $4.516, and the rate for General Services District is $3.924 per hundred dollars of assessment. If these areas are annexed then the city would be responsible for garbage collection and would provide street lights. I expect a lot of people to speak out against this proposed annexation.
One impact of increasing these taxes that I hope someone takes notice of is that this will likely increase rents in multifamily apartments in these areas to be annexed. While renters do not directly pay property taxes, they pay indirectly it in the rent they are charged. Residential property is assessed at 25% of appraised value, yet commercial and multi-family property is assessed at 40% of value. At a time when there is much concern about affordable housing, affordable housing advocates should advocate against this tax which will hit renters harder than property owners. I doubt they will.
There are 23 resolutions on the consent agenda.Resolutions
on "consent" are passed by a single vote of the council instead of being
voted on individually. If a resolution has any negative votes in
committee it is taken off
of consent. Also any council member may ask to have an item taken off
of consent or to have his abstention or dissenting vote recorded. None
of the resolutions appear controversial but below are ones of interest. Several other resolutions provide grant money to the Oasis Center.
RESOLUTION NO. RS2016-382 urges Live Nation to take action to combat scalping of tickets to events at Ascent Amphitheater.
RESOLUTION NO. RS2016-406would expand from one year old to three years old the vehicles that
are exempt from being required to be tested for auto emissions. This makes sense. Vehicles not over three years old almost never fail the emissions test. This was deferred from last meeting.
Bills on First Reading. There are 22 bills on First Reading but I
usually don't review bills on First
Reading. First reading is a formality that gets bills on the agenda.
They are not evaluated by committee until they are on Second Reading.
All bills on First Reading are lumped together and usually pass by a single
vote.Only rarely is a bill on First Reading considered separately.
Bills on Second Reading.These are only 7 bills on Second reading and these are the one's of interest.
SUBSTITUTE BILL NO. BL2016-381 is another anti Short Term Rental Property bill.
It would make it more cumbersome to get a STRP permit and further
restrict the number of permits allowed in any census track. I oppose
this bill. I expect this will be deferred. The mayor has hired a consultant to study Metro's Short Term Rental Property issues. Also,in a decision in a law suit brought by the Beacon Center contesting the constitutionality of Metro's STRP ordinance, on October 21, 2016 the Eighth Circuit Court for the 20th Judicial District declared the STRP regulations to be unconstitutional. Therefore, I would expect the Council to delay this bill and come back with a comprehensive bill that addresses STRP. BILL NO. BL2016-454 amends the Metropolitan Code to remove the requirement that
only restaurants that possess a license liquor license can obtain an exemption
to the minimum distance requirements for beer sales. Currently if an establishment wants a beer license, they have to be a certain distance from away from a home, or a school, or church or park. Liquor license are issued by the State and beer license by Metro, so some establishments have liquor license but not beer license. For those establishments, the city can now make an exception to the distance requirement. The city can not, however, grant an exception for any other establishments. This bill would require a pubic hearing on the proposed exemption. This proposed change makes sense. I support it.
There are two establishment that sell beer near Centennial Park. One is a Korean Steak House on the east side of the park, the other is Spring Water Super Club, a real dive bar, on the west side. Kobe's has a liquor license. I assume Spring Water is grandfathered in. Spring Water has been a bar forever, previously under other names. I don't think either of these establishments distract from the park. While you may not want to live next door to a rowdy beer joint, there are situations were it would be appropriate to make exceptions from the current rigid distance rule.
Bills on Third Reading. There are 13 bills on Third Reading. These are the bills of interest.
BILL NO. BL2016-219is a bill that would trample an owners property rights and kill an
The Ridge at Antioch
affordable housing development. It cancels a Planned Unit Development against the wishes of the owner. It is disapproved by the Planning Commission, meaning it must have 26 votes to pass. Below is what I wrote about this bill when it passed Second Reading on July 6, 2016.
Tuesday night's Council meeting proved a victory for property rights
in the case of the proposed affordable housing development in Antioch .... The
effort to kill the Antioch affordable housing project was delayed, and
probably killed (BILL NO. BL2016-219
). This development is all set to go and Karen Johnson, the district
council member, had a bill on the agenda to take away from the property
owner what he currently has the right to do. Karen Johnson however
moved to defer the bill indefinitely last night after concluding the
pubic hearing and passing it on second reading. While the bill can be
brought back up, Council members have to be given a week's notice. She
says she plans to bring it back and have it placed on the October 18th
agenda.
The hearing on the bill had both proponents and opponents with neighbors
arguing it would "ghettoize" their community and several speakers
arguing in favor of property rights. Apparently many Council members had
concern about the bill. Should her bill pass, mostly likely the owner
could win a law suit suing the city for taking his property. To take
away a permitted use is a "taking." Property rights are more than just
holding legal title. When property is taken it should only be for a
public purpose and owners should be compensated for their loss. While
Johnson says she will bring the bill back up, I do not see that the
facts will change. I know we now have a very liberal Metro Council now,
but I suspect even many liberals are not comfortable trampling property
rights. If they are unconcerned about trampling property rights, they
are probably concerned about exposing the city to a law suit the city is
most likely going to lose and the loss of future State assistance in
the form of tax credits the state has threatened to withhold should
Johnson's bill pass.
In an article that appears in the Tennessean, Johnson says while
her proposed ordinance is considered still active the indefinite
deferral will
prevent the developer from getting permits needed to begin construction
on the project. I do not see the logic of her reasoning since the owner
already has all of the rights he needs to proceed. Metro Planning
Director Doug Sloan apparently also does not see Johnson's logic and
told The Tennessean that because the owner's rights are vested, the developer should be able
to move forward with getting permits approved.
To see the discussion of this bill see timestamp 16:47- 1:00:45 (see video at this link). Here is the Tennessean report on what transpired:
by Joey Garrison, The Tennessean, July 6, 2016 - In
a surprise move Tuesday, Councilwoman Karen Johnson led the
indefinite deferral of her legislation that would down-zone property in
order to block a project for low-income residents called The Ridge at
Antioch, a 96-unit apartment complex that Arkansas-based RichSmith
Development has planned for Forest View Drive near Murfreesboro Pike.
.... “I’m not giving up on it, but there are a lot of questions because
it’s a
complex issue,” Johnson said. “Many council members have not had
low-income tax credit properties in their districts. .... Johnson said
she plans to bring the bill back up to be placed on the council's Oct.
18 agenda. (link)
Since writing the above, I do not know why the developer has not gone ahead and pulled permits. Following this action in July, I spoke with Councilman Johnson about this bill and she had a justification for her action. I personally like Karen Johnson but her justifications are not convincing. As a courtesy, I will allow her to use this blog to make her case if is she wishes.
BILL NO. BL2016-308
requires
tenants of housing funded by the Barnes Trust Fund to comply with
certain maintenance and standards of conduct and to refrain from
any
illegal activity on the premises of the dwelling being rented.
Something so simply has proven very controversial. Opponents claim that this stigmatizes those who will be residents of Barnes Fund housing and is racist and will deny some people a place to live. To me, I think opposing this bill stigmatizes the Barnes Fund and will make people not want Barnes Fund housing in their community.
This was on Third Reading on 10/18/16 and deferred to this meeting. At that meeting, Councilman Hastings, an African-American member of the Council made a
spirited defense of the bill. . He
explained this is not an attempt to deny low income people a place to
live but an attempt to make sure landlords are managing their property
correctly. From his comments, Hastings had apparently been called a
racist for his sponsorship of this bill and some have questioned his
authenticity as a member of the Black community. He defended the bill and
said he grew up in public housing. He said we cannot sit around and
pretend there are no issues. Apparently there was a lot of lobbying
against the bill. The Reverent Bill Barnes, for whom the Barnes Fund is
named, has written a letter opposing this bill. Councilman Sharon Hunt
spoke against it saying it stigmatizes and marginalized people. To read
The Tenenssean's coverage of this issue see, Should affordable housing have 'conduct' rules for tenants? To views the discussion see timestamp 39:51-49:10 at this link.
The bill was also discussed when it was on Second Reading. It was
amended at that meeting to say landlords "may" instead of "shall" enforce standards of
conduct. That still did not satisfy some members of the Council. It
passed Second on a voice vote with some audible "no's." To see the second reading discussion follow this link and view the video and see timestamp 2:27:02- 2:43:11.
BILL NO. BL2016-417 would prohibit one from putting a "for sale" on their vehicle parked on residential property. I
wonder how often this occurs and if this is really a problem. I don't know.
At the start of his tenure as president, Obama while visiting the UK had dinner with the Queen. Obama,wanting to learn as much as he could about governance, leaned toward her and asked; “Your Majesty, how do you run such an efficient government? Are there any tips you can give me?”
“Well,”
said the Queen, “The most important thing
is
to surround
yourself with intelligent people.”
“But how do I know if
the people
around me
are really intelligent?”
The Queen
took a sip of champagne.
“Oh, that’s
easy; you just ask them
to answer an intelligent
riddle, watch.”
The Queen pushed a button on her
intercom.“Please send Tony Blair in here, would
you?
”Tony Blair
walked into the room and said, “Yes, your
Majesty?”
The Queen smiled and said, “Answer me this please, Tony. "Your mother and father have a child.It is
not your brother,
and it is not your sister. Who is it?”
Obama went
back home to ask Joe Biden the same
question.
“Joe,
answer this for me. Your mother and your father
have a child.
It’s not your brother and it’s not your sister.
Who is
it?”
“I’m not
sure,” said Biden.
Without pausing for a moment, Tony Blair answered,
”That would be me.
“Yes! Very good.” said the Queen.
“Let me get
back to you on that one.”
He went to
his advisors and asked everyone,
But none
within the
administration could give
him an answer.
He even
called Hillary, she
said, "Send in a donation, and I'll put my
whole staff on it.
Frustrated,
Biden went to work out in congressional gym and saw
Paul Ryan there.
Biden went
up to him and asked, “Hey, Paul, see if you
can answer this question.“Your
mother and father have a child,and it’s
not your brother or your sister. Who is
it?”
Biden
smiled, and said, “Good answer, Paul!”
Biden
then went back
to speak with President Obama.
Paul Ryan
answered, “That’s easy; it’s me!”
Biden then
went back to speak with President Obama.
“Say, I did some research, and I have the answer to that riddle.”
“It’s Paul Ryan!”
Obama got
up, stomped over to Biden, and angrily yelled into his
face,
“NO, you
idiot! It’s Tony Blair!”
“
…AND THAT,
MY FRIENDS, IS PRECISELY WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON AT
THE WHITE HOUSE FOR THE
PAST
SEVEN
As the author of A Disgruntled Republican I often post items which I think may be of interest to the conservative, Republican, libertarian or the greater community. Posting of a press release or an announcement of an event does not necessarily indicate an endorsement. Rod
…AND THAT,
MY FRIENDS, IS PRECISELY WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON AT
THE WHITE HOUSE FOR 
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