“I think Mr. Skrmetti should take his patriarchal ideological crap and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine,”

Heidi Cambell 

by Rod Williams, July 29, 2023 - If you are a progressive who somehow stumbled upon this site, welcome; I am glad you are here. If you are looking for a real fighter for your progressive causes, if you want an angry mayor, if you want someone who won't compromise her values, someone who won't back down, who sees no nuisances or shades of grey but only righteous progressives and evil everybody else, someone who will be confrontational, someone with certainty of the moral righteousness of the cause, someone whose mind is made up and won't be bothered by the facts, and someone who won't be bothered by niceties of politeness in the face of evil, you need to vote for Heidi Campbell. 

Heidi Cambell is the real deal. She is the angry, in-your-face, take-no-prisoner, progressive you are looking for. 

Among the major candidates, with the exception of Alice Rolli, are all liberal. They are all liberal but that doesn't mean they are all the same. The front runner is Freddie O'Connell. He is adequately liberal, but he is not the kind of guy who would tell someone to "shove it where the sun doesn't shine."  He is too thoughtful and well-mannered. The other progressive candidates are about the same to one degree or another. The only real self-righteous warrior for social justice in this race is Heidi Campbell. 

For the rest of you reading this who care about why something is done rather than having a knee-jerk progressive spasm, the issue that caused Campbell to have her spasm was the State Attorney General pushing back against a proposed federal rule change to block states from acquiring data on patients seeking out-of-state abortions.  Our AG joined 18 others in opposing the rule. (link) 

The reason the rule was opposed, and legal action brought by the 19 State Attorney Generals is because the rule change was an overreach of bureaucratic federal authority.  If that rule is to be national policy, they argue, then it should be passed by Congress not imposed by bureaucratic fiat. This is a basic divide in political thought. Some believe the bureaucracy should have very broad power to make rules for us, and some believe that bureaucrats should only make rules within the parameters of the rule-making authority Congress has granted them. Reasonable people can disagree on which is the best approach. For those who believe in representational governance as opposed to bureaucratic governance, they must push back against every overreach.  Below is the AG's statement on the issue. 

Attorney General Skrmetti’s Statement on Proposed HHS HIPAA Privacy Rule

Friday, July 21, 2023, Nashville – In response to public interest in a recent comment letter Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined related to a rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), General Skrmetti issues this statement:

In June, I joined eighteen other state AGs in opposing rulemaking by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  I did so because the proposed rule is a hastily-assembled mess that is bad for Tennessee and bad for America.

Some confused commentators have equated my opposition to this rule with asserting a right to prosecute women who go out of state for abortions.  This is simply not true: Tennessee’s abortion law does not apply to women who seek abortions, I have no enforcement authority with respect to Tennessee’s abortion law, and I am the attorney general of Tennessee and not some other state.

The proposed rule illegally exceeds the scope of HHS’s statutory authority.  Major changes to the law require legislation, not bureaucratic decrees.  Further, the proposed rule unconstitutionally interferes with state enforcement of state laws.  The proposed rule plays politics with healthcare data privacy at the expense of consistency and coherence.

We get it: the administration does not like any limits on abortion.  But the Constitution gives states, not the federal government, the authority to regulate abortion.  Members of the administration are free to engage in persuasion and politicking on their own time to try to change state laws.  They cannot abuse the powers of the federal government to usurp the lawful authority of the people of the states.  We have enough problems to address at the federal level without illegitimately dragging state-level problems into the mix.

The proposed rule is bad for Tennessee and bad for America, and I will continue to oppose it.”

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Alice Rolli talks about her platform for the upcoming mayoral election. She offers specifics about education policy, reducing crime and more.

 

by Rod Williams, July 25, 2023- In this podcast from The Pamphleteer, the host Davis Hunt talks to Alice Rolli about her platform for the upcoming mayoral election. Alice talks about improving Metro's dismal financial status, improving education, the need for more police, and improving relations with the State among other topics. If time is limited, you may want to start the video at timestamp 3.45 when the actual interview begins, and you may want to watch it at 1.25 and 1.5 speed as I did. You can do so without losing content. 

So many news media interviews and forums ask softball questions of candidates and candidates give lame answers that really do not shed much light on how they would govern. This interview is informative and offers substantive insight. Alice Rolli spends quite a bit of time talking about education. She explains why Detroit failed to provide quality education for children resulting in parents abandoning the city and how Miami-Dade County did provide quality education and parents are embracing the schools. She explains what Miami-Dade did right, and how Nashville could do the same. See time stamp 12:40 for this discussion. 

In speaking of police staffing, Rolli says our current police staffing is based on 1.96 police officers per thousand residents and the empty positions are based on that force strength.  She says that she thinks we need to be closer to the national average which is 2.3 officers per thousand residents. I have not done this research myself but have been planning to do so. She does it for me. My impression is that even if our police force was fully staffed, we would need more police officers. I am glad to see her advocate a larger police force. Nashville has a crime problem, and it is heartening to see someone offer specifics about what needs to be done to make Nashville a safer city. She also says that due to the number of commuters and tourist we have in Nashville, we may need even more police than 2.3 officers per thousand residents. There are some candidates for Council and some incumbent council members who think we have too many police officers and advocate defunding the police. I am glad to see a candidate for mayor push back against this nonsense. To see her discussion of crime and policing jump to timestamp 38.

This is by far the most informative interview I have seen of any candidate. The more I learn about Alice Rolli, the more I am convinced that she is the best person, by far, to lead our city. 

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Allice Rollie: We need to get our finances in order before we start making any new spending promises.

by Rod Williams, June 27, 2023- As the above video states Nashville has more debt than the state of Tennessee. Nashville ranks 68th out of the 75 largest cities in the U.S. for total debt per taxpayer. The annual interest on our debt is $413 million and is the second largest item in the city's budget. Nashville has the 10th highest debt of any city in America. In the 2024 operating budget, 12.74% of revenue was dedicated to paying debt service. Something needs to change. Should we have sustained or higher inflation, we would have to refinance debt at higher rates and our debt would take even more of our city budget. We need to get our financial house in order. 

In 2020 Nashville raised property taxes 34%. While we possibly could have raised taxes by a lesser amount if we had engaged in belt-tightening, a tax increase was necessary that year. Our fund balances had reached a dangerously low level and without a tax increase we would have had to cut essential services. Tennessee state comptroller Justin Wilson warned that without drastic action, the state might take over management of Nashville’s affairs. In response, the Metro council raised property taxes 34 percent. Years of gross fiscal mismanagement resulted in this situation. It did not happen overnight. 

Unfortunately, Nashville continues down the same path that led to the last massive tax increase. We continue to add increased obligations. Looming on the horizon is $4.6 billion in unfunded costs to cover retiree health benefits. 

In forums and in media interview, most candidates for mayor say that at some point another tax increase will be necessary. It should not be. We are growing and adding new properties to the tax roll and property values are increasing. As the tax base increases, the tax revenue to the city increases.  We should not have to have a constantly increasing tax burden.  

Alice Rollie is the only candidate for mayor that pledges not to increase taxes. She talks about fiscal responsibility. I believe she will manage our finances responsibly, adequately fund our unfunded obligations, maintain responsible fund balances, and live within our means. She will get out financial house in order. 

 

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First Tuesday Welcomes TN State Rep. Jeremy Faison, Wed. Aug. 2nd

 

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Radical group Nashville Justice League endorses candidates. Please don't vote for any of these candidates. Please help defeat them.

 

by Rod Williams, July 27, 2023- Nashville Justice League is a radical progressive organization comprised of The Equity Alliance Fund (TEAF), the Central Labor Council of Nashville and Middle Tennessee, and TIRRC who have joined forces to, in their words, "fight for a more just and equitable Nashville and stand up for civil rights, workers' rights, and immigrant rights."  They say that "systemic poverty and institutional racism" runs deep in our communities.

Anyone who received the endorsement of The Nashville Justice League needs to be defeated. If you have to opportunity to vote against any of the above candidates, please do so. Encourage others to do so.

To see my list of endorsed candidates, please see, My endorsements for the Mayoral and Council races.

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Who's endorsing who for Mayor. (update)

by Rod Williams, July 26, 2023- The Tennessean has updated an article, "Nashville mayoral race 2023: See who has endorsed the candidates."  It provides a long list of who has secured which endorsements. The Nashville Scene has also published a similar piece.  Below are some endorsements that I think are significant:

Former U.S. Congressman Jim Cooper on Wednesday endorsed state Sen. Jeff Yarbro

Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall endorsed Matt Wiltshire

Wiltshire was earlier endorsed by the Nashville Fraternal Order of Police.

Wiltshire received the endorsement of several current and former members of the Metro Council, including Nancy VanReece, Robert Nash, John Rutherford, George Armistead, Phil Claiborne, Stewart Clifton, Jacobia Dowell, Jamie Isabel, Sean McGuire, Doug Pardue, Phil Ponder, Jason Potts, Bill Pridemore, Carter Todd, Charlie Tygard, and Chris Whitson.

TIRRC Votes, a nonprofit affiliated with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition endorsed Freddie O'Connell on July 19.

David A. Fox, former school board chair and 2015 mayoral candidate, endorsed Alice Rolli.

District Attorney Glenn Funk endorsed Vivian Wilhoite, which in my view, is a firm reason not to vote for her. 

State Rep. Jason Powell, a Nashville Democrat, endorsed mayoral candidate Freddie O’Connell.

Several state lawmakers have endorsed Heidi Campbell, including state Reps. Bo Mitchell, John Ray Clemmons, Bob Freeman and Gloria Johnson, and state Sen. Sara Kyle.

Former state Sen. Brenda Gilmore, Metro Trustee Erica Gilmore and Davidson County Clerk Brenda Wynn have endorsed At-Large Metro Councilmember Sharon Hurt’s campaign for mayor.

Sunrise Movement Nashville, "a local chapter of the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate justice organization working to stop the climate crisis and creating millions of good jobs through a Green New Deal" has endorsed Freddie O'Connell. 

Bob Mendes, Metro Councilmember At-Large; Sean Parker, Metro Councilmember, District 5; Erin Evans, Metro Councilmember, District 12; Sandra Sepulveda, Metro Councilmember, District 30; Dave Rosenberg, Metro Councilmember, District 35; Russ Bradford, Metro Councilmember, District 13; and Jill Speering, former school board member has endorsed Freddie O'Connell. 

Americans for Tax Reform has endorsed Alice Rollie.

Rod Williams, former Councilmember and publisher of The Disgruntled Republican has endorsed Alice Rollie.

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Nashville Covenant School parents push for new gun laws

By Jon Styf | The Center Square Jul 21, 2023 -  Families from Nashville’s Covenant School have begun a pair of nonprofits and are pushing Tennessee for gun prevention laws such as expanded background checks, secure storage and red flag laws heading into August’s expected special session of the Tennessee Legislature.

A shooter killed three students and three employees at Covenant School earlier this year. Family members from the school started Covenant Families for a Brighter Tomorrow and the legislative advocacy nonprofit Covenant Families Action Fund.

“Gun owners even support background checks, safe storage, temporarily limiting access to firearms for folks who are a threat to themselves and others until they can get help,” said David Teague, a co-founder of the groups. “These are not controversial items. It’s the fact that they’re not on the books already is what’s controversial, while another Tennessee family loses a loved one every five and a half hours to gun violence.”

Gov. Bill Lee plans to call a special session on public safety beginning on Aug. 21 and has heard opposition to his proposal for a red flag law, which he called a temporary mental health order of protection.

The Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition, which recently met with Lee, spoke with Lee about the group’s opposition to the proposal. Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, and Tennessee House Republicans have spoken out against red flag laws as well.

The Covenant families said they have had dozens of meetings with Tennessee legislators and will continue to take the meetings to advocate for new laws.

"We are advocating for gun violence prevention solutions such as expanded background checks, secure storage and order of protection laws – a life-saving measure that could have prevented the tragedy at the Covenant School,” said Covenant parent Melissa Alexander. “As a native Tennessean and gun owner I think it’s important to emphasize responsible gun ownership, however, I also think it’s important to intervene when there are clear signs that something is wrong.”

Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, held a press conference on gun laws in the Cordell Hull Office Building near the Tennessee Capitol on Friday morning, joined by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Metro Nashville Deputy Mayor Brenda Haywood.

“My colleagues chose to end the legislative session early but we will not allow justice to be denied any longer,” Jones said in a statement. “Rather than excuses we must act in the face of special interest-funded opposition, and on August 21st we urge the legislature to enact a policy that Tennesseans are demanding: Protect Kids Not Guns.”

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Radical group Black Nashville Votes endorses candidates. Please don't vote for these candidates. Please help defeat them.

 

by Rod Williams, July 26, 2023- The people listed above need to be defeated. Please vote against them. Please help their opponents.

Black Nashville Votes is an organization affiliated with the Nashville Black Assembly. They appear to actually be the same organization.  They are quite radical. At a time when the State, spurred into action by the Covenant school shooting, is attempting to put a School Resource Officer in every school, Nashville Black Assembly calls for removing school resource offices from schools. 

The group says it is grounded in four political pillars: Pan-Africanism, Economic Democracy, Black Queer Feminism, and Abolish the Prison Industrial Complex. Nashville Black Assembly is part of a larger group called Southern Movement Committee which wants to abolish all police and jails. 

Jamel Campbell Gooch is active in Southern Movement Committee and is a Gideon’s Army organizer. Councilmember Ginny Welsch attempted to slash police funding by 42% and continues efforts to cut police funding. She also has a long list of other left-wing causes and affiliations. One thing all of these candidates appear to have in common is a desire to defund the police. 

Angus Purdy list as one of his qualifications that he participated in the People’s Plaza occupation. You may have to think back to remember the Occupy Wall Streat movement when people camped out for weeks on Legislative Plaza. These candidates are a bunch of left-wing misfits. Please help defeat them.

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Endorsements of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. Please don't vote for any of these candidates.

by Rod Williams, July 24, 2023- Below is the list of candidates endorsed by the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.  TIRRC opposes enforcement of immigration laws and advocates for illegal aliens. This is a list of people for whom one should not vote. 

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The Southeast mayoral forum is worth watching.

by Rod Williams, June 24, 2023- The video above is of two forums that took place at Lakeshore Christian Church in Antioch on Saturday July 22. The mayoral forum is first beginning at the start of the video and ending at time stamp 1:22. Following the mayoral forum is a forum of the candidates for Council Member at-large. 

This is one of the mayoral forums with the most substance of any I have seen. Others only allowed candidates 30 seconds or ten seconds to give an answer. Also, the questions asked at this forum are of more substance than others I have seen. However, most of the forum was taken up by an education question and we hear very little about the other issues of concern.

If you are going to watch the forum, but don't want to devote almost an hour and a half to do so, you can skip the intro portion and go right to the start of the forum at timestamp 14:24. Also, you can watch it at a faster speed. I watch at 1.5 speed but slow it down if someone is saying something of a little more substance. Also, knowing that Natasha Brooks, Fran Bush, and Stephanie Johnson are not serious contenders you may want to fast forward through their comments.

it is unfortunately that the no-chance also-ran candidates are included in the forum. There needs to be better criteria about whom to include. Anyone can get their name on the ballot by collecting 25 signatures. I wish it was much higher so people who just want to run a vanity campaign would not waste our time. Does anyone really believe Stephanie Johnson is a serious candidate?  She and some of the others just muddy the field and take time away from the serious contenders. Alice Rolli who is in second place in the race for mayor according to a recent poll, did not participate in this forum. 

In their opening remark many of the candidates state the same concerns or priorities that have been mentioned again and again, such as managing growth, improving public safety, improving education, transit and affordable housing. Candidates are short on "how" they would address these issues, but the issues are box-checked. In all fairness, the forum does not lend itself to a lot of "how" answers.

Here are some impressions of the candidates and the event. Why is everyone dressed so sloppily? I want a future Mayor who dresses the part. On the stage in addition to the mayoral candidates are the vice mayor candidates. Among the men, only Freddie O'Connell and Vice Mayor Shulman dress appropriately and among the women, only Natasha Brooks and Angie Dickerson dress up. Everyone else looks like they have been to Walmart and Stephanie Johnson looks like she has been working in her flower bed. Maybe I am out of touch, but I still think people should dress appropriate for the occasion and I think a mayoral candidate participating in a forum should dress up.

Sharon Hurt's main appeal is that she is Black and will advocate for the well-being of minority residence. She speaks of "economic equity" and says she will advance civil rights. She says Antioch is the new North Nashville. 

Heidie Campbell panders to the anti-downtown sentiment and the long-term Nashvillians resentment of newcomers and she speaks a lot about "equity" and "inequity." Maybe sometimes she means "equal" and "unequal," but when I hear someone speak of "equity," I hear equal-outcomes-regardless-of-inputs. Equity means a rejection of meritocracy. She also says women, people of color, immigrants and LBGQT people are under attack in this state. She appears to be ready to be combative with the State. If you are an angry leftist, she is your candidate.

Freddie O'Connell makes a good impression. I know I disagree with him on most things, but when he speaks, he appears sincere, thoughtful, not angry, and he does not pander. If I were a low-information voter without a firm set of values, I would vote for Freddie O'Connell. Matt Wilshire makes the next best impression. Among the other candidates for mayor, all leave me unimpressed. 

Both Council Member Angie Dickerson and Vice Mayor Jim Shulman are impressive and seem to be good candidates for the office of Vice Mayor. I am still undecided for whom I will vote in that contest. 

All of the candidates raise their hand saying that at a minimum they would commit to have their cabinet reflect the racial composition of the city and all say that their appointments to boards and commissions would also reflect the racial make-up of the city. To me that disqualifies all of them. I don't believe in filling positions based on one's ethnicity or race. I believe in finding the best person for the job. There are also other questions focused on race. Maybe anticipating the questions and knowing she would not tell the audience what they wanted to hear was why Alice Rolli did not participate in this forum.

While Alice Rolli is not present, a position she had taken on the role of the school board was the subject of the question to which the forum devoted the most time. She had said that if the School Board was not accountable, she would absorb the power of the school board into the mayor's office. Candidates at this forum share their view on that statement, speak about the role of the school board, school funding, charter schools, and accountability of the school board. That discussion starts at timestamp 54:30. All disagree with Rolli, but some do say they would hold the school board accountable for the funds they receive. 

The at-large forum follows, and I have not watched it as of yet. 

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It the election for Mayor were today, Freddie O'Connell and Alice Rolli would make it to the runoff.

 

by Rod Williams, July 25, 2023- Tennessee Lookout today released the results of a poll of the mayoral contest which show Freddie O’Connell leading the field with 21% of the vote and Alice Rollie next with 13% and Senator Jeff Yarbro just one-point further behind at 12%. 

This poll was taken after Jim Gingrich dropped out of the race. The most important thing that jumps out at me is that with only a week before the election, 23% of likely voters are still undecided. What are they waiting for? When will they make a decision and which way will they break?  No one has a lock on the race as of yet.  The other candidates in this rice are polling about where I thought they would be at this time, except I thought Matt Wiltshire would be outpolling Jeff Yarbro. 

The firm conducting the poll, GABO, only polled 500 people.  I know that is not a lot of people, but if the sampling is a good sample, a small number of people polled can be representational. I know when people don't like the results of a poll, they question the methodology or the integrity of the firm doing the polling. Most of GABO's clients are liberal organizations, but that does not mean they are not professional and are not good at what they do.  I am accepting the poll as accurate. 

I hope Alice Rolli can remain in second place. A choice between Jeff Yarbro and Freddie O'Connell would not be much of a choice. 

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Councilmember Ginny Welsch tells constituent, "Suck it, babe."

 

by Rod Williams, July 24, 2023- Council member Ginny Welsch is not only radical, but she also has trouble engaging in civil discourse, she quickly labels people as "Fascist" if they don't agree with her, and she is quick to drop the F-bomb. She is unprofessional, crude, rude, and has a potty mouth. She is not suited for service in the Metro Council. For more, see here, here, here, and here.

The above are screen shots from 16th District Nashville Facebook group. 

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Jason Aldean’s critics have clearly never been to a small town

by Teresa Mull, The Spectator, July 19, 2023- Country music superstar Jason Aldean has come under fire for a song that condemns violent crime and promotes the Second Amendment. But the people trying to cancel “Try That In A Small Town” are desperate race-baiters who have evidently never visited a small town (the song has been playing on country stations since May, but the left has only just now become outraged by it). Though their charge that the song is a “pro-lynching” anthem is obvious nonsense, Aldean is correct in saying such absurd rhetoric must be addressed, as leaving it unchecked is “dangerous.”

The song lists a series of crimes — sucker-punching somebody on a sidewalk, carjacking an old lady at a red light, pulling a gun on the owner of a liquor store, cussing out a cop and spitting in his face and stomping on the flag and lighting it up — before the refrain asserts such behavior is unacceptable in small towns, where people “take care of our own.” (continue reading)

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We deserve a leader committed to improving our schools, ensuring our city is safe, and getting our finances in order. Elect Alice Rolli, Mayor.

While others are finally catching on to what matters most, Alice's message from her launch has never wavered. We deserve a leader committed to improving our schools, ensuring our city is safe, and getting our finances in order. 

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