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Saturday, October 21, 2023
Friday, October 20, 2023
Unsolicited Advice to Members of the New Metro Council
by Rod Williams, Oct. 3, 2023-
Play nice and make friends. For one thing, life is just more pleasant if you have pleasant relationships, and you are going to be working with these people for the next four years. Remember that political disagreements are not personal. While you may disagree over the amount of funding needed for the police force, you may bond with a fellow councilmember over sports or music or food and drink or travel or grandkids or any number of other things. Get to know your fellow council members. While personal relationships may not lead to a colleague voting your way, it may lead to the courtesy of making sure your bill is not killed in committee because you are late and stuck in traffic.
Remember where you are. This is not the U.S. Senate. Sometimes members of the council may feel passionate about abortions rights or the war in Ukraine. I understand. However, the Metro Council is not the place to fight those fights. You are a lowly council member not a member of congress. You will have your hands full with zoning issues and passing the laws to ensure Nashville is safe and prosperous.
While there are a handful of conservatives on the council and more radicals than ever before, there are actually few matters before the council that are ideological in nature. There is not a conservative or liberal way to fill a pothole. If you sought office to the Metro Council to change the world, you are probably in the wrong body.
Learn parliamentary procedures and use them. There is more to being an effective council member than just voting "yes" or "no." Study the rules of the Council and use them. Don't hesitate to offer amendments to bills. If something you don't like is about to pass and requires a two-thirds vote and some members are absent and some are out of the room, don't hesitate to challenge a quorum. Learn to table a motion, to "reconsider," to defer, and to defer indefinitely. Sometimes what cannot be achieved by persuasion can be achieved due to knowing how to use the rules.
Do your homework. Sometimes I watch a council meeting and am amazed at how little some council members know about how Metro government works and how little attention they have paid to issues on which they are voting.
Please, become an expert. No one can become the go-to expert on everything, but if you are serving in the Council, you should know a lot about all aspects of local government. You can become an expert on parts of Metro government. If you are concerned about public safety, become the best-informed person in the Council about issue surrounding that topic and get to know the primary Metro personnel in that field and the advocates who care about those issue.
I hope someone will become the financial expert. A few years ago, Nashville became dangerously fiscally mismanaged. This was during the last years of the Megan Barry administration and the city had been spending beyond its means and selling assets to balance the budget. There had to be Council members asleep at the wheel or this could have never happened.
I suspect some newly elected council members have never watched a council meeting before running for office. To get up to speed, start by reading the charter, then explore from top to bottom the hubNashville website. Don't wait until you get to a council meeting to read the agenda. Be prepared to ask questions and make informed decisions. When facing big decisions like a deal on a sports venue or something else big, know all of the facts. Don't wait to be handed the data, the administration wants you to have. If you do not feel overwhelmed, you are not doing your job well.
Honor the committee system but don't blindly follow a committee's recommendation. With a forty member body, the Council has to have committees. Don't skip a committee meeting then ask the same questions from the floor of the chamber that were asked and thoroughly explored in committee. As a member of the council, you can attend a committee to which you are not assigned. If you care about an issue, attend that committee meeting.
While a committee's recommendation should be a factor in deciding how you vote, don't let it be the deciding factor. While the committee system is important, don't let the committee do your thinking for you, however. If you are one of the few conservative members of the body, and a committee is overwhelmingly dominated by liberals, don't just blindly follow the committee's recommendation.
As a member of a committee, don't hesitate to cast an honest vote. A committee is not a jury; the vote does not have to be unanimous. There is nothing wrong with a committee vote being nine to one.
Don't roll over and play dead. I have watched conservative people get elected to Council and then vote like woke liberals. I understand that sometimes it is hard to not go along with the majority. However, if for instance, you believe so-called "gender affirmation treatment" for minors is abhorrent, do not allow a memorializing resolution advocating for it to pass unanimously. If such comes before the Council, I would hope you would denounce if from the Council floor and explain why you cannot support the resolution. If you don't have the energy to stand up and make an argument you know you are going to lose, the least you can do is to ask to be recorded as voting "no." It is better to have the record reflect that such a resolution was passed by a majority of the council than to have the record reflect that such a resolution passed unanimously.
Set some limits and keep some balance in your life. Being a conscientious council member can be demanding. While the Council pays a modest salary, serving will probably cost you. It can be like a second full time job. Don't let it burn you out. Don't let your constituents abuse you. You are not obligated to go look at every constituent's water runoff problem. Don't neglect your kids and spouse because of Council demands. Know when to say no. Take vacations.
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The Increasingly Bizarre Political Campaign of Gabrielle Hanson
God's candidate for mayor? Critics say new Gabrielle Hanson video shows rise of Christian nationalism
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Thursday, October 19, 2023
Williamson County Schools ranked 3rd best in the State.
by Rod Williams, Oct. 19, 2023- Niche is an organization that connects colleges and schools with students and families. As part of that process, they evaluate the quality of schools of every school district. The schools are ranked based on an analysis of key statistics and millions of reviews from students and parents using data from the U.S. Department of Education, according to Niche.
“Ranking factors include state test scores, college readiness, graduation rates, teacher quality, public school district ratings, and more,” Niche’s website states. “SAT/ACT scores have been removed from this year’s rankings to reflect a general de-emphasis on test scores in the college admissions process.”
In their recent ranking the best school district in Tennessee is Maryville, followed by Alcoa, followed by Williamson County at third place.
Wilson County School District scores 12th best schools, Rutheford County Schools are 13th best, and Sumner County is 17th best. Only school systems earning a letter grade of A or B are numerically ranked.
Among the large school systems, Knox County is 25th best school system in the State, and Hamilton County is 41st. Metro Nashville Public Schools is unranked and receives a letter grade of B- and Shelby County Schools receive a letter grade of C+.
Of Nashville Public Schools, the report says that according to state test scores, 12% of students are at least proficient in math and 19% in reading. By comparison, next door in Williamson County, 58% of students are at least proficient in math and 59% in reading.
For more information follow this link.
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Wednesday, October 18, 2023
What Happened at Last Night's Council meeting. How members voted on Accepting a Grant to fund School Resource Officers
From The Pamphleteer, by Megan Podsiedlik, Oct. 18, 2023- Things weren’t as dramatic as expected at last night’s Metro Council—no verbal brawl over Wally Dietz’s reappointment or overwhelming public clash over SROs—but much was accomplished during the three-hour meeting. Along with the normal business on the agenda, a few of the new council members finally tested their wings and took to the mic.
APPOINTMENTS
- Metro Audit Committee: Burkley Allen, Courtney Johnston
- Planning and Zoning Committee Chair: Jennifer Gamble
- President Pro Tempore: Zulfat Suara
- Short Term Rental Appeals Board: Sean Parker, Mike Loyco, Nicole Williams
- Traffic and Parking Commission: Quin Evans Segall
- Finance Director: Kevin Crumbo
- Director of Law: Wallace Dietz
- Stormwater Management Commission: Trey Lewis
- Tourism and Convention Commission: Howard Kittell
- Work Release Commission: Shannon Musgrave, Jesus Gonzales
SRO FUNDS: ACCEPTED
At long last, the council passed a resolution to accept state funding to cover the cost of MNPS’ existing SROs — but not without a lengthy discussion.
Southeast Nashville council member Courtney Johnston stuck with her previous sentiment: “saying no to this does not get rid of the SROs. Saying yes to it does not add SROs.” She explained to the council that the decision was a fiscal one: “There are lots of things that I think are worth funding. This particular situation that we're looking at is nothing but a financial decision.”
Freshman council member Jeff Preptit had other ideas. “We should not be funneling our children through the prison industrial complex,” he stated.
Robert Nash, who represents District 27, addressed Preptit’s line of thinking: “This is not serving as some pipeline to the prison system. With all due respect, my golly. We are the 40th largest school system in the country. Last year, we made thirteen arrests…. And most of those were for the bomb threats that you've heard about lately, or somebody bringing a gun to school. It's not about somebody getting a little disorderly in the hallway.”
Tom Cash, for his part, expressed discomfort with the fact that the decision was kicked to the council instead of remaining within MNPS: “What to do about SROs and being able to shift money, however it's done, from SROs to other things is a policy decision and it needs to be made at the school board.”
Council member Brenda Gadd then approached the mic and revealed her dislike for the solution of SRO placement in schools before signaling that she would be voting in favor of the funding: “I'll be supporting today's resolution because of the way it's funded: accepting state dollars and not expanding– not making the policy decision to expand SROs.”
Lastly, veteran council member Tonya Hancock reminded the council that the state is trying to do the city a favor. “I would just like to highlight for the benefit of many individuals in the community that might say ‘The state is always doing things to us,’ in this instance, they're actually doing something for us.”
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Nashville Council faces first lightning rod issue, accepts grant for police in schools
by Cassandra Stephenson, The Tennessean, Oct. 18, 2023- Nashville's Council accepted a state grant for school resource officer salaries Tuesday — but not without sending a message:
The Council is not finished discussing police in schools, and several members are pushing for policy change.
The $3.4 million grant will partially reimburse Metro Police for the salaries of 62 existing school resource officers in Nashville's public middle and high schools. The Council approved the funding 23-12, with two abstentions.
Proponents of accepting the grant funds said it was a purely financial decision, supplanting Metro dollars already dedicated toward SROs with state funds.
Others said it's not so simple. "I see this more as the state trying to wash its hands of its responsibility to pass adequate gun reform legislation," District 30 Council member Sandra Sepulveda said ... "We asked for gun reform, plain and simple … and we got money for police officers in schools," At-large Council member Delishia Porterfield said. ... District 25 Council member and Civil Rights attorney Jeff Preptit took issue with the memorandum of understanding between Metro Police and Metro Nashville Public Schools ...
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How members voted on Accepting a Grant to fund School Resource Officers
In favor:
- Burkley Allen
- Quin Evans-Segall
- Jennifer Gamble
- Mike Cortese,
- Clay Capp,
- Tonya Hancock,
- Jennifer Webb,
- Jeff Eslick
- Erin Evans
- Russ Bradford
- Jordan Huffman
- Jacob Kupin
- Rollin Horton
- Sheri Weiner
- Thom Druffel
- Courtney Johnston
- Bob Nash
- David Benton
- Tasha Ellis
- John Rutherford
- Joy Styles
- Sandy Ewing
- Jason Spain
Opposed:
- Zulfat Suara
- Delishia Porterfield
- Olivia Hill
- Joy Smith Kimbrough
- Kyonzte Toombs
- Sean Parker
- Emily Benedict
- Deonte Harrell,
- Ginny Welsch
- Terry Vo
- Jeff Preptit
- Sandra Sepulveda
Abstaining:
- Brandon Taylor
- Brenda Gadd
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Franklin's MAGA mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson poses with self-proclaimed neo-Nazi in new post
Hanson, who has refused to dissociate herself from the white supremacists who recently showed up at a candidates forum in support of her campaign, is shown sitting next to Sean Kauffmann, head of the Tennessee Active Club. (link)
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Tuesday, October 17, 2023
What to do about the Hassle and Cost of Parking Downtown
My favorite place to park and where I can usually find parking is the downtown library garage. Back when First Tuesday met at the offices of Waller Law at 511 Union Street, which is across 5th Ave. from the Hermitage Hotel, I always parked at the library. It was about a two block walk to 511 Union but that was not too bad. If parking at the library, if you get your parking ticket stamped by the library, you get the first hour of parking free.
Now, when I go downtown, I sometimes walk. From my house a roundtrip walk to Lower Broad is 4.2 miles. I try to get exercise daily and walking, competing with gardening, is my main source of exercise. Usually, when I go downtown, I Uber. From my house Uber may cost between $9 to $24, depending on demand. That is not bad, especially if you are splitting the fee with someone else. I prefer it to the hassle of traffic and parking.
The current issue of The Scene has an article titled, One-Fifth of Downtown Nashville Is Devoted to Parking. Is That a Good Thing? It is well written and informative. The article does point out a logical function of pricing. Quoting someone from a group called The Parking Reform Network, the article points out that if parking is priced too low, more drivers are incentivized to stay in spots longer, reducing the availability of spots for drivers arriving downtown. Anyone who has studied economics or even thought about it much knows that is a function of prices. Higer prices reduce waste and proper pricing leads to greater efficiency and the market sets the optimal price.
The article's author, however, seems to think price gouging is going on downtown and seems to think parking rates should be regulated saying, "There are few if any examples of American city governments regulating rates in privately owned parking lots. Tennessee has state laws against price gouging, but they apply to a limited number of food, medical and emergency goods during “abnormal economic disruption” and certainly don’t include parking."
As pointed out in the article also, about ten years ago Nashville eliminated mandatory parking minimums based on a building’s square footage, occupancy, and use. If such was still in place, we would not have seen the growth downtown that we have witnessed. I was glad to see that parking minimums eliminated. Ever since about the late fifties, zoning in most cities, including Nashville, required minimum parking for commercial buildings. That resulted in the shaping of our cities where buildings are all separated from each other with a parking lot in front or office buildings in office parks surrounded by acreage of surface parking lots. Modern zoning also led to a shortage of affordable housing and urban sprawl, but that is a topic for another post.
So, what is to be done to make Nashville more accessible. First of all, don't do much. Let the market figure it out.
Secondly, don't stand in the way of innovation. Can you imagine what Nashville would be like without Uber? What would the need for parking be? Yet, Nashville tried its very best to stop ridesharing services when they first came to Nashville. You can read about it here, here, and here. One does not know what the next innovation will be before it is here, but government often thinks of its job as to protect people from innovations.
Thirdly, embrace smart parking and technology and privatization of on-street parking. Nashville has upgraded many of its parking meters so one can pay at a kiosk with a credit card but that is not really "smart meters." Privatization was proposed once before and went over like a lead balloon, but I think it is time to try it again. If there is too much opposition to privatizing the parking, then Metro should institute modern parking technology on its own if the debt service will support it. With smart technology, one can add money to the parking meter from your smart phone. This would be a good service. If you have ever had to leave an enjoyable meal early or rush a business meeting because your parking meter was going to expire, you can see how convenient this feature would be. Also, with smart parking technology, when searching for a parking space, smart parking can tell you where there is an available parking space. With smart parking technology, the price of parking can vary with demand. With variable parking rates, supply and demand works in real time. At times a parking space is more valuable than at other times; the price one pays to park should reflect this.
Fourth, make riding a bus more user friendly. I live on a street four houses off of 8th avenue. The bus runs up 8th ever 40 minutes. I have never ridden a bus in Nashville but thought I would try it. Unfortunately, the bus does not take credit cards and if paying by cash one must have the exact fare. I am pretty much cashless. I can go in almost any bar or coffee shop and tap my credit card and get a beverage. Riding a bus should be that easy.
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TONIGHT AT METRO COUNCIL
Sandwiched between a laundry list of sewer legislation are a few key bills, resolutions, and appointments to watch.
First up are the appointments: Kevin Crumbo, Nashville’s numbers guy, is up for Director of Finance, and Wally Dietz is returning for the position of Director of Law. A few other temporary appointments will be sprinkled in between the elections of the President Pro Tempore, commission, and board appointments.
SRO FUNDING REVISITED
The resolution to cover the cost of existing MNPS SROs is back on the docket. Last meeting, a few hesitant council members deferred the legislation, even though accepting the state’s money would take the financial burden off Metro’s books.
“Saying no to this does not get rid of the SROs. Saying yes to it does not add SROs,” Councilmember Johnston had said while speaking out against deferment. The resolution is on the Public Health & Safety Committee’s agenda during their meeting this afternoon. The Q&A should shed more light on the legislation before it goes before the council this evening.
MNPD GETS A RAP ON THE KNUCKLES OVER LPRS
Ever since the end of the summer pilot program, the council has noticeably kept MNPD in limbo when it comes to making LPRs permanent in Nashville. While they’re waiting, three bill sponsors would like the police department to kindly pack it up: council members Emily Benedict, Ginny Welsch, and Delishia Porterfield have filed a bill requiring MNPD to take down all LPRs and signage used during the program. The bill will be introduced on first reading.
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Monday, October 16, 2023
You Might be Right: What can we do about gun violence?
by Rod Williams, Oct. 16, 2023- This is the first episode of the You Might be Right podcast where co-hosts and former Tennessee Governors Phil Bredesen and Bill Haslam discuss important issues of the day. In this issue, they discuss the gun violence.
In the second half of the episode the governors are joined by David French, a political commentator, and author who regularly writes for The Dispatch, The Atlantic, and National Review. David French is a native middle Tennessean of humble origin who rose to prominence as a political commentator. I have seen him speak a couple times, once at First Tuesday and once at some other event. He is scholarly and thoughtful, yet very relatable. I respect his opinions and like him a lot.
French addresses the Second Amendment right to bare arms and recent supreme court rulings, the justification for an assault rifle, why the AR-15 is used for lawful purposes and is covered by the Second Amendment, and explains red flag laws and explains why, when properly written, they do not violate the constitution.
Follow this link to listen to the podcast. You can listen to the 44-minute podcast at X1.5 speed and not lose context. If you prefer to read the text of the podcast rather than listen, that is an option.
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Trumpinista hypocrite Gabrielle Hanson could be Franklin's next Mayor
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| Mayor Ken Moore Antifa member? |
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| Gabrielle Hanson |
There are a lot of Republicans who support Donald Trump and while I think they are misguided and wrong, they are decent people and pretty much mainstream in their political views. They like Trump policies and think he was a good president. They don't acknowledge or don't care that he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power and illegally remain in office.
There are those MAGA Republicans, and then, there are the weird Trumpinistas: charlatans, conspiracy theorist, white supremist, hypocrites, and con artist. Trump has attracted a lot of weird people to the party and resulted in some misfit candidates running for office. Gabrielle Hanson is in this category.
Hanson claimed she warned police before the Covenant shooting occurred, saying she had no real evidence or tip about it but had a feeling and said it could be a "Holy Spirit thing." However, when Channel 5 examined the bodycam video of when she allegedly told police of the pending shooting, no such claim was made.
Hanson led an unsuccessful battle to block a Pride festival from being held at a city park in Franklin and then an image surfaced of her own husband wearing nothing but an American flag Speedo at a Pride event in Chicago. That is not a pretty picture. She justified the contradiction.
Other issues that have drawn attention is that she alleged that the Covenant School shooter was involved in a love triangle with school staff.
A Franklin ethics board found Hanson violated the city’s ethics code by using her position as an alderman to get gifts and privileges. And there has been more.
The worst, in my view, and the most recent issue regarding Gabrille Hanson is that she has failed to condemn a hate group called Tennessee Active Club. I am normally quite reticent to call a group a "hate group," because the term is often used to smear people who are culturally conservative. In the case of the Tennessee Active Club, the term "hate group" is justified. You can read about the Active Club network here. The group is openly white supremacist. Channel 4 News says the group is "a group of self-proclaimed neo-Nazis."
Earlier this week at a forum hosted for candidates for mayor and alderman in Franklin, members of Tennessee Active Club showed up and escorted Hanson and her husband into the event. They said they were there to protect Gabrielle. It gets weirder.
The group claims Mayor Ken Moore, who has served as mayor since 2011 is a member of Antifa. Yep, Dr. Ken Moore, Mayor of Franklin, is said to be a member of Antifa. Dr. Moor has served as president of the Tennessee Orthopedic Society, is a member of the Franklin Rotary Club, Building Lives Foundation Board, TMA Group Board, Williamson County and Franklin Chamber of Commerce Board, and chairman of the Columbia State Foundation Board and in 2018 the Tennessee Municiple League named him mayor of the year. The Sunday school teacher at the Franklin First United Methodist Church is said to me a member of Antifa. I know he doesn't look the part, but you never can tell.
After the appearance of Tennessee Active Club at that event, a call went out from other members of the Board of Alderman to condemn the group. Gabrielle Hanson refused. She said, “I’m literally not going to denounce whatever it is that they want to be, whether I agree with what they do in their personal life or not,” “If they want to support you and your re-election, and they want to support me, that is their right. We don’t discriminate in this community against anyone. Never did they lay a hand on anyone, and they were very respectful while they were here.”
The city of Franklin is recognized and honored as one of America's best small towns and wins accolades in all kinds of categories. It would be a shame, if the city of Franklin were to elect Gabrielle Hanson as mayor. The world is paying attention to the mayoral race in Franklin. This race has been covered in The New Republic, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, Esquire, Vanity Fair, U K's The Daily Mail and many other publications.
Early voting begins Wednesday and runs through Oct. 19. Election day is Oct. 24. If you live in Franklin, please vote for Ken Moore.
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Sunday, October 15, 2023
Tennessee legislators to look into rejecting federal school funding in November
By Jon Styf | The Center Square, Oct 12, 2023 - With additional COVID-19 federal K-12 school funding winding down, Tennessee continues its look at what school funding would look like without federal dollars, which amounted to $10.4 billion coming to the state’s schools between 2019 and 2023.
Between Nov. 6-15, a new Federal Education Funding Working Group will look at what it would take for Tennessee to fund schools outside of federal requirements and federal funds.
That includes $5.8 billion in federal entitlement grants over that timeframe, along with $4.6 billion in one-time federal grants to Tennessee schools, according to a Tennessee Department of Education report filed at the request of Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton.
“Any time the federal government sends money, there are always strings attached to those dollars, and there is always a possibility that it opens the state up to other regulations or restrictions,” Sexton said in a statement while announcing the new working group.
The state’s website has a tool to look at county-by-county spending across the state that shows $2.2 billion was spent on education in Shelby County, for instance, in the 2022-23 fiscal year.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau and National Center for Education Statistics shows Tennessee currently funds its schools with $11,600 per student, ranking it ahead of just six other states and below the national average of $13.187 from the most recently available data from 2018-19.
A study from the Sycamore Institute showed that in 2019, before the COVID-19 increases in funding, $1.1 billion was sent to Tennessee schools with the state’s 142 school districts receiving between $314 and $2,500 per student in federal funds.
The bulk of those funds went to rural districts with more low-income and disabled students that were judged to have less local revenue capacity and lower English Language Arts test scores.
Districts received an average of $7.9 million in funding with Shelby County schools receiving $192.5 million on the high end and the single-school Richland City Special School District in Marion County receiving $311,000.
“Through this committee, I will advocate that Tennessee keep accepting these necessary funds,” Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, said in a statement about the committee. “After all, our tax dollars should be used to support Tennessee students, not students in other states.”
#I Welcome the Study. Let us see what it Shows
Comments by Rod Williams, Oct. 15, 2023- I welcome the study. While it is a fact federal dollars have strings attached, I hope to see specifics. The study committee should provide a clear list of the onerous federal regulations imposed on Tennessee schools. The study needs to provide a clear cost-benefit analysis. The benefit of rejecting the money must clearly outweigh the cost of rejecting the money before I could support rejecting it. I look forward to learning more about the onerous mandates.
If the mandates are things to do with what must be taught, I want to know that the mandate really is offensive. If it has to do with the rights of trans students or gay students, I want to know what the mandate is and how often it actually forces a local school board to do something they would not otherwise do. If a mandate requires a school to spend additional dollars to comply, what is the net benefit of receiving the federal dollars?
I approve of the study. I hope it is a quality one. With federal dollars making up on average of 11% of school budgets across the state and with Tennessee being seventh from the bottom in a ranking of states in the amount spent per student for education, I have to sold on rejecting those Federal dollars. Let us see what the study shows.
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