 |
| Ginny Welsch |
We are dismayed that Council Member Welsch – having been presented with data and first-person testimony from hundreds of community members about their hopes and concerns for District 16 as it grows – has resorted to insults and veiled accusations of racism.
On City Cast Nashville, Council Member Welsch discussed with host Marie Cecile Anderson her proposal to rezone 620 acres of the 16th District. During this discussion, Ms. Welsch cited zoning as a historical tool for discrimination and implied that those who oppose her current rezoning
efforts may be motivated by a desire to exclude others. She said:
Right now, we kind of use zoning as a tool of exclusion. There's a very vocal segment
of this city that wants to live in the past. I guess that's the only way that I could say it. They don't want anything to change. They want to pull up the ladder behind them. They hold
on to single-family zoning that, if you know anything about zoning, you know that single-family zoning started from a very racist proposition. It was meant to be exclusionary. It was meant to keep the lower classes and minorities from, you know, living side by side with wealthier, lighter-skinned, whiter people.
It is regrettable that Ms. Welsch has decided to take a historical wrong in Nashville and apply it, in this
context, to assume the worst of her constituents. Members of 16th United have canvassed every corner
of the proposed rezone to bring residents into the process, making extra efforts to reach our Spanish-speaking neighbors. We have posted signs in Spanish next to Metro’s standard zoning signs, with QR
codes to a website that has been regularly updated in Spanish, offered focus groups in Spanish, and
engaged Nashville Noticias directly to help spread the word further. What similar efforts, if any, has
Ms. Welsch made to engage this community?
Furthermore, in our survey of hundreds of residents, 44% of respondents listed “preserving diversity” as a top priority. It is outrageous that volunteers asking basic questions about affordability, infrastructure and the tree canopy, and seeking broad engagement and participation using every tool at their disposal, would be labeled exclusionary and possibly worse, discriminatory, by their own council member.
Ms. Welsch later characterized opponents of her bill as "selfish," "privileged," and "entitled." When asked what people need to hear to get on the same page, she responded:
I think people need to hear that they're being selfish. They really are pulling the ladder up behind them. And they're being very privileged, because I think that people feel like they are holding on to something that they feel very entitled to, while others behind them are simply trying to get a foot on the rung.Residents of the 16th District are not “entitled” or “privileged” – we are a working-class district with
working-class concerns. And contrary to what Ms. Welsch said during her appearance on City Cast
Nashville, there is no evidence of an "old guard" and a "new guard" with competing visions for the
neighborhood; overwhelming majorities of residents, both new and generational, have shared the same
priorities, which were presented to Ms. Welsch and the public at a community meeting on Aug. 21. We
do not understand why Ms. Welsch seems unable or unwilling to truly listen to the community, as the
Metro Planning Commission entreated her in disapproving her proposal on April 24. She has, in public
remarks, repeatedly referred to a “community-driven” plan, now suggesting residents are quietly happy
with her proposal. Data collected by multiple groups working independently states the opposite.
Notably, Ms. Welsch has not hosted a single public forum about this topic since April and has yet
to provide any evidence that her plan has broad or even mild support in any cross-section of our
community. All available information says otherwise.
Council Member Welsch's words on City Cast Nashville were demeaning and dismissive of the many
concerns the community has proactively expressed to her. If she truly has the District's best interests at
heart, as she claimed to on City Cast Nashville, Ms. Welsch will apologize and thoughtfully engage
her constituents. 16th United remains committed to its goal of giving voice to our community through
inclusive and constructive dialogue.
#
Excerpt from the interview, City Cast:
HOST: What do people need to hear to get on the same page about this?
GW: I think that people need to hear that they're being selfish. They really are pulling the
ladder up behind them. And they're being very privileged, because I think that people feel
like they are holding on to something that they feel very entitled to, while others behind
them are simply trying to get a foot on the rung so that they can actually find housing and
really establish roots and start building their life, including some wealth in their life. I feel
like sometimes people treat the districts or even the city actually as if it's an HOA, as if they
get to set up some arbitrary rules that they decide because they've been here longer,
because there's always this idea that because I've been here longer, it means I gets to run
things that it's like, but that's not really how that works. And the other people, the newer
people here, they too have a right to grow the city and impact the city, and that will improve
the city. The fear is always right that you're going to ruin the city, but you know, we're going
to ruin it ourselves if we don't allow this to happen. Because as we all know, change
happens whether we want it to happen or not. So we may as well be intentional about it
and have some say in control. You know, like by doing zoning and putting in UDOs and
things like that so that we can keep things in a certain line in the way that we want them,
while allowing and acknowledging that new blood is going to come in and change is going
to come. We can't be selfish and only think about ourselves and we can't live in the past. (link)
Top Stories
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment