by Rod Williams, Oct 12, 2025 - At the last Council meeting in the face of opposition, CM Jenny Welsch withdrew her resolution denouncing the United States and Israel. I am pleased. It is my view that the Council should not engage in debate about national and international issues on the Council floor. The local governing body should restrict itself to local governance. These resolutions take valuable time away from the business of local government and are divisive for no apparent reason. A memorial resolution is just a statement of the opinion of the Metro Council. It accomplished nothing and I doubt anyone anywhere else really cares what the Metro Council thinks.
The above video is of the full Council meeting of Oct. 9, 2025. To see the public comments period where the resolutions "denouncing all acts of the United States Government and the State of Israel that contribute to a continuation of the genocide of the Palestinian people" is discussed, go to time stamp 11:27. Notice that the first speaker is wearing a Party for Socialism and Liberation t-shirt. I am not sure that helps his cause. The second speaker is a Nashville member of the Jewish community who reports on how Council Member Jenny Welsch cavalierly brushed off her concern about the threat to Jews in Nashville.
To see CM Welsh's motion to withdraw, where she unsuccessfully tries to make a speech on the merits of her resolution, go to time stamp 1:58:52. It is not stated in the meeting, but the rules committee voted for an indefinite deferral of the resolution. To read the text of the resolution, follow this link.
Below is the reporting on this resolution from The Pamphleteer.
The Metro Council wasted time on resolutions at last night's meeting
From Megan Podsiedlik. The Pamphleteer, Oct. 10, 2025 - The meeting kicked off with a colorful public comment period during which the majority of speakers mentioned Councilmember Ginny Welsch’s resolution denouncing “all acts of the U.S. Government and the State of Israel that contribute to a continuation of the genocide of the Palestinian people.” When it finally came to the floor for discussion among council members, Welsch decided to withdraw the legislation with a brief explanation.
“I withdraw this resolution today and hope that the cease fire reached today will bring an end to the horrors of the war in Gaza,” Welsch stated, before hopping onto her soapbox—a move her colleagues didn’t appreciate. The sponsor was eventually cut short while explaining how evil manifests and flourishes in the world.
“The rules call for an explanation of the withdrawal,” Councilmember Tom Cash pointed out. “And I really feel like this is going beyond that.” Both he and Councilmember Jason Spain cited the council rule regarding withdrawal. As a result, Vice Mayor Angie Henderson asked Welsch to “wrap it up,” preventing her from taking further advantage of the fact that she would be the only one allowed to speak on the resolution topic.
Where Welsch’s resolution caused divisiveness with its explicit language asking the council to condemn specific geopolitical topics, a resolution more inclusively condemning political violence of all kinds passed with a wide range of bipartisan sponsors. During discussion, it suddenly dawned on Councilmember Zulfat Suara that all these types of resolutions may be more performative than useful.
“This is a good resolution, but unfortunately, it's just words,” said Suara. “What I have seen oftentimes is that we say things to make ourselves feel better, but we don't follow it with action. Political violence is bad—should never happen, but there are factors that lead to it that even some of us may not know that we're contributing to.”
Suara proceeded to use the rest of her time encouraging council members to listen to Palestinian advocates and not just “stand up for one group.” She also said that the body could pass more than just “fluff” and “be more than just words” by… using their words to condemn things more consistently. Seems she lost her own thread.
Top Stories
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment