What happened at the 4-19-16 council meeting: Farmers market funded but gets close scrutiny, $2.1M wage dispute settled.

Council meetings are less boring if you know what the Council is voting on.  To access my analysis of the council agenda and to link to the council agenda and the council staff analysis follow this link.

The video of the council meeting of last night's meeting is not yet available.  As soon as it is, I will post it.

The most important work of the council is done in committee and the most important committee of the Council is Budget and Finance. Discussion takes place at committee meetings and you gain a lot more insight by watching B&F meetings than you do Council meetings. If something passes B & F it is almost certain to pass the Council. Below is the meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee.



The first item of business at the B&F meeting is the discussion of RESOLUTION NO. RS2016-172  which appropriates $3,347,400 split between different departments to provide money to those departments that was not originally in their budget.  Part of this is understandable.  Departments do not know all of their revenue or expenses when projecting for the coming year.  As an example, Courts do not know how many trials there will be so they can only give a good guess at how much jury pay expense they will incur.  They do not, not have a trial because they have exceeded their budget. One can understand that. Some of these request however show poor management or perhaps indicate major changes need to be made in how a service is delivered or even if it is needed. I am not exactly sure what the consequence is if the Council fails to approve these supplemental appropriations.  The money has already been spend so there is no getting it back. What this bill really does is move money from reserve funds to the ledger of the department in order to close out the books for the year for the various departments. The council is under considerable pressure to do that and not doing it does not save any money.

The most controversial supplemental request is  $837,900 for Farmers Market.  This bill was on the agenda last council meeting also and at that time there were a lot of hard questions asked of Farmers Market and B&F recommended a deferral of one meeting, so at the last council meeting it was deferred "by rule."  At this meeting of B&F there is also good questioning and lame explanations.  A couple of the Black council members allege there has been a effort to drive off Black vendors from the market. The Farmers Market head takes strong offense to that suggestion and gives an emotional response. Council Glover ask the FM to look into the process for early termination of the lease. Good suggestion! If Farmers Market cannot break even, then maybe Farmers Market needs to be closed and moved to a different location. In my view, a farmers market at the Fairgrounds would be a good location. There is plenty of available parking and the overhead could be lower. 

As part of RESOLUTION NO. RS2016-172  there is a request for an additional  $422,200 to fund Municipal Auditorium.  Municipal Auditorium seems like another operation that should be able to fund itself buy can't. Advocates of Municipal Auditorium would argue that, that venue is needed because it fits a niche between larger facilities and smaller facilities.  I am not buying it.  We have numerous venues in town now. If Municipal Auditorium cannot cover its operating cost, I think we should close it and sell the property. It sits on some of the most valuable property downtown. Members of B&F question and Municipal defends the request.

The resolution passes on a voice vote of the Committee so I assume it passes at the Council meeting. 

RESOLUTION NO. RS2016-205  is the settlement of a wage dispute.  It passes B&F and Council. Below is The Tennessean explanation. 

Metro Council approves $2.1M settlement in wage dispute

The Tennessean- The Metro Council has approved a $2.1 million settlement, the largest in recent council history, to end a four-year legal dispute about how corrections officers are paid.

Only Councilman Russ Pulley voted against approval, ... ...Pulley's concerns prompted brief discussion of delaying the vote one week, but that failed by an 18-19 vote and the council then approved the settlement.

This is a draft of a work in progress. Check back.  

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Update. What's on the Council Agenda for 4/5/16: Gun shows at the Fairground, more $ for Farmers Market, honoring Janis Sontany.

The Metro Council meets tomorrow night April 5th at 6:30PM.  Council meetings are televised live on Comcast Channel 3 if one has nothing better to do.  I normally do not watch it live.  The next day one can catch it on the Metro YouTube channel and I repost it  here. The reason I don't watch it live is because I usually do have something better to do. Also, watching it on YouTube I can watch it in double speed and not miss much context and can skip some what I know will be really, really boring stuff such as zoning public hearings in which people are going to say the same thing they always say over and over again.

Without a copy of the agenda, you don't know what the Council is voting on and the Council meeting is as about as boring as watching paint dry.  With a copy of the agenda and analysis it is less boring; still boring, but less boring.  With a copy of the analysis and agenda the Council meetings are more interesting than watching water boil. I watch the Council meetings so you don't have to. Here is a link to the agenda and the staff analysis.

I am only listing those items that I think are significant or are important to me.  I may miss something, so if you really care, you may want to read the agenda for yourself.  There are a lot of zoning bills on public hearing on this agenda and for the most part, those bore me, and I don't even attempt to gain an understanding of the pros and cons of every zoning bill.  I do not generally watch meetings of the Planning Commission either, so I am not the most informed person in Metro regarding zoning issues. Most zoning bills impact only nearby residence so while a particular zoning issue may be very important to a few people, I am only going to point out those that I know to have created a lot of controversy or have an impact beyond one neighborhood.

There are eleven appointments to Boards and Commissions on the agenda for Council confirmation.  Some of these positions are coveted and powerful.  If you are a real political nerd, you may want to see who is getting appointments in the new administration. The council routinely rubber stamps whomever the mayor appoints.

Resolutions and Bills on Public Hearing:
BILL NO. BL2016-155 would provide a means for an applicant for a rezoning, which now requires a Traffic Impact Study, to get a waiver from that requirement.  It would eliminate the requirement for a Traffic Impact Study for any property within the inner loop.  This seems like a reasonable bill to reduce the burden on developers and still provide safeguards for the public.

Resolutions:

RESOLUTION NO. RS2015-76 is the resolution by Councilman Glover requesting the Metropolitan Board of Fair Commissioners to reinstate and continue to allow gun shows at the fairgrounds.  At the last meeting, at the request of the sponsor, it was deferred to this meeting. To support this resolution and Bill No. BL2016-161 which also deals with the issue, the Friends of the Fairground had put out a "call to action" last meeting asking fairground supporters to attend the meeting wearing their red tee shirts. The chamber was not packed with fairground supporters. I have seen no "call to action" for this meeting.
RESOLUTION NO. RS2016-172  appropriates $3,347,400 split between different departments to provide money to those departments that was not originally in their budget. This happens every year and some of this is understandable. When drawing up a budget the State Trail Courts, as an example, will not know how many trials they will have so they will not know how much to budget for jury pay so all they can do is estimate. At the end of the year, their expenditure and income must balance, so if they come up short this is where they get the money to make the accounts balance. On the other hand, some of this is just unjustified subsidy to a department. I like Farmers Market, but it has never been able to break even. When I say "break even," that does not include capital cost; they cannot cover their operating cost.  This resolution contains an additional $837,900 for Farmers Market. Maybe it is time to privatize Farmers Market or turn it over to the Parks Department or change their mission or change management.  Farmers Market is a money pit. I am not opposed to a modest subsidy, but they should not have an open unlimited line of credit.  I do not know the full financial picture of Farmers Market, but it seems they are always needing more money.  I hope someone on Budget and Finance is making them answer hard questions.
RESOLUTION NO. RS2016-189   would authorize the Department of Law to settle a lawsuit against the city in the amount of $45,000.00. The only reason I mention this is that in committee, if not on the Council floor, there is always discussions about settlements. Council members want to know what happened, and if an employee was at fault if the employee was punished. I really don't find these settlements of much interest. The only issue should be, is it in the city's best interest to litigate or settle. I don't think that I have ever thought we should litigate when Legal recommended settling out of court. I defer to the judgement of the legal department in these cases.

RESOLUTION NO. RS2016-192  would urge the State legislature to pass a bill naming the stables "within the horse barn on the campus of the Ellington Agricultural Center the “Janis Sontany Stables.” I don't guess I have too much of a problem with this but Janis Sontany once said something really nasty about Republican women, something to the effect that you had to look under their skirts to determine if they were women.  Maybe we should name the waste water retention pond near the horse barn on the campus of the Ellington Agricultural Center the “Janis Sontany horse waste water retention pond."  Actually, I don't think we ought to name thing after people who are still living except in rare circumstances.

There are a bunch of bills on First Reading, but I don't read them until they get to second reading. First Reading is a formality to get them on the agenda.

There is only one bill on Second reading. BILL NO. BL2016-176  would  authorize the Metro Clerk’s office to assist the Charter Revision Commission with administrative functions, removing the provision authorizing the Commission to employ such personnel . The Clerk would also be required to serve as the custodian of the minutes and records of the Commission. This seems like a good change.

Bills on Third Reading:

BILL NO. BL2016-141  would amend a previously approved Planned Unit Development (PUD) by reducing the number of units from  60 units to 30.  To take away from one what they could previously do with their property is "taking" their property. Expect when the owner is compensated and the taking is for a public purpose, I oppose these actions. This bill is disapproved by the Planing Commission, so will require 28 votes to pass. Supporters of private property rights should vote against this bill. An abstention will have the same effect as a "no" vote.
BILL NO. BL2016-157  would make modest positive improvements to the Tax Increment Finance program. To learn more about this issue see this link.
BILL NO. BL2016-160 on second reading amends the distance requirements for a beer license. This is a reasonable bill. It says if a four lane road separates the establishment for which the permit is being sought and the entity which triggers a distance requirement, the distance requirement does not apply.

INDEFINITELY DEFERRED ITEM : RULE 24
BILL NO. BL2016-161   mandates that the Fair Board keep dates available in their calendar to allow the gun shows to rent the facility at the fairground until such time as a court of law or the Tennessee Attorney General determines the Fair Board’s compliance with the Metropolitan Charter, state and/or federal legislation in regard to its actions banning gun shows.  There was a vote in committee to deffer this indefinitely so  "by rule" the bill was deferred last meeting. The sponsor can bring it back up but he is required to request in writing to the clerk that the bill be back on the agenda, then the bill is put on the agenda for a determination if it can be heard. If the bill gets a majority of those voting, then it would be on the next agenda following that meeting. This is the vote to determine if the Council will allow it to be on the agenda for consideration at the next meeting. This is not a vote on the merits of the bill, only if the Council will hear the bill.

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Council meeting of 4-1-2014 update: The $719,000 more thrown at Farmers Market meeting.

This is a relatively short meeting at just over an hour long. Council meetings can be really boring it you don't know what the Council is voting on. When you do, they are still boring, but not quite as boring. To get your own copy of the Council agenda click here; to get your copy of the agenda analysis you can download it here.

There are several zoning bills on pubic hearing that generate citizen participation but they would interest no one except those in the vicinity of the subject properties so I am not reviewing them. I skimmed this part of the meeting quickly so I could have missed something of interest.

BILL NO. BL2014-715 by Council Member Blalock on public hearing would require the zoning application fees and public hearing notice costs be borne by the city for amendments to the official zoning map initiated by a member or members of the Metropolitan Council. The Director of Finance has said this would cost over $93,000 a year and did not approved it for availability of funds. The administration can find $9 million for budget overruns but rejects this bill as too costly. No one speaks in opposition to the bill. Former Councilman  John Summers speaks in favor. I think this is a reasonable bill.

As Summers explains, at one time there was no single family zoning in Nashville. Duplexes were permitted in any residential zoned area. If a neighborhood wants to change the zoning of their neighborhood from current zoning to single family or make other changes, the fees could cost thousands of dollars. This bill passes on second reading.  I hope the Council stands up to the administration and approves this good bill. However, I would be pleased if the Council cut $92,000 of wasteful spending elsewhere, such as farmers market, to make up for the projected cost. (see 37:11 - 42:07)

Resolutions that made it to the consent agenda pass without any being pulled. 

RESOLUTION NO. RS2014-1031 appropriates over $9 million to various agencies mostly from the 4% fund to fund departments that exceeded their budget. The largest is $5.2 million to the hospital authority to fund the transition payments to employees of the nursing homes metro is privatizing. Some of this money will be offset from payments to the city from the companies taking over the two metro facilities.

$714,900 is going to Farmers market. Farmers market continues to be an expensive drain on the city and cannot break even. They got a subsidy of $214,600 in this year’s budget and now need an additional $714,900. To learn why the Farmers market is such a wasteful enterprise read this post from citizen activist Ken Jakes: Why the Farmers Market is a failure and should not be bailed out.

I an disappointing that not a single council member would take the Farmers Market to task for their failure to operate efficiently and let it be known that they must figure out how to be self-sufficient or at least operate on a much smaller subsidy.  I do not expect much from most of our council members but there are about a half dozen "conservative" council members who ought to be ashamed for not taking the opportunity to advocate for efficient and oppose waste. The resolution passes unanimously.  I still wonder what is the difference between a liberal council member and a conservative council member.

BILL NO. BL2014-696 by Councilman Claiborne on Second reading amends the Metro code to require the Director of Finance to submit an annual debt report to the Metropolitan Council. This is a good bill. I don't know why no one thought of this before. The council needs to know the debt of the city and future obligations as they consider the annual budget. This bill passes unanimously.

Here is the Nashville Scene's report:

Three Things to Know From Last Night's Metro Council Meeting 

 

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Why the Farmers Market is a failure and should not be bailed out.

by Ken Jakes

Ken Jakes

Why has the Nashville Farmers Market been a drain on the tax payers for years? There are several reasons the Nashville Farmers Market has failed. To solve the problem they have to recognize that there is a problem.

The Old Farmers Market was always self sufficient. As a matter of fact it went well beyond being self sufficient to actually collecting a surplus of funds for Davidson County each year.  Now they are seeking $ 714,900.00 in the budget from the Council. I own Jakes Produce Company and certainly have an interest in the Farmers Market and it becoming what a farmers market should be, however I would request each Council member to vote not to provide this tax payer monies to be thrown in the wind. I promise you next year they will be seeking more.

Lets look at some of the things that have changed.

Jakes Produce and Ernest Williams Produce were the largest wholesalers on the old market securing about a total of 42 stalls or sheds year round. I can think of about 20 more sheds that were rented year round to others for wholesale sales. This was income for the city to pay overhead year round. When the new market was built all were told that it would not be a welcoming place for wholesale business. The new market would not allow for commercial trucks to deliver or pick up. Also the fee structure increase from the old market to the new market drove all wholesalers away. The ideal market is set up with wholesalers on one portion of the market and retail vendors located on another part of the market.

Only a market driven with wholesale vendors like the old can survive. Just think about it for a moment. The intent of the Davidson County Farmers Market was to create a place for the farmers to sell their goods. Many of the farmers needing to get back to their farms would deliver their goods to the wholesalers and return to harvest for the next day deliveries. Because of the way the new market was setup without wholesalers, many of the local farmers started taking their goods to other markets within driving range such as Knoxville, Chattanooga, Birmingham, and others. 

Another change that hurts the Farmers Market was that in the old farmers market retail vendors from the region would travel to Davidson County to purchase from the local farmers and then would load the rest of the truck's volume from the wholesalers with items not locally grown, such as bananas, grapes, lettuce and many many more items. If the retail vendors coming to Nashville to load could leave with a fully loaded truck, it was economical to drive the distance. However, to come for a few sweet potatoes and what other local vegetables were being offered by local growers and leaving only partially loaded, because all the wholesalers were gone, no longer made economical sense. The retail vendors were hurt because it took away the incentive to come, and the farmers were hurt because it took away their much needed sales both to the wholesalers on the market and the retail vendors who supported the market.

Lets talk about how they have failed for the retail vendors and the public. For those who remember the old  farmers market you could actually drive your vehicle into the market, pull up to the shed or grower you were trading with, purchase your items, load them in your vehicle and drive away. A farmers market although it has sales by the pound such as tomatoes and other vegetables, it is for most part people seeking bushel and volume sales to can and freeze. The new market is by design set up for only retail sales by the pound. 

How many people do you know who would buy a bushel of beans, a bushel of corn, a bushel of apples, three watermelons and five cantaloupes and then take them to their vehicle parked in the outside parking lot of the Farmers Market ? Do you see the picture ? A farmers market should be a farmers market.

There are retail vendors that have cut their teeth, so to say, on the Farmers Market. They were on the market in the old days before my time and are there today. However their future looks grim and I see them as all being gone in a short while because of the ridiculous decisions the Farmers Market Board has made on the shed rental for these vendors. The Board keeps increasing their rental fees for the board's and staff's mismanagement of the market. They are pricing them out of the market. 

Economics applies to everything and the vendors are getting to the point that they can not endure any longer.

The Board is appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Council. There are many professions on the Board, however what qualifies a person to sit on the Board other than having a prestigious position? The Board would do much better having professions on the board such as farmers, retail vendors, wholesalers, and transportation people. If the board had a different make up you would certainly see different decisions being made.

It has come to the time for the Farmers Market to stand on its on feet. No more subsidy from the Council, the tax payer just can't endure the wasted funding to a department that is surely set up for defeat.

Ken Jakes is a citizen activist exposing waste and corruption in Metro Government and is a former, and probably a future, candidate for a seat on the Metro Council. 

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Mayor Dean responds to Ken Jakes civil service complaint against Nancy Whittemore of the Farmers Market.

Mayor Karl Dean has responded to Ken Jakes' civil service complaint against the acting director of Farmers Market, Nancy Whittemore.  The complaint asked the Mayor, as supervisor of  Ms Whittemore, to dicipline her for voioating civl servie rules and Jakes listed each rule violated.

The rules violated related to the selling and allowing to be sold alcoholic beverages at Farmers Market in violation of the established policy. 

Below is the response of Mayor Dean: "Upon review of this matter, the Mayor has determined that no disciplinary action is warranted."

For more on this issue, follow this link and this link. 

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Ken Jakes files civil service complaint against Whittemore of Farmers Market for willfully violating rules

Ken Jakes, a citizen activist who has observed the disregard for established rules at Nashville's farmers market, has filed a civil service complaint against the acting director. So far he has been ignored. This, unfortunately, is representative of how government often views the public with contempt and chooses which rules will be obeyed and which will be ignored.

Rule of law is an important principle and a feature of democratic societies. It will be interesting to observe if Mayor Karl Dean, our former Law Director, believes in the rule of law or thinks he gets to select which rules are enforced. 

Quite frankly, I approve of the sale of wine at the farmers market. I love my adult beverages, especially wine. However, this issue is not about whether or not one wants wine sold at farmers market but whether or not we will follow established rules. If the Farmers Market administration wants to allow wine sales and wants to sell wine at the farmers market, they should change the rules.

Below are Ken Jakes' emails calling for disciplinary actions against Nancy Whittemore, the acting director of the farmers market:

From: "Ken Jakes"
To: mayor@nashville.gov, Councilmembers@nashville.gov, "Nancy Whittemore" , 
Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2013 1:30:21 PM

Subject: Re: SUPERVISOR / : Disciplinary Actions for Nancy Whittemore.

Mr. William H. Farmer, Chairman of the Civil Service Commission,

I am forwarding this civil service complaint to you to file on my behalf as a citizen and taxpayer of Davidson County against Ms. Nancy Whittemore. Please review the forwarded complaint. If there is a complaint form for me to fill out please contact me and I will act immediately to file with you.

Thank you,

Ken Jakes

From: "Ken Jakes"
To: mayor@nashville.gov, Councilmembers@nashville.gov, "Nancy whittemore" ,  (and numerous others)
Subject: SUPERVISOR / : Disciplinary Actions for Nancy Whittemor.

Mayor Karl Dean,

I sent this complaint to you to file a citizens complaint for violation of Civil Service Rules and have listed each rule violated. To date I have not heard a response. It was my understanding that you, as Mayor, are the supervisor of the directors of your administration and it is my understanding that all civil service complaints are to be filed with the supervisor. If I am incorrect please notify me as to whom to file this complaint and I will forward it to them.

Thank you,

Ken Jakes.

From: "Ken Jakes"
To: mayor@nashville.gov, "C" , "Nancy whittemore" , (and numerous others)

Sent: Saturday, April 13, 2013 3:12:38 PM
Subject: Disciplinary Actions for Nancy Whittemor.

Mayor Karl Dean, 

 

I am filing with you, as a taxpaying citizen of Nashville-Davidson County, a complaint against employee Nancy Whittemore. She is your administration's Acting Director of the Nashville Farmers Market. By the Rules and Regulations of the Board of the Nashville Farmers Market it is the responsibility and duty of the Director of the NFM to see that the rules and regulation of the Board are obeyed and enforced. 

 

I have documented to Nancy Whittemore on numerous occasions that the NFM was in violation on Rule G (2) "No Alcoholic beverages or any controlled substance in any form shall be consumed, kept, bought, or sold in any kind of containers at any stall, or location on the Farmers Market Premises."

 

 Furthermore I have documented through your administration's police department, by complaint case number 13-345544, that Nancy Whittemore, having been made fully aware of the Board Rule  G (2), willfully and intentionally permits alcohol to be sold on the market premises and is thus continuing to violate the NFM Board's rule.

 

I file this complaint under the Metro Civil Service Rule 6.7 numbers 1, 2, 5, 10, 11 and 12.  It is my opinion that you. as the leader in charge of our city, hold the responsibility to enforce disciplinary action.. Should you need me to sign a complaint form, please let me know. Below are the civil service rules cited:

SECTION 6.7 - GROUNDS FOR DISCIPLINARY ACTION

The following constitute grounds for disciplinary action:

1. Neglect or failure to perform official duty.

2. Deficient or inefficient performance of duties.

5. Neglect or disobedience to the lawful and reasonable orders given by a supervisor.

10. Violation of any provision of the Metropolitan Charter or any written Executive or Administrative Orders.

11. Violation of any written rules, policies or procedures of the department in which the employee is employed.

12. Violation of any of the rules or regulations of the Metropolitan Civil Service Commission.

If you need me to sign affidavit and have it notarized please let me know.

Ken Jakes. 

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Ken Jakes says, "tell the truth." Farmers maket is not self supporting.

From: Ken Jake
To: Ms. Yockey
CC: Nancy Wittemore, Members of Council, and others
RE: Information on website not accurate

Ms. Yockey, It is my understanding that you maintain the web site of the Nashville Farmers Market. If that is incorrect please inform me who the staff is that maintains the web site. I am copying and pasting from the web site below:

How is the market supported? NFM is supported by merchant fees, venue rental fees & grants. The Market operates on a small budget that must support a large array of operating expenses that includes facility care & maintenance, insurance, permits, licenses, signage, utilities, disposal, site improvements, marketing, a 6-person staff and more. We meet these needs largely through merchant rental fees. 

I believe this  to be totally false. Your are omitting that NFM is supported heavily by the taxpayers. It has been on the back of the taxpayers for years. The web site indicates it is self supporting, which is in my opinion totally false. Please update to correct it or leave it as a lie; but the truth is the truth.

Thank you,
Ken Jakes

I agree.  Rod

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Picking and Choosing which rules apply at Farmers Market

by Ken Jakes

I attended a special called meeting of the Nashville Farmers Market for vendors and merchants last Thursday April 11th. When it came to the point in the agenda for comments from merchants, one of the merchants was very upset and told Nancy Wittemore, the Acting Director of the Market, that the Market was unfair in their enforcement of the rules and regulations of the market.

After the merchants comments, I spoke and I told the director and staff that I could relate to what was just told them by the previous speaker. At times, there is no enforcement of the rules and yet at other times there is strict enforcement, I said. I reminded the Director that I had just emailed her the night before about how the market was violating Section G(2) of the Rules and Regulation which prohibits the sell of alcoholic beverages at the market. Below is the section of the Rules and Regulation that address this issue:

Rules and Regulations Governing the operation of Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County Farmers Market,  Approved by Farmers Market Commission as amended on February 23, 2012.

Section G (2) Prohibited Items or Acts. No Alcoholic beverages or any controlled substance in any form shall be consumed, kept, bought, or sold in any kind of containers at any stall, or location on the Farmers Market Premises.

I have been informed that this rule is fully understood by the Farmers Market Board and Director, since the Rules of Operation were amended and approved by the Board and filed with the Metro Clerk. The Board fully intended for that rule to be policy and for their rules to be obeyed.  It is furthermore understood that the choice of language of the board was that Alcoholic beverages are "PROHIBITED."  It is to mean just that.

It is also understood in the Rules under section "(1) AUTHORITY," the Board is to administer practices with fairness. On a recent visit to the farmers market with my wife, we noticed wine being sold.  People were setting around everywhere at tables drinking wine by the glass. Furthermore, I have obtained numerous public records documenting that wine is being sold by the farmers market on the nights of the Night Time Market.

I don't care about the wine; heck, I wouldn't mind having a good glass myself. It is about picking and choosing when the Rules and Regulations apply.

I have sent numerous emails informing Mayor Karl Dean, Metro Legal, all Board Members of the Farmers Market, and the Acting Director Nancy Whittemore of the specific rule they are violating and that they willfully and intentionally continue to violate.  I went to the Farmers Market today and saw that vendors  were not only selling wine but beer as well. I called the Metro Police Department and Officer C.Connelly responded. I showed the regulations to him and he said it was not a criminal matter but a civil matter. I told him that already knew that. He told me he couldn't do anything about it. I informed him he could do just what I called him to do and that was to accept from me a citizen's complaint.

The complaint is what I wanted. I wanted it documented by the Police Department that the Farmers Market was still selling wine and beer even after they have been informed many times of the violation of the Farmers Market Board Rules and Regulations. I told him not to worry about what he will do, I told him to document for me and I will proceed to file the complaint. He filed a case complaint number 13-345544.

Now, I have it documented by the police that Farmers Market continues to violate this rule. The Farmers Market regulations and their actions of ignoring this rule are as clear as it gets. Farmers Market Board Member Joycelyn Stephenson is an attorney. She has been well informed, and it is HER rule as a Board member as well as all the other Board members that they are violating.

It is my opinion that this may be an issue to take up with the State of Tennessee Supreme Court Board of Professional Responsibility for ethical violations. If the Nashville Farmers Market wants to sell wine and beer, then have them change their rules and regulations to permit it, but don't pass regulations prohibiting wine and beer and then allow it to go on blatantly in front of everyone.

One would think that with Mayor Karl Dean being the former Director of Metro Legal that he would want all his appointments to boards and commissions to obey, and enforce equally and fairly all of their rules and regulations. Rules of Operation are supposed to apply to all.

I have filed a complaint and requesting as a taxpayer of Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County, that the Market stop the violation of alcohol being sold immediately.  If the Market wants to sell alcohol, then the Board should give proper public notice, hear from the public, discuss the matter, and approve changes to the Rules of Operation, and file those changes with the Metro Clerk.

Picking and choosing which rules to enforce is, unfortunately, business as usual for the Farmers Market. This is another management issue for the City needs to look at and resolve for the people.

Ken Jakes is a frequent critic of Metro Government and a citizen activist discovering and exposing government corruption and waste.

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Farmers Market Commission meeting agenda

The new October 25, 2012 Farmers Market Commission meeting agenda is now available. You can find the agenda at the link:
Farmers Market Commission Agenda

The Farmers Market Commission is one of the Metro agencies in need of a citizen watchdog. This agency has been plagued by mismanagement and waste.  I wish a citizen who can understand financial spread sheets and budgets would regularly attend the farmers market meetings. 

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Someone needs to watch the Farmers Market Commission

The new September 27, 2012 Farmers Market Commission meeting agenda is now available. You can find the agenda at the link:
Farmers Market Commission Agenda

There are several agencies that need to be watched like a hawk.  The Farmers Market is one of them.  This department has been terribly mismanaged, lost lots of money, and yet got a budget increase last Metro Budget.

If you are a citizen of Nashville concerned about waste and corruption, please consider adopting an agency to watch. With a shrinking daily newspaper and fewer reporters to keep and eye on government, there is a greater need for citizen watch dogs than ever before.

While citizens need to keep tabs on all of government, these are the agencies that I think need very close scrutiny:

• Farmers Market
• Transportation Licensing Commission
• Fair Board
• Human Relations Commission. 

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A citizen watchdog needs to attend the meetings of the Farmers Market.

The new August 23, 2012 Farmers Market Commission meeting agenda is now available. You can find the agenda at the link:
Farmers Market Commission Agenda

A citizen watchdog needs to attend the meetings of the Farmers Market. They have been mismanaged and scandal-ridden for years and got a big increase in funding from the Council this year. We need a taxpayer advocate keeping tabs on this agency.

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Budget Hearing: Troubled Farmers Market ask for $400K increase.

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Summary: Jeff Themm, Director of Farmers Market makes the presentation. One of our major goals has always been to be financially independent, says Themm, but we have not done as well as we had hoped. He tells what they have accomplished, what services the market provides, and what they are planning to do in the future. The market is contemplating charging for parking.

The mayor gushes with praise for farmers market. The Mayor says he likes the night market and thinks it has great potential and encourages its expansion. The farmers market is asking for a $400,000 increase in subsidy. (The 2011-2012 subsidy for the Farmers Market is $536,000.) Rich Reibling, Finance Director, ask what plan there is to grow revenue to reduce the subsidy and Themm does not have  a clear and convincing answer. Ms. Tana Comer, the Chair of the Farmers Board says they are in the process of doing a strategic plan and they are waiting for the financial review to come out so they will know what they are dealing with.  Mr. Themm says one to the things in the budget request is $25K for an outside study advised them of what they should do. 

The date of this budget hearing was March 26. On Friday April 12 Mr. Themm announced his retirement. He said he has been thinking about retirement for six months. Everyone has known the farmers market has had serious problems for some time. On April 4th the audit of the farmers market was released.The review listed numerous problems and reported that some tenants were overcharged more than $5,000, while others were undercharged more than $10,000. To address the problems, a complete rewriting of the governing rules and regulations governing Farmers Market was recommended. To view the audit follow this link.

I like Farmers Market and think it adds to the quality of life for our city, but if I were in the Council I would be hard pressed to support almost doubling the subsidy of the farmers market. Maybe new management will correct the problems but I would not support increasing the subsidy. There must be a limit. We should be moving toward making the market self sufficient not moving toward greater subsidy.

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