1ST TUESDAY, May 17th. Special edition. Two speakers: Marsha Blackburn and John Cooper.

From Tim Skow:
1ST TUESDAY Members and friends.

I have been waiting till now for you to exhale after ALL the hoopla from the NFL Draft, Jimmy Buffet and more.

To borrow a phrase from the legendary UT football announcer ... " Its POLITICS time in Nashville ''

ON FRIDAY,  [yes Friday] May 17th, 1ST TUESDAY is bringing you a day unlike any other ever !!

This week Attorney General Bill Barr will testify before Senator Marsha Blackburn and the rest of the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the long awaited and radioactive MULLER REPORT.  

ON FRIDAY, May 17th,  Marsha will be our 1ST SPECIAL SPEAKER of the day [ yes, there will be more ! ]

To meet her schedule, doors for our event at WALLER LAW will open at 10:00AM.  

Marsha will address our group from 10:30 - 11:30 and then we will do lunch as usual at 11:30.

THEN ... our 2ND SPECIAL SPEAKER for the day will be the latest candidate for Mayor, Metro Councilman At-Large, John Cooper!   John entering the race last week has turned the race to be Nashville's next Mayor from ''a foregone conclusion'' into a barn burner of a race!

There are significant differences between current Mayor Briley and Councilman At-Large Cooper. 

The financial future, the direction of Nashville and MUCH MUCH more are at stake. 

Here's your chance to meet Mr. Cooper, ask him your questions and let him know what you care about!

As usual, we will start at NOON sharp. Following the prayer, pledge and introductions Mr. Cooper will lay out his vision and concerns he will prioritize. Expect a VERY spicy Q&A session till 1:00PM !!

Our website will start taking reservations on WEDNESDAY at www.firsttuesdaynashville.com.

Our event is $20 for Members and $25 for GUESTS and will surely be a SELL OUT !!  

[Therefore, secured seating via the website or pre-approval to pay at the door is required for May 17 !! ]  

Mark your calendars, reach out to your friends and plan to join us for this MEGA-DAY 1ST TUESDAY event!

Hope you are one of those who get to join us on May 17th !!

Tim Skow,

Host of 1ST TUESDAY

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hubNashville

hubNashville allows you to report problems in your neighborhood, potholes, code violations or any issues to Metro without knowing which department to contact. You can submit non-emergency issues by calling 311 or online at hub.nashville.gov.

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Mayor Briley's proposed FY2020, $2,331,618,000 Budget

Mayor Briley announced his FY 2020 Budget proposal. You can see the presentation here.

The FY 2020 recommended budget for Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County is $2,331,618,000. This is a 4.55% increase over FY 2019, which ends June 30, 2019.

The FY 2020 budget documents can be found in the Finance section of Metro’s website on Citizens' Guide to the Metro Budget page.

At a quick glance of the budget presentation, I can see that we are facing two major challenges. One is the  MNPS Operating Budget. MNPS has requested a $76.7 million increase from FY 2019. The proposed FY2020 Budget includes a $28.2 million increase. Where can we find the additional $48.5 million in order to fully fund the MNPS' request?

Another challenge is the non-recurring revenue budgeted for GSD Debt Service. The up-front $30 million parking concession payments and the $11.5 million District Energy System are allocated for GSD Debt Service. Councilmembers have not been provided any details of either deal. What will the GSD Debt Service Fund balance be if Council rejects those deals?

You can watch Mayoral Budget Hearings at Metro 3 YouTube Channel and keep up future Metro Council Operating Budget Hearings here. 

 The above was reposted from Councilwomen Mina Johnson's email newsletter.

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Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos praises Tennessee's recently passed school voucher bill

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos praises Tennessee's recently passed school voucher bill

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State legislature bans sex dolls made to look like children, This, and other legislation passed this year.

The State legislature has concluded their 2019 session. A notable success was passing a limited education voucher plan that applies to Davidson and Shelby county. Another success was passing legislation seek federal permission to overhaul TennCare through block grant funding. Notable failures included legalizing medical marijuana, banning most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, and a proposal that would have let adoption agencies reject prospective parents due to religious beliefs.

While the above got the most news a lot of other things got passed. Did you know the legislature banned sex dolls made to look like children?  It did. While I think blow-up sex dolls made to look like children are in poor taste, I am not so sure we should be banning silly novelty items just because they are in poor taste.  I can't get very excited about that legislative achievement. The legislature did pass some really good legislation however. Here is some of the notable legislation that was passed of which I am pleased:

• BAN ON PLASTIC BAG BANS, TAXES: Bans local governments from regulating certain plastic bags, utensils or assessing fees on food and drink sales. 
• GUNS, MENTAL ILLNESS: Outlaws transferring a gun to someone, knowing the person was committed to a mental institution or is receiving treatment, unless the right to have a gun was restored. Bans the use of handheld cellphones while driving. 
• NATURAL HAIR STYLING: Loosens state regulations surrounding African-style hair braiding.
•  ROE V. WADE ABORTION BAN “TRIGGER”: Ensures most abortions would be outlawed should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. 

 News Channel 3 of Memphis has punished a list of bills passed this year and important legislation that was proposed and failed. To see the list follow this link. 

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Radical civil rights activist Al Sharpton gives TSU commencement address.

Al Sharpton

by Rod Williams - Al Sharpton spoke to TSU grad school graduates on Friday.  He was the official commencement speaker but the  graduation ceremony was on Saturday morning. There were 244 graduate students graduating.  The Tennessean has several pictures of the event but does not report the context of Sharpton's comments. The TSU website says he told the students to keep achieving and build on their success.  If Sharpton said anything controversial I would not expect it to be reported by The Tennessean or TSU.

Al Sharpton is a community activist, racial agitator, politician and minister who serves as the host of PoliticsNation on MSNBC.  Sharpton in the past has done and said many controversial things. In 1992 at Kean College, Sharpton called on people to kill policeman.  He did not use the word "kill" but talked of “offing cops” and “crackers.”  "Crackers" is an ethnic slur to describe white people. It is comparable to a white person calling a Black person "nigger."  In that speech he mocked those who said they would kill cops and then didn't follow thorough. Here is an excerpt from the speech.

All the Panther lovers, all the do or die, all the (indecipherable) Negroes in Plainfield. I didn’t see them stand up and do nothing. All the ‘I don’t believe in marching. I don’t believe, I believe in offing the pigs.’ Well they got pigs out here. You ain’t offed one of them.

What I believe in I do. Do what you believe in. Or shut up and admit that you’ve lost your courage and guts to stand up.

‘I ain’t having no march. I believe in fighting.’ Well fight then. Nobody holding you. ‘I’ll off the man.’ Well off him. Plenty of crackers walking right around here tonight. Ain’t nobody come out and knock the gun out of your hand. (link)

Sharpton has also engaged in actions that some would characterize as antisemitic.   In 1991 a car driven by a Jewish man accidentally struck and killed a Black child in a community called Crown Heights. There was a dispute about the cause of the accident and if an ambulance gave preferential treatment to the Jewish man. This resulted in four days of rioting.  Mops marched in the streets and called out slogans of  "kill the Jew," and "get the Jew out.'  A visiting Jewish student from Australia was stabbed to death by a mob. Sharpton inflamed tensions by marched through Crown Heights  in front of the headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, shortly after the riot, with about 400 protesters who chanted "Whose streets? Our streets!" and "No justice, no peace!" Mayor Dinkins's urged Sharpton to not hold the march.  "If the Jews want to get it on," said Shapton, "tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house."

One of Shapton's most disgusting affairs was his involvement in the Tawana Brawley case. Tawana Brawley was a 15-year old Black girl who alleged she was raped, smeared with feces, had racial slurs written on her body and otherwise abused. She alleged six white men were involved and some of them were policemen.  It was later proven she made up the allegation.  Sharpton fanned the flames of racial hatred during this event.  He alleged the prosecutor was a racist and of being one of the perpetrators of the alleged abduction and rape. Later he was convicted of defamation for those unfounded allegation.

In addition to fanning the flames of racial hatred, Sharpton has also been a spokesman for a predatory lender, headed a phony non-profit and avoided paying income tax.  TSU graduating grad students should be insulted that a racist con man like Al Shapton was chosen as their commencement speaker.

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Five more people pick up qualifying petitions in race for mayor, vice mayor or metro council.

by Rod Williams, 5-4-2019 - Since last week, only five more people have picked up qualifying petitions. There are no districts where no one has picked up a petition but there are several where only one person has picked up a petition. John Cooper has picked up his qualifying petition to run for mayor.

Thankfully, in District 16 someone else has picked up a qualifying petition. It is a person by the name of Paul King.  I don't know him, but anyone would be better than the other person who has picked up a petition who is Genny Welsch. She is left-wing activist and a founding member of the low-power left-wing radio station Radio Free Nashville.  Welsch is often seen at left wing protest gatherings advocating the liberal cause of the moment.

In the race for council at large, there are now fifteen candidates running for the five seats. I plan on voting for Steve Glover only. One may vote for up to five candidates but to do so weakens the influence of your vote. You may think of it like this; voting for only one candidate is almost the equivalent of casting five votes for that candidate.

There is still time for one to qualify to run for mayor, vice mayor or Metro Council. One may pick up a qualifying petition up until the deadline for turning in qualifying petitions which is noon May 16th. It only takes the name of 25 voters to qualify. One can get that many names in one evening, if you also purchase a voter registration list so you are only knocking on the doors of registered voters. Almost anyone will sign a qualifying petition if you explain they are simply signing to allow your name to be on the ballot. If you are at all interested in running, get qualified. If you then find that someone else who you could support is running or someone else is too formidable for you to beat is running, you could simply not turn in the petition. Once a qualifying petition is submitted and the petition is approved, then a candidate may withdraw his name up until noon May 23rd. Please, if you know someone who lives in one of those districts with a liberal council member and no challenger or only one candidate and know the person to be liberal, please run yourself or encourage someone to run. At this point, a sensible liberal who is concerned about Metro's debt, which is the highest per capita in the nation, would be an improvement over some of the progressive candidates who are running.

Below is the list of those who have picked up qualifying petitions to run for the office of mayor, vice mayor, at-large and district council seats as of Friday, May 3rd. Circled are the names of those I would vote for if these were the only choices and I knew only what I know today, the elections were today and I could vote in that contest. My selections are preliminary. I may be changing my mind, depending on who else gets in the race or as I learn more about the candidates.

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Privatization of city parking hits roadblock

The plan to privatize Metro's parking has been put on temporary hold after a judge issued a stay.  Metro awarded the contract to one company and ruled another company's bid did not comply with the bid requirements and was not eligible for consideration.  The company whose bid was rejected has gone to court and gotten the stay. For details see the following. 
News Channel 5: Privatization of city parking hits roadblock
The Tennessean: Judge orders Metro to cease talks in private parking deal while procurement issues play out

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Rank Choice Voting faces Election Commisison discussion today. The Charter Revision Commssion voted against it. Status in doubt.

The Election Commission is today discussing Rank Choice Voting.  I am unsure if the Commission is voting on it or simply "discussion" it. Councilman Rosenberg is the sponsor of this proposal. I assume he has met with Election Commission staff and talked to election commissioners and explained the concept. I would assume he will be at today's meeting.  The position of the Election Commission will have an influence on the Metro Council. 

The Charter Revision Commission met on April 12th and vote 3 to 2 against recommendation. For something like this to pass, it has to have the buy-in from a lot of people.  In this particular case, not only does if have to jump a bunch of hurdles to be adopted but then the public must approve it in a public referendum. Government changes very slowly, which can be both bad and good.  It takes forever for government to kill a no longer needed program or adopt cost saving measures.  On the other hand, this cumbersome process and inertia keeps government from jumping on the latest fad or responding to the passions of the moment.  

On Tuesday April 16th the measure received exactly 27 votes on a resolution before the Council. That is the minimum required to be considered as part of a group of amendments the council will vote on to place on the ballot for the August 1 general election. Before it goes to the ballot however, this proposal, called Amendment A, would  have to be approved again, along with the other considered amendments, sand receive another 27 favorable vote minimum. This vote is scheduled for May 7. 

Even it this passes the Council and is approved in referendum by the public, that does not necessarily mean it becomes law. Tennessee Elections Coordinator Mark Goins has said state law doesn’t allow ranked-choice voting. I don't see much point in passing something inconsistent with State law. However, I approve of the concept.  If I was serving in the Council I would vote for this if I believed Goins opinion was in error, however if I was convinced that it did in fact violate state law I would vote against it. I do not think the Council should be putting before the public questions that would adopt policies contrary to law. If it does violate state law, then efforts should be made to change state law before advancing the policy at the local level.

The way rank choice voting would work is like this:  When you go to vote, if voting for mayor for instance, you would select your first choice, then select a second choice if the first choice is not elected, then a third choice. One could rank all of them if one wanted. If no one receives a majority, the candidate with the lowest votes would be eliminated and the second choice of those who voted for the candidate eliminated, would have their second choice votes distributed and added to the tally of the remaining candidates. If this gave a candidate a majority, that would be the winner.  If not, then again the candidate with the lowest vote total would be eliminated and the second choice of those voters would have their second choice votes allocated, until a candidate had a majority.  This would eliminate the need for a runoff election.

To read the resolution that contains Amendment one, follow this link. 

To read the legal analysis of the Council staff attorney, follow this link.

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Idiot Rep. Steve Cohen pulls stupid Chicken eating stunt to mock Bill Barr.

by Rod Williams - If there was any remnant of dignity remaining to the U. S. House of Representatives, Tennessee's Congressman Steve Cohen just stripped it. He brought a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken to a House hearing room and a plastic chicken figurine to illustrate that he thought Attorney General Bill Barr was a chicken for not appearing before the May 2 House Judiciary Committee hearing.

After Barr agreed to appear, then the Committee changed the rules. House Judiciary Chairman  Nadler wanted to have House Judiciary Committee staff, rather than members of Congress question Barr about his handling of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report. Barr took the position that members should conduct the inquiry, not staff.  It was unclear why Democrats did not simply having staffers  provide questions to House members during the hearing. It happens all the time.

During his stunt Cohen handed out pieces of chicken and offered a piece to Congresswoman Val Demings from Florida who is African-American. Cohen apparently is not sufficiently "woke." Apparently it is considered racist to offer fried chicken to a Black person. He is being denounced as a racist for this insensitivity. It couldn't happen to a more deserving person. I don't think Cohen is a racist; I just think he is an idiot.

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Vanderbilt poll: More locals think Nashville is growing too fast and 'no longer on the right track'

Vanderbilt poll: More locals think Nashville is growing too fast and 'no longer on the right track' 

News Channel 5 - ....the percentage of residents who think the city is moving in the wrong direction has grown from 22% to 45% since the poll’s inception in 2015. Additionally, this latest poll says those who think Nashville is moving in the right direction has dropped from 72% in 2015 to 53%.

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GOP Rep. Mark Green to force vote on Cohen perjury probe

GOP Rep. Mark Green to force vote on Cohen perjury probe

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