Update: What happend at the May 1 Council Meeting

Here is the video. This was a very short and boring meeting coming in at 24 minutes. There is no point in watching it. About the only thing of interest is the Council's taking a position urging the Governor to veto a bill that would take the State Fair away from Nashville.  

Here are the items of interest (but not much interest).

All of the mayors appointments to boards and commission were approved without dissent in committee and on the floor of the Council. The reappointment of Ms. Remzlya Suleyman to the Human Relations Board was withdrawn. Why? I think when a name is withdrawn we should be given some explanation. Did the Mayor withdraw the name? Did the nominated person decline to serve or is there some other explanation. For those not familiar with the Human Relations Commission, it is a Metro Board whose function is to promote a liberal agenda and political correctness. Read more about it here.

The reappointment of Mr. Brian Winfrey to the Transportation Licensing Commission was deferred one meeting. I would like to know why. I hope this indicates some legislative oversight by the Council, but don't know if that is the case. The TLC is the agency that is charged with enforcing Metro's limo price fixing ordinance and has come under fire from the Chief of Police because their inspectors have been impersonating police officers and harassing the public. To read more about this troubled agency and Metro's price-fixing ordinance, click here.

The Sign Bills: ORDINANCE NO. BL2012-107 an ordinance that requires replacement panels in multi-tenant signs to be consistent with the other signage on the property was substituted to clarify a minor point and then passed without discussion. ORDINANCE NO. BL2012-109 would require applications for the conversion of a nonconforming billboard to a tri-face billboard to be submitted to the board of zoning appeals (BZA) for a determination as to whether the conversion would result in a greater negative impact to adjacent property owners. This was deferred indefinitely. Why? I don't know. No explanation was given. A lot of people are passionate about sign ordinances. What is behind this indefinite deferral?

ORDINANCE NO. BL2012-113 which would amend the Metro zoning code to require private roads and drives within certain multi-family developments to be constructed in accordance with the Metro standards for public streets was deferred indefinitely, again with no explanation. I really think when a bill is deferred we are due an explanation, especially if it is withdrawn or deferred indefinitely.

Councilman Maynard introduced a late resolution (see 20:32) which urges the Governor to veto HB3208, the bill that would create a state agency to govern the State Fair, including its location.  Since this was a late resolution, it could have been stopped by a single vote.  Thankfully, no one objected. The Metro Fair Board had asked the Council to pass this resolution. Councilman Dominy who has been the Council Member who has led the fight to save the fairgrounds speaks in favor of the bill (see 32:51). Dominy explains that this bill passed without any input from Metro or the Fair Board or the Council. The bill passes by voice vote. To learn more about the effort to save the fairgrounds, click here.

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