The Disgruntled Republican in Nashville: Report on the 11/20/12 Metro Council Meeting

Friday, November 23, 2012

Report on the 11/20/12 Metro Council Meeting

Congratulation to Duane Dominy on his victory and leadership

This meeting is just slightly over an hour long.

The Council is usually opened by a prayer by a local minister who is the guest of one of the Council members. This opening invocation is offered by Michael Hunter Ochs who is the guest of Sherri Weiner and it is not really a prayer but a promo for a concert and the performance of a song co-written by a Jew, a Muslim and a Christian, the Christian being Michael Hunter Ochs. The singer makes a plea for tolerance and the better treatment of Muslims in the Nashville area. The performance is a little long for an opening prayer running 4 1/2 minutes.

Other awards and recognitions take up the first fifteen minutes of the council meeting, including an award to Jane Alvis, Chair of the Metro Arts Commission. This award is used as an opportunity to praise Ms Alvis and government subsidy of public art.

There are no bills on public hearings.

There are thirteen resolutions on the consent agenda. Resolutions are on the consent agenda if no one votes against them in committee. However, any council member may ask a bill be pulled off of the consent agenda. None of the bill on the consent agenda are controversial and in my view are appropriately on the consent agenda.

Two resolutions concerning the HCA deal (488 and 489) had received all positive votes from the Budget and Finance Committee but they are deferred one meeting in order to track the bill on the same topic.

All bills on first reading pass without discussion. This is usually the norm. Bills are not sent to committee until after first reading. First reading is no more than a vote to allow a bill to be considered.

Last council meeting, Council member Moore invoked a council rule that kept Duane Dominy's Bill BL2012-293 from passing so it was back on first reading this time. This bill would require the city to consider Request for Proposals from private developers to operate the fairgrounds. The establishment does not want this bill to see the light of day. I was afraid there would be further attempts to sidetrack this bill, this meeting. All who want to keep the fairgrounds should carefully follow this issue and rally around Duane Dominy. The deck is being stacked to destroy the fairgrounds. For more on this bill follow this link.

Bills on Second reading:

What I thought would be a routine bill (ORDINANCE NO. BL2012-295) establishing rules for handling the eggs and keeping chickens on school property causes several members take to the floor to speak. Charlie Tygard is riled. He says he has been called a "law breaker," apparently referring to the previous comment made by Bo Mitchell. He praises and defends Bellevue Middle School's gardening program and feels that program has been unfairly attacked. Apparently there is more going on than meets the eye regarding this issue. (see 23:18- 29:50)

Councilman Duane Dominy takes to the floor to explain his bill that would require the Council to approve the city's annual contract with the Chamber for the Partnership 2020 program (BILL NO. BL2012-241) which was deferred indefinitely, and BILL NO. BL2012-294 which would require all sole-source contracts over $250,000 be approved by the council.

Bill 294 had failed the B&F committee by a vote of 3 for, 4 against, and 5 abstaining. This bill simply brings a minimum level of accountability and oversight to the purchasing process. I do not understand the opposition except that the Chamber has an enormous amount of influence over some council members. Over the last three years, there have only been eight such contracts. In a move that surprised me, Bo Mitchell sides with Dominy on this issue. Megan Barry speaks against it. It passes by a vote of 23 "ayes," and 14 "nos!" (For the discussion see 34:02- 42:24).

Given that the bill was defeated in the B&F committee, I did not expect this bill to pass. This was a good bill and deserved to pass. Congratulations Duane Dominy! He must have been doing a lot of lobbying his fellow council members to achieve this victory. Here is how the council voted:

“Ayes” Tygard, Banks, Bennett, Pardue, Stites, Stanley, Claiborne, Tenpenny, Allen, Gilmore, Evans, Holleman, McGuire, Harmon, Blalock, Dominy, Johnson, Potts, Bedne, Dowell, Duvall, Todd, Mitchell (23).

“Noes” Barry, Steine, Garrett, Maynard, Matthews, Harrison, Hunt, Scott Davis, Westerholm, Anthony Davis, Pridemore, Moore, Baker, Langster (14). All other bills on second reading and all bills on third reading pass without discussion.

Memorial Resolutions:

Memorializing resolutions do not have the force of law and are often not taken very seriously and often they do nothing more than congratulate a sports team for a victory or a person for being honored or congratulate a person on their retirement. The Council staff does not even analyze memorial resolutions. However, memorializing resolutions do represent the will of the Council and when they advocate a policy position they should be taken very seriously. Last council meeting, unfortunately, some of our most conservative members of the council voted for memorializing resolutions endorsing the EPA's regulation of Co2 which is an authority the EPA was never given but just assumed and which gives the EPA enormous control over the economy, including the right to stop industrial development and dictate power plan and auto emissions. Later some council members told me their vote did not really reflect their view.

There are two memorial resolutions on this agenda both by Councilman Stanley, one urging the school system and the other urging MTA to make "a top priority program the replacement of the entire fleet of public buses powered by diesel combustion engines with hybrid-electric buses." While these bills end up passing, I am pleased that they did not sail through unopposed.

I would prefer all of our buses be electric or hybrid, but replacing buses cost money. I don't like being behind a diesel bus no more than the next person but there may be other things that may have greater priority and in my view, no bus should be replaced until it has outlived its useful life.

Duane Dominy takes to the floor and argues against the resolutions. I congratulate those Council members who took a stand and had their opposition recorded. (To see the discussion see 52:02 - 1:02:10)

Here is the vote on 459, the school bus resolution:

”Ayes:” Maynard, Matthews, Harrison, Hunt, Banks, Westerholm, Stanley, Claiborne, Tenpenny, Gilmore, Evans, Holleman, Harmon, Blalock, Bedne, Todd, Mitchell (17);

“Noes:” Tygard, Scott Davis, Anthony Davis, Bennett, Pridemore, Pardue, Stites, Moore, Allen, Baker, Langster, Dominy, Dowell, Duvall (14);

“Abstaining:” Garrett, Johnson, Potts (3).

Here is the vote on 460, the MTA bus resolution.

”Ayes:” Maynard, Matthews, Harrison, Hunt, Banks, Scott Davis, Westerholm, Anthony Davis, Bennett, Stanley, Claiborne, Tenpenny, Moore, Allen, Gilmore, Baker, Langster, Evans, Holleman, Harmon, Blalock, Johnson, Potts, Bedne (24);