The most important issue by far on the May 1st ballot is the "tax for tracks: referendum which I will be voting against and which is the only reason I am going to the polls. There are various other races however and these involve candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for various offices. There are no Republicans seeking office. Since Davidson County is an overwhelmingly Democratic county and since the winner of the May 1st primary will not face Republican opposition, whoever wins the Democratic primary has essentially won the office.
Since I am going to the polls to vote against the tax for transit referendum, I may vote in the Democratic primary to vote for the least offensive Democrat. Since we do not have party registration in Tennessee I am permitted to vote in the Democrat if I so chose. to do so. If I vote in the Democratic primary, this is for whom I will vote:
Nashville public defender: Rod Williams. I will write in my own name since Martesha Johnson is the only name on the ballot for this position.
Register of deeds: Karen Johnson. The candidates are Richard Exton, Pam Murray, and
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| Karen Johnson |
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| Anna Escobar |
At only an hour and five minuets long this is a short meeting and is almost as exciting as watching paint dry. You can skip it. I watch the council meetings so you don't have to and yet you can still be an informed citizen. If you want to watch it, you can access the agenda and agenda analysis at this link.
Following the pledge and prayer the first order of business is a couple of ceremonial presentations. The legislative business of the Council does not get started until timestamp 13:04. There are no mayoral appointments to boards and commission on this agenda and there are no public hearings. Below are the items of some interest:
Bill BL2018-1054 on second reading says that when metro enters into a lease. leasing to another entity a piece of metro property, that that lease must go before the Metro Council for approval and if the lease is for more than fifty years, it must first be declared surplus.This is a good bill. It passes.
Bill BL2018-1063 on second reading is a bill to "require the Procurement
Division to collect comprehensive data regarding the participation of subcontractors in the
procurement process." Currently, the Minority and Women
Business Assistance Office (BAO) is authorized to collect
information to monitor the Procurement Nondiscrimination Program.
The information “may” include information regarding business
ownership, supplier information, and subcontractor information.
This changes the "may" to "shall." In the past and probably still, I
know this program was often abused. Sometimes a White contractor and a
Black subcontractor may switch rolls to get an advantage as a
minority-owned firm. The White guy may agree to be the subcontractor to
the Black guy. Also, I have known of instances years ago, where a man
would make his wife the owner of their family-owned construction company
in order to gain an advantage as a women-owned business. I don't know
if this would reveal those manipulations or not, but it may. This passes.
Bill BL2017-1026 on third reading is a zoning bill sponsored by Scott Davis, disapproved by the Planning Commission.
I know nothing about the merits of this rezoning and am only calling
attention to this bill because it is a disapproved bill and will require
27 votes to pass. It is deferred one meeting.
Bill BL2018-1055 on third reading would protect General Hospital from being downgraded to an out patient facility only and
would provide that until June 30, 2019 the mayor may not terminate
any agreement between Metro and the Metro Hospital Authority
without prior approval of the Metro Council by resolution.This is
very disappointing. Metro General is a money pit that cannot fill its beds
and serves no purpose that could not be served at a much lower cost and
is only kept open because it is source of pride in the Black community.
Earlier this year, Mayor Barry had a proposal to close General and
convert it into an outpatient clinic but got push back and buckled to
pressure and dropped the proposal. This bill passes on a voice vote without discussion.
TBI: Nude cellphone photos, deleted chats may show evidence of crime in Mayor Megan Barry affair
The Tennessean- The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says it has obtained nude photos
of a woman taken on the phone of former Sgt. Rob Forrest, evidence that
investigators believe shows Nashville Mayor Megan Barry engaged in an affair with her former bodyguard while he was on duty. ...investigators have uncovered 260 deleted chats between that device and
Barry's phone number as well as 35 deleted call logs, the affidavit
states.
WSMV 4: Court records: Mayor refuses to provide passcode for phone.
Rod Williams' comment: I wonder if she is just embarrassed about the discovery of romantic love talk, or did she send nude pics, or did they discuss how to get another third rate romance, high-rent
rendezvous at the tax payers expense. They had already had a Paris and Greece getaway. Were they trying to figure out how to justify a Tahiti weekend? Or, maybe there was discussion of how to justify more overtime pay for Forrest, or maybe what strings she would have to pull to get Forrest daughter a good-paying job. We don't know, but I think we are going to find out. For the good of the city and her own dignity, Mayor Barry should resign now.
State Representative John Ray Clemmons will be hosting a community meeting tonight, 2/22/2018 at 6:30pm at Christ the King on Belmont Blvd to discuss the impact of the planned I-440 expansion. If you live near I-440, you may want to attend this meeting. I have a relative who lives about a block away from I-440 but on a rise higher than the interstate. The noise is so loud that one cannot enjoy sitting on her nice front porch. There is a constant roar. Now, there is a proposal to build two new lanes of traffic, which will increase the roadway capacity by fifth percent. . This will only add to the noise. In addition to the noise concern, it is unhealthy to live near an interstate and the more traffic it carries the worse it is. When I-440 was build it was supposed to be a "parkway," and trucks were supposed to be prohibited. Of course, that did not last long. Now, I-440 traffic is going to get heavier and louder. If people act now, they may be able to stop this expansion and they may be able to get enhanced noise control.
By Rod Williams - The
Metro Council will meet Tuesday, February 20, 2018 at 6:30 PM in the
Council chamber at the Metro Courthouse. If you are going to watch the
Council meeting, you need a copy of the Council agenda
and the staff analysis or you really will not know what is
going on. You can get the agenda and analysis at the highlighted links. If you normally watch the Council meeting but want to skip a meeting, this is a meeting to skip. I see nothing on the agenda likely to generate controversy and nothing of very much importance.
There are 15 resolution on the agenda and all are on the consent agenda at this time. A
resolution stays on the consent agenda if it passes unanimously the
committees to
which it was assigned. Resolutions which receive negative votes in
committee are pulled off of consent. Also any councilman may have a
resolution pulled off of consent. Those remaining on consent are lumped
together and passed by a single vote. Resolutions on the
consent
agenda are usually not controversial and tend to be routine matters,
such as accepting grants from the Federal or State Government, entering
into inter agency agreements over mundane things, appropriating money
from the 4% fund, settling lawsuits, or approving
signs overhanging the sidewalk. Unlike a bill which
requires three votes of the Council to pass, a resolution only requires
one vote of the Council. None of the resolutions on this agenda are of significant interest.
I do not read bills on First Reading. First reading is a formality that gets bills on the agenda. Except on very rare occasions, all bills on First Reading are lumped together and pass by a single vote.
There are 21 bills on second reading most of which are "acquisition of certain right-of-way easements, drainage easements,
temporary construction easements and property rights by negotiation or condemnation for use in
public projects of the Metropolitan Government." This is for sidewalk construction.
Below are other items of interest:
Bill BL2018-1063 on second reading is a bill to "require the Procurement
Division to collect comprehensive data regarding the participation of subcontractors in the
procurement process." Currently, the Minority and Women Business Assistance Office (BAO) is authorized to collect information to monitor the Procurement Nondiscrimination Program. The information “may” include information regarding business ownership, supplier information, and subcontractor information. This changes the "may" to "shall." In the past and probably still, I know this program is often abused. Sometimes a White contractor and a Black subcontractor may switch rolls to get an advantage as a minority-owned firm. The White guy may agree to be the subcontractor to the Black guy. Also, I have known of instances years ago, where a man would make his wife the owner of their family-owned construction company in order to gain and advantage as a women-owned business. I don't know if this would reveal those manipulations are not, but it may.
Bill BL2018-1055 on third reading would protect General Hospital from being downgraded to an out patient facility only and
would provide that until June 30, 2019 the mayor may not terminate
any agreement between Metro and the Metro Hospital Authority
without prior approval of the Metro Council by resolution.This is
very disappointing. I am very
disappointing to see that Councilman Steve Glover is one of the sponsors
of this bill. Metro General is a money pit that cannot fill its beds and serves no purpose that could not be served at a much lower cost and is only kept open because it is source of pride in the Black community. Earlier this year, Mayor Barry had a proposal to close General and convert it into an outpatient clinic but got push back and buckled to pressure and dropped the proposal.
Bill BL2017-1026 on third reading is a zoning bill sponsored by Scott Davis, disapproved by the Planning Commission. I know nothing about the merits of this rezoning and am only calling attention to this bill because it is a disapproved bill and will require 27 votes to pass.
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