Councilman John Cooper: Transit plan is not a flexible plan

From No Tax 4 Tracks: We pay a lot of attention to what Metro Council member at large

John Cooper

John Cooper says.

He’s thoughtful.  He does his homework.  And he’s committed to a better Nashville.

So, when we saw his comments on Facebook about the $9-billion light rail plan, we took notice.

Mayor Briley and pro-transit people consistently say the plan is flexible, it can adapt.

Cooper doesn’t see it that way.

“By state law, there are 250 words that are going to be on the ballot that describe this transit. And this is a proxy. The 250 words are a proxy for the 55-page document which is available online, which I do encourage people to read. And that document is very important. It’s very detailed, and it really has an effective…force…of law. And so, the four bus rapid transit lines and the five railroad lines, and the tunnel is all in this document. And for that document to be changed, it has to be declared impossible, financially unfeasible, then the council has to say that it was unfeasible and then there has to be another referendum. So, it’s not that flexible of a plan.”

Charlotte, North Carolina.  Lots of talk about their system.  So, Cooper went.

“I went to City Hall and showed myself around and learned what I could, and they were very nice. And every single person there said, “What are you telling people in Nashville about transit”? And I said, well, congestion. That’s a big problem in Nashville. And to a person, everyone in Charlotte said, “You cannot say that. Congestion will get worse with transit.” And then I said, “Well why’d you do it in Charlotte?” and they said, “Development, development.”

“Fundamentally, this transit bill is about adding a large number of people to downtown Nashville — on the order of 200,000 people to downtown Nashville. If your transit-oriented development districts run at the density they feel it needs to be run at — in Charlotte that’s 22 people an acre — we have over 9,000 acres that’s going to a transit-oriented development district, that is relocating a city the size of Chattanooga or Orlando, Florida to downtown Nashville. So, ultimately this plan probably does not address congestion at all; it probably creates congestion.”

Congestion. I-65, 24, 40 and 440 and this plan.  Cooper says:

“They’re two entirely separate systems. One will serve downtown Nashville, and the other will not — there’s no way that you can pull off the interstate and use the transit. Now the internal downtown Nashville transit system will serve the people, but those are people who are not yet here. They are not yet here. So, the federal projections for population growth in Davidson County between now and 2032 is only, we will go from 685,000 to 740,000 — that’s more people for sure. But most of those people are already moving into downtown Nashville and really don’t need a regional transit system. Where the great growth is coming from are in all the surrounding counties — the Sumner, the Wilson, the Rutherford, and Williamson; and fundamentally they don’t link into this transit system. Now they may one day, but it is like that baseball movie “Field of Dreams” — build it and they will come. You’re taking this speculative idea of development in the future.”

It’s not that flexible of a plan.

...this plan probably does not address congestion at all; it probably creates congestion.

It is like that baseball movie “Field of Dreams” — build it and they will come. You’re taking this speculative idea of development in the future.

We think Cooper makes a lot of sense.

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Vote Against the Transit Plan on May 1

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Twenty candidates want to be mayor

Twenty people have turned in qualifying petitions to run for mayor of Nashville. The deadline for submitting petitions was today. The Election Commission must verify petitions before releasing a list of the candidates. Those submitting petitions include Mayor David Briley, former conservative talk show host Ralph Bristol; former Vanderbilt University professor, author, and news commentator Carol Swain; real estate developer and former councilman Roy Dale, Nashville NAACP President and former Metro councilman Ludye Wallace; Nashville Metro Council Member At-Large Erica Gilmore; and a bunch of others that I do not know who they are. 

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What happened at the 4/3/18 Council meeting: Sidewalk bill deferred, lot of $ spend, not much else.

At just a little over an hour long this is a relatively short meeting especially considering it is a meeting with public hearings on zoning matters. There are no long speeches or contentious items on the agenda. To access the agenda, the staff agenda analysis and my commentary on the agenda follow this link. Below are the items of interest.

Bills on Public Hearing:

Bill BL2017-1029 by Councilman  Steve Glover which would change the laws regarding "contributions" paid in lieu of the construction of sidewalks is deferred indefinitely. Also,
Bill BL2018-1130 by Councilman Glover which would  require an annual study of sidewalk costs is deferred indefinitely. The Councilman says there is more work to do on the bills.  Both of these are good bills and I hope they do come back, especially 1130. It should be criminal the amount of money wasted on sidewalk construction. Back in October, The Tennessean investigated Metro's sidewalk program and found that city allocated $30 million a year for each of the last two years for sidewalks and the city build only 3.5 miles of new sidewalks.

Resolutions of interest:

Resolution RS2018-1123  appropriates $19.759 million from the 4% fund to various departments. This is normal and is for purchasing of things that ware out or for unexpected repairs. $1.5 million is for library material, $1.5 is for maintenance material and supplies for the parks department and .5 million for Metro General Hospital. Due to our fund balance falling below an acceptable level, I would think it wise to defer some of these expenses, such as purchasing new books for the library, until the new fiscal year. Five hundred thousand dollars to fund the relocation of a salt bin is taken out, which is wise since we won't need to salt the roads in the summer. Unfortunately nothing else is deferred and the bill passes by a voice vote with no audible "no" votes.

Resolution RS2018-1124 is a supplemental appropriation of $2,516,400, largest amount going to the Sheriff's Department for salaries. This supplemental appropriation reduces to  3.18% for the GSD General Fund and 3.93% for the USD General Fund.  According to a policy approved by the Council in 1989 and by Office of Management and Budget in 2005, the minimum fund balance percentage should be no lower than 5% of the total operating budget. This is an indication of Metro's mismanagement. This passes on the consent agenda. That means it is lumped in with most other resolutions all of which are passed by a single vote of the Council.  

Resolution RS2018-1125 awards three economic development incentive grant agreements from money already appropriated for that purpose. The grants are $50,000- Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum (Rolling Stones exhibit), $325,000- The Country Music Film Project (Ken Burns documentary), and $625,000- Music City Productions ("Nashville"). This also passes on "consent." 

Bills on Second Reading.

Bill BL2018-1111 would put under the purview of the Board of Ethical Conduct and the Standards of Conduct those who violate executive orders regarding rules of conduct. Currently this board only has authority to act on those who violate a section of the Metro code concerning standards of conduct. Concern is expressed that this would put too heavy of a burden on employees to defend themselves against complaints filed with the board. At last council meeting it was discussed and then deferred one meeting. To understand the arguments on both sides of this issue you may want to watch the video of the March 20th meeting at timestamp 1:29:18-1:51:15.  It is again deferred one meeting.


Bill BL2018-1140  will create a South Nashville Central Business Improvement District. A district such as this creates a governing body which may impose additional taxes on businesses within the district for project within the district.  Such project may include building parking facilities, promoting the district, beautification and improvement projects in the district and more. The initial additional tax levy will be 55 cents per $100 of assessed value of real property and estimated initial projects will cost approximately $10.948 million. This district would consist of approximately 266 acres, whose boundaries are approximately Cane Ridge Road to the West, I-24 to the East, Target Drive to the North, and Old Franklin Road to the South. There are other such districts like this, including the central business district. This passes on a voice vote with no discussion.

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CAROL SWAIN LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN FOR MAYOR OF NASHVILLE

Press release, Nashville, TN - Former Vanderbilt University law professor and nationally

Carol Swain

recognized conservative political commentator Carol Swain announced on Monday that she is a candidate for Mayor of Nashville in the special election to fill the position vacated by former Mayor Megan Barry. She secured the necessary petition to become a candidate this morning, obtained more than the 25 signatures required to become an official candidate, and filed the petition this afternoon, which will qualify her to appear on the special election ballot.

The date for the special election is currently scheduled for August 2, but pending court cases could result in that date being moved to sometime in May.

“The reason I’m running is that Nashville needs a choice between two different visions for the city. I believe the city is headed in the wrong direction, like many large cities headed by Democratic mayors,” Swain said.

“Nashville is currently following the ‘tax-and-spend’ prescription that has resulted in so many of our cities becoming wastelands of poverty, crime, failing schools, and high taxes,” Swain noted in announcing her plans to run for Mayor. “We have a shrinking window of opportunity to avoid that future, but only if we act now to embrace new leadership committed to low taxes, common-sense regulations, and maximizing freedom and opportunity for all of our citizens.”

“This whole thing is about fixing potholes instead of building giant edifices while the city as a whole is not thriving. I’m concerned about the fact that if the transit plan passes, it’s not going to solve our problems and it will give Nashville the highest taxes in the country,” she noted.

“At a time when our school system mishandles $7 million, our city leadership promotes a $9 billion transit boondoggle that they admit won’t really relieve or reduce traffic congestion, seeks to embrace ‘sanctuary city status,’ and ignores the reality of crime and violence increasing across our city, we can’t afford to keep doing ‘business as usual’ with the ‘usual suspects’ running the show,” Swain said.

“I am delighted that Troy Brewer, an experienced and well respected C.P.A. who specializes in campaign finance and reporting, has agreed to serve as treasurer of my campaign,” Swain added.
Swain is making it clear that she opposes the proposed tax increase to fund the Megan Barry transit plan, a plan that has also been embraced by Mayor David Briley. “A bad idea didn’t get better simply due to Megan Barry resigning and Mayor Briley stepping in to replace her,” Swain pointed out. “I will be encouraging voters across the county to say ‘NO, to funding the transit plan in the May 1 Referendum. The first step to our retaking control of our city is to take control of our finances in the voter’s booth on May 1.”

Dr. Carol M. Swain is an award-winning political scientist, a former professor of political science and professor of law at Vanderbilt University, and a lifetime member of the James Madison Society, an international community of scholars affiliated with the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. Before joining Vanderbilt in 1999, Dr. Swain was a tenured associate professor of politics and public policy at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Dr. Swain is passionate about empowering others to raise their voices in the public square. She is an author, public speaker, and political commentator.

Dr. Swain is the author or editor of nine books. Her first book, Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African Americans in Congress (Harvard University Press, 1993, 1995), won the Woodrow Wilson prize for the best book published in the U. S. on government, politics or international affairs in 1994, and was cited by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy in Johnson v. DeGrandy, 512 U.S. 997 (1994) and by Justice Sandra Day O’ Connor in Georgia v. Ashcroft, 539 U.S. (2003). In addition, Cambridge University Press nominated her book, The New White Nationalism in America: Its Challenge to Integration, for a Pulitzer Prize. Her forthcoming book, Debating Immigration (2nd edition), is scheduled for a July 2018 release. Dr. Swain’s other books include Abduction: How Liberalism Steals the Hearts and Minds of Our Children (Christian Faith Publishing, 2016, co-author Steve Feazel), Be the People: A Call to Reclaim America’s Faith and Promise (Thomas Nelson Press, 2011), Debating Immigration (Cambridge University Press, 2007); Contemporary Voices of White Nationalism (Cambridge University Press, 2003, co-author Russ Nieli).

Dr. Swain’s opinion pieces have been published in CNN Online, The Financial Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, and USA Today. She has appeared on ABC Headline News, BBC Radio, NPR, INT News, CNN’s AC360, Fox News’ Hannity, Fox and Friends, Lou Dobbs Tonight, Judge Jeanine, The Story with Martha MacCallum, Michael Smerconish, The PBS News Hour, and The Washington Journal, and ABC’s Headline News. She had a major role in Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party and has had three Prager University videos go viral.

Her commentary on social and political issues can be heard nationally on Bott Radio and American Family Radio’s Two Minutes to Think About it. Dr. Swain received a B.A. from Roanoke College, M.A. from Virginia Polytechnic & State University, Ph.D. from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and M.S.L. from Yale. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

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Bastiat Society-How to Do Economic Development without Giving Away the Farm

Click here

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What's on the April 3rd Council agenda: Requiring an annual sidewalk construction study, more $ out of reserve funds, $625,000 for production of "Nashville."

By Rod Williams - The Metro Council will meet Tuesday, April 3, 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. 

Boards and Commissions
The first order of business is the call to order, prayer and pledge followed by consideration of mayoral appointments to boards and commissions. There are seven mayoral appointments to boards and commissions on this agenda for Council confirmations. The council normally rubber stamps whomever the mayor nominates.

Bills on Public Hearing
There  are only twelve  bills on Public hearing which is a small number. It has been running to twenty to thirty. Items on public hearings are all rezoning bills or related to planning and zoning policy.  Rezoning hearings bore me and I don't even try to form an opinion on the merits each rezoning bill before the Council.  Rezoning bills usually are of interest only to people who live near the proposed rezoning. People who don't care one way or the other do not show up, and with rare exceptions, the only people who speak in favor of rezoning bills are those who will benefit from the rezoning such as the property owner or the developer.  Opponents always make the same argument which boils down to one of these: 1) the change will result in stressing the infrastructure such as too much traffic on the roadway or overcrowd the schools, 2) will cause flooding, and 3) will change for the worse the character of the community. If you are interested in knowing what is permitted in different zoning districts, follow this link. The only bill on public hearing I find of interest are these: 

Bill BL2017-1029 by Councilman  Steve Glover would change the laws regarding "contributions" paid in lieu of the construction of sidewalks. If a developer develops a piece of property they are supposed to build a public sidewalk in front of the property. Sometimes when that would be the only sidewalk on a street, it makes no sense to build a segment of unconnected sidewalk to nowhere and the developer may instead of building the sidewalk pay a fee into a fund which is used to build sidewalks. It is called a "contribution" but of course it is not really a contribution but an option of build the sidewalk or paying a fee. This bill says that, that "contribution" would be for construction of sidewalks within the Council district, where the property is located rather than the "pedestrian benefit zone,"  in which the project is located. I don't have strong feeling one way or the other on this. Council district boundaries change every ten years. Also, I am unfamiliar with the boundaries of pedestrian benefit zones.

Bill BL2018-1122 would reinstate a requirement that the specific location of waste transfer facilities to be approved by resolution of the Council prior to the public hearing conducted by the Metro Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) to consider such special exception requests. That is the way it was prior to August 2017. Unless there is a good argument for not reinstating this, then I think it should be reinstated. Waste transfer stations are often unwelcome in a community and my gut feeling is that this should be a decision in which the public should be allowed to have a voice.

Bill BL2018-1130 by Councilman Glover would  require an annual study of

sidewalk costs. The study would solicit input from all affected parties and include a public hearings. This is a good bill. I have observed almost perfectly good sidewalks ripped up and replaced yet streets that need sidewalks don't get them. It should be criminal how much money Metro waste on sidewalks to get such few sidewalks. Back in October, The Tennessean investigated Metro's sidewalk program and found that city allocated $30 million a year for each of the last two years for sidewalks and the city build only 3.5 miles of new sidewalks.  I suspect million of dollars goes to consultants. If I ran a news agency, I would follow up the initial Tennessean story and find out who got the money and what was their connection to city officials and political campaigns. Maybe knowing a report has to be made to Council every year, their will less blatant waste in the sidewalk program.

There are 18 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.

Resolution RS2018-1123  appropriates $19.759 million from the 4% fund to various departments. This is normal and is for purchasing of things that ware out or for unexpected repairs. $1.5 million is for library material, $1.5 is for maintenance material and supplies for the parks department and .5 million for Metro General Hospital. Due to our fund balance falling below an acceptable level, I would think it wise to defer some of these expenses, such as purchasing new books for the library, until the new fiscal year.

Resolution RS2018-1124 is a supplemental appropriation of $2,516,400, largest amount going to the Sheriff's Department for salaries. This supplemental appropriation reduces to  3.18% for the GSD General Fund and 3.93% for the USD General Fund.  According to a policy approved by the Council in 1989 and by Office of Management and Budget in 2005, the minimum fund balance percentage should be no lower than 5% of the total operating budget. This is an indication of Metro's mismanagement.

Resolution RS2018-1125 awards three economic development incentive grant

Council to award $625.000 production grant

agreements from money already appropriated for that purpose. The grants are $50,000- Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum (Rolling Stones exhibit), $325,000- The Country Music Film Project (Ken Burns documentary), and $625,000- Music City Productions ("Nashville"). While I am a big fan of music and especially country music and love Nashville's identity as "music city," I question if this is a wise use of limited resources especially considering the needs of our schools and the shrinking reserve fund balances which could endanger our bond rating. Since the money is already appropriated however, it may not be wise to impound the money at this point, but this may be the type of thing the council should carefully consider before doing it again.

Bills on First reading: There are 16 bills on first reading. First reading is a formality that gets bills on the agenda and they are not considered by committee until after they pass first reading. They are all lumped together and pass by a single vote except in rare circumstances. I do not read them until they get to second reading.

Bills on Second Reading: There are 19  bills on second reading These are the ones of interest:

Bill BL2018-1111 would put under the purview of the Board of Ethical Conduct and the Standards of Conduct those who violate executive orders regarding rules of conduct. Currently this board only has authority to act on those who violate a section of the Metro code concerning standards of conduct. Concern is expressed that this would put too heavy of a burden on employees to defend themselves against complaints filed with the board. At last council meeting it was discussed and then deferred one meeting. To understand the arguments on both sides of this issue you may want to watch the video of the March 20th meeting at timestamp 1:29:18-1:51:15.    

Bill BL2018-1140  will create a South Nashville Central Business Improvement District. A district such as this creates a governing body which may impose additional taxes on businesses within the district for project within the district.  Such project may include building parking facilities, promoting the district, beautification and improvement projects in the district and more. The initial additional tax levy will be 55 cents per $100 of assessed value of real property and estimated initial projects will cost approximately $10.948 million. This district would consist of approximately 266 acres, whose boundaries are approximately Cane Ridge Road to the West, I-24 to the East, Target Drive to the North, and Old Franklin Road to the South. There are other such districts like this, including the central business district. 

Bills on Third Reading:  There are only four bills on third reading and all are approved zoning bill

To watch the Council meeting, you can go to the courthouse and watch the meeting in person or you can watch the broadcast live at Metro Nashville Network's Government TV on Nashville's Comcast Channel 3 and AT&T's U-verse 99 and it is streamed live at the Metro Nashville Network's livestream site and you can watch it live on Roku. You can catch the meeting the next day (or the day after the next) on the Metro YouTube channel. If can stand the suspense and just wait, I will post the video on this blog the day after or the day after that and provide commentary.

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