Tax Increases: Yes or No?

 

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Make Nashville a safer place. Vote Alice Rolli.

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Alice Rolli: Metro Schools have a problem.

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Alice Rolli: We can choose our city's future.

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Another reason not to vote for Freddie O'Connell is that he is supported by D. A. Glenn Funk.

by Rod Williams, Sept. 5, 2023- If you recall the BLM riots in Nashville you remember the mobs going down Broadway intimidating tourist and smashing windows, the police cruisers set ablaze, the courthouse set on fire, and the millions of dollars of vandalism. You may also recall that that D. A. Glen Funk refused to prosecute many of those arrested. Here is an excerpt from a Tennessean report at the time:

The group then went to the historic Metro Courthouse and city hall — painting graffiti on buildings along the way. People in the group broke windows, set fires, spray-painted explicit graffiti and knocked down light poles. Then individuals in the group smashed storefronts on Lower Broadway.

On Thursday, police announced they had warrants for the arrests of two black activists, Jeneisha Harris and Justin Jones, involved in Saturday's protest.

But hours later, the warrants were rescinded after Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk said his office wouldn't pursue the charges. 

Glenn Funk is soft on crime and the above is just one example. He also decides which laws he will and will not enforce and makes a big deal out of announcing he will not enforce certain laws passed by the state legislature. While the State has not moved to remove Funk from office, his conflict with the State caused the legislature to pass a rogue D. A. law, so he could be removed if his refusal to act to enforce laws becomes too egregious. I suspect that it is this law hanging over his head that has kept Funk from even being more radical. 

Funk also, for some reason, is soft on prosecution of drunk drivers. When the State made $354,000 available to Nashville to prosecute DUI offenders, Funk refused the money. See this Channel 5 report:

Before the night is up, she'll be charged with driving under the influence.

But while police are redoubling their efforts to arrest and charge impaired drivers, Nashville DA Glenn Funk appears to be taking a different approach.

While the state hands out millions of dollars every year to help prosecute drunk and impaired drivers, NewsChannel 5 Investigates has discovered, Funk has told state officials he doesn't want their money, refusing to sign a contract that would have provided his office $354,000 to pay for DUI prosecutions in the next year.

And, then there are the cases of Funk illegally wiretapping his own employees, using his employees and government offices for campaign purposes, and more scandals.

Maybe most importantly, crime has risen dramatically while Funk has been the D. A.  Police can arrest people, but the police need a partner in the office of the D. A. who will prosecute crime.  Catch and release does not deter crime. 

Anyone getting the endorsement of D. A. Glenn Funk, cannot be counted on to take actions to reduce crime. Anyone endorsed by Gleen Funk does not deserve to be mayor.

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Alice Rolli is the only candidate for Mayor endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police.

 

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Op-Ed: Alice Rolli SHOULD be the City’s Next Mayor

Stephanie Johnson

by STEPHANIE JOHNSON, reposted from The Pamphleteer, Sept.4, 2023- Recently, the Tennessee Tribune came out with a hit piece against mayoral candidate Alice Rolli. The left-leaning news media in Nashville understands they have a monopoly on opinions in our town, and it’s time to break it up. The black community has constantly been used as pawns by both the left and the right and has not been able to break free from either side.

We must bend down to the left, or we are Uncle Toms. We must do everything they say, or we are sellouts. When will we truly be free? They take our labor, our votes, and our time, and we still can’t say, “What will you do for us?” without, “You must wait.” Wait for what? Wait for the next election, when, once again, we will be used as a bargaining chip, and if we don't comply then “we ain’t black”? Well, sorry to tell you, Tennessee Tribune and others: my blackness has not been and will never be contingent on my voting for you. 

This election is about needs, and my vote is a bargaining chip that demands those needs be fulfilled. If you cannot fulfill them, then I cannot and will not vote for you. The black community needs good schools, a food revival, safe communities, and, most of all, we need our voices heard. 

Rosetta Miller-Perry of the Tennessee Tribune thinks Freddie O’Connell is the best choice for Nashville because he cares about crime and has been honorable in her eyes. At a recent Equity Alliance Forum, the crowd pleaded with O’Connell to tell them what he plans to do for - the black community. He could not reply. Why did Perry and so many news outlets conveniently not report that? How can, in one instance, he care deeply for the black community, but in the next, can’t say exactly how?

Perry states, “O’Connell has served his district honorably.” As a black woman descended from generations of black Nashvillians, I have to ask: what is honorable about a neighborhood I weep over because of how gentrified it has become? How honorable is it that after eight years, black kids still have to take their Halloween candy sacks and travel across Rosa Parks to Germantown to trick-or-treat, only to be chided for doing so? Where is the honor, Perry? Maybe, Perry, not only do we need another option for mayor, but maybe, we also need new black leaders that won’t continue to sell us out. I suppose when O’Connell is using your building for his office, you feel obligated to protect your assets. 

As far as Perry’s statement regarding Belle Meade and Green Hills propping up Alice Rolli goes, why does she not mention how much Tony Giarratana has donated to O'Connell's campaigns over the years, or the other very wealthy individuals who bankrolled O'Connell's campaign for this race?

The truth is, O’Connell stayed in the core and Rolli stayed in the outskirts— which include Joelton, Madison, and Whites Creek, where I live. Perry won’t tell you those places have been neglected by the city council, which O’Connell sits on. Isn’t the message running throughout Nashville “We focus too much on downtown?” And yet, most of O’Connell’s base resides downtown. 

Regarding Rolli’s conservatism: it’s the South. Most people in the South are conservative, be they black or white. There is also no mention of Rolli being a moderate Republican, which she has stated on various occasions. Rolli has a right to be whatever she wants, just as Rosetta’s mother had the right to be a Republican, and her close friends have the right to hold conservative beliefs.

There are not many Black press options in Nashville.  We have no real voice. Instead, we have a paper that thinks it should think for Black Nashvillians instead of allowing us to think for ourselves. We need better choices than what we have been given. Alice Rolli, like every other politician running for office, did meet with the Black press. I know this because I spoke to her myself. She said she did in fact speak with Perry and knows her, but Perry decided to put out a hit piece anyway. So what is Perry’s and the Tribune’s real motive? If O’Connell is such a great candidate, why do they need to lie for him?

Perry mentions Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, yet she won’t mention the wave of Republicans who were just as outraged about what happened on Capitol Hill as so many others. Why try to make it seem like all Republicans had a hand in this? During the fallout from the Tennessee Three, leaders and advocates for the Community Oversight Board were pleading with the Metro Council and media to help them bring more attention to the situation before the board was wiped away. This included the city council not putting all of its power behind stopping the situation. Why does Perry not call out the city leadership, which O'Connell is a part of?

Perry tries to use the COB among other things to tear Rolli down, but in the end, it’s Perry who has torn herself down, by printing a story that is propaganda and not truth. Rolli has not stopped black men from succeeding in Tennessee. Not only has she intentionally placed black men in power, she’s even encouraged black men and women to join her campaign; yet she did not need to shout it from the mountaintop. Instead, she says nothing in the face of so many attacks and continues to move forward with a campaign that means so much to her. The Tennessee Tribune story was full of half-truths, propaganda, and opinions, which is not journalism. As my grandmother used to say, “If you are going to tell the truth, tell it all.”

This is a time of great division. The media is being infiltrated and influenced by operatives of the left and the right, and we do nothing to close the gap, only move it further apart. We must learn to work together, to remove all sensational language from our verbiage when describing each other. Do we want a community that works for all or only some? 

A recent situation with Rolli and her consulting firm resembles an incident involving my campaign when another candidate decided to use the tagline I had been using faithfully for over three months. Her firm decided to drop a commercial with it, sending shockwaves through social media and resulting in many side conversations and text messages with me about the incident. The difference I see is when Rolli found out she made a mistake, she immediately cut ties with the company, called me personally, and sent out a letter of apology to her supporters.

In contrast, the other candidate did not come out and immediately acknowledge their mistake; they did come to me later after seeing me in public to request I do a public Zoom meeting with them (which I was not obligated to do). My team reached out to schedule something, then waited two weeks, during which a person of color came to me and explained they were yelled at by the candidate for standing up for me and my ideas. That is when I decided to make a public statement on the situation.

That progressive candidate had close to a month to sever ties with their marketing company and publicly apologize not only to me but to many black Americans that have been disenfranchised through theft of their intellectual property and much more throughout the history of our country. So, while I am not defending Rolli, I am saying she stood by her mistake and owned it, while many do not, continuing the harm. So, when we talk about leadership: leadership is not perfect, but leadership is courage, and courage is owning your mistakes, and dealing with whatever comes. Unlike Perry, I will not tell you who to pick, but I will tell you to choose wisely. 

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Happy Labor Day

 

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A Message from David Fox:

Dear Rod,

 I believe that Alice Rolli is the MUST choice to serve as our city's 10th Mayor. 

Three times in a row we've moved a desk from Metro Council to the Mayor's office — and each time we've seen the city head in the wrong direction. We urgently need a leader, not a debater.

A few statistics about the impact of what this approach to governing has done in the eight years since I ran for mayor (2015):

• Interest expense is +102% ($413.1 million vs. $204.3 million)
• Property tax/capita is +70% ($1.654B/703,900 people vs. $938.8M/680,387 people)
• Homicide rate is +127% (14.8 murders/100,000 vs. 6.5/100,000) 
• Car thefts are +139% (421 thefts/100,000 people vs. 176/100,000) 

In this election, we have an opportunity to elect a common sense person to lead our city vs. someone who will use city hall to drive national wedge issues — something they are already trying to do in this campaign. 

Every one of Alice’s investors from her business career have supported her campaign — which says a lot about her ability as a business leader. 

If we’ve learned anything in recent years, it’s that even great cities are very fragile. Look at Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and now even Austin. One or two bad mayors and the quality of life collapses and residents begin fleeing.

We know this about the possible direction of Nashville:

1. Small businesses won’t stay if we tax them out. 
2. Families won’t stay if they don’t feel safe and if they don’t have a seat at a high quality school. 
3. Tourists won’t come if we don’t support public safety and our police, and the tax dollars generated by tourism are the golden goose paying for much of Metro’s services. 

These are common sense principles of government that work – not some dreamy idea without any accountability to the citizens who live here. 

So, what do we need you to do? 

1. VOTE, VOTE, VOTE for Alice! Tell your family, friends and colleagues to get out and vote!  
2. Volunteer! There are so many ways you can get involved - fill out this form to get started! 
3. Support Alice's campaign further by providing a generous contribution today September 4th is the last day to contribute before the final reporting deadline.

I assure you there are enough like-minded Nashvillians for us to win this election, but only if we all show up at the polls. This election is too important to leave to the pundits and the pollsters. Please mark your calendar with the time you plan to vote this week: Tuesday - Saturday are the final days of early voting. 

Let's win this, for Nashville!  

David Fox
Treasurer, Alice Rolli for Nashville
Former MNPS School Board Chair

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Fun time on Lower Broad.

Brazilbilly performs at Robert's

 by Rod Williams, September 3, 2023- Yesterday I spent the day on lower Broadway and had a blast.
This is the first time I have been downtown to listen to music in months. This is the first time I have been down in the evening in a much longer time. This being a three-day weekend and there being a UT football game in town, I knew Broadway would be crowded and it was, but I enjoyed it.

I went downtown with my good friend and honkytonk buddy Gene Wisdom, about 2:30 in the afternoon. We went to Roberts where the owner of Robert's, Jesse Lee Jones performed with his band Brazilbilly. He has been performing at Roberts for eighteen years. He is great. He does a lot of Marty Robbins songs, and the band does traditional country music with a lot of stuff from the 50's and 60's. In addition to Marty Robbins, when Brazilbilly takes the stage expect to hear a lot of Hank Williams, George Jones, Webb Pierce, and Faron Young. Robert Lee Jones has a pure voice and can hit the high notes on Cattle Call and songs like that. If you were wondering about the name, Jones is an immigrant from Brazil. 

A blurry selfie and me and Gene Wisdom

After standing though a few songs at Robert's we were able to find seats, right down front near the stage on the edge of the dance floor. Gene and I stayed until the set ended about 6PM. I had not been home long until I got a call from my brother who was in town for the UT football game. I had almost had enough of lower Broad for one day but wanted to see my brother and I headed back downtown. I enjoyed some time at Sinatra's where we could talk before heading back to Broadway and more live music.

I know it is popular to hate lower Broadway; I like it. Broadway has changed over the years. I am not a fan of a lot of the bars. Sometimes it is hard to even find real country music on lower Broad and much of what is country is contemporary country which I don't care for. Also, many of the bands are great bar cover bands but sound much like the radio version of the song they are playing. It used to be that most of the bands you would hear around town were real artist who were trying to make it big. It seems there were more people who were great musicians, maybe having played on the road with big name artists, and it seems more of the singers were artist who could make a song their own. You can still find that around town, just not as much on lower Broad, but it is still there too.  Robert's is the best place to hear real county music on Broadway and AJ's is a close second. 

Lower Broad, Sept. 2, 2023

I know not everyone likes Broadway. To each his own. To those who don't like it, you simply don't have to go.  While it may not be the type of entertainment you would enjoy, I don't understand why one would hate it. Tourism brings a lot of money into Nashville, and much of the reason Nashville is a tourist town is because of the lower Broadway experience. Tourists spend money here and then go back home. We are lucky to have them.  Tourists love this town, or we wouldn't have so many of them. As to not liking the bachelorette parties, I cannot fathom why one would object to bachelorette parties as does candidate for mayor Freddie O'Connell. I like the bachelorettes, I like the money tourist spend in Nashville, I like to see people enjoy themselves, and glad the Nashville experience brings people joy. 

I wore my Alice Rolli for mayor ball cap yesterday and got some good comments, thumbs up, and fist bumps. 

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Don't let Freddie destroy our tourism! Vote Alice Rolli!

 

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RIP Jimmy Buffett

 by Rod Williams, Sept. 3, 2023- I never did see Jimmy Buffet in concert, and I don't think I ever bought one of his records, but he was one of those artists who are part of the soundtrack of my life. 

I have sung along to Margaritaville at a party many of times. Jimmy Buffett's songs just made you feel good. When a Jimmy Buffett song would come on the radio, I would turn up the volume.

Yesterday I was with two people who were big Jimmy Buffet fans. Both had seen him in concert several times. Gene Wisdom and I went downtown to Robert's on lower Broad and in tribute to Buffett's passing, Gene wore a tropical print shirt and a Jimmy Buffet ballcap. The other person was my brother Tim who was in town for a UT football game. Both talked about how much they appreciated Jimmy Buffett and were sad at his passing. 

I met my bother Tim at Sinatra's last night. That was the first time I have been there, and it is a place with an elegant atmosphere. We didn't dine there but had drinks at the bar. Soft music was provided by a piano player and vocalist who sang Sinatra and smooth jazz and soft rock numbers. The singer sang Margaritaville, and I think the whole bar, including people dining, stopped eating and talking and sang alone. People loved Jimmy Buffett.

I have seen several good pieces about Buffett and his career, including his connection to Nashville. You can read the National Review tribute at this link. 

Jimmy Buffett, rest in peace. 

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First Tuesday Welcomes Pamela Furr TOMORROW !!!

Pamela Furr shares the great things happening with Americans for Prosperity. Pamela is the Grassroots Engagement Director, and you don't want to miss this luncheon! 

Time & Location: Ludlow and Prime, 330 Franklin Rd Suite 226B, Brentwood, TN 37027
Monday, Sep 11, 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM

RSVP

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