by Rod Williams, Sept. 28, 2023- I got this in the mail today. What? Wasn't it already suspended? It was. It was suspended on August 12th. I guess they are giving me another chance. I guess I have been given a reprieve from that earlier suspension, but this time they really mean it. See YOUR REPUBLICAN MEMBERSHIP HAS BEEN SUSPENDED! Oh No!! What will I do? Ask me if I care.
by Rod Williams, Sept. 26, 2023, edited 9/28. - Vice Mayor Angie Henderson has made the new committee assignments for the new Metro Council.
The real work of the council is done in committee. In committee, members hear from the sponsor of a bill, can ask questions of the legal staff and relevant department personnel and get information about the fiscal impact of a bill. Member can argue the pros and cons of a bill. If you watch a Council meeting, and don't know what is under discussion and think things seem rushed, know that in most cases the bill was carefully examined in committee. Most Council members rely heavily on the recommendation of the committee.
Council rules give committees the power to defer the reading of a bill. Also, a committee can "indefinitely defer," a bill which means a committee can kill a bill. So, committees are very powerful.
In making committee assignments, I assume the vice mayor looks at the talents and desires and interest of individual members. Several committee meetings may be occurring at the same time and since a council member cannot be at two places at the same time, assuring committees can have a quorum is a factor in making assignments. Also, I assume there is an effort to have a diverse representation on committees. One would not want all members of a committee to come from the same part of the county or be all of one race.
It is important that committees represent different points of view. If any one committee is composed of all members endorsed by The Justice League, for instance, then a conservative or moderate member of the Council may decide, and rightly so in my view, to disregard that committee's recommendations. For the smooth functioning of the council, the council needs to have confidence in the committee system. In a future post, I will try to identify the ideological make-up of the various committees.
In her making of committee assignment, Vice Mayor Henderson has cut the number of committees from eleven standing committees to eight. This seems wise and more manageable. I have posted below the membership of the committees and the chairs of the committee. The Planning and Zoning Committee chair is selected by the Council. In addition to these standing committees, from time to time there are special committees intended for a short duration or to address a particular issue.
Here are the Committee assignments:
BUDGET AND FINANCE
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
PLANNING AND ZONING
PUBLIC FACILITIES, ARTS, AND CULTURE
RULES, CONFIRMATIONS, AND PUBLIC ELECTIONS
PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY
GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND REGULATIONS
Art Carden is Margaret Gage Bush Distinguished Professor of Economics and Medical Properties Trust Fellow at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a co-editor of the Southern Economic Journal and a Fellow with numerous research, education, and outreach institutions including the American Institute for Economic Research and the Independent Institute. He is also the author (with Deirdre Nansen McCloskey) of Leave Me Alone and I'll Make You Rich: How the Bourgeois Deal Enriched the World (University of Chicago Press, 2020) and Strangers With Candy: Observations From the Ordinary Business of Life (Libertarian Christian Institute, 2023).
For more information and to register follow this link.
These monthly meetings of the Bastiat Society are excellent. The speakers are always engaging, informative, and thought provoking and are experts in their field. Many are published authors and highly credentialed scholars. Also, the people attending are intelligent, thoughtful and interesting people and the socializing is enjoyable. Also, the food is excellent! It is much better than the normal cheese and veggie tray one often encounters at fundraiser or political events and there is a full open bar. I highly recommend the Bastiat Society events.
The Beacon Center, September 25, 2023- Today, the Beacon Center filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the state of Tennessee. Beacon is representing Will McLemore and other online auctioneers in a challenge to a Tennessee law that requires online auctioneers to be licensed. This law threatens the livelihoods of Will, his employees, and other online auctioneers across the state, many of whom have been operating safely for years without having to obtain a license.
Will McLemore
Beacon filed the suit on First Amendment grounds because speaking is an essential part of auctioneering, and the government must be able to justify laws that restrict speech. In reality, the license requirement for online auctioneers is merely about protectionism and cronyism. Traditional auctioneers, worried about innovative online auctions, lobbied the legislature to impose a licensing requirement on online auctioneers. In addition, powerful online auctioneers such as eBay are exempt from the licensing requirement, further proving that the new licensing regime has nothing to do with consumer health or safety.
We filed this lawsuit because countless Americans, from web designers to tour guides to authors, make their living by speaking. The right to earn a living is fundamental. The fact is that this law is arbitrary, unfair, and quite frankly unconstitutional. Professional speech is not any less worthy of First Amendment protection merely because the speaker is earning a living in the process.
Metro Nashville press release, September 26, 2023 - Mayor Freddie O'Connell is proud to announce the following updates to his staff.
Wallace (Wally) Dietz will continue to be Metro Legal's Director, a position he has held since June 2021. Dietz had previously served as Compliance and Government Investigations Attorney at Bass, Berry and Sims.
Marjorie Pomeroy-Wallace will serve as Chief of Staff. She ran O'Connell's campaign as campaign manager.
Kristin Wilson will continue to serve as Chief of Operations and Performance. After a career in both the public and private sector, she entered her current role in September 2019.
Bob Mendes will join the O'Connell administration as Chief Development Officer. Mendes is an attorney and member of Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison, PLC. He also served as a member of the Metro Council for the last eight years.
O'Connell is hiring Katy Varney to be the interim Director of Communications. Varney was a partner at MP&F Strategic Communications. She also worked with former governor Ned McWherter and served as an advisor to Megan Barry's Mayoral campaign.
Alex Apple will serve as Deputy Communications Director and Press Secretary. He was Communications Director for the O'Connell campaign.
Other staff who are remaining include Kathy Floyd-Buggs and Bonita Dobbins.
The hiring and interviewing of staff continues, and Mayor O'Connell will be announcing more of the team in the coming weeks and months.
by Rod Williams, Sept. 26, 2023- Andy Ogles has a telephone town hall tomorrow night and has as his special guest Rep. Chip Roy. Roy, like Ogles, is a member of the Freedom Caucus.
There are some people I admire and respect who are members of that group of House Representatives such as my own congressman, Mark Green. Overall, however, my favorable view of the Freedom Caucus has waned. At one time I viewed the Freedom Caucus quite favorably. They were the most conservative members of the House and committed to less government and lower taxes and other core values I share. More and more however, I am viewing the Freedom Caucus less and less favorably. For one thing, they simply seem obstructionist, members of that caucus include Republicans who still think the 2022 election was stolen and are loyal to Donald Trump, and the leading Republican House nut-jobs, such as Marjorie Taylor Green and Lauren Boebert are members of the group. Also, the leading opponents of aid to Ukraine are members of this group.
Roy Chip is not a Republican Congressman I view favorably. He appears crude and bombastic and has a potty mouth, and he is opposed to providing funding to Ukraine.
I will be unable to join the Town Hall tomorrow night, but I hope someone will listen in and report on it. I would hope Ogles would make a recording or transcript available. I am curious is Ogles will allow unfiltered questions during the town hall or if only on-topic questions will be permitted and I wonder if questioners will be screened.
By the way, was there ever a satisfactory explanation to the questions raised about Andy Ogles misusing money raised as a memorial for still born babies?
by John Geer, Tennessee Lookout, Sept. 18, 2023 - Mayor-elect Freddie O’Connell won in a landslide last Thursday. 
Freddie O'Connell
... But while the mayoral election was a landslide, no one should assume the election was a “mandate” for any specific policies. That would be a mistake and could lead to missteps once O’Connell and the members of the City Council take the oath of office.
The truth of the matter is that elections provide limited information about voters’ views on public policy. A vote for a candidate only indicates that you, the voter, favor one contender more than the other. It does not even indicate that you liked the candidate you pulled the lever for. Some citizens may have been voting for the lesser of two evils, so to speak.
We can all try to infer some meaning from an election about policy, but the facts are that a ballot for O’Connell contains very little information on the voters’ views on policy. Consider that many surely voted for him but also supported the new Tennessee Titans stadium — a point of political controversy.
... As O’Connell and the Council roll up their sleeves, it would also be wise to listen to all voices. The solutions to our problems will not be found in one ideology, but rather a careful assessment of the relevant evidence and thoughtful consideration of all perspectives.
... It is also worth pointing out that listening to all voices and reaching across the aisle might help the city in its dealings with the state legislature. We need to find ways to build bridges, not barricades. And our state legislators might also be more open to listening as they think through the lessons from the recent special session. (read it all)
John G. Geer is a Distinguished Professor of Political Science and holds the Gertrude Conway Vanderbilt Chair. He leads the Vanderbilt Project on Unity & American Democracy, serving as a senior advisor to Chancellor Daniel Diermeier on key strategic initiatives. Geer also co-directs the Vanderbilt Poll.
I don't know if rejecting federal funds for education is a good idea or not. However, as the press release states, anytime you receive federal dollars, the money comes with strings attached. I want to know how much we receive and what detrimental rules the federal governments imposes on Tennessee. I support the appointment of a task force to study the issue.
By Jon Styf, The Center Square, Sep 21, 2023 - Tennessee saw 93 of its 95 counties hold a lower unemployment rate in August than the month before.
That includes 93 counties that hold an unemployment rate below 5%, according to numbers released Thursday afternoon. Overall, Tennessee is at an all-time low of 3.1% unemployment statewide while the national unemployment rate sits at 3.8%.
The lowest unemployment rates were in Moore (2.4%), Sevier (2.5%) and Williamson (2.5%) counties while the highest rates were in Lauderdale (5.8%), Bledsoe (5.2%) and Scott (4.8%) counties.
The Nashville-Murfreesboro Metropolitan area sits at 2.7% combined while the Memphis Metropolitan Area is at 4.4%.
Tennessee has an overall labor force of 3.4 million with 3.3 million employed.
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