Letter to the Editor: “I am fed up with these blatant, arrogant power grabs”

 

Dear Tennessee Star,

First of all, I just want everyone there to know how much I appreciate you. I have sent the Tennessee Star link to all of my friends and family – both here and in other states.

The reason I’m writing today is that I am fed up with these blatant, arrogant power grabs that are so totally disrespectful and contradict the residents of Tennessee. Boss Doss plainly is answering to a boss other than Tennessee residents. I hope voters remove the 10 Republicans who voted for this “amended IMPROVE Act.”

This kind of “ramming” seems to be the order of the day.

Last night I was at the Metro Council meeting and watched as they went through new resolutions so quickly that I couldn’t even keep up on the agenda! The Vice Mayor actually joked with the Council person reading the resolutions about getting through them so quickly. I was there specifically regarding a zoning change. I have been to every commission meeting, council meeting, and public hearing on this proposal except one when I didn’t receive a notice. The only persons who have spoken in favor of this rezoning are the person wanting to develop it and his “banker friend” and the Council Lady. Multiple residents of the district have shown up at various meeting and spoken against it. Last night she recommended on the third reading that the change be approved and, of course, it carried unanimously.

Apparently there is something called “Council consideration” or something like that. They completely disregard the input of the public and just keep pushing their proposals to the third reading and approval. The process is a sham and the appeal process is expensive and time-consuming. One of the things used to “support” the rezoning was that there had been a previous business operated on the property. That business was an illegal and unlicensed operation that has been gone for years. They never denied that it was an illegal operation – they used it as justification to approve the rezoning. So now government representatives have gotten so arrogant that they are willing proponents for using crimes to justify their own actions and proposals. It is just beyond comprehension!

This same Council Lady has introduced a proposal to lift weight restrictions on a narrow section of Couchville Pike. She got a lot of angry emails in opposition to this proposal when residents were notified of the proposal via email. Her response was that we needed to realize that “you can’t separate a person from their business.” There seem to be no similar concerns about separating homeowners from their homes. My response to her was that the business person and their lender or lending institution had a responsibility for due diligence and that would have included being familiar with the codes and zones impacting the property.

Instead they disregarded codes and restrictions, and ignore the wishes of homeowners who are paying property taxes and want to live in a residential neighborhood. They just bullied their way in and demanded that the laws be changed to suit them. They didn’t bother do their due diligence and went to the representative and requested that zones and codes be changed to suit them rather than seeking out appropriately zoned property. So far it looks like the bullying and ramming is working for them.

Somehow this has to be stopped. Trying to get involved in the process is very discouraging, because what I think I have learned is that if a proposal gets to a Commission Meeting and is approved there, it is a done deal – regardless. Just like Boss Doss, the politicians simply do whatever works best for them for whatever reason.

It’s disgusting.

But The Tennessee Star is a blessing and brings clarity to this foggy, smoke and mirrors world. As you all shine more light into these areas perhaps we can learn how to stop the bullying.

Thank you,

Betty L. D.
Nashville, TN