by Jon Styf
A three-judge panel in Tennessee Chancery Court has blocked a law that would have required Metro Nashville’s Council to be reduced from 40 to 20 members.
The panel ruled Nashville would likely prevail in its argument related to the Local Legislation Clause, stating the law was local in effect but did not provide Metro Nashville with the right to approve the measure.
The three-judge panel said moving forward with the law while the case is ongoing would cause Metro Nashville irreparable harm and the balance of harm weighed in favor of the injunction because “there is a compelling public interest in preserving the integrity of the Metro election process that is already underway.”
The state of Tennessee would have to appeal the ruling to the Tennessee Supreme Court and the court would then have to agree to hear the case in order for the law to proceed.
“For today, we have a victory,” Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz said at Monday’s Special Meeting of the Metro Nashville Council. “We are back to an election with 40 members of this council on Aug. 3.”
The council reduction bill had passed the Legislature on March 9 and was signed by Gov. Bill Lee immediately that day.
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Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter at The Center Square who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies.
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A body of 40 is ridiculously large for a city the size of Nashville. The current size invites department micromanagement by the elected who have no knowledge of program intricacies. The current council is not without cost, the monies spent on their salaries, benefits and staffing could be better used in providing services to city constituents. With inflation continuing to rise under this President and his administration, we need, we must cut costs wherever possible. This sounds the perfect place to start as there is very little return on investment, the investment being tax payer monies..
Metro Council Members are NOT Metro Employees. yet they voted themselves a lot of Metro Employee Benefts like Healthcare for life in 1993. It’s changed some since then, but they do a part time job, & they are not Metro employees, but the Nashville citizens pay for their benefits. It sucks.
40 City Council members is absolutely ridiculous and an unnecessary financial burden on the tax payer. It is a recipe for corruption.
I believe that I understand the backstory for the state wanting to pare the council down to 20 members. But, really, what difference does it make if the council has 1 or 100 members? A body of clowns is a body of clowns no matter how many clowns make up the council. Nashville has been a lost cause for decades.