Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist, official guest host, and Faith and Freedom Coalition Tennessee Director Aaron Gulbransen in-studio to comment upon the recent resolution proposed by Metro City Council in an attempt to fund Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and Northern Mississippi.
Leahy: We are joined in-studio by the official guest host of The Tennessee Star Report, Aaron Gulbransen. He’s also the state director in Tennessee for the Faith and Freedom Coalition.
You know, one of the things that I just love about Metro Nashville is that the Metro Council has decided that really, it’s not a Metro Council.
Gulbransen: No.
Leahy: No, no, no, no. Depending upon the day, it’s either the United Nations or the Congress of the United States. Because if you’re elected to a district in Metro Nashville, that’s your job.
It’s not keeping the streets safe, it’s not making sure the garbage is picked up on time. No, your job is setting national and international policy.
Gulbransen: When I was doing campaigns, I didn’t like doing city council races. I did them because in order to be effective, generally speaking, you need to know where all the potholes are and you need to worry about things like that.
These minute details, however, as you just said, either one day the Metro Nashville Council is the United Nations and now they are attempting to be a funding source for Planned Parenthood of Tennessee in North Mississippi.
Leahy: Now let’s just kind of set the stage here, the way Metro Nashville government works. We have a 40-member council, right?
Gulbransen: Plus the vice mayor.
Leahy: Plus the vice mayor, okay. And then an elected mayor. There are five at-large members of the Metro Council you vote for at-large. Anybody who lives in Davidson County can vote for the at-large council members.
Right now one of them has resigned, Steve Glover. That seat has not been filled. So there are four at-large, but in addition, the county is divided into 35 council districts, 39. So right now, of those 39, I don’t know how many of them are utter left-wing lunatics.
Gulbransen: I’m under the impression that they all are, but there is a sliding scale that a few of them are not quite there.
Leahy: But no, we’ve got a couple that …
Gulbransen: They’re hiding in a corner. Everybody making all the noise on the city council is definitely, as our friend Roger Simon likes to say, to the left of Trotsky.
Leahy: We’ve got four or five, I think, that consider themselves conservatives. Let’s talk about this foray by the Metro Council last night into national policy.
Gulbransen: So, amidst tonight, at I believe 6:00 at the Metro Courthouse, the Nashville Metro Council will be meeting, and in addition to however many tens of millions of dollars they plan on spending of your taxpayer money, in addition to American Rescue Plan funds, there is a resolution appropriating the amount of $500,000 with the purpose of funding a grant to Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi. There are no strings on this.
Leahy: Isn’t this like … what they’re going to do is basically, what, fund travel for an abortion?
Gulbransen: Yes and here’s what it says: “Provide comprehensive sexual education in Nashville and Davidson County, distribution of safer sex supply kits and accurate information about abortion, reproductive health care, and services related to” – to your point – “abortion navigation for individuals seeking abortion care in states outside of Tennessee.
Leahy: So in other words, it’s going to fund the travel of Nashville residents of whatever age who want to get an abortion. They’ll go to California or wherever they want.
Are there any Gavin Newsome billboards yet here in Tennessee saying, fly to California for your abortion? They are doing that in Florida, I think.
Gulbransen: I’m not sure. I haven’t seen them yet. Of course, there’s no one to target in the state if you’re trying to raise your national profile like Newsom is to make DeSantis the yin to his yang.
But the original proposal for this resolution is to take $100,000 out of the Metro Council’s regular pay, $100,000 out of the mayor’s office regular pay, and $300,000, to a total of $500,000, out of traffic signal maintenance.
Leahy: Because the priority, obviously, is to fund the travel of Davidson County residents who want to get abortions in California or wherever and not to keep the traffic lights running properly.
Gulbransen: Lisa Porterfield and Freddie O’Connell, council members, have suggested alternative funding sources for this: $500,000 from the ones I just listed …
Leahy:Â Can I just stop for a moment? What is the financial health of Metro Nashville?
Gulbransen: It has been charitably described as in the toilet, I believe.
Leahy: It’s basically broke. They do it very poorly. No rainy day fund. They have this huge unfunded healthcare liabilities for retirees that they can’t fund. So what’s this alternative?
Gulbransen: It’s lesser amounts from the offices that I just mentioned. However, here is what is interesting. They want to take $90,000 in this alternative one by council members O’Connell and Porterfield – which is an amendment to the resolution – $90,000 from police regular pay, and put it into this abortion grant.
Leahy: Because nothing says encouraging the police department like cutting their pay.
Gulbransen: Exactly. And then there’s a laundry list: $60,000 from the Parks Department’s regular pay …
Leahy: Aaron, let me ask you, they can’t do this legally. I don’t see how they could do that, cut somebody’s pay. There’s got to be all sorts of regulations that prohibit them from doing that.
Gulbransen: It’s money that’s been held back or hasn’t been distributed yet and they’re saying that it’s not going to go to anyone specifically.
I would imagine there would be a lawsuit if this gets passed. It flies in the face of at least the spirit of the laws and the books in the state.
Leahy: So let me ask you the broader question. You are a student of American political history. There was a time – let’s think back to Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago. Think about to the classic sort of, even, James Michael Curley, the mayor of Boston.
They made sure that the streets were safe. They made sure the garbage was collected. They made sure that the public transit ran effectively. That was the idea of what a mayor was supposed to do.
These were all Democrats. When did the idea of being a mayor who actually served the local needs of the citizens of their respective cities change among Democrats?
Gulbransen: That’s a really good question. There’s a difference between stating that you’re serving the local interest versus actually doing it.
Leahy: They all state that.
Gulbransen: It hasn’t happened for a while. If you look at the most high-profile state in the union or city in the union, which is New York City, they haven’t had a mayor serve the interest of the people or city council or even prefer to since Rudy Giuliani left office in 2001.
Listen to today’s show highlights, including this interview:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Background Photo “Pregnant Woman” by Jonathan Borba.
