Live from Music Row Monday 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 Metro Nashville City Council Member-At-Large Steve Glover to the newsmaker line to discuss the Metro Council’s approach to solving the homelessness problem and his group dedicated to helping those that want to run for local government.
Leahy: We are joined now on our newsmaker line by our very good friend, Metro Council member at large, Steve Glover. Good morning, Steve.
Glover: Good morning, sir. How are you?
Leahy: It’s been a while. Tell us what is going on in Metro Nashville Council these days.
Glover: Well, how long do we have? (Chuckles)Â
Leahy: I know. What’s the big issue?
Glover: Well, I think there’s a couple of big issues. Number one, we’re going to be talking about borrowing another $568,000,000 for capital spending. That would be right about a billion dollars that we’d borrow within a twelve-month period.
The last time I checked that, that’s increasing our debt even more drastically. That makes Nashville, without a doubt, the number one city in America with the highest debt per capita of the population. So that ought to just give you a warm and fuzzy feeling right there. And I’m sure it’s going to pass.
I’m not going to support it, but I’m sure it’ll pass, but it continues to scare me the amount of debt we’re willing to take. And here’s the reason why we’re willing to do that. And this is a good one. Okay? Because interest rates are low.
Leahy: Okay. Interest rates are low for now, right? They’re about to go up, right.
Glover: (Laughs) But my thing is, how do you borrow a billion dollars because interest rates are low. Interest rates may be low, but it’s got to be paid back. The only way to be paid back is how? By your tax dollars.
So if we’re going to do that and we’re going to increase the debt, what’s going to happen to your tax dollars? We’re going to need more of them. And so don’t be surprised in two or three years to have another massive 26 percent to 34 percent property tax increase. That’s what I’m forecasting right now today.
Leahy: Isn’t the Metro Nashville government in danger of being taken over by the state government because it’s so reckless financially?
Glover: Well, you would hope so. But the problem is that we keep raising the taxes. And so therefore it gets us out of ‘that danger.’ That’s number one. I think number two, you’re hearing a lot of chatter on homelessness now.
We’re not doing anything about it. We’re sitting here talking about how we’re going to have the Mayor and the Council go do these tours, et cetera. This is not something you go to.
And this is something you roll your sleeves up on and you sit down at the table and say, we have some real solutions. Now, I’ve got some ideas, but you know how many times I’ve been invited to the table? None.
Leahy: The homeless thing to me, seems pretty simple. If you provide incentives that make it easy for people to be homeless in various parts of the city, they will go to those parts of the city and create difficulties for the rest of the population.
That’s been the case in Seattle and Portland and Los Angeles, where the homeless kind of run the joint these days to the disadvantage of taxpaying citizens. Isn’t that basic?
Glover: And the businesses.
Leahy: Yes.
Glover: Look what’s happened out in San Francisco and some of the other, look, there are certain people that I totally get it. And if you have those kinds of issues, we absolutely have to help. But there’s a lot of folks that need a hand.
Maybe they had a bad turn in their past. Maybe there’s a criminal thing out there. There are ways to overcome this. And we are not approaching this in an adult, responsible manner. You can’t just throw money at this. You have to throw solutions whether you believe in the Bible or you don’t.
I happen to. And I firmly believe you teach a man to fish. You don’t just give them fish for the day. There’s a lot of opportunities we could take advantage of.
I saw something the other day, a young man literally sitting next to a store, and I’m not going to name the name of it, but they’re based here in the Middle Tennessee area.
Large national group. And he had a sign there said that said, need help, homeless, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I said, young man, I’m going to give you some help. He goes, how?
And I said, see that sign right there? It says help wanted. Get up, get a job. And if you’re not able to get the job because of something in your past, let us help in that arena.
Leahy: Well, what did this young man say? I know what he said.
Glover: He had a couple of choices.
Leahy: He gave you the international symbol of love. (Laughs)Â
Glover: Yes. The one symbol, right? The one symbol in the middle means it’s universal. Right.
Leahy: Now I have noticed this huge uptick in yadda, yadda, yadda, chatter, chatter, chatter from the mayor’s office, from all the usual suspects, and the liberal lunatics who are your colleagues on Metro Nashville Council. But there’s a lot of talk. I haven’t seen anything that is a practical common-sense solution for the issue of homelessness.
Glover: It’s because this is the way they do. Let’s talk about it. Let’s not do anything, but let’s talk about it. Then we’ll pat ourselves on the back and say, wow, look what we did. Well, you didn’t do anything.
Leahy: So I have a suggestion. Clear out all these public spaces that are being dominated by the homeless and dangerous for the rest of us. Clear them out.
Get the police in and move them to the various homeless shelters that are there. And then when they’re there, get them off drugs, try to work with them, and get them to work. How does that sound?
Glover: Yeah, that’s a part of it. If you go farther than that because we’ve got a lot of lands out here that we could do some things with. And I’m not talking about just setting up camps. I’m not talking about setting up tents I’m talking about actually doing some permanent solutions and some real fixes.
But, again, they don’t want to hear what I have to say because I’m going to approach it from a very logical standpoint. I’m going to approach it from an economical standpoint, and I’m going to approach it from one that won’t drain the taxpayers for the rest of our lives. And so they don’t want to hear those kinds of solutions.
Leahy: Somebody does. Our listeners want to hear it, but when you say they, they would be the Mayor?
Glover: I’m talking about the other side downtown. That’s right. Yeah. They don’t want to hear this. They don’t want to hear this. Well, if Glover’s got an idea, it couldn’t be worth a flip. No.
Leahy: Here’s the thing about it. When you say they you’re talking about the Mayor and all of the bureaucrats in Metro Nashville government, correct?
Glover: I’m talking about the Mayor. I’m talking about the far-Lefters. I’m not going to necessarily say the bureaucrats. I think there’s a lot of bureaucrats that would love to see it fixed, but they work for the Mayor.
Leahy: Now, back to the issue. There are 40 members of the Metro Council, right?
Glover: Yes.
Leahy: How many of them are sane?
Glover: There’s probably a little over a handful.
Leahy: Maybe so a little over a handful. So six, seven, eight.
Glover: Six or seven. On a good day.
Leahy: So let’s get back to this issue of not every voter in Nashville really ultimately supports this lack of common sense that those who are elected have. Is there an opportunity to turn out and defeat some of these left-wing lunatics on the Metro Council?
Glover: I’m out now. In fact, I’ve got a workshop I’m doing Thursday night to talk to folks about the school board. We started doing workshops on the Metro Council. What it takes to get there. I don’t think a lot of people realize the power of local government, but we’re the ones who raised your taxes 34 percent to 37 percent.
We’re the ones who regulate a lot of things in your life. We’re the ones that almost made you wear a mask inside a building before, thank God the state stepped in. And so it’s very important that you get involved, that you understand local politics, and that you go and vote.
Leahy: Talking about these workshops that you’re conducting. How do you find out about them? How would people go?
Glover: I’m really lucky. I got a group of volunteers who are setting this up and who are out and they’re looking for folks who want to run because I’m only one person. There are only so many hours in a day.
So, fortunately, we’ve got a lot of people who have picked up the cross and are sitting here saying, all right, let’s go out. Let’s find these folks. And then I’m going in and telling them how to.
And I don’t want to say I’m telling them I’m sharing with them ways I got elected. I’m sharing with them ideas on how to get elected. I’m telling them the ways to get elected and what’s required in local elections.
Leahy: Is there a website for these events?
Glover: Not yet but I assume they’ll probably be setting one up. I will find that out, and I will share it with you. I don’t know because they call me and say, hey, are you available for this date? That date, et cetera. And if we can clear it on my calendar, then I’m there because I want to see a good, strong, common-sense government in Nashville.
Leahy: And when you say they, do the group have a name?
Glover: It’s various people. I don’t know that they have one united name.
Leahy: We’re going to investigate, get more details on this.
Glover: Please. And forgive me, it’s friends that I’ve developed over the years that reached out to me, and they’re really outgoing, and I know they have a name. I’m just afraid I’m going to misquote.
Leahy: We’ll get the website up and we’ll send a reporter to cover your Thursday training. How about that?
Glover: That’d be great.
Leahy: All right. Steve Glover, Metro Council Member-at-Large. The sane member of the Metro Council.
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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.
