Less than 24 hours after the Davidson County Election Commission voted to place the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act’s referendum to roll back property taxes on the ballot, both Metro Nashville Legal and the Nashville Business Coalition filed lawsuits to thwart the effort.
Members of the Nashville Business Coalition on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in Davidson County Court to invalidate the signatures collected to put the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act up for a voter referendum.
The referendum, if voters approve it, would roll back Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s 34 to 37 percent tax increase.
In the complaint, Nashville Attorney Jamie R. Hollin and Nashville Business Coalition Executive Director Joseph Woodson asked court officials to declare that the Davidson County Election Commission had no authority to determine that certain ballot provisions were legally valid. Hollin and Woodson also said they want the court to declare the proposed act invalid and unconstitutional.
Members of the Davidson County Election Commission voted 3-2 Monday to allow voters the right to say yes or no to the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act.
In their lawsuit, Hollin and Woodson said election commissioners at Monday’s meeting didn’t discuss, debate, or deliberate “in spite of the agenda stating there would be ‘discussion.’” The two men said the lack of any such discussion washed “away any pretense of a legitimate proceeding.”
“The writing has been on the wall since the change in membership on the Commission and the reinstallation of Mr. Jim DeLanis as its Chairman. The numerous meetings of the Commission are nothing more than an attempt to create an illusion of legitimate proceedings,” according to the lawsuit.
“In spite of the effort to create this illusion of legitimacy, the Commission cannot put the matters before it on the ballot because to do so would violate the United States Constitution, the Tennessee Constitution, Tennessee, law, the Metro Charter, and prior rulings of this court.”
Hollin and Woodson said in their lawsuit that election commissioners verified hundreds of petition signatures from voters who either no longer live in Davidson County or signed for their spouse or partner illegally.
Woodson and Hollin also said the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act threatens the best interests of the Nashville Business Coalition.
“The Coalition and those whose interests it represents will incur significant costs and expenses as well as will face permanent deprivation of legally protectable rights if the Proposed Act passes,” according to the lawsuit.
Rolling back Cooper’s 34 to 37 percent tax increase, for instance, would expose “holders of economic and community development grants to increased interest rates beyond that which was contracted,” the lawsuit said.
Nashville attorney Jim Roberts, one of the key players behind the proposed Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act, told The Tennessee Star in an email Tuesday that “this may fairly be said to be the most dishonest and disingenuous complaint I have ever read.”
“The business coalition is nothing more than a pro-tax political action committee (PAC) masquerading as a civic organization. They have no standing to challenge a VOTER ballot initiative as the coalition has no right to vote,” Roberts wrote.
“This is another fraud being perpetrated against the public by a pro-tax and anti-citizen group.”
Members of the Davidson County Election Commission voted last month to use last year’s August election instead of last November’s election to determine how many signatures were needed on a petition calling for the referendum. Fewer people voted in the August election versus the November election.
Metro Lawsuit
The Tennessee Lookout reported Tuesday that the Metro Nashville government filed a separate lawsuit to stop the referendum. The Tennessean reported the same, “arguing the initiative is flawed and unconstitutional and will cause financial loss to the city.”
The Lookout, meanwhile, said Roberts “failed to meet the charter requirement that any charter amendment proposals prescribe a date for the referendum.”
“Roberts turned in petitions, which were mailed to Davidson County voters, prescribing two possible dates – May 28 or June 14 – for the referendum. But, Roberts also turned in petitions printed off the 4 Good Government website signed by 550 voters identifying June 14 as the election date. Subtracting the 550 printed petitions would take 4 Good Government below the threshold to force the election since the group had a margin of just more than 200 signatures.”
Hollins, speaking on the Nashville Business Coalition’s behalf at Tuesday’s election commission meeting, quoted a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on what constitutes a notice to appear and said “words are how the law constrains power.”
“Applying this case to what you have already done, a date is equivalent to a notice and it constrains your power to place these matters on the ballot, not today but ultimately in court you will be so constrained and I am chomping at the bit to get there,” Hollins said.
Roberts said Tuesday that Metro government officials are desperate.
“The arguments advanced are best described as ‘nit picking.’ The Election Commission’s JOB is to make decisions about voters, candidates and ballot initiatives,” Roberts said.
“The Election Commission decided we met the criteria and all of this is Metro just whining about the results and throwing up every dishonest and farcical argument they can muster. Metro is being patently dishonest, and its arguments are disingenuous.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Let the public vote.
It’s time to have a talkin’ to with Hollin and Woodson – at home and at work. It works for the left, it can work for us. No free passes for these self-serving miscreants.
Could someone tell me who belongs to the Nashville Business Coalition? Is it like the Chamber of Commerce?
I searched the web and found a mention of the organization endorsing Metro political candidates, legal action against the Voting Commission and a short article about Gov. Lee resigning from the Board. There was no web site or list of companies.
That’s because you’re not supposed to know.
Imagine a metro government so corrupt it sues its own citizens in order to keep fleecing them? Huh, funny that! /sarc
Hey Mayor Coop, do you really think that we are that gullible to believe there is a business owner on Earth who wants to legitimately pay higher taxes? Come on now! You’ve been trying to feed us turdsicles for long enough, and we’re done with you! We see through you and your band of robber-barons line of BS!
It’s time for the citizens of Nashville to take back our city. Step #1 is to financially and on social media support Jim Robert’s effort.
Businesses belonging to this Nashville Business Coalition need to be boycotted. Hit them in their bottom line like they are trying to do to you.
I’m having a hard time finding a list of these “businesses” other than a small list of individuals from an article back in 2019 shared below…and they are all known libs. This is no more than a lib lobbying group….
The Nashville Business Coalition’s board of directors includes several recognizable business leaders, such as Ralph Schulz, CEO of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce; Lee Molette, owner, Molette Investment Services; Jim Schmitz, market leader of Elliot Davis; and James Weaver, a lobbyist with Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP.
Commie Cooper and his comrade crooks only care about your money and keeping the money flowing to the right people, it has very little if anything to do with the operation of the city. Democratic corruption has run Nashville for years. More money to the worse school system in the state and housing for the homeless, more mindless BS to assure the ignorant public their tax dollars are hard at work. Democratic dribble for the public.