Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said Nashville officials could face additional action from the Tennessee General Assembly if they try to delay implementing a state law that would reduce Metro Nashville’s 40-member council to 20 following a recent Tennessee Supreme Court ruling upholding the legislation.
Appearing Monday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert discussed last week’s ruling and a report published Monday morning by Axios detailing the legal and logistical questions Metro officials must resolve before implementing the reduction ahead of the August 2027 Metro elections.
The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled November 2 that the General Assembly’s 20-member cap on metropolitan councils does not violate the Tennessee Constitution’s Exemption Clause, clearing the way for the 2023 law to take effect.
Pappert said Nashville’s council is unusually large compared to other municipal legislative bodies.
“First, I invite our listeners who may not be in Tennessee, and may be all over the country, to think about your city council,” Pappert said. “How many people are on there? Maybe it’s four if you’re in a real small town. Maybe it’s eight. That seems to be a common number. In Metro Nashville, it’s 40.”
He explained how the General Assembly passed the legislation three years ago to reduce the council’s size, but Nashville officials fought the measure through the courts.
“It seems to me a reasonable reduction considering there’s scientific studies saying groups much larger than 20 don’t function very well,” Pappert said. “But they fought it, and they fought it for three years until it got to the Tennessee Supreme Court, which ruled earlier this month that in fact the law is constitutional and it can move forward.”
Pappert said one of the central questions now facing Metro officials is whether they will attempt to postpone implementation until the 2031 election rather than comply ahead of next year’s election.
“Are they going to try to say there’s not enough time before 2027, the next city elections, and instead they have to wait until 2031?” Pappert said. “That’s their best case scenario, and knowing how Metro Nashville works, they’re going to push very hard for it.”
Axios reported Monday that Metro officials must resolve several issues, including redrawing district boundaries, determining how many at-large council seats to retain, increasing administrative staffing, and addressing charter provisions that reference the current 40-member council.
Vice Mayor Angie Henderson told the outlet that Metro officials are in an “analytical holding pattern” as they consider the questions raised by the ruling.
Pappert said the redistricting process could also create political complications for Democrats in Davidson County, potentially forcing current council members Rollin Horton and Brenda Gadd, whose districts border each other in West Nashville, to compete for the same seat.
“That’s going to pit them against each other,” Pappert said. “One of them may no longer have a district by the time this is done, and then do they campaign against each other? Will there be a bloodbath among the Nashville Democrats? We’ll have to see, and we’ll have to see if they’re gonna try to push it until 2031.”
Pappert also pointed to the possibility of further legislative action if Metro attempts to delay implementation.
“If and when Metro Nashville attempts to delay this further, I hope we see the general assembly either pass another law clarifying when this needs to happen and saying that it needs to happen for 2027, or else sue again and say, ‘No, we’re not allowing this delay to take place,’” Pappert said.
A special charter revision committee meeting is planned for next week to let council members question Metro legal officials about the steps needed to implement the reduction.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Nashville City Hall” by Nicolas Henderson. CC BY 2.0.
