Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell raised the infrastructure elements of his transit referendum as evidence that even Nashvillians who do not use the city’s bus system will benefit if it passes. He did not acknowledge the possibility the infrastructure portions are illegal under Tennessee law, as alleged by government watchdog Ben Cunningham.
Nashville Scene interviewed O’Connell on Thursday about his transit referendum. When asked about individuals who are only familiar with his proposed improvements to Nashville’s bus system, the mayor turned to the “improved infrastructure” promised in the referendum.
The mayor first told the outlet, “almost everywhere you go, you’re gonna get more green lights out of this program,” highlighting the referendum’s plans for smart street lights to manage traffic flow.
“That’s why we have from the jump called it a transportation improvement program because it’s full of improved infrastructure,” O’Connell told the outlet.
He argued, “there will simply be smarter traffic flow around the entire city that is moving people through safer corridors and intersections.”
O’Connell stated, “If the only thing that you’re looking at in this plan and seeing are the transit elements, the bus elements, there’s definitely more to the story there.”
In addition to creating new, 24-hour bus lines and 12 new transit centers, the mayor is asking voters to approve 86 miles of sidewalk improvements, 35 miles of new bicycle facilities, and 600 new traffic signals to manage the flow of traffic.
O’Connell claims the transit package would be financed using a half-cent sales tax increase and federal money. It is expected to cost $3.1 billion, but the sum is likely to swell to $6.93 billion over the project’s lifetime.
Cunningham , who is the Nashville Tea Party founder, has repeatedly warned O’Connell’s plan violates the 2017 IMPROVE Act, which allows Tennessee communities to levy taxes to pay for a “public transit system.”
Within the IMPROVE Act, a “public transit system” is specifically defined as, “any mass transit system intended for shared passenger transport services to the general public, together with any building, structure, appurtenance, utility, transport support facility, transport vehicles, service vehicles, parking facility, or any other facility, structure, vehicle, or property needed to operate the transportation facility or provide connectivity for the transportation facility to any other non-mass transit system transportation infrastructure, including, but not limited to, interstates, highways, roads, streets, alleys, and sidewalks.”
Metro Nashville Department of Law Director Wally Dietz previously told The Tennessee Star in May the city maintains the referendum “complies in every way with state law,” seemingly arguing the 2017 IMPROVE Act “permits each one of those pieces of the program.”
Cunningham has also warned the federal funding for the referendum could dwindle or disappear, which would likely prompt a property tax increase for Nashville.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Freddie O’Connell” by Freddie O’Connell. Background Photo “Freddie O’Connell” by Freddie O’Connell.
No way……not voting for this waste of tax money.
Sounds like he got his political training from Kamala. Half-truths and flat out lies.
As long as the “watchdog”‘s kennel isn’t in Davidson County, I’d tend not to worry too much about what he has to say.
NO NO NO…..and Hell NO
If this plan includes more of the UGLY WHITE STICKS LINING ROADWAYS FOR BIKERS NO ONE EVER SEES. I’m guessing Bikers are smart enough to know the White Sticks will NOT keep them safe from the speeders & drunk drivers.
It seems the mission of this plan is to FORCE people to use public transportation or bikes. ARE ALL THE BUSSES going to be ELECTRIC?
ID MUCH RATHER PAY FOR MORE PATROL POLICE OFFICERS PRESENCE ON THE HIGHWAYS. THIS ALONE WOULD REDUCE CRIME & CAR ACCIDENTS.
I think there’s a State Law that bans dark tinted windows on cars & trucks. Yet I see many many cars that travel on our highways, & you cannot see who or how many potential crooks are in the car. If I were a cop, I wouldn’t walk up to one of those cars, so why stop them. If their windows are dark, what are they hiding? Are they criminals? I don’t feel safe coming up to a stop light beside these cars.
It seems this Transit Plan is to force People to ride busses to work, not cars. No Thank You.
Sounds like the push for Equity to me. I worked hard, went to school, stayed off drugs, made good choices in life so I could have a home in a safe, beautiful neighborhood and a nice , insured car to drive to work. YOU KNOW. THE AMERICAN DREAM.
And yet the phony Marxists want to punish success. That’s exactly what this crap is about.
Everytime I drive through what used to be a pleasant drive through my community, all I can see are UGLY WHITE STICKS, ONE AFTER THE OTHER FOR MILES & MILES lining the roadways. The roadways are not repaved, & mowed & kept clean of trash.
I’m sure my taxes paid for these UGLY STICKS, which benefit NOONE except for maybe the homeless pushing their grocery carts from one location to another to beg for money.
IM confident it BENEFITS SOMEBODY MONETARILY.
I want to know what company got that contract. My guess is it’s someone who put a lot of money in O’Connell pockets.
WHY NOT USE THAT MONEY TO GET HOMELESS PEOPLE OFF THE STREETS, WHO OBVIOUSLY NEED SOME KIND OF ASSISTANCE. I DONT GIVE MY HARD EARNED MONEY TO BEGGARS. I PAY TAXES TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE FOR THEM. IF THEY DONT WANT HELP FROM AGENCIES, THEN THATS THEIR CHOICE, but their rights STOP where my rights begin.. THE LOITERING, HARRASSMENT & NASTINESS IS NOT WHAT A ” HOT CITY” DOES.
IF ANYONE HAS YARD SIGNS THAT SAY VOTE NO ON FREDDIE’S MARXIST PLAN, WE NEED TO KNOW HOW TO INFORM PEOPLE THIS IS JUNK.
“The mayor first told the outlet, “almost everywhere you go, you’re gonna get more green lights out of this program,”
What you’ll probably get out of this program are more blue lights. The dem way.