Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed a notice of appeal to the injunction issued by a three-judge panel in October which determined the Tennessee General Assembly violated the state Constitution with its new law changing how the Metro Nashville Airport Authority board is selected.
Under the new law, two board members would be selected by the Nashville mayor, Tennessee governor, and top two lawmakers in the Tennessee General Assembly, respectively. When the injunction was filed, the board went back to its previous selection process, by which members are picked by Nashville’s mayor and approved by the Metro Nashville Council.
“We look forward to litigating this case to a clear and decisive resolution so airport leadership can focus on serving our community and our visitors,” said Skrmetti’s press secretary, Tim Meads, in a statement released by the attorney general’s office.
While Democrats celebrated the injunction stopping the new board, two board members appointed under the new law contest Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s claims that they resigned, and attended the most recent board meeting, according to Tennessee Lookout.
O’Connell has decided against appointing new members for now, the outlet noted and has allowed realty executive Jimmy Granberry and businessman Bobby Joslin to retain their positions.
Joslin, who noted in October that served on the board for 15 years and was against appealing the decision due to the “distraction” it created for the airport, said he “never resigned” and did not intend to leave if asked. Speaking to The Nashville Business Journal, Joslin reportedly said, “until they throw me off that board, I’m going to continue to serve this city and this state.”
State Representative Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville), who introduced the bill in the Tennessee House, called the injunction “a major setback for transparency and fair representation” for taxpayers in an October post to social media, writing at the time that he looked “forward to an appeal.”
Metro Nashville argued in its lawsuit that the law signed by Gov. Bill Lee (R) would only impact one municipality, which is a violation of the Tennessee Constitution. Lee was named in the lawsuit, as were House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) and Lt. Governor Randy McNally (R), and Skrmetti’s notice of appeal explained that all three men intend to appeal the injunction.
The city also sued to stop a law that lowered the number of voting Nashville council members required to vote to demolish the Nashville Fairgrounds from 40 to 20, but the state missed its deadline to appeal an injunction in that case in October.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Considering the absolute disaster in accessing the “new, bigger, better” (and very expensive BNA) it makes sense that someone with some sembalence of sanity take control of the authority.
I’m glad AG Skimrmetti is appealing this injunction. This Socialist Mayor has way too much power, & a Metro Councilbtgat votes how the Mayor wants them to vote. Why shouldn’t they. They are lame ducks thanks to mandatory term limits. And yes there are way too many Council Members in Nashville feeding off the Metro Taxpayers.
Like the Biden Admin ignores the US Constitution, the Netro Council & Mayor & Dems in general ignore the Metro Charter.