Tag: Bob Mendes

Nashville Chief Development Officer Addresses Proposed ‘East Bank Authority,’ Prioritizes Residential Buildings for East Bank Development

Matthew Giffin
Bob Mendes East Bank

Metro Nashville Chief Development Officer Bob Mendes addressed the proposed “East Bank Development Authority” that would oversee the East Bank development project at a Friday press conference. Mendes also detailed some restrictions he said are intended to create a “neighborhood” in a 30-acre area of the East Bank.

Mendes said he was hopeful that the Tennessee General Assembly would pass the necessary legislation to create an East Bank Development Authority, which he added would also need to be approved by the Nashville Metro Council.

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Freddie O’Connell Announces First Appointments to His Staff

Kaitlin Housler

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell announced on Tuesday updates to his staff one day after being sworn into office during a private ceremony.

Marjorie Pomeroy-Wallace, who ran O’Connell’s campaign as campaign manager, will serve as his chief of staff. Alex Apple, who served as O’Connell’s communications director during the campaign, was also hired to serve as deputy communications director and press secretary in the mayor’s office.

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Metro Nashville City Council Member Bob Mendes Endorses Freddie O’Connell for Nashville Mayor

Kaitlin Housler

Metro Nashville Council Member (At-Large) Bob Mendes endorsed fellow council member Freddie O’Connell as the next mayor of Nashville.

In January, The Tennessee Star reported that current Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced that he would not seek re-election, leaving the race wide open. O’Connell was one of the first to announce his candidacy for the position.

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Analysis: City Officials’ Spending Plan for $3.1 Billion in New Titans Stadium Tax Capture Funding

The Center Square

At least $3.1 billion is expected to be collected in a tax capture fund over a 30-year lease related to a new $2.2 billion Tennessee Titans stadium, according to updated estimates from the Nashville mayor’s office.

That number does not include $500 million the state of Tennessee will bond for the project, an additional tax on tickets expected to collect $470 million that was added to the deal through a Metro Nashville Council amendment last week or the $840 million funds the Tennessee Titans will spend on the construction project, including a $200 million National Football League loan and what the team makes on selling new personal seat licenses.

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Analysis: Nashville Officials Cobble Plans to Pay Estimated $2.2 Billion in Titans Stadium Costs, Spend $2.9 Billion in Estimated Revenues

The Center Square

Construction costs have been divided up clearly to fund up to $2.2 billion of construction expenses on a new Tennessee Titans stadium in Nashville, expected to open in 2027.

Tennessee has committed $500 million in funds it will bond, Nashville’s Metropolitan Sports Authority will take out $760 million in revenue bonds backed by Metro Nashville’s general fund set to be paid off with state and local tax captures and the Titans have committed at least $840 million including an estimated $200 million from a National Football League G-4 loan and $270 million from new personal seat license sales at the stadium.

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Tennessee Titans Stadium Proposal Submitted to Metro Council for Approval

Kaitlin Housler

A final budget proposal for how the new Tennessee Titans football stadium will be funded has been submitted to the Nashville Metro Council by Nashville Mayor John Cooper and the football team.

The legislation will be subject to three readings, beginning at the council’s next meeting on March 7th. April 4th is the earliest possible date for the agreement to be finalized.

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Nashville Stadium Committee Chair Details His Opposition to $2.1 Billion Titans Stadium Deal

The Center Square

The chair of Nashville’s East Bank Stadium committee detailed in a post how the Mayor’s Office, lobbyists and communications staff have pushed false narratives about a $2.1 billion new Tennessee Titans stadium over the past year and why he will be voting against the project when it’s expected to reach the Metro Nashville council in March.

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Bill to Cut Nashville City Center Funding Calls into Question Tax Plan for New $2.2B Titans Stadium

The Center Square

A new proposed bill in the Tennessee not only proposes cutting some of the state tax funding to pay debt on the Music City Center, but it also calls into question plans to build a new $2.2 billion Tennessee Titans stadium.

Senate Bill 648, filed Thursday by Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, on behalf of Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, would change the way taxes flow to Metro Nashville to pay debt from the Music City Center, which opened in 2013. The bill does not yet have a House sponsor.

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Metro Council Defers Stadium Term Sheet and East Bank Development to Future Meetings

Laura Baigert

The resolution to approve the term sheet, which gives an overview of the terms and conditions of the agreements and transactions for the financing, construction and operation of a new domed stadium adjacent to the existing Nissan Stadium which will then be demolished, was deferred for two meetings. Both the Budget and Finance Committee and the Public Facilities, Arts and Culture Committees had previously voted to defer for two meetings.

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Nashville Council Members Push Back Against Mayor’s Closed-Door $2.1B Stadium Deal

The Center Square

Opposition to a deal for the public portion of financing of a new $2.1 billion Tennessee Titans stadium is building amongst Nashville council members since the deal was first announced at a press conference by the mayor’s office and then a non-binding term sheet was presented to the city’s sports authority and East Bank Stadium Committee.

The deal includes a $500 million payment from the state of Tennessee, $760 million in bonds from the city’s sports authority and an undetermined amount of future tax dollars that will go toward stadium maintenance, upkeep and East Bank infrastructure. The mayor’s office hired private consultants, New York-based Inner Circle Sports, to help broker its deal.

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Nashville East Bank Stadium Committee Takes Critical Look at Titans Stadium Proposal

Laura Baigert

Nashville’s East Bank Stadium Committee met Wednesday evening in the Council Chambers at City Hall to take its first critical look at the Tennessee Titans stadium proposal announced last week by Nashville Mayor John Cooper and the team.

The meeting was held a day after the team shared renderings of its new potential stadium, created by the same architectural firm that worked on Las Vegas’s Allegiant Stadium.

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Metro Council Approves Workaround Attempt at Banning License Plate Scanner Use for Illegal Immigration Enforcement

Aaron Gulbransen

Nashville Metro Council approved on Tuesday a workaround attempt to sidestep the Tennessee state law banning sanctuary city policies via legislation that bans the use of license plate scanner (LPR) technology.

BL2022-1115 amends “Section 13.08.080 of the Metropolitan Code of Laws pertaining to the use of License Plate Scanner (LPR) technology to exclude assisting with immigration enforcement as an allowed use of LPRs.”

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Nashville Committee Receives Overview of Legal Obligations for Tennessee Titans Stadium Repairs

The Center Square

Metro Nashville’s East Bank Stadium Committee heard an overview of its obligations for stadium repairs, including the legal department’s definition of the key “first-class condition” term at its most recent meeting.

The terminology is key as the committee evaluates the city’s options related to the current Nissan Stadium and the Titans’ proposal for a new $2.2 billion stadium, which could include as much as $1.5 billion in public funding.

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Metro Nashville Committee Won’t Seek Independent Review of Economic Numbers for Tennessee Titans’ New Stadium

The Center Square
Nissan International Stadium

Nashville’s East Bank Stadium Committee plans to parse information on a new projected $2.2 billion Tennessee Titans stadium deal once it’s announced, along with information on the city’s current lease obligations and a $200,000 stadium study the council has planned along with land-use requirements around Nissan Stadium.

But the group will not be producing its own economic impact and tax impact numbers related to the proposed project.

“I am guessing the council doesn’t have an appetite for spending $25M on its own professionals, or $5 million or $1 million or half a million,” committee chair Bob Mendes said in the group’s planning meeting. “So we’re, necessarily, going to have to rely on information from others on that. I assume we’re going to hear about that. When we’re going to get presented with an actual deal, there’s going to be a list of income streams and a look forward on what it generates over time. Sources and uses.

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Attorney on Proposed Charter Amendment 1: Forever Eliminates Citizens’ Ability to Amend the Metro Charter for Any Reason

Laura Baigert

The attorney behind 4GoodGovernment and its Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act, Jim Roberts, told The Tennessee Star that the proposed Amendment 1 to the Charter of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County forever eliminates citizens’ ability to amend the charter for any reason.

Roberts is well-versed on the topic of Metro charter amendments, having successfully navigated the petition process for the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act (NTPA) twice, but a lawsuit by Metro government kept it from being put on the ballot.

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Tennessee Titans’ Lease Document Defines ‘Modern, First-Class’ Facility

The Center Square

A lease agreement between the Tennessee Titans and the limited liability Cumberland Stadium LP, calls for the Titans to be provided “a modern, first class, open air, stadium designed primarily for football, with a grass playing surface, to be located on the Stadium Site,” according to a copy of the lease acquired by The Center Square.

Cumberland Stadium is an operator that works for the Metro Nashville Sports Authority at the stadium.

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Nashville Mayor Cooper Promises to Drop 34 Percent Tax Increase ‘Soon’ – Council Members Say He’s Misleading Residents

Corinne Murdock

  Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced Friday that the residents would soon see property tax rates decrease to levels seen years ago. According to several city council members, however, this may not really be the ideal property tax reduction that Cooper portrayed. Cooper broke the news in a one-on-one interview with WSMV News4 Nashville on Friday morning. “We’re going to be the lowest-taxed city, within a penny or two perhaps, ever in the state of Tennessee,” claimed Cooper. Nashville, we are growing as a city and soon, we will grow while having a much lower property tax rate. As a result of the reappraisal cycle, the new rate will be close to the record-low rate from 2 years ago. Thank you Holly Thompson and @WSMV for having me on this morning. https://t.co/f0XisOtPE0 — John Cooper (@JohnCooper4Nash) April 16, 2021   At-large Councilman Bob Mendes took to Twitter to call Cooper’s announcement “misleading.” He claimed that Cooper was wrong to attribute the tax rate reduction to fiscal stewardship. “EVERY reassessment cycle ever has reduced the property tax rate. Under State law, the city’s revenue NEVER increases due to reassessment. Property values go up, tax rate goes down a proportionate amount & city…

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Bob Mendes Warns Nashville Will Eventually Pay Higher Taxes

Chris Butler

  Metro Nashville Council Member Bob Mendes implied on his website Saturday that Nashvillians will eventually have to pay higher property taxes. In a 730 word post, Mendes told constituents about Mayor David Briley and the events leading up to this year’s final Metro budget. “Multiple district council members told me that in the days and hours before the vote the Mayor and his office told them that he would raise the tax rate next year,” Mendes wrote. “He’s denied that to the press. I guess you all can draw your own conclusions about what to make of that.” Mendes said this year’s budget disappointed him and that “there now is a broad consensus that we will be right back in this same situation a year from now.” He also said Metro officials are choosing not to fix known budget problems at the expense of making things difficult on Metro employees and on Metro services. “If you follow my posts, you know that I predicted the size of this year’s budget to within a few million dollars. I predicted $2.335 billion, and it came in at $2.332 billion. That wasn’t luck. The size of a budget is pretty predictable when…

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Big Problems Reportedly Found with Metro Nashville Public Schools’ Spending

Chris Butler
Shawn Joseph

There are reportedly problems with the Metro Nashville Public Schools’ spending habits, according to Nashville Public Radio. “Last month, the district claimed victory when an audit found most allegations about its vendor contracts were ‘unsubstantiated.’ But those findings have been clarified in a revised audit,” according to Nashville Public Radio. “Now using different language, Metro Auditor Mark Swann says district leaders made mistakes. They failed to use a competitive process in picking some vendors and paid more money than contractually allowed to two companies. All told, instead of two critical findings, the auditor now notes nine.” Metro Nashville Council member Bob Mendes, who serves on the Metro Audit Committee, reportedly wanted the auditor to clarify the initial work because the prior report repeatedly used the word “unsubstantiated,” even when there was evidence of policy violations. “So now it’s clarified: Schools Director Shawn Joseph and his top staff were not found to have intentionally circumvented rules about procurement; nor did they commit fraud,” according to Nashville Public Radio. “But they did break policies.” As reported last month, The Nashville-based NewsChannel 5, quoting a confidential report, said the school system, under Schools Director Shawn Joseph “faces seriously low morale and other issues that threaten…

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Tax Increment Financing for Blighted Areas in Nashville on Temporary Hold

Chris Butler

Metro Nashville officials have imposed a moratorium on its Tax Increment Financing practices, which occur when government officials award special tax incentives to real estate developers to spruce up supposedly blighted parts of town. This practice goes on nationwide, as The Tennessee Star reported. Critics say TIF continues to benefit areas that no longer suffer from blight — with Nashville’s Gulch area as one example. For six months, and while the moratorium is in effect, a seven-member panel will study how Metro officials can use and implement TIF. Specifically, they will evaluate how to use TIF “in a more transparent, equitable, effective and understandable manner,” said Metro Council Member Bob Mendes, in an email to The Star. Two members of Nashville’s Metro Housing and Development Agency will appoint two of the panel’s seven members. Mayor David Briley will appoint two more. Members of the Metro Council, meanwhile, will appoint the remaining three, Mendes said. Members of the MDHA oversee TIF and select who gets it. “My intention was to have a mix of perspectives,” Mendes said. “So, for example, I would expect that the MDHA appointees would be involved in Tax Increment Financing decisions. The goal is to achieve balance…

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Nashville Council Files Another Bill Targeting the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency

Chris Butler

Nashville Metro At-large Councilman Bob Mendes is taking additional steps to try to rein in the city’s Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency. Last week Mendes had four Tax Increment Financing-related bills up for discussion, according to the Nashville Business Journal. The newest proposed bill would require Metro hire an independent accountant to validate the financial assumptions built into any proposed new MDHA redevelopment district, the website reported. Other bills Mendes backs are already on their second and third readings. As reported, the MDHA has vast powers and gives real estate developers millions of dollars in incentives to build in ritzy areas of town. Many of those details aren’t public record. This process, Tax Increment Financing, is supposed to help blighted areas — but not necessarily a project such as the one at Fifth and Broadway in tourist-heavy downtown Nashville. According to the Nashville Business Journal, one of Mendes’ bills tries to make the incentives process more transparent. That bill, if passed, would accomplish that through a seven-member committee. The other two would divert a portion of money otherwise earmarked for MDHA to Metro Nashville Public Schools. Council members must go through three readings before the bills are actually law, in…

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Controversial Nashville Agency Might Get A Leash Put Around its Neck

Chris Butler
housing

A Nashville Metro Council member wants to rein in the city’s Metro Development Housing Authority. As reported, the MDHA has vast powers and gives real estate developers millions of dollars in incentives to build in ritzy areas of town. Many of those details aren’t public record. This process, Tax Increment Financing, is supposed to help blighted areas — but not, in theory, a project such as the one at Fifth and Broadway in tourist-heavy downtown Nashville. Metro Council member Bob Mendes has three bills up for consideration currently making their way through the council. According to the Nashville Business Journal, one bill tries to make the incentives process more transparent. That bill, if passed, would accomplish that through a seven-member committee. “The other two would divert a portion of money otherwise earmarked for MDHA to Metro Nashville Public Schools,” the website reported. The latter two bills passed their first reading Tuesday on a voice vote. Council members are scheduled to hear them again on Sept.18, said Metro spokeswoman Raven Misch. “They will have to go through three readings before it is actually law,” Misch told The Tennessee Star, adding this is how bills are passed through Metro charter policy. MDHA,…

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Metro Nashville Faces Reality of Heavy Borrowing in $34 Million Revenue Shortfall

Jason M. Reynolds
John Cooper

Surprise! Nashville is growing skyscrapers and other developments at an ever-increasing rate yet faces a $34 million revenue shortfall. Councilman-at-large John Cooper, who is on Metro’s Budget and Finance Committee says Nashville’s revenue continues to grow faster than most cities, to the tune of a couple billion dollars, NewsChannel 5 reports. At the same time, Metro can’t fully fund schools or provide promised pay raises to employees, and some are calling for a property tax hike. Nashville has been glutted with massive capital projects despite some narrow misses. Most of the new money has gone to debt service to pay for pretty and shiny projects like the Sounds baseball stadium and the convention center, plus more conventional needs like school improvements. Borrowing costs have increased about $100 million in the last five years. Former Mayor Megan Barry’s resignation earlier this year following a sex and ethics scandal was followed by the failure of the $9 billion transit plan, the Nashville Scene reports. Then there was Barry’s quickly abandoned plan to end inpatient care at Metro General Hospital, the same week that the Metro Council approved a $275 million soccer stadium plan; the proposed Cloud Hill development, a sweetheart deal for…

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Nashville Metro Council Buries True Cost of $9 Billion Transit Plan

Jason M. Reynolds

A PAC opposed to a $9 billion transit plan calls Nashville Metro Council’s vote Tuesday a “shameful” effort to pull the wool over the voter’s (sic) eyes.” NoTax4Tracks made the statement in a press release in response to Metro Council voting 21-14 not to accept an amendment to the light rail transit plan that would have shown the $9 billion cost on the May 1 ballot. The Tennessee Star broke the latest story on Mayor Megan Barry’s plan Wednesday morning. Once the amendment failed, the council voted on the Barry administration’s favored language for the referendum, citing a price tag of just over $5.3 billion. The council voted 30-6, with three not voting, to create the ballot language. The third and final reading will be Feb. 6. NoTax4Tracks said, “We know the city and the pro-light rail groups leaned hard on council members today. They did so because their own polling and political advisors told them that if Cooper’s amendment passed, their entire plan was in big trouble. So, they laid the wood to the council. It’s clear, they’ll do just about anything to win.” Council member John Cooper proposed the ballot language for the city’s Transit Improvement Plan be open and transparent…

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Save Our Fairgrounds Wants Nashville Metro Council to Vote No on Soccer Stadium Tuesday

Wendy Wilson

The group Save Our Fairgrounds is getting ready for Tuesday’s Metro Council meeting, at which members plan to ask the council to vote no on Mayor Megan Barry’s proposal for a soccer stadium and development at the Nashville Fairgrounds. The group’s main objection is the plan to allow for a mixed-used development on 10 acres that is in addition to the soccer stadium. Plans call for affordable and workforce housing, a hotel and retail. Some Metro Council members have also expressed concerns about that part of the deal. Barry wants Major League Soccer (MLS) to choose Nashville for an expansion team. The 10 acres for development would be leased to the MLS ownership group. “We would welcome MLS soccer and the soccer stadium to the fairgrounds, but not at the expense of taking away 10 acres and giving it away freely to the team owners,” Rick Williams, chairman of Save Our Fairgrounds, said on Facebook Friday. Some Metro Council members have voiced concerns about the 10 acres as well, and also have pressed Barry’s office for stronger language holding the ownership team responsible for costs of the stadium to limit risks for taxpayers. While some general obligation bonds would be used, Barry’s office…

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Councilman Bob Mendes Blames People Outside Nashville For Foiling ‘Sanctuary City’ Bills, Vows To Find Other Ways To Accomplish Goals

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Metro Councilman Bob Mendes is blaming opposition from people outside Davidson County for thwarting two “sanctuary city” bills, saying the proposed legislation had broad support among Nashvillians. “Inside the county, the support has been overwhelming for these bills,” he said at a press conference Wednesday, where he announced he will withdraw the bills because of growing opposition and a legal opinion issued Monday by Metro’s lead attorney that presented obstacles. Mendes said the bills had become “a political football” among candidates for office, specifically mentioning the Republican primary for next year’s gubernatorial election. All of the announced and anticipated candidates spoke out against the bills. The opposition became so fierce, with many state legislators opposed and also a budding grassroots movement, that Mendes’ claim of broad support within Davidson County is likely debatable. Mendes and other supporters vowed Wednesday to find non-legislative ways to achieve the same ends. “Our goals are unchanged,” he said. Those goals are at odds with the direction many in the country and across Tennessee want to take with the challenges posed by illegal immigration, leaving Mendes and his like-minded colleagues isolated in Nashville’s liberal enclaves. President Trump, whose tough talk helped…

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Lead Sponsors Withdraw Metro Nashville Council ‘Sanctuary City’ Bills

Tennessee Star Staff

Metro Nashville Council members Bob Mendes and Colby Sledge announced at a press conference held Wednesday afternoon on the steps of the Nashville Courthouse they are withdrawing the two controversial “sanctuary city” ordinances they introduced as sponsors earlier this year. Standing in front of about a dozen supporters of the ordinances from the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugees Rights Coaliton (TIRCC), some carrying signs that said “Stand Up to Hate,” Mendes said he and Sledge were withdrawing both ordinances. One ordinance had already passed two of its required three readings and was scheduled for a vote on a third and final reading at the next Metro Council meeting scheduled for July 6. Mendes told the local media outlets present at the press conference that the ordinance could not be amended prior to the third reading, and therefore would be withdrawn. The second ordinance scheduled for a vote in August will also be withdrawn. The need for an amendment became apparent when Metro Director of Law Jon Cooper issued a legal opinion on Monday saying the ordinances were “not enforceable,” and Mayor Barry on Tuesday asked the Metro Council to “reconsider” the ordinances. Mendes did not indicate whether he and Sledge would…

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BREAKING: Sponsors of Nashville’s ‘Sanctuary City’ Ordinance To Pull July 6 Vote On Bill

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

Sponsors of Metro Council’s proposed “sanctuary city” ordinance are saying they will not ask their fellow council members to vote on the bill July 6 as originally scheduled. In an email to their colleagues obtained by The Tennessee Star, council members Bob Mendes and Colby Sledge said they are working on plans to hold a press conference Wednesday with other advocates of the bill to discuss the matter. The Tuesday afternoon email followed a public statement in the morning by Mayor Megan Barry asking the council to reconsider the ordinance. Barry raised concerns resulting from the release Monday of a written opinion from Metro’s law director, who said the council can’t legally keep the sheriff from cooperating with federal immigration officials. She also said the Metro Nashville Police Department has concerns about the proposed ordinance. Metro Council passed the bill on a second reading last week, but opposition to the ordinance has grown fast in recent days, with nine state senators now joining 63 House members in opposition, with more expected. A grassroots movement is also mobilizing to stop the bill. In their email, Mendes and Sledge said they need more time to review the law director’s legal opinion. It was unclear…

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