Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed former TN5 GOP candidate Baxter Lee in studio to handicap the mayoral candidates for Nashville’s Davidson County.
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Metro Nashville Councilman for District 19 Freddie O’Connell announced, according to The Tennessean on Thursday, that he plans to run as Nashville’s next mayor in 2023.
O’Connell has been a councilmember since 2015, serving the downtown and Germantown area of Nashville.
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During Tuesday’s meeting, the Metro Nashville City Council approved a resolution increasing the sales tax for downtown businesses. The .25 percent tax increase will go into effect July 1. According to the Metro Nashville Finance Department, the estimated revenue from this increase amounts to at least $2.4 million.
Per the state law, certain businesses are exempted from the sales tax increase: professional services, transient lodging, tickets for sporting or other live events, alcoholic beverages, newspapers or other publications, and overnight or long-term parking.
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Metro Nashville City Council is considering a complete overhaul of street parking through a proposed “Smart Parking Program.” The legislation would overhaul the current street parking system (located as item number 44 under Bills on Second Reading). It would allow contractors to enforce parking violations; shift court date notifications, payment systems, and notice methods to a web and text message-based system; and implement license plate scanner technology. It would abolish free parking on Sundays and holidays, the use of coin-operated meters, and free parking perks for carbon neutral vehicles.
The bill also insisted on updating the term “meter maids” to “parking enforcement patrol.” The sponsors of the bill are Council members Freddie O’Connell, Robert Nash, Tonya Hancock, and Ginny Welsch.
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Several council members in Tennessee have called for the resignation of a police chief after warrants were issued for two community activists and then later rescinded.
Metro Council member Freddie O’Connell last week urged Nashville Mayor John Cooper to request the resignation of Metro Police Chief Steve Anderson, news outlets reported.
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The Metro Public Health Department in Nashville will still provide COVID-19 patient information to first responders and law enforcement.
Metro Public Health Director Michael Caldwell said the practice is “temporary,” but that it’s working, WPLN reported Thursday.
“This is an emergency,” he says. “This is critical, timely, life-saving information that has reduced and contained the spread of this disease within our medical institutions and within our jails. I’m puzzled by why the state reversed course.”
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Federal taxpayers will hand over more than $9 million so Nashville officials can replace the city’s fleet of buses for its public transportation system. This, despite a recent WSMV investigation showing Nashvillians don’t use existing buses as often as one might assume. According to a recent U.S. Department of Transportation press release, the $9 million will replace some of the city’s aging buses with new hybrid electric models. The rest of the money will pay to maintain existing buses, the press release said. This $9 million was part of $366.2 million in grants the feds gave out to cities nationwide. According to a WSMV investigation last week, however, too few people evidently ride the buses to justify the high costs to taxpayers. Sometimes, according to the station, only five people rode a bus. The station quoted one passenger, Rae Keohane, who said she often is the only person on board. Another bus, which runs along West End Avenue, was empty for more than 30 minutes. Also, the bus on the Grassmere-Edmondson route was empty for 19 minutes, according to the station. The Nashville Metropolitan Transit Authority has seven low-performing routes. The most expensive, the University Connector, costs taxpayers $1.4 million…
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