Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act Chances Might Improve with New Makeup of Davidson County Election Commission

One of the people behind the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act said he’s optimistic that the proposed referendum has a fighting chance, given the new makeup of the Davidson County Election Commission. Attorney Jim Roberts described Thursday night’s Election Commission meeting as “fabulous for our side.” This, after he said Metro Nashville officials were trying to undermine the proposed referendum which, if voters approve it, would roll back Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s 34 to 37 percent tax increase.

Read the full story

Two Republicans Join Davidson County Election Commission

Two Republicans have replaced two other members of that political party on the Davidson County Election Commission. Davidson County Administrator of Elections Jeff Roberts on Tuesday identified those two new Republicans as Dan Davis and Ross Evans. Through their votes, Davis and Evans may ultimately help determine whether the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act goes to a referendum.

Read the full story

Davidson County Election Commission Could Decide Fate of Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act Next Week

Davidson County Elections Administrator Jeff Roberts updated new developments with the proposed referendum for the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act and when and if election commissioners will permit voters a chance to have their say. “We are in the process of verifying the 14,000 signatures turned in last week. The Charter states the number of signatures needed is based on the preceding general election,” Roberts told The Tennessee Star in an email Wednesday.

Read the full story

Davidson County Election Commission Provides Tennessee Code Citation It Says Allows It to Move Date of Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act Referendum to December 15

Davidson County Elections Administrator Jeff Roberts on Thursday cited the portion of the Tennessee Code that the Davidson County Election Commission says permits them to move the prospective election date for voters to say yes or no to the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act from December 5, as prescribed in the petition, to December 15, as the commission voted to do in its September 25 meeting.

Roberts responded to The Tennessee Star Thursday morning.

Read the full story

Davidson County Election Commission Has Not Yet Identified Section of Tennessee Code That Authorizes Change of Date for Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act Referendum

  The Davidson County Election Commission has not yet specified the section of the Tennessee Code Annotated (the most recent compilation of all of the current statutes of the state) by which it has the authority to change the “conditional date” of the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act election referendum from December 5–the date specified for the election in the petition signed by 27,000 residents of Davidson County, verified by the commission, and certified by the Metro Clerk’s Office–to December 15. The Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act referendum, if approved, would roll back Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s 34 to 37 percent tax increase. At the September 25 meeting at which the commission voted to seek a declaratory judgment from the Davidson County Chancery Court that the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act was not legally sufficient and unconstitutional, chose not to set a referendum election date of December 5, 2020, as is their ministerial duty under both Tennessee law, the Metro Charter, and Tennessee Supreme Court precedent, but instead chose to set a “conditional” election date of December 15, 2020, Davidson County Election Commission Chairman Emily Reynolds made reference to an earlier comment by Davidson County Election Administrator Jeff Roberts as to the date…

Read the full story

Davidson County Election Commission Cancels Meeting: ‘Since Nothing Is Urgent at This Point in Time We Made The Decision That It Was Not Necessary to Meet’

Members of the Davidson County Election Commission have cancelled a meeting they previously scheduled for Tuesday.

This, one day after The Tennessee Star demonstrated that Metro Legal Director Bob Cooper said something incorrect at a recent Election Commission meeting.

Cooper incorrectly stated that election commissioners had more than just a “purely ministerial” role taking on the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act.

Read the full story

Metro Nashville Legal Director Bob Cooper: 1949 TN Supreme Court Case Was About ‘Statewide Referendum Election Where the Constitutionality of the Referendum Was in Question’

In his testimony before the Davidson County Election Commission’s September 25 meeting, Metro Legal Director Bob Cooper cited a 1949 Tennessee Supreme Court decision, Cummings v. Beeler, as a “template” the commission could follow if it chose to accept a third option he outlined as a possible course of action– to “file a lawsuit in Davidson County Chancery Court seeking a declaratory judgment on whether the amendment should be placed on the ballot or should be rejected.”

Cooper stated the Cummings v. Beeler case was about “whether it [The Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office] could hold a statewide referendum election where the constitutionality of the referendum was in question.”

Read the full story