‘The Cart Before the Horse’: Metro Council Member Courtney Johnston on Approval of the Stadium Term Sheet

Metro Council Member Courtney Johnston (District 26) says that the recent request by the mayor’s office that the city’s legislative body approve the stadium term sheet between Metro Nashville and the Tennessee Titans is a matter of “the cart before the horse.”

Johnston initially made the point during the October 26 meeting of the East Bank Stadium Committee, at which time the mayor’s representative Finance Director Kelly Flannery asked for approval of the resolution attaching the term sheet, a 1 percent increase in the hotel occupancy tax (HOT) and advancing a request for proposal to search of a developer for the Stadium Campus, and reinforced it several times relative to more than one point during a telephone interview with The Tennessee Star on Saturday.

Read More

Guard Troops Forced to Leave Capitol Building, Rest in Parking Garage Sparks Bipartisan Outrage

Thousands of National Guard troops protecting the Capitol Hill complex during inauguration week were temporarily forced Thursday night to leave the buildings, sparking outrage among the troops and Congress.

“Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer – why are American troops who are tasked with keeping security at the Capitol being forced to sleep in a parking lot? They deserve to be treated with respect, and we deserve answers,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, in a tweet, asked the two leaders of the Democrat-controlled Congress.

Read More