Six members of the Georgia House of Representatives filed a bill last week that would regulate third party entities who distribute absentee ballots applications. The Georgia General Assembly’s website identifies State Rep. Rick Williams (R-Milledgeville) as the primary sponsor.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee –About 80 people attended the Resign Now! Megan Barry Rally rally held on the Metro Nashville Davidson County Courthouse and City Hall steps Tuesday prior to the regularly scheduled Metro Council meeting. Attendees heard comments of varying lengths from four speakers – Carol Swain, Johann Porisch, Reverend Enoch Fuzz, and Lisa Bradshaw–each with a different perspective, but all agreeing on the singular point that Megan Barry is no longer able to fulfill the duties of the mayoral office and should resign immediately. A lone, non-intrusive, Megan Barry supporter carried a handmade sign, “Stay Megan Barry Stay,” which he also occasionally chanted as he watched the rally. One life-long Nashville resident attending the rally shared his conclusion with The Tennessee Star that the 80 to one ratio of attendees calling on Barry to resign versus those supporting her might be indicative of the sentiment of the city as a whole. Former Vanderbilt University professor and well-known Nashville conservative, Carol Swain, lead off the speakers saying forgiveness is an expectation and duty of Christians, and she counts herself as one who has already forgiven Mayor Barry. “But, but, but, but,” Swain lead the chant and then continued,“ in forgiveness we are left with…
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Nashville’s Metro Council on Tuesday voted 31-6 to approve $225 million in revenue bonds for a soccer stadium at the Nashville Fairgrounds despite concerns about the fairgrounds’ existing uses as well as the growing list of costly city projects. Mayor Megan Barry pushed the deal to attract a Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion team to Nashville. Cities need to have a plan in place to be in serious contention. MLS is expected to choose two cities for expansion teams next month. The deal includes allowing the ownership team to lease 10 acres for a mixed-used development including housing, a hotel and retail. There also will be several recreational soccer fields, a dog park and a greenway. The 10-acre development was a major sticking point for critics, who consider it a land giveaway designed to sweeten the deal for investors. Other concerns involved the revenue bonds and how much Metro could be at risk if the stadium doesn’t generate the expected revenue. The group Save Our Fairgrounds fought the plan approved Tuesday just as the group previously opposed a plan by former Mayor Karl Dean to redevelop the fairgrounds. The group led a petition drive for a May 2011 referendum, resulting…
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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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NASHVILLE, Tennessee–An overflow crowd of about 200 met at John A’s restaurant on Music Valley Drive in Nashville on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. and heard from opponents of the proposed Metro Nashville Council sanctuary city ordinance, who outlined the actions they can join to defeat the proposal at its third reading on July 6. As The Tennessee Star reported last week, “[t]wo ordinances filed by Metro Councilmen Bob Mendes and Colby Sledge, drafted with the assistance of the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and cheered on by Mayor Megan Barry, will make Davidson County and Metro Nashville the most liberal sanctuary city in the U.S.; in fact, even more liberal in its policies than New York City or San Francisco.” TIRRC, an affiliate of the National Council of La Raza and a recipient of funding from a George Soros front group, has been agitating for Nashville to formalize its informal sanctuary city practices since the election of President Trump. The two bills co-sponsored by Mendes and Sledge which will have their second reading tonight, will accomplish that goal. Trying to pass off the ordinances as “in line with state and federal law” the other Mendes/Sledge bill if…
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