CAPITOL VIEW
By Pat Nolan, NEWSCHANNEL5 Political Analyst
July 7, 2023
ANOTHER WEEK ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL SEES A SIGN OF ONE MAYORAL CANDIDATE’S STAR RISING; THE TAXPAYER ANTE TO PAY FOR LAWSUITS COMING FROM THE LAST SESSION OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE CONTINUES TO RISE; THE BEGINNING OF A LONG HOT SUMMER; A SENSE OF JUSTICE ON INSIDE POLITICS; THE NEXT TWO WEEKS
ANOTHER WEEK ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL SEES A SIGN OF ONE MAYORAL CANDIDATE’S STAR RISING
Metro Councilman Freddie OConnell has been the surprise candidate of the 2023 Nashville mayoral race.
Perhaps the biggest sign of that came this week. That’s when the district councilman, who represents Germantown and portions of downtown, was the subject of the first TV attack ad of this contest.
In a close, crowded candidate field like Nashville has, no campaign or political operative would attack a candidate unless they see that person as a threat to win, or at least get into the likely two-candidate runoff election set for September 15.
Steve Smith is a honkytonk restaurant/ bar owner. He has been at odds with the last two mayors.
When he didn’t like David Briley his attack slogan was ‘Anybody but Briley.” Then when Smith began feuding with John Cooper over COVID restrictions in particular, the attack changed to (ABC) “Anybody but Cooper.”
Now for O’Connell it’s (NOE) “Not O’Connell Either.”
The attack is the greatest tribute to O’Connell’s emergence as a viable candidate. But will he be strong enough in the August 3rd election to make the top- two runoff?
Remember, while our last three mayors have served in the Metro Council (Barry, Briley and Cooper), all of them were At-Large members, elected countywide. No district council member has ever been elected mayor.
I did not see any of the third debate of Nashville’s mayoral candidates televised by NEWSCHANNEL5 Thursday. I was busy with the TV coverage of the Metro Council meeting that had the longest agenda in Metro’s 60-year history (96 pages long, 256 items including 95 second reading zoning ordinances on second reading and 110 bills on first reading).
During the Council session, we did get reports from the debate, including that candidates got to ask one question to a rival during one round.
That can sometimes be intriguing.
It was, especially since, of the eight candidates on stage, three of them asked the same candidate, Matt Wiltshire. Is that an indication Wiltshire is the front runner or at least someone to beat or finish second to make the runoff?
One of the candidates joked that Wiltshire was on the hot seat. But Wiltshire, perhaps, sensing the importance that close to half his rivals made him the target of one- on-one question, joked back. “Maybe I should have asked myself a question. “
Otherwise on the campaign trail, the wait likely continues into next week for the campaign financial disclosures for contributions, expenditures, loans and, who the contributors are, through June 30.
Those reports could give us a new, and perhaps better pecking order for the 12-member candidate field as early voting begins on July 14. But even before we see these numbers, THE TENNESSEE LOOKOUT has this analysis of how the mayoral candidates are spending their TV, on -line, cable and other media dollars so far.
Remember the candidates in the past who have raised, spent or loaned themselves the most money have not always been victorious. That’s true, even though not having funds is a sign you will struggle, because you can’t do things you want to do to win, due to lack of resources.
Usually, mayoral elections bring out a lot of direct mail. Maybe because several candidates got in so late, it was this week before I got my first piece. It is from Matt Wiltshire on affordable housing. The campaign strategy to use direct mail is to get at least one mailer in the hands of voters before early voting starts. With that now just a week away, is my mailbox about to be filled with print pieces?
THE TAXPAYER ANTE TO PAY FOR LAWSUITS COMING FROM THE LAST SESSION OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE CONTINUES TO RISE
Yet another lawsuit has been filed concerning controversial legislation passed by the last session of the Tennessee General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Bill Lee.
This time the new law gives state teachers a significant pay raise. That’s not what is controversial. What is controversial is tying the pay hikes into the same legislation that bans teacher unions from being able to get their members dues from being deducted from their paychecks by the state (which has occurred for years).
The lawsuit brought by the Tennessee Education Association says what the state is doing violates the way it is supposed to pass legislation and should be voided by the courts, while leaving the teacher raises to go into effect.
Of course, there are already a bevy of lawsuits pending and/or are on hold over laws going into effect, including those that would ban drag shows in public places or where minors can see them, as well as the new law that bans gender affirming surgery for teens.
Even more suits are pending over the laws Republican Super Majority approved to get their political revenge by taking over Metro Nashville’s government. This week, the latest insanity growing out of this foolish, came when the new airport authority, put in place by the Legislature and Governor Lee, held its first meeting, while the existing Airport Authority, which Metro has appointed for decades, is still intact, and still being recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration, until a panel of judges finally makes some ruling to try and untangle this mess.
Metro’s Legal Director, Wally Dietz told the Metro Council Thursday night that a court hearing is set. But it won’t happen until July 28
Dietz also claims the two Nashville businessmen, who now serve on both Airport Authorities, Bobby Joslin and Jimmy Grandberry have “passively resigned” their seats on the Metro board, after they attended the organizational meeting of the new state board. Council members told they are that news to mean that Mayor John Cooper may soon be sending to the Council new people to confirm to these now “vacant” seats.
The continuing mess also includes the Metro Council member Russ Bradford, who represents the Airport Area in the soon to be outgoing Metro Council. The Councilman says he will seek to block key legislation in the Council that the Airport needs for its expansion plans until the lawsuit is settled. It is a move that could further inflame the bad feelings between Metro and state officials.
In fact, Bradford sought to indefinitely defer one such piece of legislation at Thursday night’s Council meeting which by then was into the wee hours of early Friday morning. The Council did not conclude all its business until after 2:00 A.M.
As for the Airport bill, the Council decided an indefinite deferral was too much and decided on a one-meeting deferment instead.
And finally, there is now a fourth lawsuit filed in the dispute of how many votes are needed for the Metro Council to approve major renovations at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. A new law passed by the Legislature says it needs just a 21-vote simple majority. A voter-approved amendment to Nashville Metro Charter says it takes 27 votes or a 2/3 majority.
The bill in the Metro Council to approve the $100 million Speedway plan continues to run into obstacles. After already being deferred multiple times because a Council rule prohibited a bond-funded bill like this from being considered during city budget time, now the bill will be deferred it seems two more times because a plan like this requires a community meeting, which is now set for later this month.
The Speedway bill is an ordinance requiring three approvals. After this month of July, the Council meets only twice in August before its term ends. Therefore, to pass a final reading, either Mayor John Cooper or Vice Mayor Jim Shulman might need to call a special Council meeting, a move likely both problematic and controversial.
There are no carryovers to the next Mayor and Council. All legislation still pending in the old Council expires when the term ends and would have to be reintroduced for consideration by the new Council and Mayor. Meanwhile, the lobbying efforts on both sides of the Speedway plan are both intense and sometimes confusing.
Back up on Capitol Hill in Nashville, maybe all this meddling and overreach by the Legislature is creating a pushback. A new poll commissioned by the conservative Beacon Center finds the job approval numbers for the Republican Super Majority have nosedived to as low as 12% statewide!
THE BEGINNING OF A LONG HOT SUMMER
The epidemic of gun violence sweeping the nation did not take a holiday for our Independence Day celebrations this week.
There were 17 mass shootings across the nation with multiple deaths and injuries.
Th number of 4th of July mass shootings is actually down this year, from recent years, dating back to 2019.
But this week we also saw a continuing record pace in mass shootings for the calendar year. With just over 150 days gone by in 2023, the number of mass shootings is 263 . Those are incidents with 4 or more people shot, with now with 327 victims killed. Both those figures are the highest ever recorded this early in a year. In fact, July 3rd and 4th had the most mass shootings of any days so far in 2023.
The world is also seeing all-time record heat. July 3rd and 4th were the hottest days ever recorded worldwide. With more hot days expected in the weeks to come, those new heat record days may not be records for long. In fact, preliminary numbers for yesterday (Thursday) show it may have set yet another record for worldwide average temperature.
In Washington, even with Congress still out town, things remained a bit nutty. How about a package of white powder, found near where visitors enter the West Wing of the White House, has been confirmed to be cocaine!
Republicans are already pouncing.
As for Republicans in the U.S. House: How about the Freedom Caucus kicking out Margorie Taylor Greene?
Also this week, a federal judge in Louisiana has ordered the Biden administration to cease contacting social media companies because of potential First Amendment suppression and censorship on multiple issues that are often of interest to conservative groups. The White House and the Justice Department plan to appeal the ruling that came out of a lawsuit from GOP Attorneys-General in Mississippi and Louisiana.
There is a concern the court ruling could put the nation back into the “Wild West Days” in dealing with on- line disinformation.
A SENSE OF JUSTICE ON INSIDE POLITICS
The late Gilbert S. Merritt was one of the most distinguished judges from Tennessee to serve on the federal bench.
He was on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals for 44 years, including 7 years as the Chief Judge of that circuit.
Judge Merritt also served in the Metro Legal Department during the early days of consolidated city-county government, as well as U.S. Attorney here in Nashville.
Merritt also was active in local and state Democratic politics, including being a candidate for Congress in a special election in 1975.
Judge Merritt is now the subject of a new biography entitled A SENSE OF JUSTICE, written by author Keel Hunt.
Keel is our guest on INSIDE POLITICS this week.
We welcome Keel back to the program!
INSIDE POLITICS can be seen on its regular weekly schedule on NEWSCHANNEL5 PLUS.
Those times include:
7:00 p.m. Friday.
5:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
1:30 a.m. & 5:00 a.m. on Sunday.
THE PLUS is on Comcast Cable channel 250, Charter Cable channel 182 and on NEWSCHANNEL5’s over-the-air digital channel 5.2. We are also on DISH TV with the rest of the NEWSCHANNEL5 NETWORK.
One option for those who cannot see the show locally, or who are out of town, you can watch it live with streaming video on NEWSCHANNEL5.com. Just use your TiVo or DVR, if those live times don't work for you.
This week’s show and previous INSIDE POLITICS interviews are also posted on the NEWSCHANNEL5 website for your viewing under the NEWSCHANNEL5 PLUS section. A link to the show is posted as well on the Facebook page of NEWSCHANNEL5 PLUS. Each new show and link are posted early in the week after the program airs. I am also posting a link to the show each week on my Facebook page.
THE NEXT TWO WEEKS
I am going to be out of pocket for the next few weeks.
No CAPITOL VIEW column on July 14 and July 21 and encore shows for INSIDE POLITCS on the weekends of July 14 and July 21.
I will be back for the home stretch of early voting and the final days of the August 3rd Metro elections with the next CV column out July 28.
Stay cool in these dog days of summer and local politics.
