CAPITOL VIEW
By Pat Nolan, NEWSCHANNEL 5 Political Analyst
September 29, 2023
INSIDE POLITICS TAKES A DEEP DIVE DURING A BUSY TIME IN POLITICS; NASHVILLE HAS A NEW MAYOR; THE NEW COUNCIL HAS A L0NG FIRST MEETING AGENDA; THE STATE GETS A WIN IN THE COURTS; A MOWING QUESTION; IS IT SPRING HILL’S TIME TO JOIN THE UAW AUTO STRIKE? CONTROVERSY AND CHAOS CONTINUES IN THE MAYOR’S RACE IN FRANKLIN;
INSIDE POLITICS TAKES A DEEP DIVE DURING A BUSY TIME IN POLITICS
Late September is always a great time to discuss politics.
The end of the federal budget year is approaching, and again this year Congress can’t pass or agree on the spending bills to keep the government from shutting down which is set for this weekend.
The presidential election isn’t until next year but already with the first caucuses and primaries only a few months away, there’s lots going on.
Nashville just elected a new Mayor and Metro Council and the race for one of Tennessee’s U. S. Senate seats has sprung to life.
On INSIDE POLITICS this weekend to discuss all that are two of our best political analysts, Democrat Larry Woods and Republican Bill Phillips.
We welcome both of them back to the program.
Our conversation will air on the regular weekend schedule for INSIDE POLITICS on NEWSCHANNEL 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.
NOTE: We will do everything we can to keep our interview up to date. But as they say, this is a developing news situation, that means in terms of the government shutdown, things could change quickly. We tape on Friday morning, so you may well know a lot more than we do when you watch the show later on Friday or over the weekend.
NASHVILLE HAS A NEW MAYOR
Early Monday morning, in a private ceremony in Circuit Judge David Briley’s office at the Metro Courthouse, Councilman Freddie O’Connell was sworn as the 10th mayor in Metro Nashville’s 60- year history.
It came after the September 14th runoff election was legally certified, a contest that Mayor O’Connell won in by a landslide majority (64%-36%). Outgoing mayor, John Cooper was ready to go, and Mayor Freddi wanted hit the ground running. So the new mayor asked for the private swearing in. That is the first time I can remember that happening, and history was also made when Judge Briley, himself a former mayor, sworn in the city’s new chief executive.
While there are still appointments and key hirings to be made, Mayor O’Connell is off to a good start assembling his staff and his Legal Director. That’s leaves his biggest staff decision, yet to be made, his Finance Director, the only department head a Nashville mayor can hire and fire at will.
There will be a public inauguration celebration for the new Mayor and the new Metro Council at 11:30am Saturday in Public Square Park.
THE NEW COUNCIL HAS A LONG FIRST MEETING AGENDA
The new Metro Council has its first business meeting set for Tuesday, October 3.
The agenda is 33 pages long and includes 109 items plus 6 Metro Board appointments.
And that only includes resolutions and first reading bills since this Council won’t have any second or third reading ordinances until either its second meeting on October 17 or its third business session the first Tuesday in November.
But to say the least, the legislative pipeline is already filling up. A full pipeline is not surprising. The outgoing Council last met on August 15. That’s about a week short of two full months without a Council meeting and lots of legislation piles up.
There are 41 resolutions on the agenda, almost all of which look routine. The most newsworthy item is accepting a $3.3 million grant from the state to pay for Resource Officers in all of Metro’s public junior high and high schools. The rest of the agenda is first reading ordinances which are usually approved and sent to committee with a single motion.
The last Council likely set a record with the most after midnight adjournments (the meetings start at 6:30 PM). If many of the resolutions are routine enough to be on a consent calendar, this may be one of the shortest meetings this term.
THE STATE GETS A WIN IN THE COURTS
The federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled Tennessee can begin to enforce its ban on gender affirming care for transgender youth, even with parental permission.
The ruling overturns a lower court decision that stayed enforcement.
There are several similar laws and court cases now pending across the country. It seems likely the U.S. Supreme Court will likely take up one of them to decide the constitutionality of such legislation.
A MOWING QUESTION
Questions are being raised about a board member of Governor Bill Lee's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. She filed to create a business three days before the governor's 2019 inauguration, and then has landed $4.7 million in state contracts with the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
You wonder if the governor was a Democrat, would the Republican Super Majority that controls the Legislature be calling for hearings and an investigation. But its crickets right now on that front.
Instead both Governor Lee and the Speakers in both houses are appointing a legislative committee to explore Tennessee declining the billions in education federal funds Tennessee receives annually amounting to about one-fifth of the state’s entire education budget. The shortfall would be made up by excess state monies, perhaps from Tennessee’s Rainy- Day reserves?
So why do that? Well, the Governor and the Speakers suspect the feds put too many stipulations or requirements with the education funds, although examples of what they mean are not being outlined.
IS IT SPRING HILL’S TIME TO JOIN THE UAW AUTO STRIKE?
As the United Auto Worker’s strike against the Big 3 automakers enters its third week, will the employees at the General Motors Plant in Spring Hill, TN be called to walk out by union leaders? A decision on expanding the walkout was expected sometime today (Friday). It appears the plant will still not be walking a picket line.
Another breaking news in national politics today isthe death of longtime California U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein at age 90. She had a long and distinguished career, even if marred by controversy during her final days, when she did not comply with calls to step down due to ill health.
CONTROVERSY AND CHAOS CONTINUES IN THE MAYOR’S RACE IN FRANKLIN
Controversy and political chaos continues as NEWSCHANNEL5’s Chief Investigative Reporter Phil Williams continues to dig out and report stories on Franklin mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson. Perhaps the most stunning recent claim is that she tried to warn police just days before Nashville's Covenant School shooting back in March.
But after reviewing Franklin police body cam video, nothing like that happened.
Later in the week, the Franklin Board of Mayor and Alderman took no action on a censure motion against Ms. Hanson. The Board decided to leave it up to the voters.
The reason for the censure move was that Hanson was using her position to try to pressure the Nashville airport authority to provide funding for a non-profit group she supported. She did not approve of another group sponsoring a Juneteenth celebration.
Things then reached another boiling point when Hanson supporters tried to block NEWSCHANNEL5 from covering a mayoral candidate’s forum.
Early voting begins next Wednesday, and election day is October 24. Stay tuned.
