Re-writing proposed restrictions on Metro Police
Plus, Nashville anti-terrorism funding at risk and enforcement against cars parked on lawns
Good morning, Nashville! It’s Tuesday, August 18th. Reporting today’s edition from Honest Coffee Roasters in Downtown Nashville.
⚡ Quick hits
Weather: ☀️ Slightly cooler but still hot. High: 91, Low: 69.
After Metro’s police chief claimed Metro Council legislation to limit the use of drones by police “threatens the safety of officers and the public,” the sponsor filed a new version that’s set to be considered at tonight’s council meeting.
Nashville could lose some of its federal funding for preventing and responding to terrorist attacks if it does not comply with a Trump administration mandate to make five changes to election procedures, according to a new federal lawsuit filed yesterday.
What’s new in Nashville’s neighborhoods, including enforcement against cars parked in lawns, a compromise for traffic concerns, and a new park connector.
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🔍 Re-writing proposed restrictions on Metro Police
After Metro’s police chief claimed Metro Council legislation limiting the use of drones by police “threatens the safety of officers and the public,” the sponsor filed a new version that’s set to be considered at tonight’s council meeting.
Council member Sandra Sepulveda filed the legislation after police launched a pilot “drone as first responder” program, which allowed police to send drones to incident scenes before officers arrived, at the Madison police precinct without approval from the Metro Council. You can read my reporting on the pilot program here.
The original bill would’ve limited “the use of drones to active shooter incidents, hostage situations, or declared emergencies,” capped “deployment at 30 days during a declared emergency unless a public hearing is held,” and required “Council approval before any permanent drone program can be established,” Sepulveda said. In a letter to the Metro Council, police chief John Drake said the legislation would ban “deploying drones in circumstances where they have been used for nearly two decades.”
Sepulveda’s amended legislation would allow drones “on a temporary basis for the purpose of a criminal investigation supported by reasonable suspicion, or pursuant to a lawfully issued search warrant, or under exigent circumstances as defined in case law.”
If a “drone as first responder” program is approved, it could be used for active shooter incidents, hostage situations, active searches for missing persons, and in response to a state of emergency that “presents an immediate threat to life and critical infrastructure.” The pilot program responded to a range of calls, including “disorderly person” and vehicle accidents.
The legislation also closes the loophole of allowing a pilot program without council approval, bans the use of any surveillance equipment until a drone arrives on scene, and includes an apparent ban on facial recognition technology in at least some cases.
I’ll be listening to tonight’s debate (as long as it’s not deferred), and I’ll report back to you later this week.
🗳️ Nashville anti-terrorism funding at risk
Nashville could lose some of its federal funding for preventing and responding to terrorist attacks if it does not comply with a Trump administration mandate to make five changes to election procedures, according to a new federal lawsuit filed yesterday.
“The conditions [of receiving funding] touch on nearly every aspect of the election process: voting equipment and the means by which voters cast their ballots, post-election audits, ballot reconciliation, voter-roll citizenship checks, and election worker citizenship checks,” the lawsuit said.
If a state does not comply, “FEMA will now hold 20-percent of every state’s [Homeland Security Grant Program] award hostage,” Metro claimed, while ignoring “the legal, financial, and logistical chaos these conditions will inflict on state and local governments that are suddenly told—only months before an election—that they must transform how their elections are run.”
Metro planned to use the next round of funding for chemical and biological weapon detectors, among other things. With the previous fiscal year’s funding, it planned to use $1.4 million in funding for a chemical threat detector, urban search and rescue equipment, and structural collapse training.
Metro asked a judge to block the election mandates tied to homeland security funding.
The Trump administration has called similar lawsuits over the grant funding mandate a “partisan pushback.”
🏠 What’s new in Nashville’s neighborhoods
Hermitage and Donelson
Cars parked in grass enforcement: Metro Codes issued “abate notices” for five properties with cars parked on the grass on Friday. All five say the complaint originated from an inspector, not someone calling in a complaint. The properties were on Springview Drive, Woodberry Drive, Jacksons Valley Road, and Dutchmans Drive.
Downtown Nashville
Construction on a new connector from the Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge to Wasioto Park is expected to begin in October.
South Nashville
Neighbors were worried about traffic that could come with a proposed development at 1065 Barnes Road with 110 multi-family units and 77 single-family homes. Metro’s Planning Commission approved the project with a requirement that the developers work with Metro on traffic calming measures for the new streets. Neighbors were also concerned about the loss of trees with the project.
Goodlettsville
NES tree trimmers are “supposed to be in area soon,” according to Metro Council member Jennifer Frensley Webb who represents Goodlettsville and much of the far-northern section of Davidson County. I reported last week on criticism of NES’s more aggressive tree trimming policy implemented after the January ice storm.
Joelton
The Crocker Springs Road Bridge closed yesterday for a replacement project. It’s expected to take about eight months. More details from NDOT here.
East Nashville
Cornelia Fort Airpark will be closed for “maintenance and habitat restoration” over the next day or two.
📰 A few final headlines…
After a Nashville federal judge ruled Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s prosecution for alleged human smuggling was essentially retaliation for challenging his wrongful deportation, the Trump administration asked an appeals court to reinstate the case. Here’s the filing from the Department of Justice.
“Nashville Couple With Taste For Historic Homes Buys Chattanooga’s Frank Lloyd Wright House, “ (chattanoogan.com)
Goodlettsville “Starbucks baristas held a one-day strike on Aug. 15 to protest unfair labor practices as the coffee giant plans its expansion to Nashville.” (Nashville Banner)
“Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway fight escalates as petitioners report harassment, assaults while canvassing” (WKRN)
Right place, right time: A Florida police officer happened to be on Broadway when a car hit multiple pedestrians on Broadway earlier this month. "I just knew that somebody needed help. And I had the training. Luckily, I was there at the right time. I had the training to be able to help,” the officer told Florida TV station WPBF. I reported yesterday that the Nashville mayor’s office wants action from TDOT on proposed bollards for Broadway.
Want to run for office? The qualifying deadline for city commission in Belle Meade, Forest Hills, and Goodlettsville is noon Thursday.
Pot for potholes: while Tennessee moves further away from marijuana legalization, Nashville State Representative Aftyn Behn shared a new map of problem roads and bridges (scroll down for map on linked page). Her “pot for potholes” bill would legalize marijuana and tax it for road funding.
Nashville’s Winter Storm Commission, created after the widely criticized response to the January ice storm, recommended that the city’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) follow NES’s lead by hiring out an outside consultant to “review how to modernize and improve OEM activities.” According to the report, “emergency preparedness and response work appears to lack consistent, clear, well-understood, and operationalized systems and structures that are not dependent on personal relationships.” You can read the full report here.
🍔 MAP: click here for restaurant inspections across Nashville
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