There is a Metro Council Meeting tonight… An agenda has been provided, and you can watch the meeting live via channel 3 or stream live on your electronic devices.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Did you take time to be with loved ones and reflect on what you're thankful for? We did, we had a great time with family and friends and reflected on our year and all that we are thankful for and excited what the next year will bring.

Remember to finish your leftovers within three to four days of storing. This article is helpful and gives you a few tips on how long before your Thanksgiving leftovers go bad!

Inaugural 37208 Committee Meeting

At the beginning of the term, Vice Mayor Shulman created 8 special committees. I was appointed to chair the 37208 committee. This committee is comprised of Council Members and citizens. The committee was initiated from a Brookings Institute study citing the 37208 zip code had the highest incarceration rate in the country. We held our inaugural 37208 Committee Meeting two weeks ago. We opened the meeting with a discussion around the Brookings study titled "Work and Opportunity before and after incarceration." The authors set out to examine the filing behavior, use of tax credits, and employment outcomes of prisoners, to develop and improve tax policies to deter entry into crime and facilitate reentry following incarceration as one element of potential reforms to criminal justice policies. 

During the study, they found that 37208 and 37207 in Nashville had two of the highest incarceration rates in the country, amongst several other findings (make sure you skim through this study). Our committee has until January 31st to create a report regarding the 37208 community's priorities. The group is communicating about the next steps and we will need your support and thoughts as we move forward. Please be on the lookout for more information, we would like to hear from the 37208 residents to help guide the committee's actions.

Paving in the District (Update):

In my last note, I discussed the paving in the District. Each paving project has included new striping for bike lanes and for one a new parking area. For those of you that use Arthur Ave often, please review the diagram and example below. This will help you have a deeper understanding of the flow of traffic, parking instructions, and bike lane flow. 

What to expect tonight:

• There are several zoning bills on public hearing tonight. 
• Water is still a hot topic, and we have a Bill on second reading that will require water and sewerage services to submit an annual report to the council.
• In response to a few mishaps with Metro's Cold Weather Plan, CM Bradford has introduced a bill that would require the Social Services Commission to adopt, by law, an annual Cold Weather Plan that will have to be submitted to the council by May 31. Currently, there is a cold-weather plan in place, but the Homeless Commission isn't required to present an annual plan to the council. As a member of the Affordable Housing Committee, (in which we are discussing Metro's overall response to individuals experiencing homelessness and housing barriers) we are working with Ms. Judith Tackett and the Homelessness Commission to increase the awareness and provide more education to the community and Metro Government on how to best manage our response properly.
•  BL2019-42 is on third reading, and this bill would require any sale of Metro property to be presented to the council for approval and the transaction must be accompanied by an appraisal for any consideration by the council. 
• In our efforts to keep transparency BL2019-43 will require all financial communications from the State to the Mayor's office to be sent to the council office within seven days of receipt. 
• Short Term Rentals (STRs) seem to find it's way on each council agenda:
  • BL2019-6:  This bill is on third reading tonight, and I have followed this bill closely. This bill will penalize individuals operating an STR without a permit by making them wait one (1) calendar year to apply for a permit if sited.
• I mentioned this bill in my last note, BL2019 -77, which will require full cost itemizations of capital expenditures for all Metro departments before the approval of requests. This bill passed first reading and is now on second reading. This is an interesting bill to me, It will add a few checks and balances for metro Departments as we strive to have fiscal responsibility and transparency with you.

Dates to remember:

• Tuesday, December 3 - Council Meeting  
• Thursday, December 5 - I will be hosting a listening session with the neighbors in the West End/Centennial Park area - Centennial Performing Arts Studio - 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
• Tuesday, December 10 - Community Meeting to discuss two proposed rezoning projects - Elizabeth Park Community Center - 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
  • A project at Buchanan and 9th Ave. N: Proposed rezone from CS's and Rs5's to MUL-A
  • A project at Clay and 9th Ave. N: Proposed rezone from R6 to CS
• Thursday, December 12 - Community Meeting to discuss a proposed project at 2500 Heiman St. - 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. at Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church
• Friday, December 13 - Lip Sync Competition with Metro Parks - Hadly Park - 6:00 p.m.

Lets Connect:

I invite all District 21 residents to reach out to me directly with any information or concerns in our community. Email is the best form of communication, but invite you to call me as well. My contact information is below.

Contact information: Email - [email protected] / Phone: 615.946.9700

Best regards,

Brandon