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April 2021 Hot Topic — Downtown Nashville

by | Apr 2, 2021 | Hot Topics

Speaker: Councilmember Freddie O’Connell

For the past six years, Metro Councilperson Freddie O’Connell has represented Nashville’s downtown, an area that has undergone tremendous change in the past two decades and continues to change by the day. The downtown district includes several new high-rise buildings and has become a place where people can live, work, and play. Until the 1990’s, creation of residential space in the area was prohibited, but now 14,000 people call downtown Nashville their home. Before the pandemic, 78,000 people worked downtown, and many are beginning to return. With all of these changes, balancing growth and preservation is a challenge.

Councilperson O’Connell noted that Downtown is “complicated.” He described several special zones and districts that overlay the central footprint to guide building height, historic preservation decisions, and energy use. Businesses within the Central Business Improvement District pay a property surcharge for extra services to keep the area clean and safe, while other areas do not. In 2010, the Specialized Land Use Policy for Downtown, known as the “Downtown
Code” was adopted, and it continues to guide decisions about changes in the central city.

March 2021 Hot Topic — The Secret Life of Judges

by | Mar 5, 2021 | Hot Topics

Speaker: Claudia Bonnyman, retired Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman and LWVNashville member.

Judge Bonnyman shared her candid observations of the judiciary. Chancellor Bonnyman served three decades in Davidson County’s Chancery Court system, including 16 years as a judge.

Citing the purpose of court as the non-violent resolution of disputes, Chancellor Bonnyman noted that Chancery Courts do not try criminals but may get involved in issues that affect prisoners. She discussed a couple of such cases, one addressing whether the poisons used to execute prisoners inflict cruel and unusual punishment, and one addressing whether the records of a private prison company are private or not.

Although judges are frequently compared to umpires, in describing their role, Chancellor Bonnyman, finds this comparison to be simplistic and somewhat inaccurate. Rather than umpires, judges are servants of the law. Unlike umpires, judges often disagree about the rules, and the law’s complexity causes judges to have varied interpretations. The umpire analogy implies that judges can ignore bias, but she believes it’s important to recognize bias instead, including one’s own, in applying the law. In many cases, the law itself and Supreme Court decisions that guide later decisions, may leave gaps in interpretation which judges must fill. She also discussed the role of “common law,” the legal wisdom that has been distilled over the years. She noted that, although court proceedings are evidence-based, love, faith, loyalty, and empathy are all qualities that cannot be ignored, and are, in fact, vital to judicial proceedings. She emphasized the importance of judges applying the law even when they personally disagree with it. Those who don’t do a disservice to the judicial system.

Chancellor Bonnyman discovered the hard way that some of her methods of weighing facts in the courtroom don’t work so well when applied to family dynamics. Having a husband and son who are passionate advocates for certain causes made her realize that her detached reactions to their ideas wasn’t helpful at home.

Although the public thinks that the courtroom is the most important place that legal work occurs, in actuality some of the most vital work happens in other places. The role of mediation and discovery are as important as what occurs in the more visible courtroom setting. Chancellor Bonnyman described petitions for name changes as a type of case that gave her the most joy. In most such cases, the petitioner had an important reason for wanting a different name. She cited examples of people who chose to change names that were demeaning, or to evade a stalker, or for gender reassignment. One of her favorite stories was of an elderly African American woman who had no birth certificate and couldn’t find accurate records of her parents’ names. Helping that woman establish a legal identity enabled her to get a Social Security card and also vote for the first time.

February 2021 Hot Topic — The State of Music City

by | Feb 5, 2021 | Hot Topics

Speaker: Burkley Allen, Metro Councilperson-at-Large

What a year this has been! Nashville has been rocked by a devastating tornado, summer marches and demonstrations, and a Christmas Day bomb on historic Second Avenue, all while a global pandemic rages and Metro’s budget is pinched.

Councilperson Allen shared her thoughts about the city’s current challenges and how city officials are working to address each one. Ms. Allen brings several years of experience to her work, including earlier terms as a councilperson and service on several committees. The pandemic has affected many aspects of Nashville’s normal operations. The hospitality industry, which produces much of Metro’s revenue, has reeled as out-of-town tourists stopped visiting the “It” City. Schools have been closed for in-person learning for nearly a year. With assistance from a $121 million federal grant, the Metro Government has responded by setting up assessment centers to test for the virus, providing hot spots and laptop computers for every student to make on-line learning possible, and helping small businesses through various organizations. The Metro Government is also reducing staffing through attrition to save money, but because the city still must provide essential services such as trash pick-up, and police and fire protection, it’s not possible to just “close down.” The city is now coordinating vaccination efforts at the Music City Center. Councilperson Allen noted that Davidson County has somewhat lagged behind other counties in vaccinating its population in part because the disproportionately high numbers of health care workers working at our numerous hospitals take
priority over other categories.

Councilperson Allen discussed the damage inflicted on Historic Second Avenue by the Christmas Day bombing. Although it will likely be at least a year before 2nd Avenue can get back to normal, proposed plans will respect the area’s historic integrity but make buildings more
adaptable for today’s uses. Several charity events are planned to raise funds for the restoration. Isolated incidents of violence coincident with the protests in the Summer of 2020 caused damage to many storefronts, as well as major damage to the Metro Courthouse. Councilperson
Allen noted, however, that those events have led to the naming of a new police chief and to policing reform. In addition, the events raised awareness of a need to review all of Nashville’s diversity policies and their implementation. That review has caused some changes in
procurement and the way minority and women-owned businesses are treated.

Councilperson Allen explained that addressing some of 2020’s unexpected events has been further complicated because of some decisions made about raising revenue in years past. Metro had avoided raising property taxes for several years for various reasons, but in 2019 the State Comptroller of the Treasury, who oversees the financial health of local governments, notified Metro Nashville, that an increase in revenue was needed to have a structurally balanced budget. The Metro Council has responded by raising property taxes, as well as eliminating the capital spending plan to help reduce debt service.
Councilperson Allen briefly discussed “Vision Zero,” a transportation plan to help reduce pedestrian deaths in the city. In 2020, 43 Nashvillians were killed on city streets and thoroughfares

December 2020 Hot Topic – Presidential Powers & The Constitution

by | Dec 4, 2020 | Hot Topics

Speaker: Jim Blumstein, Vanderbilt University Professor of Constitutional Law and Health Law & Policy

As our nation struggles with the fallout of the November Presidential Election, our December Hot Topic could not have been timelier. Dr. James Blumstein, Vanderbilt University Professor of Constitutional Law and Health Law & Policy, spoke via Zoom on “Presidential Powers and the Constitution.”

Professor Blumstein noted that for a constitution to work, a country must have a “culture of constitutionalism.” In other words, the citizens must be willing to accept the constitution and abide by its rules and outcomes. Self-restraint is vital—otherwise, it becomes just words on
paper. He added that a culture of constitutionalism must also have elements of custom and practice. In some cases, the constitution itself may not exactly spell out a practice, but the country develops traditions of practice for carrying out its provisions. These can be renegotiated,
of course, but sometimes at great cost.

Professor Blumstein then turned specifically to Executive Powers in the Constitution, as well as the separation of powers. The US Constitution grants the President tremendous authority, some through inherent powers, but also enhanced by statute, as well as custom and practice. The President’s powers, however, have been somewhat restrained through the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, which was adopted shortly after World War II, to place parameters on the authority of executive branch departments.

Most 21st Century Americans would probably be surprised to learn that the US Constitution actually doesn’t mandate that Presidents to be elected at all—the selection falls to each state’s legislature. In the earlier years of our nation, there were no popular elections for the President. Today, however, all 50 states have elected to allow popular elections.

Questions followed Dr. Blumstein’s remarks on wide-ranging topics such as Presidential pardons, the Electoral College, the power of the President to negotiate with other countries without the consent of Congress, and challenges to the US Census process.



November 2020 Hot Topic – Bridging the Political Divide

by | Nov 6, 2020 | Hot Topics

Speaker: Lynn Heady, Braver Angels

The past four years have stirred strong feelings on both sides of the political divide in the United States. Relationships between friends and family members have frayed, and sometimes broken, because of our nation’s polarization. Many people have come to view those of the opposite party as “the enemy” rather than fellow citizens with differing points of view.

Braver Angels (formerly Better Angels) is a bottom-up national organization focused on improving communication and reducing animosity between Republicans and Democrats. Lynn Heady, Co-Director of Field Operations and Tennessee State Coordinator for Braver Angels, spoke about her organization’s work. Braver Angels was birthed over coffee by two friends of opposite political parties. The organization’s goal is to encourage people to change how they think about each other and hopefully come to discuss their different views easier. By seeking understanding from “the other” the hope is that we can mend as a nation and even find middle ground to meet some of our challenges. Today, Braver Angels has about 15,000 volunteers and 20 paid staff.

For more information please visit the Braver Angels’ website at Braver Angels