by karen wieckert | Aug 6, 2021 | Hot Topics
Speaker: Dr. Dr. Alex Jahangir, orthopedic trauma surgeon, Director of the Division of Orthopedic Trauma at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Chair of the Metropolitan Board of Health of Nashville and chair of the Metropolitan Nashville Coronavirus Taskforce.
As Chair of the Metropolitan Board of Health of Nashville and chair of the Metropolitan Nashville
Coronavirus Taskforce, Dr. Jahangir led the response to the Covid-19 pandemic for Nashville including the development and implementation of policies that have mitigated the spread of the virus in Nashville, increased access to testing and vaccination for all in our community, established a robust public health infrastructure, and served as a principal source of information to the public regarding the Covid-19 pandemic.
by karen wieckert | Jun 4, 2021 | Hot Topics
Speaker: Katie Cour, President and CEO of the Nashville Public Foundation
Ms. Cour addressed the League about the Foundation’s efforts to raise awareness about problems with state support of public schools. The Basic Education Program (BEP) is Tennessee’s formula used to allocate state dollars to local school systems. Developed in response to a 1988 lawsuit waged against the state government by 88 rural school systems, the BEP was created to improve the equity of funding for all school systems.
In recent years, however, the formula has come under fire for providing too little funding to schools generally, particularly those in the state’s urban systems. The BEP has four basic components: Instructional Salaries and Wages, Instructional Benefits, Classroom Components, and Non-Classroom Components. Within these larger categories are many smaller ones, such as teachers, principals, assistant principals, school nurses, counselors as well as instructional supplies. As state officials are quick to point out, however, the BEP is a funding formula not a spending plan. This means that the formula generates certain amounts of money, but the local governments have some discretion in how it’s actually spent. In addition to state funding, state law requires local governments to contribute to public school funding; the required amounts vary according to each local government’s ability to pay. Overall, the state funds about 66% of the BEP’s total, and local governments fund about 33%. Because Nashville can raise more revenue than most other counties, however, it’s also expected to contribute more to its schools. At the same time, many
of Metro’s students are more expensive to educate than students in other places, because of a higher number of economically disadvantaged, non-English-speaking children and special education students. Consequently, Metro receives less state revenue, but must spend more than many other systems to educate its students.
Ms. Cour pointed out some of the BEP’s flaws particularly as they impact Metro Schools:
The formula consistently underestimates the resources needed to run a school. For example, the actual number of personnel generated by the formula is about 11,000 positions less than what schools actually have. Nurses and Assistant Principals are particularly underfunded.
The salary amount used in the formula is a state average. Because the cost of living in Nashville is so much higher than in other parts of the state, the local government must contribute much larger amounts to hire teachers than other places. Metro pays $21,000,000 for teachers’ salaries over what the BEP generates.
Overall, the BEP formula generates per pupil funding that is less than most other states; Tennessee ranks 44 th in the nation. The Education Law Center gives Tennessee an “F” in funding efforts for the percentage of GDP invested in education.
So what does the Nashville Public Education Foundation recommend that the state do to address these funding challenges?
Adopt the recommendations of the BEP Review Committee, an advisory body of educational professionals and state officials. Each year the committee makes suggestions to improve the funding formula, but the General Assembly rarely adopts them.
Migrate to a student-driven formula with an appropriate base, with weights added for more expensive students.
Increase funding generally. Possible sources include limiting present exemptions to the sales tax, as well as drawing from the increased revenues now collected from taxes on internet sales.
The BEP was a major component of the Education Improvement Act, a wide-ranging piece of legislation passed in 1992 after two years of intense discussion by the General Assembly. Perhaps it’s time to focus on Tennessee’s children and their educational needs once more. The Foundation will rolling out additional materials later this summer to raise awareness about this issue
by karen wieckert | May 7, 2021 | Hot Topics
Speaker: Debby Gould, LWVTN President
Debby Gould, incoming LWVTN President, gave an informative introductory presentation on the redistricting process nationally, with specifics relevant to Tennessee. This is part of the LWVUS outreach program called People PoweredFair Maps.
Background: Redistricting happens every ten years. The purpose is threefold:
- To define boundaries for political districts, from school boards to the US Congress
- To calculate the number of people to be reapportioned per district
- To guide distribution of Federal dollars — upwards of $500 billion — to districts.
Every ten years, a constitutionally-mandated national census is conducted, census data are sent to the states, states review that data, and draw maps. Maps are submitted for approval, and new maps are implemented to govern voting for the next decade.
Ideally, redistricting should be non-partisan and focus on providing appropriate representation for the people of various states and districts. However, the process is rarely smooth or nonpartisan. One historical concern is gerrymandering, named for an 1812 district boundary resembling a salamander created by Governor Gerry of Massachusetts. Although this happened long ago, many states still continue to draw odd-shaped districts. Gerrymandered districts often favor one political party, intentionally minimize the influence of marginal/minority interests, and favor incumbents going forward for the coming decade.
Tools used to gerrymander are called packing and cracking. Packing concentrates political interests into single districts in order to create large political majorities. Cracking spreads marginal or minority political interests across districts to dilute their influence in representing the district as a whole. The Supreme Court’s historic modification of the Voting Rights Act in 2013 regarding pre-clearance, as well as numerous cases afterwards regarding gerrymandering, allowed redistricting for partisan ends but not explicit racial categorization of district populations. Now, with standards relaxed, every state is allowed to set its own redistricting process.
States have varying redistricting laws, including:
- Requiring public meetings for community input (currently mandated in 33 states)
- Requiring public hearings on redistricting (26 states)
- Drafting maps for analysis (33 states)
- Requiring the redistricting process to be nonpartisan (a handful of states).
Specifics in Tennessee
In Tennessee, the State Legislature draws districts. After receiving federal apportionment data from the census, they then draw geographic lines for 9 US Congress, 99 State House, and 33 State Senate seats. Federal laws require that districts be approximately equal in population and that racial voting strength not be intentionally diluted. Tennessee state law requires districts to be connected and compact, and the Governor can veto the final maps. Because populations change, maps change. For example, in Tennessee in the upcoming redistricting process, congressional districts will cover approximately 767,871 people, 62,000 more than currently represented, which will mean increases and/or changes relevant to state house and senate districts as well.
Generally, LWVTN and other affiliated groups support redistricting maps that avoid oddly-shaped districts, keep city/county boundaries within districts, keep communities of interest (groups that share economic and/or social interests) within districts, and create competitive, not packed districts.
by karen wieckert | 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.
by karen wieckert | 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.
by karen wieckert | 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
by karen wieckert | Jan 8, 2021 | Hot Topics
Speaker: Stewart Clifton, LWTN Lobbyist
by karen wieckert | Dec 12, 2020 | Hot Topics
Conversation with Senator Elect Heidi Campbell
by karen wieckert | 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.
