NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A few proposed changes to the Metro Nashville charter will have to wait until 2026, following a vote from the Metro Council.
At its Aug. 6 meeting, the Council voted to defer three amendments to the charter of Metro Nashville and Davidson County until a January 2026 meeting in order to allow the massive transit plan stand on its own ballot.
The charter amendments deferred Aug. 6 include a plan of succession for the Metro Director of Finance in the event of a vacancy, cancelling all Metro Council meetings in September, and changing the requirements for candidacy to be a councilmember.
According to Council Member Sheri Weiner, who chairs the Charter Revision Committee, the extended deferral was for a couple of reasons. She told News 2 charter revisions can only take place twice per term, and they can only happen during general election years. In order to keep from using one of the allotted amendment attempts, the Council opted to defer any considerations until 2026, as there will be no elections in 2025.
Additionally, Weiner said the deferral was also in line with preventing ballot fatigue and preserving council member bandwidth in explaining multiple measures on the November ballot.
It would give less time for council members to argue for or against any charter amendments if they were on the ballot in November, she said, and it also made sense to make any "operational changes" to the charter in one fell swoop rather than in smaller chunks.
CM Clay Capp of District 6, echoed Weiner's sentiments, telling News 2 he would rather spend as much time between now and November describing the massive transit plan than several different issues and potentially confusing voters.
"I want to get that [transit plan] passed, and I think one important feature of how we campaign for transit is I want to spend my time talking about transit and answering questions about transit," he said.
Additionally, Weiner told News 2 the Council is also contending with the Tennessee Attorney General's decision to appeal the ruling on the law that would have halved the Metro Council size.
A three-judge panel ruled House Bill 48, which the city dubbed the "Metro Council Reduction Act," was unconstitutional. The Court said the law was "local in form or effect," in violation of the Local Legislation Clause of the Home Rule Amendment of the state Constitution. The AG's office has since appealed that decision, hoping the Tennessee Court of Appeals will reinstate the law as passed by the Tennessee General Assembly.
According to Weiner, if the Appeals Court reverses the Davidson County Chancery Court's ruling, the Metro Council will have numerous parts of the Metro Charter to revise—specifically pointing to any reference to needing a supermajority of 27 votes to pass a bill. If the Metro Council is indeed halved by the law on appeal, it would make more sense to make all the "operational changes" at once.
"There's a lot of stuff that, if that happens, has to be addressed," she told News 2.
Further, Weiner said, the finance director succession plan was not seen as an urgent need to be addressed, as there was a previous vacancy in that office that was "managed" successfully in the interim. While a full plan does need to be included in the charter, she said, the city has shown it is capable of handling such an unexpected vacancy if it should happen, removing the urgency for having the charter amended for this purpose.
from WKRN News 2 https://ift.tt/0t6FlAH
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