Claiming the Moral High Ground
🌆 Nashville is a sanctuary city · Clapping back at the Trump administration · Lee's first veto · Stating the obvious about men in women's sports · Repeat offender all-star of the day · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone.
You’d have to be living under a rock to expect that Trump’s promise to conduct the “largest deportation” effort in the country’s history would go over without opposition, but it’s still remarkable to watch the response. Nashville is a sanctuary city. Not on paper and not officially in name, but for all intents and purposes, it’s a sanctuary city.
The Instagram page Music City Migrant Watch, a project of ReMIX TN, has posted about the continued presence of ICE in the city since the early morning Sunday maneuver. In one post, they proclaim, “This is not public safety, this is state sanctioned terror.”
Both the Banner and Axios cried foul this morning that the DHS and ICE operation targeted “Hispanic neighborhoods.” Did they expect them to target Belle Meade? Do you know what is South of Texas?
One thing we can be sure of going forward is that Nashville’s establishment journalists will direct their moral ray guns at all future deportation efforts as if they were Neo trying to break out of the Matrix. Or, maybe a better metaphor is trying to toss a stick (their journalism) into the spokes of a bike (the deportation operation). It’s an impossible, unwinnable fight, but maybe they’ll get a Pulitzer for their efforts?
The mayor held a fifteen-minute press conference yesterday addressing all this. During that meeting, Hal Cato, CEO of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, announced that the non-profit would partner with Metro, Tennessee Justice For Our Neighbors, Conexion Americas, and the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition to launch a “Belonging Fund” to provide “financial support to nonprofit organizations offering emergency assistance to immigrants.” No effort was made to distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants, of course.
Later in the meeting, O’Connell advised families, in characteristically vague, almost substanceless rhetoric, to be "very responsible about how they share information," presumably concerning their immigration status.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that it will offer illegals $1,000 and paid travel if they voluntarily self-deport. DHS estimates that each deportation costs taxpayers $17,121. Encouraging voluntary returns could cut that expense by roughly 70%, even after the stipend is paid.
That bit of information, which you would think would be very valuable for those who have flagrantly broken the law, will likely not receive much airtime here locally as the city digs in its heels to fight, again, an unwinnable war with the state and federal government.
The moral valence of this whole ordeal is colored by the feigned concern of city officials towards those who have entered the country illegally, promising to protect them from the evil Orange Man and his goons. But what is more morally unforgivable is to set the expectation that they can and will win this fight, goading those with undocumented status into a false sense of security, inevitably setting them up for a much more terrifying encounter with ICE agents.
In other, more parochial concerns, I continue to marvel at how effective late merging is. Probably saved me three minutes on my commute this morning. Why doesn’t everyone do this?
Onward, Davis.
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🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.
🪖 Picking Fights & Closing Rank During yesterday’s Metro Planning & Zoning Committee meeting, Councilmember Emily Benedict suggested killing two resolutions allowing military training on certain Metro property to send a message to the Trump administration. “I think there's no better time right now than to stand up to the United States federal government and say, ‘Until you cooperate with us, I'm not going to cooperate with you,’” Benedict said to her colleagues. “I'm an absolute no on this resolution. I do not trust the defense secretary, I do not trust the executive branch of the federal government right now, and I do not want them entering a Metro building to do any type of military training that they want.”
Councilmembers John Rutherford and Olivia Hill, both military veterans, came to the defense of the legislation. “We shouldn't necessarily punish the individual service member and limit, in any way, their training and capability by holding the federal government and the things that they do and decisions that they make against the individual service member,” said Rutherford, to which Benedict shot back: "Until their leadership makes better choices, I don't think that we should cooperate with them.”
Councilmember Hill closed rank: “This is an opportunity for our military people to train, and by not allowing them to do that harms them, and regardless of what is above them—there's plenty of us in this room that will disagree with that person or that administration—but we cannot, or should not, punish the military people that are just trying to train.”
Hill also warned that targeting a certain group to enact retaliations could come back to “haunt” Metro Nashville. The committee ended up passing both resolutions, and Benedict was the only council member who voted no on the legislation.
❌ Lee’s First Seal Of Disapproval Governor Bill Lee vetoed his first bill yesterday, blocking a law that would have allowed the Board of Parole to deny parole depending on the seriousness of certain offenses. "Together we recognized that the vast majority of offenders will return to our communities, and their successful reentry impacts the safety of every neighborhood for the better," Lee said in a letter notifying the Senate and House speakers of his veto. "Two years later, Tennessee achieved the lowest recidivism rate in state history, meaning fewer crimes and fewer victims. And I am confident that the Board of Parole and other safeguards ensure parole is awarded appropriately.”
The governor said the legislation would both unravel Tennessee's Reentry Success Act and be a “step backwards from safer Tennessee communities." House Sponsor Rick Scarbrough (R-Oak Ridge) disagrees. “While I have deep respect for Gov. Lee, I am both surprised and disappointed by his decision to veto this bill,” Scarbrough told the Lookout. “This legislation addresses critical gaps in our parole system while strengthening public safety and confidence, ensuring that serious offenses aren’t minimized.”
💰 Budget Rollout During Monday’s Budget and Finance Committee meeting, Councilmember Thom Druffel asked Metro Director of Finance Jenneen Reed if “any of the recommended budget is replacing potential loss in federal grants?” Reed explained that “most departments have reported no loss in federal funds, and many grant contracts have already been renewed for FY-26” before confirming that the budget does not replace any cuts. Instead, they helped “set up the budget sustainability funds so that we can buffer against some of that in the event we were to lose a really significant grant that we wanted to make sure that we funded.”
The budget legislation to track over the next two months includes the budget ordinance, the tax levy, an Urban Council resolution, the certified tax rate, pay plan resolutions, tax anticipation notes, a Waste Department ordinance, and a 4 percent reserve fund resolution. The Planning Department will also file the capital improvements budget by May 15.
The first reading of the mayor's recommended budget will be May 20, and budget and department hearings will occur through May 22. The public hearing on the budget will be during its second reading on June 3, and there will be several budget work sessions. The third and final reading will be on June 17, and the Charter deadline for the council to pass the budget is June 30.
STATING THE OBVIOUS
Nashville data analyst Josh Stevenson put together a breakdown of how men participating in women's sports perform, and unsurprisingly, they overwhelmingly take the top spots. In track and field, you see the largest discrepancy, but it's visible across all sports. (More Info)
DEVELOPMENT
- Two European restaurant groups set Nashville opening (NBJ)
- Giarratana offers James Robertson Parkway property for sale (Post)
- West Nashville commercial property known for distinctive sign sells (Post)
✹ REPEAT OFFENDER ALL-STAR OF THE DAY
Today's repeat offending all-star is Domanic Tolbert. Tolbert has enjoyed a fruitful, twenty-five-year career as a repeat offender in the Metro Nashville area. From his humble beginnings as a drug dealer to his turn towards violent crime, Tolbert's work in the city reminds us that even the least among us can enrich the community with inspired acts of mischief. His most recent performance saw Tolbert stab a tourist in the head during a robbery. What creative spirit possessed the man to wield a knife against his foe when, typically, a gun would do? How bold the decision to go for the head instead of the vital organs. For Tolbert's stunning performance, we wish him well in whatever Davidson County Correctional Facility he’s held in. Thank you for what you've done for this great city, Domanic. (More Info)
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🎸 Pearl Jam @ Bridgestone Arena, 7:30p, Info
🎻 Nashville Philharmonic Concert @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7p, Free, Info
🎸 The Prokops @ The Underdog, 7:30p, $5, Info
🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ Eastside Bowl, 8p, $10, Info
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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Today's newsletter is brought to you by Megan Podsiedlik (Nashville), Camelia Brennan (Local Noise), and Davis Hunt (everything else).