(C) Tennessee Lookout
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Analysis: Can we just admit the speedway deal is dead? – Tennessee Lookout [1]
['More From Author', 'July', 'Nicole Williams']
Date: 2023-07-25
For nearly three years, Metro Nashville leaders have tried to sell the public on a deal to upgrade the Fairgrounds Nashville Speedway for a NASCAR race, but with just weeks left in the council term, the agreement faces tough odds of passage.
Municipal elections are just over a week away, and the current Metro Council term ends next month. The deal’s only path to passage is through a special-called meeting.
The mayor’s office hasn’t publicly admitted defeat, but they’re not necessarily pressing the issue either. There’s no great enthusiasm among the council for this proposal. I can count on one finger the number of councilmembers who are just dying to pass a speedway deal in the final days of this term.
Even if Cooper had the votes, though, it wouldn’t matter. He doesn’t have the time.
Metro Charter v. state legislature
In 2011, on the heels of then-Mayor Karl Dean’s failed attempt to redevelop the Fairgrounds Nashville as a corporate office park, Nashville residents passed a referendum to amend the Metro Charter. The charter amendment was simple, just two sentences. The first protects the existing uses of the fairgrounds as of December 2010, including auto racing. The second establishes a 27-vote threshold at the Metro Council for “demolition of the premises.”
This year, the state legislature sought to “clarify” (read: rewrite) this charter provision at the behest of supporters of the proposed speedway deal, lowering the vote threshold from 27 to 21 for demolition on the fairgrounds, so long as the underlying use remains the same.
It’s worth noting that the council has honored the 27-vote requirement many times since the passage of the charter amendment, with nary a peep out of the folks who are looking to “clarify” the charter for us now. That includes a vote to demolish and replace the expo buildings in 2018 — without any change to the use of those buildings — as part of the deal to bring Major League Soccer to the fairgrounds.
Enter: a series of lawsuits that would ask the courts to determine whether the bill passed by the state legislature violates the doctrine of “home rule” enshrined in the Tennessee Constitution.
On one side, you’ve got the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County; a trio of sitting councilmembers; and a group of Nashville residents all suing the state to block the law. On the other side, a professional driver, Howard Tucker, has sued Metro to challenge Metro Legal’s interpretation of the charter amendment. Tucker argues that, state law or no state law, the 27-vote threshold doesn’t apply here. He’s also moved to intervene as a defendant in Metro’s lawsuit against the state, which could put his lawyer, former Councilmember Jamie Hollin, in the position of arguing that the state law is both entirely constitutional and wholly unnecessary.
Lessons from history
The fate of the deal now rests in the hands of the Metro Council, and it’s been clear for some time now that John Cooper simply does not have the votes. Months of intense lobbying and a full court press from the mayor’s office couldn’t even get Cooper to 27 votes for the Titans stadium. Bristol Motor Speedway has hired some of the same lobbyists the Titans did, but councilmembers aren’t experiencing anywhere near the level of pressure they were to get the stadium deal done.
In June 2015, as Karl Dean’s second term as mayor was coming to an end, the council rejected three major proposals in one fell swoop, removing them from the capital improvements budget: the downtown flood wall, the relocation of the jail to Southeast Nashville, and the construction of the Metro Nashville Police headquarters on Jefferson Street. Listening to the debate on the council floor that evening is a lesson in how history repeats itself; the floor speeches that night bore an eerie similarity to arguments against taking up the speedway deal this late in Cooper’s first — and only — term.
“I don’t know what this project costs,” said Charlie Tygard. “Until we have good numbers, I’m not comfortable moving ahead with a project like this.”
“It’s inappropriate for us to come in here right at the very tail end of a council term,” argued Phil Claiborne, “and be forced forward to make a decision.”
Carter Todd read an email from a constituent. “It is clear that Mayor Dean’s request for funding for a downtown flood wall, police headquarters on Jefferson Street, and relocating the jail to Antioch are controversial and are of a scope that cannot be completed in his remaining term of office.” He went on: “In view of that fact — that we do not even know who will be our next mayor, and not all of the mayoral candidates agree on the specifics of these proposed projects — common sense dictates that any action regarding these projects should be deferred until the next mayor takes office.”
To be fair, history may not be the best teacher in this case, as this particular Metro Council has yet to deliver a single blow to Cooper’s legislative agenda. On proposal after proposal, councilmembers have complained of a lack of communication, cooperation, and planning, but have gone on to approve Cooper’s requests anyway. They bought a dead mall on the promise of a lease with Vanderbilt University Medical Center that hasn’t materialized. They purchased the site of the former Tennessee School for the Blind with no clear plans for what to do with the property. They approved the Titans stadium deal with no estimate of what it would cost to comply with our existing lease obligations.
“It’s inappropriate for us to come in here right at the very tail end of a council term and be forced forward to make a decision. – Former Metro Nashville Councilmember Phil Claiborne in 2015 over a late-term project
That stadium fight was prolonged, complex, and exhausting. It was followed immediately by the yearly sprint to pass a budget. It’s easy to forget this, but councilmembers are human. Deal fatigue is a real thing, and to throw another deal at them at the end of a term, mere months after the biggest deal they’ll ever consider? That’s just piss poor timing.
Death by a thousand cuts
Since 2021, we’ve been told the speedway deal is just around the corner. “Any day now” turned into “any month now,” which turned into “any year now,” which started to feel like “any decade now?” Cooper’s inability to get this deal in front of the council earlier in his term has led to a series of procedural roadblocks and allowed opponents of the deal to successfully gum up the works.
The deal needs approval from three bodies: the Board of Fair Commissioners, the Metro Sports Authority, and the Metro Council. The Fair Board finally approved the deal by a 3-2 vote in March, in the midst of the council’s consideration of the Titans stadium deal. Understandably, the administration chose not to introduce legislation at the council until after the stadium deal had passed. By that time, though, the mayor had introduced his budget, which triggered a council rule that prohibits the council from considering bond issuances while the budget is pending. Because the speedway deal includes the issuance of revenue bonds, it was placed on hold until the end of June.
The deal comes in the form of a three-reading ordinance. There are only two regularly-scheduled council meetings left in this term: Aug. 1 and Aug. 15. The math whizzes among you will note that two (the number of meetings left) is less than three (the number of meetings required to pass the deal).
Councilmember Zach Young attempted a Hail Mary that could’ve circumvented Councilmember Colby Sledge’s timing — Sledge, in whose district lies the fairgrounds, scheduled a July 25 community meeting — but that legislation has since stalled, making it impossible to pass the deal without at least one special called meeting.
The ordinance has been on the council’s agenda for some time now, but consideration has been further stymied by a Metro Code provision that requires the district councilmember to hold a community meeting before this type of deal can be considered. District 17 Councilmember Colby Sledge, in whose district the fairgrounds are located, has scheduled that community meeting for July 25. That simply doesn’t leave enough time for the deal to get the requisite three readings before the term ends on August 31.
Councilmember Zach Young attempted a Hail Mary that could’ve circumvented Sledge’s adroit timing here, but that legislation has since stalled, making it impossible to pass the deal without at least one special called meeting. In fact, two special meetings could be required, due to a council rule that may allow Sledge to defer the ordinance yet again at the Aug. 1 council meeting.
The mayor, the vice mayor, or 21 councilmembers could call a special meeting. But a special meeting requires a quorum of 27 councilmembers. There are currently only 39 councilmembers, due to Steve Glover’s resignation for health reasons earlier this term. If 13 councilmembers can’t — or won’t — be present for a meeting, the council can’t conduct any business.
Add to that the specter of election season: councilmembers running for re-election to their seats or election to higher offices have zero incentive to vote on a controversial deal in the middle of an ongoing election. Typically, the mayor would have some leverage that might offset this disincentive. “You back me on this, and I’ll make sure that playground gets built in your district” — your basic quid pro quo. In only two months, though, John Cooper won’t be mayor anymore. These councilmembers don’t need him. He has effectively forfeited his bargaining power.
Ding, dong, the deal is dead
At a Sports Authority meeting on Thursday where the speedway deal was set to be considered, the chair announced that the Authority had received a text message from Bristol Motor Speedway asking for consideration to be deferred to a later meeting.
The speedway deal is dead, and it’s time we all admit it. Cooper’s smart enough to know it. His refusal to just say the words out loud is a waste of time and energy for everyone involved. It’s also just plain cruel; giving the ardent supporters of the speedway — of which there are many — hope shows an utter lack of respect.
When the council’s agenda is released later this week, we’ll see whether Cooper plans to die on this hill. It’s possible he’ll press the issue, forcing councilmembers to either show up to special called meetings or face criticism for not “doing their jobs.” That would be the coward’s way out. The council isn’t to blame for Cooper’s screwy timing. It’s his own damn fault, and it’s long past time for him to own up to it.
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[1] Url:
https://tennesseelookout.com/2023/07/25/analysis-can-we-just-admit-the-speedway-deal-is-dead/
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