Convention update

We are one week away from the Metro Council’s next meeting on July 19. The deadline for timely filing legislation for that meeting has passed without anyone re-filing the RNC contract legislation. I do not think there are any negotiations going on with the Mayor’s Office or anyone else. I think the effort to get the city’s approval to bring a 2024 national political convention to Nashville is dead in the water.

(I’m opposed to bringing political conventions to Nashville for the reasons I discussed in this June 25 post.)

There is talk about possible punishment from the state legislature, including possibly taking away funding for an enclosed football stadium and the planned north-south connector road on the East Bank. Some people are more concerned than others about the risk of retribution from the state. I think there is consensus hurting Nashville hurts the State of Tennessee. By now, the city is accustomed to being hit by the state law stick. I think we have a healthy respect for the fact that the state legislature certainly could decide to hit Nashville harder and more often as a punishment (as long as they don’t mind hurting the state’s own economic engine).

From a very practical point of view, I’m going to continue to use my Council vote to do what I think is in the best interests of our city. If the state legislature thinks that taking money away from a stadium or a road or doing whatever they have in mind is in the best interests of everyone in the State of Tennessee, they are entitled to vote their conscience.

I have also heard that RNC or host committee lobbyists claim there are 16 Council members in favor of bringing the convention to Nashville. I don’t believe that. Before the legislation was withdrawn last week, there were only 2 sponsors. If there are 14 others in support, they are being awfully quiet about it. Beyond that, it is hard to assess the validity of comments supposedly attributed to lobbyists because they were unnamed and there are no lobbyists registered with Metro for the RNC or the local host committee.

The bottom line is that the convention contract legislation was not re-filed for consideration at the Council’s July 19 meeting. There are no known negotiations happening. I don’t see a path forward for this legislation in the Council if it is re-filed in the future.

I’ll update you again if and when there is new information to share.

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UPDATE: About 15 minutes after posting this online, a reporter told me that they understand that CM Swope will re-file the legislation for the Council’s August 2 meeting. We’ll see, I guess. That doesn’t change the fact that there are no known negotiations going on at this time.