Writer: Joshua Andino
2 min read April 2023 — Nashville City Council’s partial dissolution was blocked by three state judges on Monday.
While the goings-on in the statehouse have captured national headlines over the last few days, perhaps the more immediate impact to the city itself – the partial dissolution of the city council, was temporarily blocked by three state judges on Monday, after the city filed suit seeking relief and arguing the ordinance was unconstitutional and unfairly targeted Nashville specifically.
Earlier last month in what critics claim was a response to Nashville’s refusal to host the Republican National Convention, the Tennessee legislature and Gov. Bill Lee signed into a law a new ordinance capping all city and metro council sizes to 20. Nashville is the sole body whose members exceed the 20-member limit, with 40 members total.
Now, the three judges – one from Nashville, another from Shelby County and the third from Athens, Tennessee, have for the time being sided with the city, offering a temporary injunction in light of the ordinance’s tight timeline that would’ve required the city draw up new council districts by May 1.
With the metro council elections already underway and a compressed timeline that would’ve likely resulted in errors being made and incorrect voter information being made put out to the public – with the council’s 2020-2021 redistricting cycle amidst the backdrop of the pandemic specifically cited, the judges postponed the implementation of the ordinance until after the current election.
“The Court finds the implementation of the Act and its reduction provisions at this late date results in upheaval of the election process, risks voter confusion, and potentially compromises the integrity of Davidson County’s August 3, 2023 general election,” the court wrote.
In a Tuesday press conference, Wally Dietz, law director for Metro Nashville said, “In passing the Metro Council Reduction Act, the legislature was guilty of egregious overreach.” He added, “The governor sided with the legislature, we had no choice but to go to court and protect Metro’s rights and the public interest in having an orderly election.”
With Dietz was Associate Metropolitan Attorney Allison Bussell, who explained what the decision meant, telling the press that the legislation’s requirements would force an immediate redistricting process that the court found “imposed impracticable requirements on Metro Nashville.” She further clarified that, “The court agreed with Metro that the provision imposing these immediate redistricting requirements illegally targeted Metro Nashville in violation of the local legislation clause and the home rule amendment in the Tennessee Constitution.”
Nashville has the third largest city government in the country, behind only New York and Chicago. Republicans have argued that the size of the metro government is wasteful, leading to additional spending and bureaucratic red tape. “When government grows beyond a certain size, it hinders economic growth, taxes are inevitably raised and the standard of living for the average citizen is diminished,” said House Speaker and bill sponsor William Lamberth when proposing the legislation.
Elections are currently underway for the metro council, with over 40 candidates running for a spot at the city’s governing body. With so much already underway, the court was clear that any immediate changes would be detrimental for the entire process.
“Last minute changes can result in significant upheaval of the election process and lead to voter confusion and a loss of confidence in the integrity of elections,” the court wrote.
