Council Renamed It "Gateway" Before They Renamed It for Korean Veterans

In its analysis of Rip Ryman's mission to rename Gateway Boulevard "Korean Veterans Boulevard" (leaving it up to drivers and pedestrians to decide whether the name applies to Koreans or to Americans), the Council Office points out that this Council already voted to rename the Boulevard once last June to "Gateway Boulevard." What a waste of council time and resources that was if the name change passes tonight.

The embrace of Gateway by the Downtown community and by the Metro Council was one of the reasons given at the March 22 Planning Meeting for disapproving Ryman's peculiar memorial to veterans. Does it serve Korean War Veterans in any way for Council Members to force a name change that creates such divisions and fails to bring veterans and civilians together?


UPDATE: Council voted tonight in favor of "Korean Veterans Boulevard." David Briley attempted to ask for a deferral mentioning the confusing signifier and the fact that he had received e-mails from property owners on the Boulevard opposed to the name change. Nonetheless, you may no longer refer to "Gateway" in any form or fashion when driving on that Boulevard.

Today's Crafty Update

Lightning-rod Council Member Eric Crafton saw no major battlefield action in last night's Council Meeting. However, he was involved in two of the more laughable events of a very long and tedious meeting.

Two of Charlie Tygard's "infrastructure" resolutions were actually signed on behalf of Eric Crafton. That's not the laughable part. One of those resolutions was to earmark $6,000 for repairs at the Belle Meade Mansion, which appears in Metro Online Property Maps to be in the City of Belle Meade (it's mailing address is listed as Nashville). Council Member Jamie Isabel, who is African-American (which is probably an important point considering that public money would be going to a former plantation where African slaves were kept, forced to labor, and tortured), rose to ask Mr. Crafton how giving money to Belle Meade Plantation helped all of Nashville. Mr. Crafton rattled out something about his wife being a tour guide there and that Belle Meade Mansion commemorates the Civil War, something which we should never forget. I know that the mansion commemorates antebellum history, but does it really commemorate the Civil War per se? And do we need to send $6,000 in taxpayer money to repair a Carriage House (which is presently used for stuff like upscale wedding receptions) at best marginally located in Nashville because Mr. Crafton's wife works there translating for Japanese tourists?

The second humorous little moment for Mr. Crafton came after Member Carolyn Baldwin Tucker pointed out to Co-sponsor Rip Ryman that changing the proposed name of the "Korean War Veterans Memorial Boulevard" to "Korean Veterans Boulevard" might lead some to believe that the honor might be misunderstood as going to war veterans of Korean nationality (and God knows, that's unAmerican and unacceptable!). Mr. Crafton stood to suggest that the problem might be solved by putting an apostrophe after "Veterans" on street signs to show possession of the street. The Metro Council adviser responded that possession of the street is exactly the reason for not putting the apostrophe, since it would suggest that 54,000 war veterans own that street. Mr. Crafton in what appeared to be an overly-patriotic episode of zeal replied that it would be fine with him if Metro gave the veterans the street after "all they have done for out country." But why stop at a bridge and a street? Why not just rename the entire Central Business District "Korean Veteranstown" instead of "Downtown?" And I'm still trying to figure out how an apostrophe would solve the problem of Metro naming a street in honor of war veterans of Korean nationality. That's a head-scratcher.

Bridges of Davidson County

I have a couple of thoughts on reported moves in tomorrow night's Metro Council meeting to rename the Gateway Bridge (background of the picture above). First, it is good to see a conservative Council member like Eric Crafton, whom I would have suspected of signing Tennessee Tax Revolt's property-tax-referendum petition, making my past argument that we already have referendums, and they are called "Council elections." According to Crafton, "The input (members of the public) have is, they elected the 40 [Council members] that are serving to do these type of things." I do not oppose the idea that Council is able to make decisions on bridge names with input from their constituents in the traditional manner. Nonetheless, I hope that Council member Crafton would apply the very same logic to property tax hikes: the people make those decisions when they send certain leaders to the Council. If they do not ever want property tax raises, they will fill the Council with enough members to keep property taxes down.

It seems that Mr. Crafton's main interest tomorrow is in finding a new name for the Gateway Bridge that memorializes Korean War veterans. Crafton, who seemed to be a vociferous proponent of cutting the budget rather than raising revenues for services during last summer's budget debates, wants to spend money on a plaque to memorialize those veterans. What Crafton means by a "plaque" is unclear. The other bridge memorials to the police, to victory in World War II and to Civil Rights leader Kelly Miller Smith all have simple metal traffic signs that do not look very expensive. But when I think of "plaque," I think of something more in granite or bronze; I think of those heavy "historical marker" signs scattered about Nashville.

In keeping with Crafton's own expressed frugality during the past budget debates, I hope that the sign looks like all of the other bridge signs downtown. If he intends something more elaborate, then perhaps he should look for some corporate sponsors to foot the plaque bill, and perhaps share naming rights on the bridge: how about the "Nokia-Korean Veterans Memorial Bridge"? I do not mind renaming a bridge to honor veterans, but spending taxes for signage more decorative or elaborate than that of the other bridges is not a wise use of money.

However, Crafton's effort might be too little too late to change the name in the minds of Nashvillians. The name "Gateway Bridge" is stuck forever in my mind now. He should have started this name-change initiative before the bridge ever opened. Even then it might not have been enough. I do not ever hear the Woodland Street Bridge referred to as a police memorial. I also generally refer to the Jefferson Street bridge without mentioning Kelly Miller Smith. The Victory Memorial is just the Main Street Bridge to me. And the Korean Veterans originally had the Shelby Street Bridge named in their honor, but it did not stick to that structure. I think that Gateway is always just going to be "Gateway"; plaque or no plaque.

Roadway Hypocrisy: What's Good For "Korean Veterans" Is Not Good for Bordeaux Residents

I had no dog in the fight over Brenda Gilmore's attempt to have the Council rename County Hospital Road to "Bordeaux Boulevard." Opposition to her measure seemed to be growing since May based on a perception that some businesses on the road opposed it even as Ms. Gilmore was arguing that the community supported it. That perception was probably the reason why Ms. Gilmore's ordinance went down to defeat 17-13 last night.

This was one of the first attempts to rename a road since the controversial renaming of Downtown's Gateway Boulevard to "Korean Veterans Boulevard." So, I zeroed my attention on how the 3 most vocal proponents of renaming Gateway--Rip Ryman, J.B. Loring, and Eric Crafton--voted last night. I did not detect the slightest bit of empathy from any of the three. All voted against Ms. Gilmore, and Mr. Ryman's on-camera facial expressions during Ms. Gilmore's remarks looked like he was less than cordial to her request.

Their opposition may border on hypocrisy, since there was neighborhood opposition to renaming Gateway expressed both to Council and to the Planning Commission. During the Gateway debate all three members either ignored or, in Mr. Ryman's case, minimized neighborhood opposition to renaming a boulevard that was not even in their own districts. Last night Mr. Crafton exercised his own two faces when he called attention to the Planning Commission's disapproval of Ms. Gilmore's request, even as he ignored the Planning Commission's disapproval of renaming Gateway Boulevard in March and April for reasons salient to the proposal itself.

For all of their sanctimonious hand-wringing and chest-pounding about the urgency of renaming a road outside of their districts for their own pet cause, one would think that Mr. Ryman, Mr. Loring, and Mr. Crafton would have shown a little more understanding toward Ms. Gilmore who was at least advocating for a road name in her own district.

Bridge Equity: Back on Plaques

A handful of Metro Council Members is not satisfied with the December 2005 renaming and signage of Gateway Korean Veterans Memorial Bridge. They either want to rename the street, too, or they're pushing for a plaque, which is something that no other Downtown "Memorial" bridge has. These members are making the Korean Veterans seem a lot less grateful for our city's remembrance than are the Police, "Victory," and the family of Rev. Kelly Miller Smith. Why ask the taxpayers to waste any more money on a plaque when they've named an entire bridge after the vets with standard signage? Why brook such ingratitude and such a self-serving sense of entitlement from two or three council members?

Planning Commission Recommends "Gateway Boulevard" Stay

In other action last night, the Planning Commission voted to support a Planning Department's recommendation to oppose Council Member's Rip Ryman's plan to rename Gateway Boulevard "Korean Veterans Boulevard." Planning Department officials told the Commission that the 12 land-owners on the boulevard affected by the name change unanimously opposed that change after being contacted by Planning. In his comments at Tuesday night's council meeting, Mr. Ryman said that he did not see any businesses affected by the name change except a new hotel on Gateway Boulevard.

Council Member and Planning Commissioner J.B. Loring cast the only vote against Planning's recommendation. Several other Commissioners conceded in their comments before the vote that Korean War Veterans should be honored by more public memorials, but they questioned whether renaming this particular street was the best way to do so.

Who are the marketing wizards who came up with that one?

The Music City Center marketing strategy leaves a lot to be desired:

They opened the barn door, and Aunt B drove her team right on in:

“We’re going to have wood in the ball room because guitars are made out of wood.”

“We’re going to have a giant instrument play on the hour! But we can’t tell you what kind, because we’re just making shit up!”

“Seriously, all the hip kids call that road that comes off the Gateway Bridge ‘KVB.’ No, really.”

“We’re not going to show you an example of the kind of art Nashville puts up in its round-abouts because we’re controversial enough as it is. We don’t need the Baptists out at Two Rivers on our cases because we showed shots of naked dancing people.”

The PR on the ripply big box makes me less prone to be fond of it, too. But I do see some proper karma in "KVB" coming back on a couple of council members who foolishly bucked the neighborhood in the 2007 and pushed through a bid to rename the street. Given CM Rip Ryman's 2007 demonstrations, I'm still wondering why Gaylord did not also rename Ryman Auditorium "Korean Veterans Auditorium," so that we could continue to debate whether "Korean" refers to a war fought in Korea or to soldiers of the Korean Army. MCC's "KVB" prevails because hip and trendy acronyms (HATAs) resist the need for a pause to reflect (PTR).

Further convention center drag on the budget underreported in local news media

While NewsChannel5 reporter Heather Graf filed a puffed PR piece on the progress of construction of the Music City Convention Center and while the rest of the local news media was ignoring the shaky state of the demands the convention center is placing on the Metro budget, WPLN's Blake Farmer at least inquired after the implications of the recent market roller coaster for Metro finances.

While few are talking about this and the Courthouse is taking pains not to be too transparent about it, Mayor Karl Dean's 2010 blueprint to refinance debt in order to avoid raising taxes or cutting services is in limbo at best and in trouble at worst. Such is Metro's undue dependence of the vicissitudes of Wall Street and the Mayor's high-stakes risk of starting the single largest capital project in Nashville history with no safety net except the revenues that go to pay for the really unimportant stuff like police, parks and schools:

Turmoil in the financial markets has temporarily put the brakes on a bond refinancing by Metro Government. The city is trying to get a lower interest rate on roughly $100 million in bonds, originally used to pay for construction projects at parks and schools.

Metro Finance director Rich Riebeling says as a policy, the city must save at least 3.5 percent to justify refinancing any debt.

“It’s all subject to market conditions, and because of the volatility in the market right now with the stock market and interest rates, everybody kind of up in the air, we want to wait and sit back a week or two, see how it shakes out.”

And who doesn't feel more secure knowing that the Metro Finance Director has staked Nashville's financial security and Metro's delivery of services on Wall Street uncertainty? And all in the name of lavishing our resources on tourists and of doing the greatest good for the smallest number of nobles.


UPDATE: A commenter below asks about rumored plans to deal with budget shortfalls by cutting retail slated for the Korean Veterans Boulevard side of the new convention center. Can anyone confirm or deny?

Dean: "at some point" the neighborhoods most affected by a new ballpark will be brought into ballpark planning

I distinctly recall that in the days when a previous ballpark proposal was under consideration under a previous Mayor, community meetings were held for feedback on location and other considerations well in advance of the legislative debate beginning. Not going to happen under Karl Dean:

crucially, the mayor did say, at least during his time left in office, there would be a new park in Sulphur Dell or there'd be no new park at all, quashing once and for all any hopes of a stadium at the old Thermal Plant site in SoBro or at the foot of the Korean Veterans Bridge on the East Bank. The former was all-but a done deal in 2008 and the latter was briefly considered a frontrunner as late as last year.

Indeed, the Sounds — and even former Nashville Vols who actually played at the original Sulphur Dell — were on the record, in the past, as being unenthused about the prospect of moving to North Nashville.

Sticking with the theme that all of this is very early — the mayor wouldn't commit to any "hard timeline" on the project — Dean said at some point the area's neighborhood associations would be brought into the discussion, though he said "this is a project for the whole city."

I guess under this "strong executive" form of county government, the Mayor unlike other mayors need not be a "neighborhoods mayor". However, the peculiar hypocrisy of saying the interests of proximate neighborhoods should take a backseat to the city is obvious to those of us who watched the theatrics of the Mayor's plan to sell the State Fairgrounds to private developers.

First, I recall a gaggle of residents from South Nashville neighborhoods around the Fairgrounds supporting the Mayor's plan and arguing repeatedly that even though the Fairgrounds is public property, their communities should have more say over demolition and planning than anyone who did not live nearby. Second, when Karl Dean introduced his Fairgrounds sell-off plan, he greased the skids at the first council committee meeting considering his plan by showing a video of neighborhood association president Keith Moorman promoting Fairgrounds demolition/redevelopment to the Chamber of Commerce and the news media. South Nashville Action People, the association representing the Wedgewood Houston neighborhood, got their own exclusive public hearing before the council during which Mr. Moorman pitched the Mayor's Fairgrounds plan. No opponents were allowed to speak at this committee meeting. Instead, they had to wait until council's public hearing. Further, the Mayor's SNAP supporters even insinuated that they were entitled to their own public hearing later in the council process, as if Mr. Moorman had not been given one in the first place.

And one more note. The land on which a new Sulphur Dell would sit belongs to the state. By Hizzoner's own logic, a new Sulphur Dell ought to be "a project for the whole state" with the city brought in "at some point".

Straight from jump this Mayor has consistently shown benign neglect toward North Nashville. He merely perpetuates that neglect by not affording our neighborhoods the same influence over a major capital project (in this case a ballpark) that he grants others. My interpretation of "the point" at which Mayor Dean will bring North Nashville communities into the process is basically when, if ever, it is safe for him to.

A Suggestion for Some of the Brighter Bulbs in the Metro Council Box

How about adding an amendment to the "Korea Veterans Plaque" resolution (which Council Member Rip Ryman is exploring) that requires that if the Korean War Veterans (a.k.a., "Gateway") Bridge gets a tax-funded ornamental plaque, then all of the commemorative bridges in Nashville must have their own tax-funded ornamental plaques, too.