About those TEPid endorsements

I doubt very seriously that Tennessee Equality Project places much stock in my opinions of their political moves, but I'm thankful to have a blog to be able to note the curious logic of some of their endorsements. According to the Tennessean, they endorsed Karl Dean for Mayor (no surprise given that they held a campaign fundraiser for him long before his re-election campaign even launched). The curiosity here is that Karl Dean has made no effort to have Metro government join TEP's lawsuit against the state's suppression of the Metro non-discrimination ordinance (even more curiously, Tennessean blogger Michael Cass made it sound like the ordinance was initiated by the council under the influence of TEP when it seems to me that there were at least a couple of CMs leading the charge in the wake of Belmont).

Roll Call Vote on Last Night's Motion to Defer Controversial Hermitage PUD

Below is the breakdown of votes from the Council's deferral of J.B. Loring's and Harold White's bill to allow a medical building to expand beyond what it had originally proposed when it first moved into the Hermitage neighborhood, which is learning that if you let the camel's nose under the tent at first, the whole animal is bound to push its way in eventually.

First, here's how the candidates running for office in August voted. Mayoral candidate David Briley voted to defer, as did Vice Mayoral candidate Carolyn Baldwin Tucker. Mayoral candidate Buck Dozier, who is consistently pro-business expansion at the expense of neighborhoods, voted against deferral. At-Large candidates Charlie Tygard and Loring voted against deferral.

The 15 council members (with the exception of new member Jim Hodge) who voted against Sam Coleman's deferral for more community feedback, seem to qualify as a consistently pro-business, ambivalent-toward-neighborhoods block:

• Dozier
• Michael Craddock
• Jason Hart
• Jim Forkum
• Rip Ryman
• Feller Brown
• Jim Gotto
• Carl Burch
• Loring
• Ed Whitmore
• Eric Crafton
• Randy Foster
• Jim Hodge
• Parker Toler
• Tygard

The only surprise in the group that voted to defer was Ludye Wallace, who generally votes with the block that voted against deferral. I'm sure Ludye will come back around on March 20, after co-sponsors make little or no effort to address community concerns. Here is the group of 22 voting for deferral of the re-zoning and on behalf of concerned residents:

• Tucker
• Briley
• Adam Dread
• Brenda Gilmore
• Jamie Isabel
• Lisa Hunt
• Pam Murray
• Mike Jameson
• Erik Cole
• Anna Page
• Ginger Hausser
• Wallace
• Billy Joe Walls
• Emily Evans
• John Summers
• Jim Shulman
• Greg Adkins
• Jason Alexander
• Vivian Wilhoite
• Coleman
• Robert Duvall
• Lynn Williams

Absent: White, Diane Neighbors, and Ronnie Greer

This is one of those votes we should keep in mind at election time, especially as it is a strike against candidates Dozier, Tygard, and Loring, unless they change their tune on March 20.

Conduct Board Clears Council Member's Non-profit Funding Request

City Paper has the details. In hearing Sam Coleman's case, the Conduct Board gives conditions for non-profit requests:

• Council member on non-profit board cannot personally benefit from request
• Council member should disclose his non-profit position
• Council member/non-profit board member should abstain from voting on request for Metro funds to non-profit
• Metro funds should not relieve council member from non-profit fundraising responsibilities

Councilman Coleman admitted that he did vote in favor of his request for funds for a non-profit in which he serves as a board member. The Conduct Board cleared him.