Republican lawmakers and Tennessee's governor signed off Thursday on cutting Democratic-leaning Nashville's metro council in half, a move that follows the council's rejection of efforts to host the 2024 Republican National Convention in Music City.
“Conventional wisdom for the past four decades has been that smaller group sizes tend to make better decisions and this is the largest council that we see,” said Republican Sen. Adam Lowe of Calhoun. ”... There’s a reason why we’re judged by 12 of our peers in a jury and there’s a reason, I think, why Christ walked with 12 of his disciples.”
The statute requires Nashville to craft new council districts by May 1 — a deadline Nashville’s legal officials say is unreasonable. “This will set us back decades,” said Democratic Sen Charlane Oliver, a Black lawmaker from Nashville. “This will disproportionately impact the Black representation, the minority representation and dilute — not just dilute — it will steal and silence our voices.”
The law says that if a metro government can’t make the changes for the next election, current members’ terms are extended a year, and the next term will shrink to three years, then return to four for subsequent councils. City officials have said the scheme violates the state constitution.
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