“I don’t really care about how you affiliate or understand your own politics as much as, is this a good idea & are we delivering it at a reasonable cost? What we’re going to work on for this entire term is restoring confidence in basic city services.”💯✅
My constituents, many of them Republicans, are Covenant parents.
The “woke mob” is Middle TN mothers & children.
@voices4saferTN
#tnleg
GOP your cowardice is showing. Don’t back down,
@GovBillLee
! Keep up the pressure,
#Tennessee
parents!
That I even have to say this.
NAZIS are NOT WELCOME in NASHVILLE.
In America everyone is free to demonstrate & to say what they want, so:
SHAME ON YOU ALL! Get your hateful, dangerous, fascist, nazi nonsense off our streets & off our beautiful Public Square.
our office is closely monitoring the Nazi rally downtown—
these groups once relegated to the dark corners now feel empowered to spew their noxious ideology out in the open due to our state’s leadership REFUSING to condemn their speech and actions.
Yesterday was my last as a council member. Today is my 1st as vice mayor.
To departing colleagues, my profound gratitude for your service through an especially difficult time.
Every member of
#MetroCouncilNash
—past & present—loves this city.
Good work for
#Nashville
ahead!
We diminish the value of everyone outside a car. We expect them to wait longer, wear special gear, constrain & limit themselves in the name of “safety,” so that people comfortably seated in individual metal boxes can drive faster & stop less.
Driver convenience > human dignity.
You know what cuts down on traffic more & gives you more free time on the road? A BUS. Getting tired of all the misplaced boosterism & infatuation for self-driving cars & hyper-loops. Secure dedicated funding, build more damn sidewalks & expand bus service.
#walkmore
#busmore
Self-driving cars can cut down on traffic and give drivers more free time on the road. Take a look at Lyft’s self-driving lab, where 400 engineers are working on autonomous vehicle initiatives today.
🚨When a huge, TN-shaped, Nazi banner is hung off a bridge in the capital city specifically addressing & thanking
@GovBillLee
for hateful, discriminatory legislation, & he says NOTHING to repudiate it, his inaction = acceptance & encouragement.
🗣️ Hate is NOT welcome here!!
Wide awake after the 4th ear-piercing BLUE ALERT in 12 hrs. This system has been very poorly administered yesterday/today. How many Tennesseans have now turned off emergency alerts on their phones due to this over-use? Who is accountable
@GovBillLee
?
Because there have been so few Blue Alerts issued by TBI since we first began pushing them out in 2011, you may not be familiar with their purpose.
You can learn more about Blue Alerts and the criteria that go behind them here:
Women in Nashville & around the world are often discounted & diminished when trying to elevate concerns to authorities—especially if we’re deemed too angry (vindictive) or too emotional (hysterical). Systemic sexism/misogyny & racism & the implicit biases they foster are deadly.
Breaking: Anthony Warner's girlfriend warned police he was building bombs in his RV last year.
Attorney for girlfriend and Warner also told police - Warner is "capable of making a bomb"
Almost 4 miles of protected bike lanes are being installed in New Orleans -- a 3-month pop-up that will let residents experience a safe, connected bikeway network
Today is my son’s birthday. Today I listened as
#Nashville
police planned how to tell parents their children were dead. Today I heard a mother wail when she was told.
Let us not be quiet. Let us not become inured to gun violence. Let us vote like our kids’ lives depend on it.
@JohnBauters
Corollary: elect people who have bicycled safely & enjoyably in other cities, but tried multiple times in their own city & found it harrowing/deadly/unacceptable and are now determined to make it safe & enjoyable for everyone!
The dying gasps of white-supremacist patriarchy were loud today at
#tnleg
but the voices of the
#Tennessee3
, young people, & women who are DONE with the
@TNGOP
’s hypocrisy & oppression were LOUDER.
💥We won! Henderson: 3022 Bichell: 1573. That’s 65.8% to 34.2% Thank you very much to everyone who volunteered & supported my re-election campaign! Grateful. 🎉
😩”A security guard in every school” in a “guns (including assault rifles) everywhere for everyone” state is NOT a solution to our problem.
What about grocery stores, playgrounds, college campuses, theaters, restaurants?
Parents & kids are TIRED of living in gun-sick dystopia.
Update from MNPD on the Covenant shooting:
"The investigation shows that Hale fired a total of 152 rounds (126 5.56 rifle rounds and 26 nine millimeter rounds) from the time she shot her way into the school until she was killed by police."
The peace & promise of Easter shattered for families & friends at a restaurant working to build community.
Guns everywhere for everyone DO NOT MAKE US SAFER.
More arguments escalate with deadly results & more people are caught in the crossfire & traumatized.
@SandyMazza
@Tennessean
OK, so it was condescension on your part. I am not trolling or being disingenuous. That you think I am, given my public, professional record of engagement here, says volumes about your approach & presumptions. My cell phone is public. Feel free to call me anytime.
The inaccurate preface/framing of this news article: “…following a last-minute delay to dispute the extent of the deal's community benefits.” NOPE. Pls,
@Tennessean
@SandyMazza
, meet the moment, provide independent legal & fiscal analysis.
…if we keep reforming the zoning code to allow more of them (that are not car-dependent) possible.
#MetroCouncilNash
So very important for public health, mental well-being, affordability, and quality of life for our aging population and young people.
#Nashville
Understaffed after the first march at the historic couthouse/city hall. Overstaffed during the second. MNPD three deep in riot gear to protect Honky Tonk Central from high school kids.
😪🤢That sad/sick feeling when a bad deal is looming, but the ppl who can make it better and/or stop it are resigned. Keep reading/listening/thinking today
#MetroCouncilNash
. You can change your mind.
#TitansStadiumDeal
📌🗓️🗣️Public Hearing, One Public Square, April 25, 6:30 PM
This weekend
#MetroCouncilNash
is
🌳 planting trees
🏡 hiking for the homeless
🇺🇸 honoring veterans
🛼 co-hosting a toy drive
🎨 supporting the arts
⚖️ discussing civil rights
🎀 cutting new biz ribbons
📚 volunteering for the library
💡 participating in
@N2N_Nashville
& more….
#Nashville
young people, do you remember what vice mayor Jim did in 2020 while you patiently waited for hours to speak on the budget? I do. He rustled up 7 security guards & scolded you for doing politics wrong. Your vote is your voice! Use it for change!
#angieforvicemayor
🗳️🗣️
Today, I signed a bill requiring trees to be planted along any future sidewalks with certain building developments which will greatly increase the volume of street trees serving Nashville’s urban landscape. Thanks to Councilmember
@Angienashville
for sponsoring this bill.
#Nashville
has a “strong-mayor” form of government, so it matters, A LOT, who our mayor/CEO is. My suggestion for summer: watch less national CNN/Fox/MSNBC news & read more mayoral candidate POLICY platforms. Beware the platitudes. Ask the hard questions. Do not sit this one out!
We're ramping up coverage of the Nashville mayor's race. You can hear our interviews with the candidates, read issue-specific stories, and suggest future coverage ideas at .
@SandyMazza
@Tennessean
What do you mean by “bless your heart,” Sandy? Seriously, I’d like to understand. As a local legislator, I am stating my opinion & genuinely asking for some more critical analysis of this deal—it’s content, framing/marketing & process—on your & the Tennessean’s part.
2,400 signatures in about two hours! Maybe the Mayor’s Office,
@NFL
&
@visitmusiccity
should “read the room” & change the stage configuration? Petition here:
Look at you, Brentwood! You’ve come a long way. Now, about all that mandatory 1-acre zoning...a lot more Black families could be part of your community, if you would allow for some 1/2 & 1/4 acre yards & some townhouses & apts next to all those office bldgs in Maryland Farms....
💔 This is a heart-breaking, design-preventable tragedy. Hwy 100 is a 4-lane, too-high-speed
@myTDOT
route. We must do better.
🚲 People biking are ALWAYS allowed to ride in the middle of a travel lane. Zero shoulder on this stretch.
🚨People driving: SLOW DOWN! PAY ATTENTION!
🚨Today on Murphy Rd. What’s wrong here?
1) Safety theatre. Only the most conscientious drivers let off their gas. No associated speeding enforcement.
2) Speed limit along a popular, but paint-only, bikeway is 35 mph!
3) Trailer is IN the bike lane!
Fix this,
@NashvilleDOT
.
@Politico_Little
@JimShulman3
Speaks volumes about Jim Shulman’s character that he’d have a paid team member lying about me on here. I did NOT, would NEVER, vote for a lying racist, narcissistic grifter like Trump or any of his sycophants. Plenty of Dems have voted in an R primary b/c TN has OPEN PRIMARIES.
Sociopathic Senator
@HawleyMO
, complicit in instigating today’s insurrection, made 95% of his remarks this evening directly into the TV camera, rather than to his colleagues. Pandering, performing for selfish political purposes. Unmoved by today’s events. Beware this one.
Because Trumpism is a CULT. And to all my Twitter followers who think that’s “too strong” a word & “uncalled for,” that’s the same thing you said when I called him a grifter, a liar, a malignant narcissist, a misogynist, a racist, & a fascist. I STAND BY EVERY SINGLE WORD.
In Amsterdam, they understand the importance of warm street lighting. According to the city’s “Policy framework for lighting,” lights must be 2700-3000 Kelvin “because it largely determines the seer’s experience of public space.”
🗓️This week, I’ve met individually w/ 30 of the 33
#MetroCouncilNash
members elected on Aug. 3 to learn more about them & their policy priorities.
There are seven members to be elected on 9/14, four of them at-large. Listen here &
#VoteEarlyNashville
, now thru Sat. Sept 9! 🗳️
Blooming street trees this age & size are unlikely to survive transplant. Replacement trees will need 10+ yrs to grow back. When the NFL 1st suggested cutting down/replacing Nashville’s park trees, the answer should have been NO. Stop selling out!
#leadership
#values
After hearing the public response over the planned cutting of 21 of the 68 ornamental cherry trees at Riverfront Park, I informed the NFL and Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. (NCVC) that they will have to remove them intact and replant them in our city.
Calls for “civility” by men in leadership are used to subtly silence women & people of color. It’s code for “you make me feel uncomfortable.” Everyone in elected leadership should be civil AND call out injustice & inaction. Calling for civility isn’t call for a standing ovation.
Demonstrators in the gallery interrupt the speech yelling “Tennesseans are dying for lack of healthcare!”
Lee responds with a line from his inaugural: “civility is not a weakness.” Big applause.
It sounded like they were escorted out—I couldn’t tell from where I’m sitting.
🎃 Said no one who loves cities & neighborhoods ever.
More people. Fewer cars.
You can have the fun & safety of Halloween every day with wider sidewalks, bikeways, neighborways, &
#OpenStreets
#WalkableNashville
Good for people. Good for business.
#walkmore
#Nashville
“Draconian” LOL over pulling back just 1.5 mil from six major corps, one of which for ex. has received 13.7mil in taxpayer $ since 1999. The no vote to eliminate corporate incentives in this crisis budget year says so much about our city & our priorities.
.
@angienashville
would cut these incentive grants in order to slightly reduce the property tax increase. Amendment fails.
"If you want to chase away corporate America from Nashville, this is a good start," Finance Director Kevin Crumbo says. He calls the cuts "draconian."
Thank you, Bob! Grateful to have served with you.
#Nashville
&
#MetroCouncilNash
are better for your diligent, principled service through an especially challenging time.
“…no politician has a crystal ball….voting the merits of an issue & only the merits can’t ever be wrong.”
✅ Petition certified yesterday by
@DavidsonVotes
. We are official. Election is August 3. Early voting begins July 14. It matters who your vice mayor is,
#Nashville
!
I’m officially on the August 1 ballot to continue to represent District 34 & serve you, your family, your neighborhood & Nashville! My independent voice & focus on fiscal discipline are needed now more than ever on YOUR city council. SUPPORT me here:
Yes. A much better investment than more car lanes. News flash: we’re going to build more because a safe, enjoyable meaningfully connected network for people biking, helps everyone, even people driving.
✅ More choices!
#walkmore
#bikemore
#busmore
@walkbikenash
@NashvilleDOT
🚨🏟️
#MetroCouncilNash
is making a major, multi-decades mistake w/
#TitansStadiumDeal
.
☎️📱🗣️Use Bob’s list of deal flaws: Email your council member who voted yes with specific questions. Call. Tell friends & family. Post on socials. Share at the public hearing. Do not give up!
After the public hearing on 4/25 at 6:30 PM, the Council is scheduled for a final vote on the football stadium.
We can do better. I do not support the current deal terms.
Do you feel like
#tnleg
is out of step w/ the majority of Tennesseans? That moderation & compromise have been lost. You’re right! We must end partisan
#gerrymandering
& implement independent redistricting. Grateful for
@yarbro
’s work. Learn more here:
This. People biking. People walking. People driving. People riding transit. We’re all just people trying to get where we need to go in the safest/most enjoyable/affordable way possible. Don’t “other” people. Don’t disparage & stereotype people.
#walkmore
#bikemore
#busmore
"I’m no more a cyclist than I am a walker or a driver, or someone who uses public transportation... These labels have done a huge disservice to everybody, in terms of putting us up against each other." Melissa is interviewed in this week's
@VanCourierNews
:
Lord, please grant me the confidence of a 32-yr-old, white, male, coke-sniffing-at-work, GOP staffer. “Family values,” right, Casada? You enabled, elevated, & defended Cade.
#TimesUp
for you, & Rep Byrd too. ZERO moral authority. 💯 on hypocrisy. Silence,
@GovBillLee
?
House Speaker Glen Casada's chief of staff Cade Cothren has resigned in light of reports that the top aide solicited sex in text messages to interns and lobbyists and used illegal drugs in the legislative office building.
✅🥰 This is “the future.”
Center children/families in open, community-focused modes of mobility.
Stop supporting the sale of closed, anti-social, dystopian Cybertrucks, Suburban “tanks,” & Electric F-150s.
End the “arms race” of bigger, heavier, deadlier vehicles.
#ShopSmall
Thank you! 💙💛🧡 Delishia is so kind, and as she said at a forum yesterday, she will not start a fight, but she will damn well finish it! 🔥
Same, friend. Let’s win this!! 🗳️🎉
I see
@angienashville
absolutely everywhere and she is just a sweetheart! I have enjoyed learning more about
@quinevanssegall
and
@Oliviahill247
too. The thing most of us have in common is that we love folks and want to help. I have really enjoyed being in this race. 💙💛
Entitled much? Tony G. is NOT entitled to your PUBLIC park land. If the James Robertson Pkwy property he’s offered to swap for
#ChurchStreetPark
is SO great, why doesn’t he build his “stunning tower” there? B/c as he said tonight, “Church Street is my sandbox.” Nope.
#StopTheSwap
You can bet critics of the land swap will continue to pounce on Giarratana's "my sand box" phrase in referring to Church Street tonight. It might remind some of T Bone Burnett's "my baby" description about Greer Stadium.
🙃 The Cooper administration has actually made
@TDucklo
’s tone-deaf tweet fiasco worse.
✍🏼The
#MetroCouncilNash
letter was accurate & appropriate (co-sign).
🤯 This response could be easily deconstructed for a “How NOT to Do Public Service & Legislative Communications” class.📚
🚌 🙌🏼💗Rolled my ankle yesterday rushing for the bus at Broadway & 8th. (Ouch!) Big thanks to the kind
@WeGoTransit
driver who let me off the 3B at my neighborhood park & ride at Harding & Harding rather than the actual stop at Harding & Page—could not have limped back that far.
NOPE. Bad deal for taxpayers from start—another Mayor’s Office special. Metro practically gave land away, MCC is paying for garage, & developer still can’t make it work?! Also: bloated, boxy, anywhere-USA design next to beautiful, iconic Ryman.
#DoBetter
🗣️Nashvillians (left/right/center/young/old/north/south/east/west) who understood the details of the
#TitansStadiumDeal
were clearly OPPOSED.
🙌🏼 THANK YOU to everyone who attended & spoke truth into the room. Proud of the people of
#Nashville
. Disappointed in
#MetroCouncilNash
.
Huge Thanks to
@angienashville
for making the public hearing happen.
At the time on 4/18, after the deal passed on 2nd reading, I thought it was pointless. But last night was the opposite of pointless.
The will of the people was documented (on YouTube). It was important.
Agree. We should not censure community members. Both people whose remarks were cut short were still within the bounds of the budget; they were contextualizing their remarks about operational funding for law enforcement.
So interesting to see Nashville’s Vice Mayor cut off the mic during the public hearing on the budget when people speak the names of Jocques Clemmons and Daniel Hambrick who were murdered by MNPD. Although it was our tax money they were being paid when they did it.
Great reporting! As I’ve said since 1st referendum convos,
#Nashville
needs dedicated funding for a safer, more enjoyable, functional network of bus/bike/walk for all. A plan centering
#SIDEWALKS
, crosswalks, greenways/bikeways, signal optimization & bus service can be a winner.
Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell aims to decide whether to push toward a 2024 transit referendum by the end of the year.
I talked to supporters & opponents of 2018's referendum to explore what it would take for a 2024 vote to succeed.
Via
@Tennessean
:
📌 ALL. OF. THIS. Bookmark it. Read it. Share it. Especially with elected policy makers.
Fewer cars.
Less driving.
More mobility options.
Better cities.
#walkmore
#bikemore
#busmore
THREAD: I’m going to try this thread to clearly state my perspective on electric vehicles, car dependency and better cities, to those who frequently ask me, including media, elected leaders and many others. Here goes. Please share if you think it helps. 🧵
#EVS
Just spit ballin’ here, but maybe
@myTDOT
&
@NashvilleDOT
should build a truly robust & comparatively low cost bikeway network for healthy, practical, low-impact vehicles instead of putting all our $ & energy into wider roadways for heavier & deadlier electric F-150s & SUVs??
The “E-Bike Effect:” Those who bought e-bikes increased their average daily bicycle use from 2.1km (1.3 miles) to 9.2km (5.7 miles), a 340% increase. The e-bike share of all their transportation increased dramatically too; from 17% to 49%. Via
@Treehugger
Just think if we actually prioritized people, including children & seniors, getting around in happy, healthy ways over cars going fast and pedal taverns, what an amazing world class city
#Nashville
would be!
#bikemore
#walkmore
So it turns out that my mother's neighbour also got the exact same trike as my mother last week. Here's the two of them practicing.
"This will put years on our lives" she said
They're going to meet regularly for cycles round the block. Roll on that cycleway
#cyclingforallages
🙌🏼 Grateful to the former D25 Councilman for taking the time to write this, highlighting analysis of
@mendesbob
& key points for those of us voting NO.
Reminder to
#MetroCouncilNash
: if you already told the lobbyist/mayor/Titans team you’re voting yes, YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR MIND!
I sent versions of this email today to 5 Councilmembers whom I know and respect. They voted for the stadium on 2nd reading, but I'm pleading with them - and all members of Council - to vote against it tomorrow night.
🎯This is at the ❤️ of public health, access to opportunity, affordable living, environmental & fiscal sustainability, everything we’re striving for as a city.
#Nashville
leaders should be actively working to deliver a truly multi-modal system for our city.
#angieforvicemayor
This will always be one of my single most important messages when it comes to actually realizing better cities. Please remember it every single time someone claims there’s a “war on drivers.” There isn’t. There’s just better or worse cities for EVERYONE.
BIG region-building news out of Paris — They’re spending €300 million euros on a 650km regional protected bike network, starting immediately with temporary infrastructure that will be designed for permanent post-
#COVID19
mobility.
#coronavirus
#Paris
#MetroCouncilNash
should read this entire 🧵. I made this point tangentially Tues. re the on-sight sports betting the new stadium is set up to have once the Titans’ lobbyist works it out at
#tnleg
. Football stadium-adjacent “neighborhoods” (on which this deal relies) don’t work!
NFL stadiums do not support development. They inhibit it.
They bring too many people at once for bars and restaurants to serve, bring zero people too often to sustain them, and drive away regulars.
They destroy quality of life with congestion, noise, and 1000s of drunk drivers.
One of my 1st challenges as (former) chair of the Parks & Libraries Comt of the Council was holding the Parks Dept accountable for the tree removal debacle at Fort Negley. How many debacles does it take to truly prioritize
#trees
&
#publicspace
?
Proud of
#Nashville
for showing up to stand against hate & support our Jewish neighbors & friends this evening. Cars lined up farther than the eye can see at 6:00 PM at The Temple Congregation Ohabai Shalom & taking up every inch of roadside for miles in surrounding neighborhood.
Nashville doesn’t need Airbnb to thrive. We do need 5,000+ housing units back. Chesky’s “ban” is a PR stunt by desperate corporate opportunists w/ a fundametally flawed biz model that doesn’t scale, propped up by greed, obfuscation, &
#tnleg
If making sure teenagers can play CONTACT SPORTS is your priority right now, then your priorities are very messed up,
@GovBillLee
. The pretzels that supposedly intelligent adults will bend themselves into for FOOTBALL, deluding themselves that everything is fine: PATHETIC. 🥨🏈
☀️🚌 Good morning from the 12, so far, Nashvillians helping there to be less traffic on West End Avenue by riding the
@WeGoTransit
3B. I’m headed to
@VanderbiltU
for Day 2 of
#MetroCouncilNash
Orientation!
LOL My 2 kids drove a 9-yr-used Honda Fit &, after that was sadly totaled, a 15-yr-used Mazda hatchback. They’re both in college w/out cars & I drive a 13-yr-old Honda minivan.
I never tell anyone how to live. I work to provide more safe, low-cost, (& fun!) choices for everyone.
As chair of
#MetroCouncilNash
Public Works Comt, I want to acknowledge & THANK
@NashvillePW
crews. They are 1st responders too, on call when we have major storms, clearing & cleaning roadways & sidewalks of debris & downed trees, fixing traffic signals, restoring
#safestreets
.
Public Works trucks are starting to plow debris out of Main Street near where this truck overturned near Fieldhouse Jones hotel. Thanks to all of the amazing emergency responders who are helping, including from Hendersonville.
🌳 Ask me about the complexity of implementing new street tree requirements in all centers outside of downtown & I’ll tell you why it would help to have a vice mayor with actual land-use policy experience leading & supporting
#MetroCouncilNash
🌳 ✅
#angieforvicemayor
“While Mayor, I was often asked ‘how have you been able to afford this in
#Copenhagen
?’ I’d reply, ‘how have you been able to NOT afford it?’ 25 years ago we were a few days away from going bankrupt. So the city invested in the cheapest infrastructure...bycycling.”—
@mortenkabell
🚨In the waiting room at Premier Radiology (White Bridge) today, 5 ppl NOT WEARING MASKS; two tried to insult/intimidate me after I asked the nurse to make sure all were wearing masks.
Know this, Trumpers: I’m not afraid of you. I voted against your leader!
#SpeakUp
#EndTrumpism
They’ve NOT actually studied it! No comparative analysis of cost to Metro to modernize & manage the system ourselves. Typical Metro pattern, beloved by cronies: neglect then privatize. Procurement is a dysfunctional, unethical mess, facilitating deals already made by the mayor.
On Christmas morning, wishing our first responders & downtown
#Nashville
residents peace & safety.
2020 has brought profound suffering across our city. 💔 Heartbreaking that this appears to be intentional.
Nashvillians have risen to every challenge together.
#nashvillestrong
These are pictures from 2nd Avenue south. Windows were broken out from explosion area to Broadway. Please AVOID this area! Media staging is at 2nd Avenue south and KVB.
Watching
#tnleg
today has been so disheartening. What a sad moment for democracy & for
#Tennessee
.
#Tennessee3
Rep. Jones quoting Jeremiah 6:14 earlier today, “They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace.”
Welllllll,
@GovBillLee
, Mississippi’s finally doing it, so... at what point will you be enaging your “lead by following” mode? Gov Reeves is making people feel better about this state-wide mask thing by invoking football, so you’ve already got that going for you! 😷🥨🏈⏰
BREAKING: Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves issues statewide mask mandate.
"I want to see college football. The best way for that to occur is for us all to realize is that wearing a mask, as irritating as that can be & I promise I hate it more than anyone watching, is critical."