Coalition of congregations, labor unions, & community groups building power for ordinary people to shape political & economic decisions affecting their lives.
Just 2 days until @NOAH_Action's Economic Equity Taskforce "COMMUNITY FORUM: A New Stadium for Nashville," & our panel is ready to go!
Thanks to @mendesbob, Mandy Pellegrin from @SycamoreTN, @NashvilleMDHA cmsr. Dr. Paulette Coleman & moderator @davidplazas.
See you there!
Tennesseans voted for school-board members to represent OUR interests, not Bill Lee's. This is theft- our tax dollars will be going once again to fund Bill Lee's political ambitions. And our children will pay the price.
On Friday, Vice Mayor Jim Shulman appointed the Metro Council’s East Bank Stadium Committee. As Chair of the committee, I plan to schedule an organizing meeting in the coming weeks.
Here’s a brief statement about I hope the committee can accomplish.
Shout out & thank you to @freddieoconnell for the passing of the 2nd reading of his bill to create an office of homelessness with HPC involvement in director selection. Thank you to @SandraForNash and @Erinfor12 for their words of support for the provider community. 1/2
She cries every night figuring out what she's going to do now after 20 years of doing what she loves to do.
"I'm not begging. I'm telling you, this is what they deserve."
"I cannot financially afford to stay an employee of Metro Nashville Public Schools."
She is here tonight to resign from her position in front of Metro Council and the city, she says.
W/ almost 20yrs of service, bachelor's degree, & real estate license, makes $19.64 per hour with MNPS.
"I want each and every one of you to look me in my face and in my child's eyes and tell me how is that fair."
Kelly Lawrence, a cafeteria manager for MNPS, has been in Metro for 30+ years, seeing raises, affordable housing going up, not getting paid, etc.
She has 3 boys, put herself through school & got a degree, still isn't making what she needs to live.
"The mayor is not taking the advice of the affordable housing task force," deciding $15M will go toward Barnes Fund, Carol says.
NOAH supports $30M on a recurring basis for the Barnes Fund, and a separate dept. for affordable housing, with 4 staff and a senior housing staffer.
Martha Carol speaks about RiverChase negotiations with developer CREA -- negotiations recently fell apart when CREA said they could not go below 80% AMI.
No one who lives at RiverChase now would be able to afford that, she says.
Lindsey Krinks, one of @OpenTableNash's cofounders, says Nashville needs at least $30M for the Barnes Fund.
She calls for funding for things that make people more safe: affordable housing, education, mental health care -- not more police.
Joe Ingle is talking about tension and mental health crisis response and two different approaches: Partners in Care and non-law enforcement CAHOOTS (Nashville's version is HEALS). He references the death of Landon Eastep.
He's asking Council to adopt the $1.1M HEALS proposal.
Next is a man speaking on the recent presentation on Nashville's response to homelessness. It wasn't something people wanted to hear, because it showed needs still not being met.
"We have got to figure out how we as a city include homeless services in our budget," he says.
Rev. Jane Boram speaks about her daughter Diane, who has mental challenges. Her worst fear, she says, is that her daughter will be hurt or killed by police in an emergency situation.
She speaks in support of HEALS.
They have choices to make as parents: put gas in the car, buy groceries, or pay the electric bill, she says.
"We should not have to be here demanding this again, but we are here" demanding a living wage, she says.
"We need help. I don't want to leave my job"