The Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County held its regular meeting on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Historic Metro Courthouse. The meeting included proclamations, announcements, three proposed changes to Council rules, public hearings on eight resolutions and numerous zoning ordinances, a consolidated consent agenda, and several individual votes. Key outcomes included the adoption of two rules amendments, passage of several alcohol and short-term rental exemptions, second reading approval of multiple zoning changes, and deferral of controversial items.
Fifteen registered speakers addressed the Council on various agenda items:
Uh Sam Benedict. You're waiting for your guests. Do we have CM Cash? Your guest is right there. Oh. Okay, so we'll wait a little bit for the presentation. He's here. He's here. He's here. He's been here half an hour. I know, but I thought that we were expecting that guy who I didn't see down there, who I would love to have come up as well. Yes. Thank you, Darren. Thank you, Pro Tim. Good to see you. All right, Cast Member Benedict, you recognize I knew you were here. Yeah. Sorry about that. Yeah, telephone. Oh, yes. Well, that's good. All right. Very high. Thank you again, Pro Tim. So this is a proclamation to honor Pastor Jay Voorhees, who has been an institution to our city and uh who will be very much missed to all of Nashville as well as especially to the Madison community. So I wanted to celebrate his contributions to the city. So whereas Pastor Jay Voorhees has been the lead pastor at City Road Chapel since 2014, after serving congregations throughout the Nashville area, and whereas Pastor Voorhees moved to Nashville when he was 10 years old and has been rooted in the community ever since. And whereas he has degrees from Western Kentucky University and Emory University, and whereas Pastor Voorhees was one of the founders of the Southeast Flood Recovery, who provided assistance to families in need after the 2010 floods, and whereas he founded the Call the Name Project as part of Nashville Indigent Burial Program to offer dignified and compassionate burial services for people who otherwise would or could not be memorialized and whereas Pastor Voorhees has served on the Continuum of Care Commission has worked diligently to help resolve homelessness for residents in need, and whereas Pastor Voorhees answers calls and coordinates care for those who suffer from urgent medical emergencies and whereas he is a resource for all Madison experiencing homelessness, giving countless hours to creating supportive services such as mobile showers and food kitchens, and whereas City Row Chapel runs one of the two of the city's mobile housing navigation centers, which provides transitional housing for up to 90 days as the unhoused population moves towards stable permanent housing and whereas City Red Chapel provides child care through the City Ridge Child Care Development Center for newborns through preschool age, and whereas he works to offer support to a person for as long as it takes for them to achieve true stability, whether for mental health needs, for helpless substance abuse, or other contributors to the retention of stable housing, and whereas he has led City Road Chapel to provide workspace for dozens of organizations which help those in need, including incarcerated individuals, and whereas Pastor Voorhees has demonstrated a commitment to the betterment of our city, and whereas it is fitting and proper that the Metropolitan Council extends to Pastor Jay Voorhees our sincere and grateful appreciation for his dedicated service to the citizens of Nashville and Davidson County. And now, therefore, I Emily Benedict, Councilmember of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, to hereby recognize and honor Pastor Jay Voorhees and wish him continued success in all future endeavors. Thank you, Jay. If you'd like to say some words, you can. If not, I would love it if you do. All right. I'm a preacher if you ever known a preacher who had to say words. Um as my daughter Anna will tell you, I am in some ways uncomfortable receiving this in the sense that I'm don't necessarily like accolades because I only do what I think all of us should do, which is to love our neighbor. That's what we're all called to do. And my hope for this council, having now worked around the issue of homelessness for the past ten years, is that you will take seriously the needs of those unhoused individuals who are on the streets through no fault of their own. We need to expand our capacity for helping people in this city. It's what it means to be good neighbors, and I hope that you all will take seriously that task. And so I'm honored to receive this. I'm honored to have called Nashville home for 53 years, and I will be watching from afar to see how you are working to make sure that every Nashville is cared for and has a home here in this place. Thank you very much. My name is Darren Bradbury. I have the pleasure of having worked with Jay personally over the last year as we try to soothe homelessness in the 37115. I run a transitional house that Jay helps support. Uh, I cannot tell you what this man means to me in my life, how he has changed the way that I see and work with people, how he has had patience and grace with everyone who shows up to our doorstep, and then how he has been a personal mentor to me, and I will be in Madison for a long time, as will the people that are sitting on this bench over here and the council people up here, and we will make sure to keep on his legacy. And yes, my hat does say fuck around and find out. See you later. Thank you all very much. Thank you.