The Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County held its regular meeting on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, at 6:30 PM in the Historic Metro Courthouse. The meeting lasted approximately 4 hours and included public comment, elections to boards and commissions, consideration of a transit improvement program, zoning and housing legislation, and multiple resolutions. Key outcomes included placing a transit funding referendum on the November 2024 ballot, passing an adaptive residential development bill on third reading, and advancing a homeless services inventory requirement.
And we'll go ahead and start the announcement period. We do not have any presentation tonight. But before we start council member announcement, I want to make a statement. I think it's very important to uh citizens to be able to hear this. This morning, some anti-Semitic leaflets were passed out in Sylvan Pack. A couple of weeks ago, there were leaflets in North Nashville. We've seen people parading our streets with anti-Semitic chance. We also had someone destroy crosswalk that was painted by our LGBTQIA community. I want to say to all these visitors from out of town, you're not welcome here. The people in Nashville are very welcoming. It is a city where a Muslim council person is friend with a Jewish council person and an LGBTQ council person. It is a city that welcomes immigrants, and it is a city that preached love for all of us. So you have the right to match, but there's no room for H. One of my favorite quote is by John Lewis. John Lewis said, I believe in freedom of speech, but I also believe that we have an obligation to condemn speech that is racist, bigoted, homophobic, anti Semitic, Islamophobic, or hateful. And so I want to say to all our residents, please do not engage this group. Part of the lessons of Lawson and Lewis is non-violence. And so they want attention, you don't have to give it to them. And that when you come for one of us, you're coming for all of us, and we continue to stand together as nice villains. Thank you. Thank you. Just an update on what's going on in the community as well as a chance to meet your councilperson and ask questions. On July 27th, we have a backpack giveaway for school children that are going back for this year. It will be at Temple Baptist on Old Hickory Boulevard from 10 a.m. to noon. All the information about this can be found on my social media page. And so we're here, and we will continue to be here. And as we said in February, when hate rears its head, we will fight back stronger and harder and united together. As you know, Jewish council members and Muslim council members and Christian council members and LGBTQ and black and white and everyone has stood together in this body over and over again. And if some losers want to come in from out of town and try to do something, they can do that, but we will fight back harder and louder and stronger. And so I just want to say that to the members of the public. We are working hard to fight back and push back, and people have a right to speak, but we have a right to condemn it back. So we will continue to do that. Thank you, Council Member. And now on to the more uh more mundane, mundane business here. Um July 17th, 6 30 to 8 p.m. I want to lift up um Councilman Swara and others are having a rally at Diane Nash Plaza for lighting lighting our world memorial vigil honoring James Lawson and John Lewis. Thank you for for coordinating that. Um July 18th, 7 p.m. to eight to nine p.m. Pink Flamingo Happy Hour, hosted by Courtney West Schroeder um in Salem Town. Uh July 18th, also 6 30 to 7 30 p.m. the Gulch Neighborhood Association will meet at Marble Fox. July 20th, 9 30 to noon. Uh neighbor to neighbor is going to have a traffic and transit uh event, so please check that out. We're excited about transit tonight. Um, and then again, July 25th, uh, 7 to 9 is another Pink Flamingo happy hour. July 27th, 9 to 10 is the German town neighborhood cleanup, and July 27th is the Salem Town Neighborhood Association cleanup with German town um from 6 to 8 p.m. So thank you so much. Thank you, Council Member.