What’s on the agenda?

You can read the agenda here. You can watch the council meeting here starting at 6:30PM. The Nashville Banner has a good guide to tonights meeting. You can read it here.

Let’s get down to it. This is your opportunity to come before council and tell us your budget priorities. You are limited to two minutes to speak. You give your name and what district you live in. There is no limit in how many people can come and speak. The mayor has already proposed his budget. You can read it here. However, the council has an opportunity to pass a substitute budget. If we do not pass a substitute budget, the Mayor’s budget automatically goes into effect.

Grocery Tax:

The Mayor has proposed a half-cent reduction in the grocery tax. For those who may not know, Tennessee is one of only a handful of states that still taxes groceries. Yet, the state of TN does not tax corporations. In fact it gives corporations incentives and 1.5 billion in refunds.

For the past five years, legislation has been introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly to eliminate the grocery tax by closing corporate tax loopholes and requiring large corporations to pay their fair share. Doing so would save Tennessee families an estimated $400 per year on average. The legislation has never even made it out of committee.

Instead, during the most recent legislative session, the state passed a law allowing metropolitan governments to reduce their own grocery taxes, effectively shifting responsibility from the state to local governments.

What does that mean for Nashville residents? Ultimately, taxpayers still bear the cost. Metro departments are already being asked to tighten their belts and do more with less. While I understand the Mayor’s intention to provide relief to families, I am not willing to do so by cutting essential services.

The State of Tennessee should be held accountable for addressing the grocery tax directly instead of allowing corporations to benefit from loopholes while working families continue to pay taxes on basic necessities. It is time for the state to stop passing the buck and start putting Tennesseans first.

BL2026-1391  

An ordinance amending Title 17 of the Metropolitan Code of Laws, to add various new data center uses and related definitions and conditions to the Zoning Code (Proposal No. 2026Z-012TX-001).

I have signed on as a co-sponsor of this bill because it would establish zoning regulations for data centers. Data centers can have significant impacts on communities, including increased energy consumption, water usage, noise, and environmental concerns. Given these impacts, it is important that they are subject to appropriate oversight and regulation.

There is also a late-filed bill that has been presented as accomplishing the same goal. It does not.

Mariposa Park

Mark the date! Mariposa Park will have its gran opening July 11. More details to come.

Addressing some allegations

I hadn’t planned to respond, but I was disappointed and hurt that some allies chose not to reach out and verify whether the allegations raised about the Immigrant Caucus were accurate. I want to set the record straight because my colleagues and I have dedicated significant amount of time and effort to this work, and their contributions deserve to be acknowledged.

1. First, regarding the allegation that we let the Office of New Americans die: there is currently someone serving in that capacity. Does the position look the way we ultimately envision? No. That’s exactly why we have been requesting meetings with the Mayor’s Chief of Staff and exploring ways to permanently move the position into a department where it can be better supported and sustained.

2. As for translation services, I won’t argue that we still have a long way to go. We do. But to say nothing has improved is simply inaccurate. We now have a Spanish interpreter available at Council meetings, and interpretation is also available through the screens in chambers. One language is still not enough and we continue to push. The Human Relations Commission had previously been tasked with work in this area. Several meetings ago, I asked for an update, and it was decided that rather than duplicate efforts, we would touch base with them again. I also remain the only council member who translates her newsletter into Spanish. I am still the council member colleagues call when they need help communicating with Spanish speaking constituents. And when I say we have yelled at department heads on language access during every major storm response, I mean every single time. It is one of the first questions we ask. To suggest otherwise is frankly insulting. This is a frustrating and time-intensive process, but it remains one of our highest priorities because the stakes are simply too high to do otherwise.

3. Concerns were also raised about ESL programs in MNPS. While those programs fall under the authority of MNPS and are ultimately matters for the School Board, I care deeply about this issue. As an MNPS graduate and former ESL student myself, I know what it feels like to get lost in the system. Whenever I have the opportunity to speak with School Board members about the needs of immigrant students and families, I advocate for them. They can tell you that directly.

4. There was also criticism that we have not asked legal counsel to take action on behalf of Nashvillians and just on our behalf. It is important to note that the caucus retained its own outside legal counsel, separate from Metro Legal.

5. Another criticism was that we do not talk enough about displacement, housing insecurity, or the difficult working conditions many immigrants face. Honestly, where do I even begin? My colleagues and I have spent countless hours on the phone and sitting in living rooms helping families facing eviction from negligent landlords. We do not always post about that work because these are people’s private lives, often some of the hardest moments they will ever experience. When it comes to working conditions, I passed the Build It Right legislation, which created the Contract and Compliance Board, the first of its kind in the country, to make Metro construction sites among the safest workplaces in our city. That effort was driven, in part, by my experience helping locate the body of Denis Bá Che after he fell through the roof at Glencliff High School. His family struggled to get answers, and the subcontractor involved would not even disclose which morgue he had been taken to unless documents were signed. Experiences like that stay with you. I can talk at length about workers’ rights and how unsafe conditions disproportionately impact Black, Brown, and immigrant workers.

This is a long post, but the point is simple: Immigrant Caucus meetings are public, and everyone is welcome to attend. Had people attended those meetings, they would know that we have been actively working on these issues and many more.

I do not care to defend every elected official. I’m here to defend the three colleagues I work alongside every day and the work we have consistently done on behalf of immigrant communities.

I leave you with my second favorite picture of this past week. I was finally able to take a vacation after a very very long time. I was able to ride a train and just be outside. Hope you all take some time.

Please feel free to reach out if you need anything! Fastest way to reach me is texting 615-389-2795.

Around Town

CONTACT

Cellphone: 615-389-2795

Email: sandra@sandrafornashville.com

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