Council Vote Aftermath: Who Should Fear Retribution?
Here's the question of the hour: Will tonight's vote for the Music City Center come back to bite anyone on the Metro Council? The council has just voted for Mayor Karl Dean's financing plan. Yawn. Did we really need to say that? (FYI, the vote was 29-9.) Leaving our competitors in the dust as usual, Pith is already shifting into Analysis Mode.
Mike Jameson: He'll never wear the black robe now.
Naysayers are threatening to start petition drives to recall the Music City Center's supporters for currying favor with the bizpigs in audacious defiance of the public will. (Remember that Channel 4 poll?) No one gives this talk much credence, even though the notorious anti-tax crusader Ben Cunningham is offering to help with the recall petitions. As one hireling of the bizpigs told Pith:
Recall petitions are time limited. You need an opposition candidate, and the recall campaigns aren't cheap. Ben doesn't even live in Davidson County anymore. ... In my opinion, Ben doesn't give a shit by Wednesday morning. There's also nothing to generate lasting anger among opponents. No tax increase. Nothing coming out of their pockets. By Wednesday morning, most of Nashville will have put MCC behind them.
But what about the council members who voted no? Could they face retribution? Richard Lawson, the business flack now masquerading as an Internet newsman, makes that case on his website Nashville Chatter Class.
In a brazen column in which he all but claims to speak for the city's power elite, Lawson declares bizpigs will kneecap Mike Jameson, Eric Crafton, Michael Craddock and Emily Evans for daring to oppose this project. According to Lawson, these council members will deserve whatever comes their way:
Some dissent and skepticism is expected. Vociferous nitpicking and opposition based on selective interpretation and use of facts, however, is a non-starter for politicians when it comes to the city's business community. And, the business community here is very good at ostracizing a politician seen as wayward or simply opposing projects for the sake of playing the game.
In Evans' case, it's "a double whammy," Lawson warns, because she also fought that other great business idea of the early 21st century: May Town Center. Whoa, she's really in trouble now.
Update: The no votes were Michael Craddock, Jamie Hollin, Mike Jameson, Jim Gotto, Eric Crafton, Emily Evans, Jason Holleman, Randy Foster and Robert Duvall.
Update II: Joey Garrison reports.
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