Freddie O’Connell Profile picture
Jan 25, 2020 13 tweets 7 min read Read on X
As we get underway, I’m already glad that CM Taylor persuaded @phalcon7 to facilitate today’s community listening session.

She brought students and has suggested #Liberate208 as the hashtag for the day, so follow along (and participate!) even if you can’t attend.
Starting with most tables full. CM Taylor opening by referencing @BrookingsInst analysis on incarceration that had 37208 as the most incarcerating zip code in the country for people born there from 1980-1986.

#Liberate208 Image
“I’m not a fan of civil conversation because civil conversation is often not real talk.” ~ @phalcon7

She elaborated on the difficulty of reconciliation without truth.

cc @davidplazas

#Liberate208
Participant introductions: What is your name? What did you give up to be here today?

#Liberate208
Question One: How has incarceration affected your life, family, and/or work in the 37208 community?

#Liberate208
Question Two: What key systemic, institutional, or policy change do you need to see to prevent or restore the harm caused by incarceration in this community?

#Liberate208
Question Three: What else do you want/need to better understand these issues? What information would be useful for designing solutions? Hold folk accountable for positive change?

#Liberate208
Question Four: If we successfully implement your idea, what change will we see in the 37208 community in three months? Next year?

#Liberate208
A few more folks came to listen: @bedne @JimShulman3 @JudgeJenniferTN @toombsfortwo.

#Liberate208
Oh! And I just spotted @bellforjudge.

#Liberate208
One of my favorite moments of the day. An @NC5 cameraman taking on a young apprentice.

#Liberate208 Image
In closing the listening groups at the tables, @phalcon7 requests that @JimShulman3 37208 committee transcribe all of today’s ideas and include all of them in the report and create benchmarks for progress.

#Liberate208
As we close today’s session, please add your responses to today’s questions with the #Liberate208 hashtag, and I and the committee will see and document them.

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More from @freddieoconnell

Dec 23, 2020
Like many Nashvillians, I just received this postcard reminding me of new water rates taking effect Jan 1, 2021.

The postcard implicates #MetroCouncil in approving this plan. That’s not the whole story, which is an important one.
#MetroCouncil actually serves as a local utility board for @NashvilleMWS, which has no separate independent board of directors. For _years_, MWS was informing mayors of increasing fiscal strain. And for years, mayors told them not to tell Council.
Meanwhile, @TNCOT was _also_ telling Nashville’s mayors about an increasingly severe issue with our utility’s finances. These messages _also_ never reached #MetroCouncil.

(We have since resolved this so this should not happen again.)
Read 14 tweets
Oct 4, 2020
4 years ago, at a @NOAH_Action meeting, I asked @DaronHall7 if this was possible. He entertained my question in good faith and asked for time to explore it, which he and his staff did very responsibly.

Today is a huge moment: we have ended private prisons in Nashville.
En route, we made sure that any future contracts would have improved transparency and monitoring and that #MetroCouncil would be empowered to review future private contracts.

nashville.gov/mc/ordinances/…
If you want to see how thoroughly @NashSheriff evaluated the transition process, they worked hard on a detailed report that assessed both cost and risk:

drive.google.com/file/d/1jP_Tue…
Read 6 tweets
Oct 1, 2020
With yesterday’s departure of Audra Ladd from the mayor’s office, following the departure of ECD director Jamari Brown in December, we effectively have no @Nashville_ECD.

This is truly troubling to me in the middle of a pandemic.
I’m here to tell you that the single biggest thing I hear from anxious Nashvillians about what they want right now is income. Which means work. Which means jobs.

Right now, we have no one focused on attracting, recruiting, and retaining jobs in Nashville.
There are industries that are thriving. Does it make sense to try to recruit a specific industry or company to Nashville right now that would be a good short-term and long-term fit? I wish we had someone doing the analysis to make that determination!
Read 11 tweets
Sep 30, 2020
Just grabbed my last-ever cup of @ZolliKoffee. Today’s their last day in business.

Zolli created a great space for community conversations, attached at the hip to @JackalopeBrew tap room.

Small businesses need more support than they’re getting. Image
I knew this post would be a little bit of a #COVID19 Rorschach test.

Zolli believes in public health leadership and was able to last longer with federal support.

His business was dependent on activities that are reduced without the lockdown: offices, hospitality.
We can’t decouple the public health risks of #COVID19 (which are real) from the economic impact.

It is possible to #OpenSafely. That is not the same as it being easy.
Read 4 tweets
Sep 21, 2020
Last week, our family decided, with full participation of our 9yo in the discussion, to return to school in person as soon as @MetroSchools offers it for 4th grade.

Why? A few reasons.
Principally, in a household with an evidence-based pediatrician, we’re attentive to the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation:

services.aap.org/en/pages/2019-…
The part in bold is this: “the AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school.”
Read 8 tweets
Sep 8, 2020
This #LaborDay, I’m thinking about Gustavo Enrique Ramirez, a 16yo who fell to his death on a Nashville construction site that lacked sufficient safety standards.
Over the past 5 years, we’ve had too many injuries and deaths on construction sites in Nashville, including in District 19. We can do better.
How do I know? Because last term, we passed the “Do Better” bill. Transparency, including safety records, with access to public dollars improves worker safety.

nashville.gov/mc/ordinances/…
Read 9 tweets

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