Freddie O’Connell Profile picture
Sep 8, 2020 9 tweets 3 min read Read on X
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/…
What more could we do? For starters, I’m waiting to hear back from @NashFinance on ways we could better incorporate safety records into our procurement process.
But I think there’s more to be done. I think we could explore legislatively overhauling the Procurement Standards Board, which currently lacks a labor representative and could potentially focus more on worker safety.
Given the spread of #COVID19 at construction sites, I also think there’s scope for @NashvilleHealth to be more active in worker safety initiatives.
Finally, I think there’s an opportunity to pursue an incentive-driven approach through permit acceleration like Travis County’s Better Builder program.

traviscountytx.gov/purchasing/con…
These are all completely reasonable reforms that focus on the intersection of private and public sectors and produce better outcomes for workers.
As Nashvillians, we should want to prevent minors from dying on unsafe job sites. We should want _all_ workers to be safe. I think we can work harder to ensure they are.

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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
Aug 19, 2020
Ady’s decision to use his voice to fight for universal #healthcare as he battles ALS has been an inspiration for a long time.

Other nations care for one another far more effectively than we do. True of #COVID19, too.

Let’s take better care of one another.
So often, we don’t have any control over how are bodies are impacted by disease, developmental issues, or pre-existing conditions.

Our ability to care for each other especially in scenarios that aren’t about judging choices should be a part of what binds us.
We can make America more productive, more confident, and stronger economically by ending employer-based health insurance and providing truly universal #healthcare.

Our professional choices shouldn’t be dependent on benefits.
Read 6 tweets

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