Freddie O’Connell Profile picture
Oct 1, 2020 11 tweets 3 min read Read on X
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!
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!
The @nashchamber, @ashfordhughes, and others have done important, impressive work on inclusion and diversity in economic and workforce development. It would be great to have an ECD office with a focus on the C continuing to work on those issues!
During the budget process, I voted against collapsing the Nashville Career Advancement Center into the Metro Action Commission because I believe that the mayor’s office should retain an active and strategic role in workforce development just as with ECD.

Now more than ever.
You don’t have to believe in incentive-driven deals to believe in the process of strategically developing a city’s economy.

Historically, we’ve been America’s healthcare capital and Music City.

But our knowledge economy and craft manufacturing sectors have both grown.
Even if you disagree that $500/job will pay off far more than that in revenues, I can assure you that the 1,000 Amazon employees who have just been hired are happy to be in Nashville and working.

Last term, we passed the “Do Better” bill to add transparency to incentives. We completely overhauled TIF under @mendesbob’s leadership. Council intensely scrutinizes PILOTs and participation agreements. @StandUpNash negotiated the city’s first-ever community benefits agreement.
It is possible to develop our economy strategically in a way that benefits the community broadly.

I’m concerned we run the risk of “better deal” being a mask for “no deal” economic development.
Right now, I’m especially anxious that we will see a 4Q headline along the lines of “Major Software Company Passes on Nashville; 10,000 Jobs Head to Some Other City.”

I hope, instead, that I get to be excited about a big jobs announcement.

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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
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
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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