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Freddie O’Connell Profile picture
Freddie O’Connell
@freddieoconnell
10th Mayor of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County. Tech guy. Bike/ped/transit guy. Building a Nashville for Nashvillians because I want you to stay.
Dec 23, 2020 • 14 tweets • 5 min read
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.
Oct 4, 2020 • 6 tweets • 4 min read
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/…
Oct 1, 2020 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
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.
Sep 30, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
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.
Sep 21, 2020 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
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-…
Sep 8, 2020 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
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.
Aug 19, 2020 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
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.
Aug 12, 2020 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Most exciting part of today’s CoC / Homelessness Planning Council meeting: a status update on the permanent supportive housing project. We’re reviewing architectural plans. It’s starting to feel real. Originally, I had hoped it might also be a new home for @HIDNashville, but I understand the design constraints and am still delighted that we’re creating housing specifically for people experiencing #homelessness.
Jul 30, 2020 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
We had a big milestone at today’s HMIS Advisory Committee meeting today.

@HIDNashville is our HMIS Lead, and @rachel0c has diligently helped us get important documents finalized to finally allow new providers to become participating agencies in HMIS with secure data sharing. Why is this important? HMIS is our local implementation of a Homeless Management Information System. It’s basically our way of tracking people (with informed consent) experiencing homelessness to ensure that they get the best services possible and eventually secure housing.
Jul 17, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Lots of good stuff in here. Briefly:

* Make capital projects more inclusive and broader-based in payoffs.
* Make green investments.
* Be flexible about land/facility use. A great example of a project I hope comes to fruition is the full capitalization of the McGruder Family Resource Center, where @bellforjudge has established the Music City Community Court and where there’s a ton of potential for @FEC_Nashville to expand its reach.
Jul 16, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
I’ve done cold weather canvassing many times, but this winter was the first time I participated in the Point-in-Time Count (PITC) required by @HUDgov as a data point for measuring #homelessness.

More info here: nashville.gov/Social-Service… ImageImage This was a one-night census that just provides a snapshot. I chair a committee staffed by @rachel0c (who also supplied the data visualizations) that has spent the past few years fine-tuning our Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) to improve year-round data.
Jul 11, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Just arrived to join a few other readings of the term.

I’m fortunate to serve with and learn from @VanderbiltU’s Beth Shinn on the Homelessness Planning Council, where I’ve worked to get her ideas into our strategic plan and am still fighting to get them in #COVID19 response. ImageImage New York is using her ideas. We should use more of them in Nashville.

I’m very glad that we are (as far as I know) still pressing ahead with plans for a permanent supportive housing project.
Jul 11, 2020 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
The first job I ever had was working at The Great Escape on Broadway. It’s where I met @thedoyledavis and a remarkable cast of characters, including Charlie Daniels’s son and a guy who dated Elvira. It was an amazing place.

Gary always treated me extremely kindly. Gary loved to celebrate forgotten legends. For awhile, he ran a series where you could come meet old @opry stars. It was fascinating to see who showed up and get to meet some of the stars. I remember meeting Charlie Louvin.
Jul 1, 2020 • 10 tweets • 5 min read
Much of my work on #Liberate37208 began in part last term, like investing deeply in @BVES_MNPS, among other projects.

Huge credit to CM Taylor for leading a committee through giving it more shape and to @whittlz for ensuring young voices were heard.

nashville.gov/Portals/0/Site… At our last #MetroCouncil meeting, the CMs from the committee passed a resolution calling on @JohnCooper4Nash to complete a fines and fees study initiated almost a year ago.

Our criminal legal system too often criminalizes poverty itself.
Jun 27, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
I’ll be joining Edgehill residents for this event this evening, one of the first generally safe, in-person community events I’ve been able to attend for months.

#WeWalkWithShawn Image You can learn more about Shawn’s story here:

tennessean.com/story/news/202…
Jun 26, 2020 • 4 tweets • 4 min read
I was early to #PhysicalDistancing and #Masks4All, and I remain pessimistic about some of the effort to #OpenSafely.

But I still wrestle with the merits of a general mask mandate. Sudden mass behavior change with an uncomfortable/unfamiliar idea is hard. We demonstrated very clearly that we could #FlattenTheCurve in Nashville by starting with #SaferAtHome and easing into an #OpenSafely scenario.

I think working with businesses on effective protocols is easier and possibly as effective as a generalized mask mandate.
Jun 26, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
There are some members of the Tennessee General Assembly who need to spend some time with @caroranwill. @caroranwill T.C.A. §4-1-412 had this: "Except as otherwise provided in this section, no memorial regarding a historic conflict, historic entity, historic event, historic figure, or historic organization...
Jun 19, 2020 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
Two weeks ago, I thought it was important to rejoin the call for new leadership at MNPD.

Little did I know long-time community voices and leaders like @mendesbob would be joined by 15 other CMs, the Interdenomnational Ministers Fellowship, and @aclutn.

Even less could I have imagined that @JohnCooper4Nash would lean into change so quickly. It’s bold leadership.

Now we’ll be engaging in a national search at a perfect moment for reflection on what we need, and making the right choice will also require bold leadership.
Jun 16, 2020 • 26 tweets • 7 min read
Tonight, #MetroCouncil is very likely to vote on an operating budget and supporting tax levy for fiscal year 2021 (Jul 1, 2020 - Jun 30, 2021). We have three basic choices:

* Make dramatic cuts: @Stevegfg has introduced a budget proposal that pursues this approach, and even it requires a substantial property tax rate increase.
Jun 10, 2020 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
What we need most right now is for @JohnCooper4Nash and Chief Anderson to jointly lead an immersive conversation about what real public safety is in Nashville.

And it should have some clear goals. It should deal with challenging data and expect to agree to meaningful reforms. Specifically and especially, that means publicly grappling with the troubling data revealed by the @gideonsarmyutd "Driving While Black" report:

…ileblacknashville.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/drivin…
Jun 8, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Body-worn cameras are not a panacea for transparency nor a complete reform.

I don’t intend to fight the initiative, but I do intend to fight for the rights of the surveilled as they are deployed. Here is a good primer from @EFF on concerns we all should have:

eff.org/pages/body-wor…

Imagine all peaceful protestors being unwitting participants in a massive facial recognition initiative.

Imagine knock-and-talks becoming warrantless camera-based searches.