State of Metro: Cooper proposes $100M more for schools, boosts for public safety

Nashville Mayor John Cooper provided a glimpse into an upcoming budget proposal focused on education and public safety on Thursday in his final State of Metro address.

The speech marked one month since three adults and three 9-year-old children were shot and killed at the Covenant School in Nashville, and fell days after the conclusion of a fraught state legislative session that catapulted Nashville into national news on multiple occasions.

"We want those families to be the last in Nashville to know that unimaginable pain," Cooper said, calling on state lawmakers to pass "common sense gun violence legislation" in an upcoming special session.

Cooper's 2023 budget proposal features an additional $100 million for Nashville schools, $15 million to bring the Nashville Fire Department to full staffing for the first time since 2001 and a 7% pay increase for all Metro employees, comprised of a 4% cost of living adjustment and 3% step raises.

It also includes funding for a program that would distribute free gun locks to Nashville residents by mail, modeled after an existing program in Shelby County.

Cooper delivered his remarks at the new James Lawson High School in Bellevue, which is expected to open to students in August 2023.

The mayor's proposed operating budget will be presented to Nashville's council next week, beginning several weeks of consideration.

Cooper painted Nashville's 2020 budget as a "crisis budget" with decisions made to "keep the lights on" as the pandemic took root and the city's rocky finances and slim reserves fell under scrutiny from Tennessee's Comptroller. He characterized the 2021 budget as an "investment budget" focused on raises for teachers and first responders, and last year's budget as one "for full recovery."

The items revealed in this year's address are comparatively modest to last year's budget proposal. This year's budget will not have the benefit of a massive injection of federal aid, which helped launch and bolster multiple Nashville initiatives during Cooper's term, including housing funds, a child care pilot program and a $10 million countywide expansion of Nashville's participatory budgeting model. Previously allocated pandemic relief funds are still being disbursed, and those initiatives are ongoing.

Other items in Cooper's budget proposal include:

• increasing the cap of the Mixed Income Tax Abatement program to support development of affordable housing from $3 million to $5 million

• increasing first-year police officer salaries to $65,000 annually

• purchasing 81 new fire trucks and ambulances

• adding 21 new general services positions and establishing an overnight shift for servicing Metro vehicles

• expanding Nashville's Partners in Care program, which pairs mental health professionals with police officers, to include the Midtown Hills and Madison precincts

• a $4.6 million investment focused on clean streets and litter pickup, creating six new positions

• adding two positions to the new Office of Nightlife and two new Metro Codes employees to deal specifically with noise ordinance enforcement

Cooper also delivered a sweeping retrospective of his nearly complete term against the backdrop of a tumultuous three and a half years marked by numerous tragedies. Serving as Nashville mayor, he said, has been "the honor of my life." He announced in January he would not seek a second term.

He listed improvements to pay for Metro employees, teachers and first responders, progress toward affordable housing goals, infrastructure project improvement, plans to embrace the Cumberland River, the Titans stadium deal and regulations for Nashville's vibrant nightlife among the highlights of his tenure.

He also called on the Metro Council to approve the use of license plate readers — currently in use under a 6-month pilot program that has stirred significant controversy — moving forward.

Guest speakers call for inclusion, safety for all

Thursday's event featured voices from several religious traditions and a stirring address from transgender teen Lachlan Cook, Nashville's youth poet laureate, and a finalist for Tennessee youth poet laureate, which will be announced Friday. Cook said the rights of LGBTQ children and adults are at dire risk.

"As an American, I have the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," Cook said. "I believe in these values, and the idea that people should lead the life they want so long as they aren't hurting anyone along the way. People tell me we all have these rights, and then tell me I am dangerous.

What's really dangerous, Cook said, are American classrooms.

"Why is it on the children to beg not to be shot?" Cook asked.

Phil Cobucci, founder and executive director of Inclusion Tennessee, concluded the event alongside Nashville drag artist Vidalia Anne Gentry. Cobucci, a self-described "proud gay, genderqueer person," said the LBGTQ community, and specifically the transgender community, drag artists and people living with HIV or AIDS have borne the brunt of "attacks from our state legislature over the past year."

"Our community deserves refuge, equal access to health care, a safe space, and most importantly, they deserve every opportunity to thrive," Cobucci said.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Cooper proposes $100M more for schools, boosts for public safety