Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Nashville attorney Jim Roberts to the newsmakers line
Leahy: On the newsmaker line our good friend Jim Roberts the attorney and the man behind the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act. Well, Jim, what are the twists and turns? Will this be on the ballot as a charter amendment on July 26th? What have the opponents of this done in court?
Roberts: Well, let me tell you, we are still on the ballot for the 27th, not the 26th.
Leahy: The 27th. I stand corrected.
Roberts: That’s right. Metro is still legal for the Metro government is still trying to throw up all the roadblocks they can. They’re still making the terrible, dishonest arguments that they’ve been making all along.
The best thing we’ve seen in the last week is that the other side is starting to show its colors. We’re starting to see the dishonesty of their arguments, and they’re having to come up with something.
I think what’s most amazing Michael is that they don’t really attack the ballot initiatives for what they say. It’s just doom and gloom. Chicken Little and the sky is falling. It’s really just hysteria. I think they think that hysteria is just going to carry them to victory or something.
Leahy: It sounds like they’re not making a lot of progress in litigation in the Chancery Court here in Davidson County. Is that right?
Roberts: That’s right. It doesn’t look like they’ve gotten anywhere. They’re trying. They’re making a lot of noise. I think they know they’re going to lose and they just want to look like they were going down swinging.
But the arguments they seem to be making are nonsensical and just dishonest. This is about voter suppression. What the Metropolitan government wants is to deny the citizens the right to vote.
Carmichael: What is the date right now, Jim of the election?
Roberts: July 27.
Carmichael: Has Metro filed a court suit in court to try to stop it?
Roberts: They did. They filed right after the Election Commission voted to put it on the ballot. That case goes to trial and about 10 days roughly. June seventh. But I think the court has telegraphed at least a little bit that they’re not going to win. There’s a second lawsuit that was filed by a downtown business group that’s pretty much on the dole for Metro.
Their trial got set in July. This will all be over in July. Obviously, the court is not taking their lawsuit very seriously. So in 10 days or within two weeks, if you’re back on in two weeks, you believe that the Chancerrory Court…
Roberts: Yes. The Chancery Court here in Davidson County.
Carmichael: You believe within two weeks the Chancery Court will have made a decision? The indications that you’re getting, of course, judges have to hear all the arguments before they make a decision.
Roberts: That’s right. I know that they’re expecting when I say they, the Election Commission, which again voted to let the citizens vote. The Election Commission is assuming that Metro will try to appeal to the Supreme Court to the Court of Appeals.
Metro will spend as much of our tax dollars as it can to try to stop this. They will spend more than it costs to have the election.
Carmichael: Will people from the Election Commission do they testify as to why they believe that the that’s the referendum met all of the criteria?
Roberts: Certainly not in the loop of the trial strategy, but I certainly think someone on the Election Commission will. But the fact that they voted on it, the fact that they looked at it and made a decision, the court has to give a great deal of discretion to a governmental body like this. This is their job and they made a decision, and it’s really Metro attacking their decision.
Leahy: Jim, let me get your reaction to this. There’s a group funded by a bunch of left-wing organizations called Save Nashville Now. We had a story last week. Metro Nashville Public School Board Chair Joins Campaign to Stop the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act. We think that’s a violation of the ethics rules of Metro Nashville Public Schools. Do you have any more information on that for us?
Roberts: I looked into that last week when it first came out and yes, it is it’s absolutely a violation of the ethical rules. And I think it shows how desperate and how willing the other side is to be dishonest in this campaign.
I mean, they’ll do anything. You should also know that throughout this, the opposition to this has actually taken several different names. And Save Nashville Now is just another phony organization.
There’s no organization recognized in Tennessee with that name. This is the fourth organization that’s come forward in opposition. And what you’re going to see is about every two weeks, they’re going to change the name of the organization, and that way they can hide the funding.
They can hide who’s behind it. They can do things that are illegal like they did earlier and then cover it up. So they’ll be gone in a week.
Carmichael: Jim, let me ask you a question. You can call when this goes to trial, Metro is suing the Election Commission correct?
Roberts: That’s right.
Carmichael: Are you planning on calling members of the Election Commission who voted in favor of the referendum? Are you planning on calling them as witnesses? What are you doing to be sure that when you have a chance to make your case, you’re making the strongest possible case and not just relying on precedent? That you are going to make a case well.
Roberts: It’s a little complicated Crom in the sense that we’re not actually active in this litigation for some complicated reasons. The Election Commission has shown its commitment to protecting the people’s right to vote. And in some ways, having us involved in this particular case would be very much a distraction.
Leahy: Very interesting.
Carmichael: Oh. So who is representing the Election Commission?
Roberts: That’s James Blumstein, who is the esteemed Vanderbilt constitutional law professor and pretty much nationally known, if not internationally known constitutional scholar.
He has a wonderful legal team with him, and they are basically making the same argument that I would make and doing a better job of it because they have sort of unlimited resources. They understand the issue here, and the issue is very simple.
The Election Commission is a government entity that has a job and it did its job. And now Metro is trying to come in and nit-pick it and overturn it, not for any good purpose, but really just for its own selfish interests.
There’s a great deal of discretion that’s given to an entity like the Election Commission. And you’ve got to always Crom fall back on the fact that there are six separate good government amendments.
If one goes to election, we have to have an election. If you’re going to have an election, you might as well go ahead and vote on all six just to save money. It’s very telling that Metro doesn’t care how much money it costs. They don’t care if we have six separate elections, as long as they can just throw as many monkey wrenches into the process as possible.
Carmichael: Now July 27 is the election. So it’s a one-day election. No early voting. There’s no absentee voting. If you want to vote, you go vote on that day. Is that right?
Roberts: First of all, there will be early voting and absentee voting. Some of those things are required by law. How much early voting there will be, I think the Election Commission has some level of discretion.
They have not announced the schedule yet although they’re going to have to very soon, which is why this litigation has been expedited. They have some flexibility, but things like early votes and military votes, have to be done pursuant to law. Those have to go out, probably in the next week or so. The election process is moving forward.
Leahy: Last question for you, Jim Roberts about the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act going to be on the ballot July 27. How much are the opponents going to spend to try and stop this in advertising between now and the 27 of July? And how much will you have available?
Roberts: They said they’re going to spend a million to a million, half, which sounds like an awful lot of money. I suspect a lot of that’s going to be taxpayer dollars from groups to get funded by Metro.
And they’re going to just put money in. We’re hoping to raise $200, $250,000. We think that’s plenty to counter their dishonest message. Remember, Michael, they’re not actually attacking the substantive aspects of this.
When you look at the anti-groups advertisements they have always mentioned my name. I’m just a simple country lawyer. The fact that they feel they have to attack me, I think, is very telling. They won’t get into a serious discussion about these issues.
To find out more visit 4goodgovernment.com
Listen to the full show hour here:
– – –
Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Background Photo “Nashville City Hall” by Nicolas Henderson. CC BY 2.0.
Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Nashville attorney Jim Roberts to the newsmakers line who discussed where he was at in the process of putting the referendum on the July 27 ballot and fake grassroots citizen action group opposition.
Leahy: We are joined on our newsmaker line now by our good friend Jim Roberts, the man behind the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act. Jim, bring us up to speed on the twists and turns of the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act referendum.
Roberts: Every week brings a new story, I have to admit. I appreciate you letting me come on this morning. The status now is the lawsuits have been filed by Metro trying to derail and stop the people from voting on this. The Nashville Business Coalition is a political action group that promotes pro-business candidates.
They’re not even representing the voters or the citizens. They’re just really out for their businesses. They’ve filed a frivolous lawsuit. The first one with Metro set for trial in June, and the other is set for trial in July, which I think shows the weakness of their case because, by that time, it will pretty much be over for them.
Leahy: I guess you feel that those lawsuits are not going to stop the referendum from going to the ballot. Is it scheduled for the ballot? And if so, what date is it scheduled for?
Roberts: They have voted to place it on the July 27 ballot. And then it will be there. All six amendments will be there for people to vote on. We’re moving forward. We’re raising my neighbor at radio and print ads and things like that, trying to get our message out and educate people. Although most people are pretty well educated on the issue.
Leahy: Yeah, exactly. There is this group, “grassroots” group called Save Nashville Now. It’s your usual lefties at Stand Up Nashville. They are working in alignment with the Chamber of Commerce. They’re raising money. They’re going to put a campaign against this thing. What can you tell us about this group?
Roberts: Well, pretty much if you go down the list of their members, it’s all people getting government money, all people on the dole all people who basically operate as a slush fund for the Metropolitan government. There is no citizen group.
There are no people out there representing the voters or the citizens. It’s all people with their hands out. And we knew this was coming. If you have a vested interest, if you’re on the dole with Metro, it’s pretty easy for the Metro government to call you up and say, get in line.
Leahy: Yeah. Get in line. These are all the usual suspects. There is a new development about this group, and it’s our lead story at The Tennessee Star. I’ll just read this to you and get your reaction. The headline: Metro Nashville Public Schools Board Chair Joins Campaign to Stop Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act. This is by our own Corrine Murdoch.
Metro Nashville Public School Board Chair Christiane Buggs announced her alliance with Save Nashville Now to defeat the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act. It is unclear whether this alliance poses a breach of Metro Nashville’s public school ethics policy.
So here’s what the policy says. According to the Boardmanship Code of Ethics, board members should not represent special interests or partisan politics. ‘Board members will represent at all times the entire school community and refuse to represent special interests or partisan politics.’
That’s what the policy says. We The Tennessee Star asked Metro legal counsel to comment on this policy and whether Bugg’s action violates that policy. What are your thoughts on this? They didn’t call us back, by the way.
Roberts: Of course they didn’t. And of course, it violates the policy. And what it really shows, more than anything, is how high the level of desperation is. Before this is over, they’re going to have starving children and schools with no books.
It’s going to be every sad lie that you can think of will be perpetrated out as some sort of example. The school board, all this stuff is to roll the tax back to 2019. The schools had books in 2,019, they had custodians in 2009 and they had teachers.
This will have almost no effect whatsoever on the school system. But because it fits an agenda and it’s what Metro wants, they’re going to come out and be against it even though it’s probably going to benefit the school system in end.
Leahy: The kind of ads that I’m envisioning from this group, the Save Nashville Now Group, are going to be like those old ads from the Democrats that pictured former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan with grandma and wheelchair pushing her off a cliff.
Roberts: That’s exactly right. Think about it. Who got hurt when they raised taxes 34 percent, minorities, and poor people. The very people they claim to represent are the people that are being harmed by this tax increase.
But you’re not seeing those people brought out, though. Those people are hidden. And unfortunately, the political people, people with lots of money and lots of connections they’re against it because it represents the taking away of power. And the government never likes to have power taken away. We all know that. History tells us that.
Leahy: Metro Chair Christiane Buggs, her full-time job, Metro Nashville Public School Chair Christian Bugs, the one who is, apparently, in my view, violating the ethics policy there by jumping into this election. Her full-time gig is she’s the literacy project director for wait for it…the United Way.
Roberts: So there you go. People with their hands out are going to be against this. There’s no doubt about that.
Leahy: If a complaint were to be filed against Christiana Bugs on this, what would the outcome of that be? It does appear to be a clear violation of their ethics policy.
Roberts: Unfortunately, I have never filed an ethics violation with the Metro government, but I have known people that did, and they tend to get swept under the rug. They tend to get covered up. There are many and this may be something that needs to be addressed on a future ballot initiative.
There are many conflicts that allowed people who are in the government to serve on certain boards that they shouldn’t be and people with financial interests. The Fairgrounds is a classic example. The people that were involved in that all had financial ties to the outcome. And Metro turned a blind eye to that.
Leahy: In the ad campaign coming up for this referendum in July, I guess, what was the date again? July 27th?
Roberts: July 27.
Leahy: How much money are the opponents going to be able to spend on this? And how much will they outspend you and your team by?
Roberts: They said they’re going to raise a million to a million five, probably from taxpayers and squander that. We’ll probably raise about 10 percent of that, and we’ll still win. They’re trying to convince people to do something that’s not in their best interest and that will harm Nashville.
And then people don’t want to do I think everyone in this town knows the tax increase with a bad idea. And it’s the first of many. They would be raising taxes right now if this ballot initiative wasn’t on the ballot. And I can promise if it doesn’t pass next year they’re going to raise the taxes again.
Leahy: Absolutely. Metro Nashville and Mayor Cooper spend money like drunken sailors. And I have to apologize to drunken sailors for that because I think they’re more fiscally responsible.
Roberts: And they eventually run out of money. The Metropolitan government has the ability to issue bonds, and so they pretty much have an unlimited credit card. Most of your listeners probably know the city of Nashville has more debt than the entire state of Tennessee.
That’s the result of irresponsibility. That’s a result of a lack of stewardship and a lack of leadership. And they’re just making it worse. And we’ve got to bring this to a halt.
Leahy: Isn’t Metro Nashville is in one of the five worst financial situations for any city in the country?
Roberts: That’s right. And this is not just bad, but bad after 10 years of unprecedented growth. What we’ve seen is our city that just squandered this wonderful windfall that we had. So who knows what made Nashville suddenly popular?
But it’s undeniable that it is or has been. And they squandered that. They sold us out to out of state interest. They sold us out to developers, and now they’re sending the taxpayers and the citizens the bill for it. And that’s just wrong.
Leahy: Yeah, exactly. Well, we’ll see how all this plays out. If people want to help with your effort, what should they do Jim?
Roberts: Go to our website 4goodgovernment.com which is leading and organizing the charge. We’ve had meetings this week with organizers and volunteers. Please go to that website and donate. We do need money. We don’t have the faucet like the Metro government and some of these other groups.
We have to go out and earn it from the citizens. I’m very happy to say that almost 99.9 percent of all money raised comes from Davidson County despite the very terrible lie to the contrary these are citizens that are supporting this.
The problem is that most people don’t know what to do individually, and that’s like any sort of campaign. But please donate and please tell people these are good amendments. All six of these amendments will make Nashville a better place for good government.
Listen to the full third hour here:
– – –
Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Nashville attorney Jim Roberts to the newsmakers line to discuss his receipt of more than enough signed petitions to put the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act on the ballot yet informs of Metro Legals attempts to change the rules.
Leahy: We are joined on our newspaper line by the triumphant Jim Roberts. Good morning, Jim.
Roberts: Good morning, sir. How are you doing today?
Leahy: So tell us what you did yesterday afternoon.
Roberts: Well, we were very excited. Yesterday we went down to the courthouse and handed over to the Metro Clerk more than sufficient signatures to place the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act on the ballot. And they were waiting for us, even though we didn’t tell them we were coming, they knew we were coming. And they already had the forms ready. And it was just a wonderful feeling to unload those thousands and thousands and thousands of petitions with the signatures on them.
Leahy: I saw the picture. You had a lot of them. Now the number that you submitted was a little over 14,000. Is that correct?
Roberts: That’s right. 14,000 valid signatures.
Leahy: Now, there’s a little dispute coming on what the right number is. Tell us what your interpretation of the Metro charter is as to what the number needs to be.
Roberts: Certainly. There was a little confusion first, because, quite honestly, the Election Commission was putting out some incorrect information. And it’s really all based on how many people voted in the last general election. And that term general election is defined as the last Metro election.
Leahy: And let me just pause here for a moment. When people use the term general election, the general election for state and federal offices was held in November 2020.
Roberts: That’s right.
Leahy: But the general election for Metro Nashville County government offices was at the August of 2019 election?
Roberts: No, it was the August of 2020 election.
Leahy: And the charter says you need 10 percent. And so what is 10 percent of the August 2020 general election?
Roberts: About 11,500 signatures.
Leahy: And you turned in 14,000.
Roberts: That’s right.
Leahy: So game over right? If they get approved by the Metro clerks, you should be on the ballot except your counterpart accept. And now we have the rest of the story. (Roberts chuckles) Jeff Roberts, no relation to you. Jim Roberts is the election administrator for Davidson County. He says no. He says when they say general election, they mean the November 2020 general election for federal and state offices. And 10 percent of that number is 32,000. He said in an article in The Tennesseean where he said he’s going to challenge you. What happens next?
Roberts: Well, what’s going to happen is that we’re actually going to fail a lawsuit Monday. I must admit I didn’t expect this sort of legal shenanigans that we had last time. The unbelievable dishonesty of the Metropolitan government in the department of law. I was caught off guard by that. We’re not really going to put up with that nonsense.
The law is very clear. In fact, Metro argued in a very similar situation that it would have been the August election, not just two years ago when the Community Oversight Board referendum was on the ballot it was Metro that argued that the prior August selection was the right election and that Metro argued that the intervening federal election didn’t count.
That was Metro’s argument. And I expected them to be hypocrites and to change their position. But the law is completely clear. This case is less than two years old, and it says very clearly that the November federal and state election isn’t the election you count from. So Jeff is just wrong. And either he doesn’t know he’s wrong or he doesn’t care he’s wrong.
Carmichael: Are you going to file for a declaratory judgment on Monday?
Roberts: That is probably what we’ll do. If you remember last time that the Election Commission stalled and delayed. We found out that Metro legal was meeting illegally and secretly with the Election Commission to conspire against the voters. We’re not going to put up with that nonsense this time. My goal is to file for a declarative action and an injunction prohibiting Metro legal from engaging in any more unethical behavior. We’re going to make it very clear that this is serious. This is what the people want, and we’re not going to have a lot of illegal and unethical behavior by the Metropolitan government to try to stop it.
Carmichael: When you say this is what people want what you’re really saying is people want to have a right to have a say on their own tax rates. Now whether or not they want to have them or not. If this vote goes against the way that you would like it to, you’re still satisfied with that as a result, because the people have spoken. Is that accurate?
Roberts: Absolutely. And obviously, I hope they look for these six good things because they’re all good government amendments but I want to put it in the people’s hands. They have a right. This is what’s so dishonest about what Metro legal is doing. It is that they’re not just trying to say it’s a bad idea they’re trying to prevent and have been trying to prevent the people from voting on it. And when your government is telling you, you don’t get to vote on something that should bother everybody. And it bothers me a lot.
Leahy: So, Jim, the precedent you’re talking about, tell me if I’ve got it right. So the controversial Community Oversight Board, which was placed on the ballot because community groups gathered signatures that were more than 10 percent
Carmichael: Of the previous August.
Leahy: Previous August general election back in 2018. And they got it on like 1,500 signatures or something at 10,000. And I think the number was 8,500 or something like that. And the fraternal order of police filed a lawsuit that went through many, many cases and many iterations. And they said, no, that’s not enough. It needs to be the general election in the November election. Metro legal argued, no no no it has to be August in that. Do I have that right?
Roberts: That’s exactly right. That’s what they ordered. The phrase in the charter says proceeding general election. So in a sort of legal way, there was a dispute. What does proceeding general election mean? Well, one of the bills is very clear. In an election just Metro offices are being decided, not just people in Davidson County are voting but a true Metro election. And that was August of 2016 in that particular case. And for us, it’s August 2020. Metro knows this, and they’re just purposely spreading false information.
Leahy: So it’s interesting. They argue that it should have been the August election back to get the Community Oversight Board referendum on the ballot. It got on the ballot and was passed by the voters. Now we have a community oversight board. Are they going to literally make exactly the opposite argument when you go to court to get this on the ballot?
Roberts: Not only do I expect them to do that, which is incredibly dishonest, but one of the things that they argued in the oversight board case was that the people should have a right to go ahead and vote on it. And if there’s a problem with it, that can be determined later in court. But they should let the people vote on it. They were all about letting the people vote on that referendum. I am pretty certain that they won’t be as happy about letting people vote on this one.
Carmichael: Well, you’re going to see. I think that the strategy of filing for a declaratory judgment to move the thing along quickly is probably the wise course of action because the last time you kind of you waited for them, and now they’ve already pretty much said they’re going to sue over this. So you’re going to sue first and bring it to a head quickly.
Roberts: That’s right.
Carmichael: It will be interesting to see how the judge rules given the other recent ruling.
Roberts: That’s right. That gives us more time. If you remember last time they said they were going to sue and they never did. I finally had to sue Metro to force them to put it on the ballot because they clearly had no intention of actually doing anything. They just wanted to sort of stall and delay. We’re going to go forward.
I’d like to do it today, but I just think I’ve got too much work to do to get it done today. But maybe Monday or Tuesday or at the latest next week. We’re going to force Metro to put this on the ballot. The people deserve the right to vote on it. And if they vote yes on some of these, and no on some of these, that’s fine. I’ve given the people the opportunity to vote. They’re all good and they all should be voted for. But people’s minds differ sometimes.
Leahy: When do you think that the chancery court, which is, I guess where this will go, when do you think they would rule on whether your numbers right or the other number is right?
Roberts: We’ll file everything on an expedited basis. We’ll be pushing this very quickly. Almost certainly when Metro loses, they’re going to want to go to the court of appeals to try to tie up our resources. And remember, they’re using your tax dollars to fight this. They have unlimited resources to spend. They probably spent two or 300,000 dollars last time trying to keep you off the vote. I don’t think they won’t spend that or more.
Leahy: Yes, probably. They want to just nip it in the bud, that’s for sure.
Carmichael: Do you know which judge you’ll get?
Roberts: No, it’s supposed to be random. I do tend to get Chancellor Lyle more often than not, but it’s supposed to be random.
Carmichael: How many chancellor court judges are there?
Roberts: There are four.
Leahy: Okay, so you got four chances. Jim Roberts come back next week at the same time. Tell us what’s happened. Thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for all your hard work to roll back the 34 percent property tax with the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act. Jim, thanks for joining us.
Roberts: Thank you for having me. Have a good day.
Listen to the full third hour here:
– – –
Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Background Photo “Nashville City Hall” by Nicolas Henderson. CC BY 2.0.
Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Nashville attorney Jim Roberts to the newsmakers line to give updates on petitions received and still needed for the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act to get on the ballot.
Leahy: And on our newsmaker line now our good friend Jim Roberts talking about the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act. The petition to get it on the ballot to roll back the 34 to 37 percent property tax increase in Nashville. On the web, you can download the petition at 4goodgovernment.com. Good morning Jim. How are you this morning?
Roberts: Well good sir, on this beautiful day.
Leahy: It is. So I’m looking at your website 4goodgovernment.com. And there’s a note there that says new 2021 petitions are in the mail. The filing deadline is March the 25th, March the 25th. That’s a week from this Thursday. You need 32,000 signatures. How is the count going so far?
Roberts: It’s going pretty strong. We’re bringing about 1000 to 1500 signatures a day, but I’m not going to kid you we need more. You want to have a margin over that 32 to 33,000 a minimum requirement. Those are valid signatures and not everybody who signs always knows what county they live in or whether they’re a registered voter or not. So there’s going to be a few that get kicked out. and so we would like to be able to turn in, you know, 38 or 39,000 signatures and maybe 40,000 if we can get them. And we’re not there yet, but we are making really good progress. But really it is time for people to get motivated and get those petitions to us.
Leahy: So we’re on track I think now to get pretty close to where we want to be or where you want to be so that you’ve got that margin of error. That margin above that 30 or so minimum to get on the ballot. As of now, it’s Friday, March the 12th, you’ve got a week in six days until the deadline. Where about do we stand right now? I know you don’t count them every minute. But what would be your guess as to the number of signatures you have at the of this very moment?
Roberts: We’re probably a little over 21 to 22,000, which is about where we thought we would be. we obviously hope we’d have more by this point, but there they are rolling in. What we’re seeing is that people are getting more and more signatures. And I encourage that. When we first got the petitions back they had one or two signatures on them because people were sending them back quickly. But now people are starting to get their friends and neighbors to find them and that’s what we want. Please please download that petition and get 10 of your friends to sign it and mail it in. That just makes it a lot easier on us or we’re counting petitions.
Leahy: Good point. When you get to 4goodgovernment.com you can download the petition and not only can you sign it but also you can get another 10 friends right to sign it.
Roberts: That’s right. That helps us more counting and also just helps us get those numbers quickly. And this and I just can’t think that the people know at least nine other people who would like to roll back this massive property tax increase.
Leahy: If you’re listening right now and you live in Davidson County and you haven’t signed this and you’ve sent a lot of petitions out in the mail and you resent them after this big winter storm that kind of made it a little bit more difficult to get these signatures. But right now if you’re listening you can go to 4goodgovernment.com. You can download the petition print it out sign yourself and then think about five to ten friends that you can get them to sign it and then mail it in. You’ve got a place to mail it in right?
Roberts: On the petition itself, it has the address and we’ll have our office address on the website pretty soon in case people get too close to the mailing date want to bring it by. But right now we’re asking people to download it and mail it. And 1,000 petitions a day are coming in and make yours part of that.
Leahy: So if we have what 13 days until the time you turn it in. If you have 1000 a day if you’re at 22,000 right now, but if you were to count every day that be 13,000 you be about 35,000 right now. That’s a little close for comfort, isn’t it if we had 35,000 when you turn them in.
Roberts: It would make me nervous. I’ll tell you what, but I think people are going to wake up. I mean, I think people are starting to understand that the deadline is approaching and this is in the citizens’ hands. I can’t walk around in person and convince every single person. I asked people to read this petition. It’s got six different things on there that limits or eliminates lifetime benefits for council members and mayors. That’s just one of the six. And then rolling back the taxes is just one of the six. There are other good things on here that will make Nashville a better city and more financially stable.
Leahy: And when you turn it in you’ve structured this petition so that each one of these issues will be addressed separately. Is that correct?
Roberts: That’s right. On election day there will be six different things that you can vote yes or no on. And if one of these that you don’t like maybe you want your Metro councilman to have lifetime benefits, you can vote no on that one.
Leahy: Now here’s something important. We want everybody in our listening audience, we want to make Jim Roberts less nervous, right? (Roberts chuckles) This is the Jim Roberts peace of mind effort, right? Go to 4goodgovernment.com and download the petition. Sign it and get your friends to sign it and mail it in this week or the or early next week so that we can give Jim Roberts peace of mind. It’s very important. Don’t you think so Jim?
Roberts: Absolutely. And remember, this just puts it on the ballot. We still have an election will still have to have a campaign for this and been educate people further. But if you want the chance to vote on it, this is the time to get moving. And I know that there’s plenty of people from Metro out there working against this. I know there’s a lot of misinformation provided. And it’s unfortunate, but that’s politics. But if you want to roll back this property tax and put some restraints on the Metro Government now is your chance.
Leahy: It’s one step at a time. And none of this good stuff to rein in Metro Nashville government will happen until you get all of the petitions in. That’s between now and March 25. So for somebody who wants good government in Nashville needs to go to 4goodgovernment.com and download the petition, sign it, and mail it in so that by a week from Thursday when Jim rounds all these up and turns them in that we’ll have plenty of margin over the 32,000 requirement. Right now we are sort of on a path to go around 35,000, but we want to give Jim some peace of mind. (Roberts chuckles) Let’s try to get it up to 40,000. Don’t you think it’s a good idea?
Roberts: Absolutely, and that’s what we need. They will, unfortunately, be emboldened to try to suppress people’s signatures. We saw this last time. And they’ll do anything they can to stop this and to prevent people from voting on it. And I would not put it past the Metro Government to disqualify valid signatures on a mere technicality or even just dishonesty.
Leahy: Yeah, but I think it’s probably likely to happen. That’s why you got to get over and get as many as you possibly can. Now walk us through what’s going to happen on Thursday, March 25th. The deadline is what 5:00 p.m?
Roberts: 5:00 p.m. We won’t wait that late of course. We’ll go over in the afternoon early and will bring these to the Metro Clerk and we basically hand them off to them when we get a receipt. But the Metro Court sends it a little silly system, but they send it in to the election commission and they start counting, and once they count they’ll certify it and it’ll be brought up at the next meeting and hopefully put on the ballot.
Leahy: Do you have a big van that you’ve de transport these in?
Roberts: It will fill the back of my van up pretty full. When you only when you want 30,000 something signatures, you’re going to end up with 15 to 20,000 petitions because a lot of them come in with signatures on them.
Leahy: When you bring this to the county clerk, are you going to give them a little note? Attached, please find 36,000 signatures or 40,000. Do you give them the number or what do you you know because you’re counting them all along the way? What do you tell them exactly?
Roberts: They actually make you sign a form that says how many signatures you think you’re turning in which I think is sort of funny. And so there’s a little receipt that you get ironically. And there’s no place on it for your name or address or anything. I guess you just have to assume you’re famous enough when you turn a man that they know who you are. (Leahy chuckles) Which I thought was sort of funny. I don’t consider myself famous.
Leahy: But there will be a number that you attach to it on Thursday afternoon, March 25 when you get all these petitions in the back of your van and drive them in there, and are you gonna need somebody to help you unload them?
Roberts: We’ll have a group of people up there. We’ll bring in our volunteers and we hope to have a nice crowd out at the courthouse. Well, we’ll send photographers for that Jim. So the number right now, we’re around 22,000. Our guess is we’re on a track to get 35,000, but we’ve got to get 40,000. So go to 4goodgovernment.com.
Roberts: That’s what we really want.
Leahy: We want 40,000.
Roberts: And understand this is a remarkable number. This is a huge number of signatures. Unfortunately, our bar is very high.
Leahy: Very high. Jim Roberts 4goodgovernment.com. The man Behind the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act. Thanks so much for joining us today.
Roberts: Thank you.
Listen to the full second hour here:
– – –
Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Background Photo “Davidson Courthouse” by Reading Tom. CC BY 2.0.
Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Nashville attorney Jim Roberts to the newsmakers line to give updates to how many petitions he has received for the Nashville Tax Payer Protection Act and asked folks to please get theirs in as the deadline looms March 26.
Leahy: Now Jim Roberts with 4goodgovernment.com with an update on the Nashville taxpayer protection act petition. Good morning, Jim.
Roberts: Good morning, sir. How are you doing on this beautiful day?
Leahy: It’s a great day. How are we doing with signature collection on the petition to get this Nashville taxpayer protection act that will roll back the 34 percent property tax increase? How are we doing on that petition?
Roberts: Petitions are coming in 1,500 to 2,000 a day. we still have a way to go. I would encourage your listeners to please download that petition, get their friends and neighbors to sign it, and get it back to us because we want to have a comfortable margin when we turn them in.
Leahy: So go to the number 4goodgovernment.com. That’s for good government.com. You got to get to 32,000 signatures by what March 26? Is at it that’s three weeks from today. Is that right?
Roberts: Basically, yeah, we want to try to turn them in that Wednesday, I believe. And we need 33,000 valid signatures, which means you want to collect more than that because some of them might not be good. But we’re getting closer to the wire.
Leahy: So here’s the big question for you Jim. Here’s the big question. How many signatures do you have as of Friday, March 5? How close are you to 33,000?
Roberts: Well, we’re halfway there and they are and they’re coming in stronger. I mean they’ve been out for a while in the mail but was slowed by the snow but they’re coming in about 2000 a day. And my worries were a little closer than I’d like to be. So, please everyone gets get those petitions to get them back to us.
Carmichael: Can you send out another mailing Jim?
Roberts: We’re thinking about that. We’re thinking about that very strongly and maybe sending out another mailer on Monday just in case people didn’t realize what they were getting when they got it. You know, we know that Sabathia we’re getting notes on about every fifth edition seems like have a nice note on it too. It’s almost thank you for doing this. We just got to get this on the ballot or taxes are going to go up again this year.
Leahy: So you say you’re a little over halfway if you need to be 33,000. I’m going to say that you’re at least 17,000. Would that be right now? That’s probably a little under. We only count them about every two or three days. I’ll be honest.
Leahy: Because it’s a big process to count them.
Roberts: It is because you have to cut them open just people tape on clothes and cut them open. So they’re coming in droves. It very warms my heart how many people are turning these in but time’s running out. A sense of urgency needs to be on everybody’s minds.
Leahy: So am I right that March 26, three weeks from today is the deadline?
Roberts: It’s Thursday that we want to turn them in. I guess that’s the 25th.
Leahy: The 25th. So we’ve got two weeks and six days and to get them in. If you’ve got 1,500 a day, you’ve got, you know, probably about ten days 15,000 you’re going to be pushing it. You’re going to be pushing it to get to that 33,000. You got to accelerate it.
Roberts: That’s right. And that’s why we’re pushing harder and harder with more media and social media. And I think people are just sort of asleep at the wheel a little bit not realizing this is out there and we want to get it in. We want this on the ballot. We want people to have a chance to vote on not just the roll back of the property tax, but the other five things on the list that ending lifetime benefits for elected officials and protecting our parks, greenways and public lands. I mean this thing does a lot more than just roll back the tax. I know that’s the most important to a lot of people. But these really are good government elements.
Leahy: On the web at 4goodgovernment.com. You can download the petition you can get not only your own signature but up to ten total people on it.Crom wants to weigh in on it.
Carmichael: If you do another mailing, I’d try to get get the word urgent on the on the on the on the front.
Leahy: Urgent! Urgent!
Carmichael: Words like that matter. They get people’s attention.
Roberts: Our response was so overwhelming the first time that I think some people just sort of sitting back thinking, well other people will do it. It’s time for people to get real serious.
Leahy: Jim Roberts with the Nashville taxpayer protection act doing you’re doing great work out there where you appreciate it go to 4GoodGovernment.com. Download the petition sign it and mail it into Jim. Thanks so much for joining us today.
– – –
Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
