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
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Background Photo “Nashville City Hall” by Nicolas Henderson. CC BY 2.0.
Live from Music Row Monday 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 Metro Nashville’s City Council Member-at-Large Steve Glover to discuss Nashville’s budget timing and pointed out a recent Wall Street Journal article signaling Nashville’s fiscal trouble.
Leahy: In studio with us, Metro Council member at large, Steve Glover. But Scooter has a weather update for us. Lots going on out there. Scooter, Speaking of troubled weather and storms, there’s a fiscal storm going on in Nashville. It has for some time. We’re talking about that here with Steve Glover, Metro Council member at large, The Wall Street Journal pointed it out in a devastating article that is entirely counter to the way that Mayor Cooper presented the State of Metro on Thursday.
Glover: The sad part is, is the way that the State of Metro was presented. Then Friday, the joke of the way the budget was presented.
Leahy: Let’s stop and talk about it. Let’s be clear about how this works so our audience can understand. On Thursday, it was a press conference. Yackety yack.
Glover: Thursday was the State of Metro right at that point. And I’ve not known this to be the case that once the Mayor hands the budget over it’s the council’s budget.
Leahy: Got it.
Glover: And I didn’t see it handled that way number one.
Leahy: Part of the State of Metro is to present the budget. Correct?
Glover: Well, you don’t know. Not necessarily. Normally, once the State of Metro is completed, then they come in with the budget. But they waited a day and just said there wasn’t enough space. That’s malarky. Malarky. They could have adjourned upstairs, come down to the Davidson Ballroom, or whatever where desks were already set up for the Metro Council.
And they could have done a budget and a Council meeting and gone ahead and done it. They just chose not to. It’s just another way the legislative body just keeps giving up more and more power to the executive branch. And The Wall Street Journal article that you first started talking about in this segment is exactly right. And this is why we’re in the predicament we are in right now because the executive branch does whatever the heck it wants to. And the legislative branch says okay.
Leahy: Where’s my rubber stamp?
Glover: Doh dee-doh dee-doh… And they can get mad at me all they want to. I don’t care, because, you know, the thing that drives me the craziest is we are elected by the people who represent the people, and they have abdicated that to one office downstairs in the executive branch. The legislative branch, our forefathers had a great reason for the way they set up our Constitution and the way our government is supposed to work in America.
The Wall Street Journal article talking about Nashville being one of the five worst cities fiscally it should have been, and I think the article pointed it out, we should have been literally at the crest of being the best because we had every opportunity in the world.
Leahy: Nashville has everything going for it except for a very bad, reckless Metro government.
Glover: Yep. And as I said on Tucker Carlson about six months ago, whatever it was, it’s a lack of leadership. That’s our problem in Nashville. A lack of leadership. And whenever you have that kind of void, this is what happens. Oh, well, just like you’re talking about the American whatever, blah, blah, blah. They give them all these names and whatever.
They’re going to throw all kinds of money at things. And they’re not going to fix anything. And that’s been our problem. We keep throwing money, throwing money, throwing money. And we’ll talk about some of this as we go forward here on where I think we’re throwing money in all the wrong places.
Leahy: Wasting money.
Glover: In my opinion, it’s beyond wasting. And we’re not really focusing on where we need to be spending the money. The Wall Street Journal was exactly right. They come out last week and they said, oh, no, we fixed it. Everything’s golden. No, it’s not. Don’t think it is. And I’m not saying the sky is falling, the sky is falling. I’m saying that it’s raining pretty hard outside and you better get a frigging umbrella.
Leahy: And it’s mostly it’s largely these unfunded health care liabilities for retirees.
Glover: Well, the op-ed. So what they’ll talk about on that is that they fixed that and they’ve removed one point one billion dollars off of the financial sheets because they’re going to shift everything to this Medicare advantage thing. So we’re going to move it from the local government to the federal government. Yeah, that will fix it.
Leahy: That’s a joke.
Glover: So way to go, Metro. Oh, my gosh. You guys are just tremendous.
Leahy: This is very much how Liberal Democrats pretend two ‘solve problems.’ They just move the accounting for it from one side to another side or try to.
Glover: Let’s make sure we give credit do where it’s supposed to all be given. Don’t forget now and I think it was last hour or whatever you were talking about the George W. Bush thing.
Leahy: Oh, yeah.
Glover: He’s the one who did the Medicare Part D. And Clinton gave us Medicare Part C, which is Medicare Advantage. And then George W. gave us Medicare Part D, which is prescription drugs and has been a fiasco ever since. And so what we’re doing in Metro, apparently and I haven’t read the whole thing so it’s hard for me to tell you exactly what it looks like right now.
If you’re 65 plus, you have to go on Medicare Advantage. That means now you will have to take Medicare Part B, which is 136 or 140 or whatever it is a month that you’ll be required to pay. And so what my question is, well, okay, if you’re doing that and how much are you still going to have to pay off the insurance? I know people grind the axe on the Council members, but you got to talk about the retirees. We’re talking about folks who gave years about years upon years upon years of service.
Leahy: And there’s unfunded healthcare liability for those retirees.
Glover: Yes. And there is across the entire country. It’s not anything unique only to Metro.
Leahy: It’s just worse here apparently.
Glover: It is.
Leahy: Like, by a lot.
Glover: Well, it’s because we like to buy new, shiny toys every Christmas, as opposed to buying one toy every Christmas and making sure the toys we bought in the previous Christmases are kept operational, functional, and serving the purpose.
Leahy: This budget document you’re talking about that was not presented along with the State of Metro address, but was delivered separately.
Glover: Friday. It always is. That’s the way the bill is always filed on Friday.
Leahy: So it was delivered on Friday. And this is for what budget period?
Glover: Well, it will be for the FY ’22.
Leahy: And when does that begin?
Glover: July one.
Leahy: July one of this coming year?
Glover: Yes. July 21 of 2021.
Leahy: Until June 30th of 2022.
Glover: Correct.
Leahy: Now, how many pages is this budget?
Glover: I don’t know the number on the orders.
Leahy: A lot?
Glover: You got to look at the budget book. The ordinance only spells out the legalities.
Leahy: The budget then.
Glover: The budget book typically is about 1,000 pages.
Leahy: Are you going to read every page of that?
Glover: Pretty much.
Leahy: You’re kidding me?
Glover: No.
Leahy: That’s a lot of work.
Glover: I always do that. That’s what I do.
Leahy: You always do it. How many Metro Council members read the 1,000-page budget book?
Glover: I don’t know. I mean, you could ask each one of them. They could tell you whatever.
Leahy: So after the Mayor submits the budget, it goes to a committee in Metro?
Glover: It goes to the whole Council. The Budget and Finance Committee, which I’m a member of, we will take it, and we pretty much so do what’s going to be the hearings. But what I found most interesting is this year our chair, and look, she’s a nice person. Nothing personal here. It’s just the fact that only going to be one substitute. You can do amendments, blah, blah. Once again, we’re abdicating our responsibilities.
Leahy: So let me ask you this. The Budget and Finance Committee of Metro is very important. And you’re a Metro Council Member-At-Large.
Glover: Correct. I represent the whole city.
Leahy: But you’re not the chair of the committee.
Glover: No, I’ll never be the chair. If I was the chair, we’d start fixing things.
Leahy: You’re not the chair of the committee because…
Glover: I’m a Republican.
Leahy: Who picks the chair, the vice Mayor, the Vice Mayor. And how many people are on the committee?
Glover: I think there’s 13, 14, 15 of us.
Leahy: Wow, that’s a big committee.
Glover: That’s a huge committee.
Leahy: I think you’re having a meeting today?
Glover: Yes. At four o’clock. Four or four-thirty. Something like that.
Leahy: Tell us what is going to happen in that meeting.
Glover: Well, you’ll go through this week’s agenda and that’s what we’ll talk about. But we’re going to be convening this coming Thursday to talk about the budget. So here we are one week later, and we’re gonna start talking about the budget. We won’t be talking about it today or tomorrow. We’re going to wait until Thursday because no need to talk about something that’s kind of spinning out of control.
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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.
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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.
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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.
