Charter Amendments

Charter Amendments

The Charter of The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, commonly referred to as the “Metro Charter”, established the creation of Metro Nashville and governs it to this day. Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County (often called “Metro Nashville” or “Metro”) is the consolidated city-county structure that governs Davidson County, the City of Nashville, and the municipalities of Belle Meade, Berry Hill, Forest Hills, Oak Hill, and parts of Goodlettsville, which retain their charters, provide police services, and regulate zoning, while being otherwise governed and served by Metro Nashville.

The Metro Charter operates at a local level like the Constitution does at a federal level; it is the legal document and framework explaining what Metro Nashville can do and how those things get done. In essence, the Charter sets up a structure of government, requires a city budget, and delegates powers, such as setting property taxes, regulating zoning, and establishing public schools. It establishes the City Council, sets term limits, and regulates tax bonds. In addition, it establishes and governs the form of important Metro service departments, including police, fire, public works, transit, library, and water/sewer. In short, if it happens through the Metro Nashville government, the Metro Charter provides for and regulates it. Amending the Charter is comparable to amending the Constitution; it is a change in the government structure for Metro Nashville.

ARTICLE 19 - Changing Requirements to Alter the Metro Charter

The Metro Council, consisting of both Republicans and Democrats, unanimously voted to amend Article 19 of the Metro Charter which would alter the process and timing in which amendments to the charter are to be filed, certified, and placed on the ballots in Davidson County.

This amendment establishes a Charter Revision Commission and requires a legal review of the proposals before certification. It clarifies the timelines for submissions of revisions, and timeline requirements for this process of certification. It also clarifies that if a petition garners certification, the signature requirement must be met within 90 days to be placed on the ballot.

Importantly, it also changes the number of signatures required. With passage of this amendment, Davidson County would be in line with state standards and every other county in Tennessee, as it changes the floating standard, that requires signatures of 10% of voters who participated in the previous countywide election, to a fixed standard requiring 10% of total registered voters, in order to get an amendment on the ballot after certification. With its passage, amendments to the Metro Charter would require certification from a Charter Revision Commission, a legal review, and significantly more signatures to get on the ballot.

ARTICLE 8, SECTION 208 - Changing MNPD Physical Qualification Requirements

The Metro Council, consisting of both Republicans and Democrats, unanimously voted to amend Article 8, Section 208 of the Metro Charter which would alter the physical qualification requirements for the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) proposing that members of the department follow the standards of the civil service commission rather than US Army and Navy standards, at the request of the MNPD.

If this amendment passes, the Civil Service Commission will work with appropriate parties including the Civil Service Medical Examiner’s Office, Metro Nashville Police Department, and Metro Human Resources to carefully study and adopt appropriate standards to determine whether applicants for positions in MNPD possess the required physical qualifications. This includes conducting physical examinations and reporting these findings to the Civil Service Commission. This amendment would also further update U.S. citizenship requirements to reflect Tennessee state law.

ARTICLE 10, SECTIONS 101-107,110,208, & 306 - Establishing a Board of Health

The Metro Council, consisting of both Republicans and Democrats, unanimously voted to amend Article 10, Sections 101-107,110, 208, & 306 of the Metro Charter to make a clearer distinction between the Board of Health, and the Metro Health Department; the former being the administrative over see-er of the latter.

These changes come as a response to the county’s ability to respond to the pandemic. The amendment creates and clarifies the makeup of the Board of Health: one doctor and one licensed mental health professional, both having at least 5 years of experience in his or her profession; one registered nurse; and two members, without reference to occupation but who work outside the medical profession, and are voted in by the board unanimously.

The Board of Health will appoint a Director of Health who will oversee the direction of the department with “respect to all administrative functions of the Metropolitan Government pertaining to.” This amendment will also modernize the language used in the charter by replacing the word “insane” with “mentally ill.”

CHAPTER 4, ARTICLE 8, SECTIONS 401-406 - Creating a Department of Transportation

The Metro Council, consisting of both Republicans and Democrats, unanimously voted to amend Chapter 4, Article 8, Sections 401- 406, to create The Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure to replace Public Works.

The amendment establishes that the new department will be responsible for the following: the design, construction, and maintenance of all public roads, bridges and other related structures; maintenance of automotive equipment used to perform these functions; construction and creation of all of all documents and plans needed to execute projects that seek to address community infrastructure needs; overseeing administration and enforcing of licensing and permits; and overseeing the operation of traffic control devices. It also discusses the qualifications and compensation of the new Director of Transportation.

From 2010-2020 the Nashville/ Davidson County population has grown 14.7%, which is double the nation’s average. This amendment could allow Nashville to catch up to other major cities that use this framework to maintain large populations’ effect on infrastructure. The Metropolitan Government will continue to provide all the services of the former Department of Public Works that fall outside of these tasks.