August 2008 Newsletter

Dear Resident,
This is an abbreviated newsletter. I will not have the police reports and many other items due to the week that has occurred with the Mayor's First Day Festival, the National Night Out Against Crime and the Southeast Health Fair tomorrow and much more. I want to take the opportunity to once again encourage you to attend the health fair. We have worked to get this event scheduled and all of the groups on the same page. There are currently over 40 different organizations participating. This is going to be a tremendous event for our community and one that you do not want to miss.

We need a few volunteers to assist with the event. I need four people to assist with helping register attendees. This will be sitting at a table and we will have shifts so that you will have the opportunity to visit the booths you desire. We'll have drawings for door prizes and recognition of dignitaries that may attend and we would like some snapshots of the event. It would be great to have someone that can take some digital photos so that we can immediately send them to the press.

I also have a wonderful young lady, Danya Powell, who will be singing for us for part of the day. Danya was one of the artists that performed at the Mayor First Day Festival and the Fedup Rally on tuesday. Check out her work at www.danyapowell.com.

The event will begin at 9:30 am and conclude at 1:30 pm. We could use some early risers to help coordinate the setup of booths beginning at 8:30 am and a few that can help around lunch with various light tasks.

I look forward to seeing you on Saturday. For those that are able to help? Please email me back and let me know when your available and what you would like to do.

Sincerely,
Duane Dominy
District 28 Councilman
101 Cherokee Place
Antioch, TN 37013
615-831-0774


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Many of you have expressed a concern about Hickory Hollow Mall and what is going to happen. This is your opportunity to hear directly what is happening and what plans are being considered. Please attend if able. There are also two other meetings next week if you are not able to attend on Wednesday.

I've included the other locations below the Wednesday announcement.

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Please see below for a letter from Metro Councilman Sam Coleman, District 32, regarding a scheduled town hall meeting concerning the business community in the Hickory Hollow area. As an SABC member, you are invited to participate in this upcoming meeting and contribute your input regarding the future of the Hickory Hollow business area.


Dear Hickory Hollow Area Property & Business Owners,

Over the last few years, the Hickory Hollow business area has undergone a change in character. A number of business owners have expressed concern about what is going to happen as a result of stores moving out of the mall and the surrounding area. As you know, we do have some issues that need to be worked through. I have scheduled a Town Hall Meeting in order for the business community in this area to express their concerns and, more importantly, to help develop a plan of action that will help us to foster growth and remain competitive with other communities.

Hickory Hollow Mall is considered the core business area. I have asked the owners and businesses in the mall to join us and work to develop a course of action that will foster revitalization and prosperity.

To business owners and property owners in the Hickory Hollow business area -- this is your time to join us to turn the future of this area around. Please come out and join us for a Town Hall Meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 13, at 5318 Hickory Hollow Parkway, at the Hickory Hollow Lane intersection (former Best Buy building).

We have a lot of work to do. If you are committed to this area and agree there is a need for improvement, I am confident we can do the work together. Please understand this movement is not about one store or just Hickory Hollow Mall, but is about having all the businesses work together to bring about the desired results that I know we can achieve.

I hope you will make plans to attend this important meeting. In order to allow us to prepare for the seating capacity, please RSVP to Elease Waller at the Council Staff Office, 880-3348, or elease.waller@nashville.gov. I look forward to seeing you!

Sincerely,



Sam Coleman
Councilman, District 32


211 Commerce Street, Suite 100 | Nashville, TN 37201
(615) 743-3000 | NashvilleChamber.com





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PRIEST LAKE COMMUNITY
MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 2008 – 6:30 P.M.
ANTIOCH UNITED METHODIST CHURCH – 41 TUSCULUM ROAD

TUSCULUM COMMUNITY
TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2008 – 6:30 P.M.
BURNETTE CHAPEL CHURCH OF CHRIST – 3890 PIN HOOK ROAD

CANE RIDGE COMMUNITY
THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2008 – 6:00 P.M.
CANE RIDGE COMMUNITY CENTER – 6043 CANE RIDGE ROAD


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You may have heard that the council voted last night to support at-large member, Ronnie Steine's resolution which asks you not to sign the English First or English Only ballot petition, It further ask, that you vote "no" if the issue is on the ballot. After communicating with many of you, I felt it inappropriate to interfere with the residents right to vote on the issue. I was one of eight that voted in opposition to the request. This was not without concern for the interests of the many legal and diverse immigrants living in our community. I continue to believe that you have the ability to make an informed decision on this matter. I believe many council members supported the non-binding resolution due to the following address given by Mayor Dean. DD

ADDRESS TO THE COUNCIL
By Mayor Karl Dean

Thank you and good evening. Vice Mayor Neighbors, members of the Council, Madam Clerk, ladies and gentlemen. This is the third time during my nearly 11 months in office that I have come to the Council Chambers at the start of your meeting and I appreciate the opportunity to do so again tonight.

This evening I am here to speak on the proposed charter amendment to make English the official language of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and prohibit any kind of government service from being offered in languages other than English. While I do not question the intentions of the organizers of this initiative, I feel a responsibility as mayor to explain the implications such a radical change in our law could have for our city.

First, let’s talk about what this referendum is not. It is not a vote on immigration reform and it is not a harmless message to office holders. The proposed charter amendment will have absolutely no effect upon efforts to curtail illegal immigration or to reform current national policy. Rather than permitting voters to send a message to the government, the referendum alters our charter in a manner that will create legal, political, social and even moral consequences for years to come.

While the initiative is called English First, to be clear, the language of the amendment is so broad that it would restrict all government communications to English only, and I don’t believe the extent of the impact such a law would have has been fully considered.

Nashville is a growing and vibrant city, and as we have grown in recent years, so too has our reach to the international community. One example of this is the CMA Music Festival, visited by more than 200,000 people this summer. Contributing to the record attendance was a 30 percent increase in international visitors over last year. We had people from Germany, and France – from all over the world here in Nashville for a week in June to listen to the world’s best country music.

This year our library for the first time held an International Puppet Festival with puppet troupes from as far away as China. Attendance at the two-day festival well exceeded expectations, and I believe it has the potential to grow into a citywide event in the years ahead.

The way the charter amendment is written, if any one of those international visitors contacted our government, perhaps even in a life-threatening situation where they needed emergency medical care or just to get directions, our government employees would not be able to communicate with that visitor in their native language, even if we had the capacity to do so. Ladies and gentlemen, that is not the message we need to send the international community.

We have dozens of companies in Nashville participating in international commerce, and prospects for attracting many more. My office of economic and community development and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce work every day to attract business relocations and expansions to our city, something we must continue to do if we are to grow our economic base. Nashville’s growing importance as a center of international commerce is evidenced by the location of the Consular Office of Japan, which opened here this year.

Under the charter amendment, if Nashville wanted to communicate with a foreign-based company to encourage them to come to Nashville – and the recent announcement of Volkswagen in Chattanooga is a good example of the significance that could have – if we wanted to do that communication, whether it’s a letter or conversation in person, in the company’s native language, we wouldn’t be able to.

Nashville participates in the Sister Cities program. We have sister cities in Northern Ireland, France, Canada, Germany and China. This is a program built around the concept of promoting international cooperation and understanding. This amendment would prevent us from communicating with the municipal leaders we’re associated with through our sister city relationships in languages other than English.

We have a number of political refugees living in Nashville – people who have come to the United States from places like Sudan and Somalia who are escaping persecution in their own countries because of their religious beliefs or political beliefs. We need to be able to help these people assimilate in our community and become productive citizens without a self-imposed barrier on our ability to communicate with them.

People come to our city every year as new, legal residents, whose native language is not English. As a government, we have a responsibility to protect and care for all of our citizens no matter the language they speak. If they are a victim of a crime or reporting a crime, we need to be able to communicate with them.

The negative consequences of this amendment would be very real and substantial. It is a divisive issue, and ultimately, a distraction from those things that are important to us as a city and that we need to be working on together.

The decision to pass the amendment may ultimately rest with the voters. But I wanted to take this time, this opportunity to make sure my voice, as mayor of this city, is heard on this issue, and to assure that everyone fully understands the consequences of passing a law that will tie our hands in the global economy, that will detract from our appeal as an international tourist destination, and that will damage our reputation as a welcoming and friendly city.

Let us not forget, English is the official language of Tennessee. This is not in question. To put it plainly, we have too much potential to allow such an unnecessary change in our law to hurt us in so many ways. Thank you for your time tonight.