Nashville's Mayor Obama

Who ever would have imagined that the city known as the buckle of the Bible Belt (which happens to be my hometown) would elect a self-professed "progressive" as mayor? My dear pater who happens to be pushing ninety and has lived here since 1938 says he has never seen such a free spender setting himself against the wishes of long-term locals like Mayor Karl Dean. Prior to the importation of so many leftists associated with the city's many universities and the growth of the government sector which in Nashville happens to encompass metropolitan, state (as the state's capital), and Federal workers in large numbers, this city was as conservative and fiscally tight as any in the nation. Now, Nashville seems to be trying to keep up with Obama's stimulus spending pace, building a gilded convention center with a separate hotel complex that is not needed during such pressing economic times. Now, the Fairgrounds which has housed the state fair, a monthly flea market, and a racetrack is set to close against widespread sentiment that it should stay open. The flea market will be moved to a moribund mall complex known as Hickory Hollow and the city fathers have the brilliant idea of charging a "small admission fee" to allow people to go in and spend more money there. I have a feeling that quite a bit of the merchandise there should it open will be junk that people will regret having paid an admission charge to peruse. They may go once out of curiosity and never visit again to see the same "bargains" they can find without paying admission for at the Farmers' Market. A cynic might suggest that so much money is being spent and so much moved around that it provides a greater opportunity for graft, for if no such grandiose projects are being undertaken, bribes and kickbacks and slippery dealing are much less apt to occur and more easy to ferret out. If a city spends a couple of billion dollars on unneeded and unwanted projects, someone is going to be enriched mightily (and as my father who has seen plenty of life in parts of ten decades starting in 1921 points out- not necessarily entirely on the up and up). Yes, embarking on projects that yield nothing for most of the citizenry, but ultimately leave the property tax payer exposed through general obligation bonds backing development only a few private parties are destined to benefit from are not the best use of resources in a city recovering from an epic flood during the nation's longest standing recession. What if the tourist who are supposed to bear the expense of the convention center do not materialize because of the horrific economy? Residents of Nashville, particularly those who pay property tax, are left holding the bag and responsible for all the newly engendered debt. And the idea that businesses are not coming forward with alternate plans for Hickory Hollow or the Nashville flea market because they shy away from controversy is nonsense. They simply are not committing now because for private enterprise now, such efforts are not economically viable. Why should the city launch expensive initiatives that make no sense from a business standpoint? Mayor Dean should confine his efforts to public health and safety unless he has an obviously popular mandate not to do what is controversial but that which is widely embraced by the tax paying public who will in the end have to pay for projects if other anticipated sources of funding like hotel tax revenue fail to materialize. A city like a family must live within its means.