Not So Fast, Oracle

The Oracle deal here in Nashville may be a very good thing. But they should answer some tough questions. Here is the text of my commentary today in the public meeting of the Metro Industrial Development Board.

I think I want to support this, but like almost every other good idea this town has visited in the past decade, it feels a dirty if we can’t hold it to scrutiny. There is no need to rush this deal without accountability and deep answers, regardless of the rubber-stamp our limp-wristed leaders may or may not be handing out in discussions so far.

I once suggested to CANDIDATE Cooper he needed to stop begging as a city. We spent way too long groveling, hat in hand, to be at the table for big deals, and we’ve been “it city” for plenty of time now - so it is time to negotiate like we matter, instead of acting like we’re lowly beggars who have no agency.

We cannot keep letting corporatism and greed kill off the soul of this city, unchecked. Is this a great deal and good chance to get this stuff covered by one of these corporate giants? Maybe so. But if it is honest and on the up and up, then it should be something that can stand up to honest answers.

Our last mayor almost sold us out to a crooked insider parking deal, so we have to be careful about the transparency on all of these. At least this has seen the light of day, but this stuff can slip very easily into the shadows or steam-roll the people who truly matter before you know it.

We definitely need to leverage this deal against the abusive conservative bullies on Capitol Hill and toward solutions for the actual working people in this city. Most of the people who we truly need to run this city and all its fat-cat corporate beneficiaries of public welfare cannot afford to live here and have no transit options that truly matter or help them.

I’m a Nashville native and my family and I are about to move away. When I was young, I wanted to leave because this city wasn’t where I wanted a city to be. Nashville grew to be a city that I’d like to stay in, and then spun out of control. Greed has been running this city, and we have to support efforts to combat that trend or folks like us can never feel like coming back home will ever be an option.

Most of our leaders hate it when I show up because I ask the uncomfortable questions nobody wants to have to face and I don’t accept lame answers, typically. In that spirit, I ask you to defer your vote till tough questions are addressed. Thank you.