Homelessness Commission Cancels Monthly Meeting

Nashville’s vice mayor Howard Gentry may be considered the most homeless-friendly of the six candidates.

He chairs the Metro Homelessness Commission whose monthly meeting for June has been canceled. Gentry says when he got the news he was concerned there was a lack of interest but says it’s more of a scheduling conflict.

“We still could have had the meeting, but we would only have had five people and what kind of decisions do I want to make with just five commissioners there?”

Homelessness advocates have complained that as a commission, decision-making is complicated and often slow. The commissioners aren’t able to see projects from start to finish and cannot accept money from groups who may want to contribute funds.

At the forum, Gentry proposed turning the Homelessness Commission into a metro department.

The commission will resume meeting in July.