Nashville could soon expand which city employees have the power to issue citations during public health emergencies.
Under new legislation, the mayor would have more flexibility to give enforcement authority to city departments other than the police. If the Metro Council approves, more Metro staffers could give out civil citations.
One of the mayor’s top advisors, Mike Jameson, told the council there have been recent moments when the law would have come in handy.
“We did have as you’ll recall some shortages in manpower,” he says. “When the number of health violations was exploding compared to the number of personnel we had.”
He says that as the county continues to relax its health orders he hopes that a wider array of Metro employees can provide oversight.
One councilmember who opposed the legislation questioned if it goes too far in expanding government powers.
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