Nashville planners have put out their first drafts of new district maps for the Metro Council, moving ahead under a tight deadline even as the city is pursuing legal action to block the effort.
The pair of proposals, released Friday by the Metro Planning Department, are both meant to respond to a state law passed earlier this month that cuts the council in half. The law is widely seen as retaliation for a string of controversies between Nashville and the legislature, including the council’s refusal to bid for the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Metro has been given just 30 days to come up with new district lines. The directive comes less than two years after the decennial census last triggered a round of redistricting. City planner Gregory Claxton says officials are working to meet that timeline, but they expect intense debate over where the lines should fall, as well as pushback against the law itself.
“I think we’re going to hear lots of concerns both about just the fundamental idea of shrinking council,” Claxton said in a conference call Friday. “I think also just the scale of the districts are going to surprise and concern a lot of people.”
One proposal would divide Davidson County into 15 districts with five more councilmembers elected at-large.
A second proposal would split Davidson County into 17 districts, with just three at-large concilmembers.
Metro planners say they hope to preserve representation for Black Nashvillians on the council, a federal requirement under the Voting Rights Act. They also aim to create a district that would have a plurality of Latino voters.
State law further requires the districts to be contiguous and compact, and planners say they want to continue to factor in historical neighborhood boundaries and communities’ shared interests.
Still, Claxton said, the plans are a balancing act.
“As I look at this map, I see a lot of borders that make me cringe but are kind of what we can work with,” he said.
Nashville’s unusually large city council has its roots in the campaign to create Metro government six decades ago. It was meant to ensure representation over an area that is diverse ethnically and geographically, and as recently as 2015, Nashville voters rejected a proposal to shrink its size.
Republican state lawmakers argued that a smaller council would be more efficient, and they have insisted that the reductions go into effect in time for Metro elections in August.
Fighting redistricting, while moving ahead
But the city has filed litigation to block the law, arguing it sets unrealistic deadlines and questioning the law’s constitutionality.
The Metro Law Department has asked for a temporary injunction and, if granted, planners say they would stop work on redistricting. A three-judge panel is set to decide by April 4 whether the law should remain in place.
That’s the same day the Metro Council has set a hearing to consider a key question: How many seats on a 20-person council should continue to be elected at large? The maps presented Friday by Metro planners offer two answers: three seats or five seats, with the remainder divided up through direct representation.
Both proposals would mean much larger districts that transcend historic boundaries. For instance, 15 districts could mean drawing Midtown and portions of the Hillsboro-West End and Green Hills neighborhoods in with downtown Nashville. The plan with 17 districts could draw together Chestnut Hill, Berry Hill, Edgehill and downtown.
The proposals can be found at redistrict.nashville.gov. Metro will hold a series of hearings next week to discuss the new districts. Comments can also be left through the redistricting website.
- Monday, March 27:
Hadley Park Community Center, 1037 28th N.
10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. - Tuesday, March 28:
Metro Campus — Sonny West Conference Center, 700 2nd S.
10:00 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Metro Campus — Planning Department, 800 2nd S.
1:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. - Wednesday, March 29:
Southeast Community Center, 5260 Hickory Hollow Pkwy
10:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. - Thursday, March 30:
Madison Library, 610 Gallatin Pike S.
11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
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