Vice Mayor Jim Shulman has announced the creation of a special committee of the Metro Council that brings together the eight Council members whose Council Districts were directly or indirectly impacted by the recent tornadoes that swept through Nashville and the Middle Tennessee area.
The eight members include Kyonzté Toombs (District 2), Sean Parker (5), Brett Withers (6), Erin Evans (12), Kevin Rhoten (14), Jeff Syracuse (15), Freddie O’Connell (19), and Brandon Taylor (21).
This special committee will be responsible for four tasks:
1) Continue to assess the needs of the impacted areas (Do they have supplies, what about power problems, other concerns?)
2) Allow impacted Council members to continue to have a voice about the needs of their districts;
3) Watch the flow of resources back into the community (are funds getting to those most in need?); and
4) Reporting back to the mayor and the Metro Council on a regular basis regarding the first three items.
Vice Mayor Shulman has asked Councilmember Tanaka Vercher to chair the special committee. Councilmember Vercher served the Council as chair of the Budget & Finance Committee during the last two years of the 2015-19 term.
“This city is going through an extremely difficult period. While everyone is doing their best to stay safe with the COVID-19 pandemic, we still are trying to clean up from devastating tornadoes,” Shulman said. “I want to make sure that our impacted Council members continue to have a forum to advocate for the needs of their districts. I also want updates on a regular basis on whether the resources that people so generously gave are getting quickly and directly to those most in need.”
“Although my district was not impacted by the tornadoes,” Councilmember Vercher said, “Every district was really impacted. We all share the concerns of making sure that the resources are there to help people rebuild their lives and their homes and their businesses.”
Councilmember Vercher will call the first meeting of the special committee within the next two weeks.
