Nashville Mayor John Cooper has announced six appointees to the COVID-19 Financial Oversight Committee, as per the amended budget passed by Metro Council on June 17 (BL2020-286).
- Sara Finley – principal, Threshold Corporate Consulting; former senior vice president/general counsel, CVS Caremark
- Ed Henley – founding principal, Pillars Development, Inc.; chair, Rebuilding Together Nashville
- Sean Henry – CEO/president, Nashville Predators and Bridgestone Arena; chair Nashville Downtown Partnership
- Harold Love, Jr. – Tenn. state representative for District 58; senior pastor of Lee Chapel AME
- Vonda McDaniel – president, Central Labor Council of Nashville and Middle Tennessee
- Junaid Odubeko – partner, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP
“The oversight committee is a vital part of our coronavirus response and Metro’s on-going commitment to good stewardship,” said Cooper. “COVID-19 has touched the lives of every Nashvillian, in one way or another. I fully support the upcoming work of this committee and look forward to working with its members to make sure our federal relief funds are spent responsibly and equitably.”
Three additional committee members are members of the Metro Council appointed by Vice Mayor Jim Shulman. The Council member-appointees are Jennifer Gamble, Courtney Johnston, and Sandra Sepulveda.
“I am pleased that these three Council members agreed to serve on this important committee,” Shulman said. “I have great confidence in their abilities to bring good perspectives and sound reasoning to the table. I wish them and the mayor’s appointees well in this endeavor.”
The committee will submit its initial recommendations to the mayor, the director of finance, and the Metropolitan Council by August 3, and its final recommendation by November 15. The purpose of the committee is to collect, consider, and recommend appropriate uses of all federal and state funds provided to the Metropolitan Government specifically for COVID-19 relief and recovery, including but not limited to, federal CARES Act funds.
To date, Nashville has received approximately $121 million from the federal government as part of the CARES Act. Mayor Cooper committed $24 million to bridging the digital divide for Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) students and families.
Resolution RS2020-394 has previously approved the appropriation of federal coronavirus relief funds for Metro departments, MNPS, and a comprehensive community needs assessment through The Equity Alliance.
The CARES Act requires that payments from the Coronavirus Relief Fund only be used to cover expenses that: are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19); were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27 (the date of enactment of the CARES Act) for the state or government; and were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, and ends on December 30.
