NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Davidson County chancery court judge deemed Nashville’s Choose How You Move plan “valid and legal” despite a legal challenge from an anti-transit group.
Monday’s memorandum and order was a direct response to a lawsuit filed by the Committee to Stop an Unfair Tax. The group alleged Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s office contained “misleading ballot language” and was “not financially feasible.”
“While part of Plaintiffs’ claim is that the Mayor intentionally misled the voters and included transportation projects in the Plan which were purportedly not authorized by the IMPROVE Act in order to pass the Plan, the Court does not find such an allegation to rise to the level of an election contest as contemplated by the statute,” Chancellor Anne Martin wrote in the filing.
Martin added the ballot used “everyday words and sentence structures to convey information” more easily to all voters and was clear in its explanation of the transit plan’s cost.
Further, Martin called the financial feasibility challenge raised by the group “without merit,” adding plaintiffs did not provide proof of the plan lacking feasibility.
“The Court therefore finds that the Ordinance is VALID and LEGAL, and that Metro is entitled to proceed pursuant to its terms, including the imposition of the surcharge pursuant to the IMPROVE Act,” the filing reads.
In a statement following the ruling, O’Connell said he was excited to continue proceeding with the plan.
“On November 5th, Nashvillians made an overwhelming statement that it’s time to take action to improve our transit and related infrastructure,” O’Connell said. “The court’s ruling, today, stands with the will of Nashvillians and confirms the referendum complied with all elements of state law. I’m excited for all of us to be able to move past legal distractions and get to doing the work that people expect of us and asked us to do.”
The transit plan received over 65% support from Nashville voters during the November election. As of publication, O’Connell is in the process of hiring a Chief Program Officer to oversee the implementation of Choose How You Move.
