Airport Beef
✈️ Mayor O'Connell places Metro Law Director on airport board · Tales from the Westside: Dead Skunk Not in The Middle of The Road · Conservatives plan nationwide protests against AI data centers · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone. Mayor Freddie O'Connell names soon-to-retire Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz as newest commissioner on Nashville's "only lawful" airport board... The seventh installment in Tales from the Westside: Dead Skunk Not in The Middle of The Road... Conservatives plan nationwide protests against AI data centers... And much more!
New American Frontiers Join us July 16th for a conversation with Kevin Dolan, founder of the EXIT fraternity, on institutional decline, parallel power, and where political opportunities are. (Buy Ticket)
New TN U.S. Congressional District lookup Use your address to find your new district here.
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Nashville airport board turbulence continues.
From Megan Podsiedlik
During this morning’s media roundtable, Mayor Freddie O’Connell announced his plan to replace a vacated commissioner seat on the airport board with soon-to-retire Metro Law Director Wally Dietz.
“Just last week, we learned of a new vacancy through resignation on the Metro Nashville Airport Authority board, and this week I nominated Wally Dietz to be the newest commissioner on the only lawful airport board,” said O’Connell, throwing some not-so-subtle shade on the new airport board recently established by the state.
Dietz has been working on Metro's lawsuit challenging a new Tennessee law that shifts control of the Metro Nashville Airport Authority from local-appointed officials to state-appointed officials.
“We wrote to the FAA on May 20 with resolutions from the Metro Council and from the Metro Nashville Airport Authority refusing the takeover, citing federal law section 757, which says in the case of a disputed transfer of control, the FAA will not recognize a new board pending a result of the litigation,” said Dietz.
After allegedly getting ghosted by the FAA, Metro Legal filed an emergency motion for a stay, asking the federal court in the D.C. Circuit to direct the FAA not to recognize the state-appointed board. Shortly after, the DOJ issued a letter stating the FFA will not recognize the state board until July 27.
Before the new law, Nashville's seven-member airport authority board was appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the Metro Council. Under the 2026 law, which was not successfully blocked by litigation before taking effect on July 1, the current board is dissolved and replaced by a nine-member board where six members are appointed by the governor and legislative speakers, giving state officials a clear majority.
The new state-controlled board recently voted to withdraw the Airport Authority from Metro's lawsuit challenging the new state law. The previous Metro-appointed board had voted to join the lawsuit, arguing the law is unconstitutional. The new board reversed that decision at its first meeting.
It’s unclear whether the new board's decisions actually carry any weight or whether it will continue conducting business as usual while the lawsuit plays out. The uncertainty evokes the chaos depicted in the 2008 film Valkyrie, when conflicting messages sent over teletype lines left officials scrambling to determine whether Adolf Hitler was dead or alive and who was actually in charge.
✹ NEW AMERICAN FRONTIERS
New American Frontiers Kevin Dolan, founder of the EXIT fraternity, argues the institutions most people still rely on have turned hostile to competence and entered a slow decline that can't be reversed from within. After being doxxed and fired in 2021, he set out to build the alternative: parallel institutions and the high-trust networks that hold up when formal ones don't.
Join us Thursday, July 16th for a conversation on institutional decline, parallel power, and where the political openings actually are.
✹ DEAD SKUNK NOT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD
The seventh installment in Tales from the Westside.
From Rachel Gladstone
I’m a night-owl. So 11:30 p.m. on a Tuesday is not an unusual time for me to let Nancy Drew, my Aussie Doodle, out to run laps in our enormous backyard. Most of the time I just open the door and let ‘er rip so I can finish the dishes or pin down a pesky paragraph I’ve been wrestling with. But on that particular Tuesday, I followed her out and looked on as she did her best impression of a Cup Series car at Talladega.
After a few minutes she came to a screeching halt, mid lap and began to paw at the ground with wild abandon. Then she really got into it. Sliding into home base with her muzzle, she threw her whole-self down, flipping onto her back and kicking her legs in the air. She rocked, she rolled and rolled some more; she just couldn’t get enough.
It was a dark, cloudy night and other than the shadowy light coming from the singular streetlamp in the alley, the yard was dark as pitch. But there was just enough light to see that she was rolling in something dead. And as this ah-ha moment hit me, so too did the suffocatingly acrid smell of burned metal mixed with rotting flowers, infused with Sulphur and topped off with motor oil. The undelightful soucent filled the air to the point where I was choking and I called Nancy Drew who came running to me with the nauseating smell in tow.
✹ METRO COUNCIL WATCH
New Council Watch Features We've added additional features to Council Watch. In addition to who's funding your council member, you can now see how they vote and who they vote with most frequently. (Take a Look)
HEADLINES
- 🪧 Conservatives plan nationwide protests against AI data centers. Humans First has organized a nationwide AI Data Center National Day of Protest for Saturday, July 18, with demonstrations planned in dozens of communities across at least 27states where residents are opposing proposed or existing data center projects. According to the group's event map, rallies are scheduled in locations including Texas, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, California, and other states, with each protest focusing on local data center developments while being coordinated as part of a national day of action. Currently, there are no protests scheduled in Tennessee. (HumansFirst)
- 🔌 TVA reorienting around data center demand. The Tennessee Valley Authority is planning a major expansion of electricity generation to meet the growing demand from data centers. TVA says data centers already account for roughly 18 percent of its industrial power load and could double by 2030, prompting the utility to add thousands of megawatts of new generation while exploring a separate rate structure to ensure those costs are not shifted onto residential customers. (Scene)
DEVELOPMENT
- Metro records $146.5M sales price for Midtown building (Post)
- Former West Davidson rock quarry site sells for $2.04M (Post)
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🎷 The Jazz Room: A Journey to the Heart of New Orleans @ Analog at Hutton Hotel, 6p, $32, Info
🪕 Fireball Mail @ Station Inn, 9p, $25, Info
🎸 Jack Blocker @ The Underdog, 9p, $10, Info
+ twangy Americana
🪕 The Cowpokes @ Acme Feed & Seed, 12p, Free, Info
🎸 Kelley’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info
SATURDAY
🎸 Air Supply @ Ryman Auditorium, 7p, $63+, Info
🪕 Volume Five @ Station Inn, 9p, $25, Info
🪕 Jack Vero & Lily of the Valley Bluegrass Band @ Dee's Country Lounge, 9p, $5, Info
🎸 Kelley’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info
SUNDAY
🎸 The Fab Four: The Ultimate Tribute @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $30+, Info
+ Beatles tribute band. Presented without the Nashville Symphony.
🪕 Bluegrass Jam @ Station Inn, 7p, Free, Info
+ a night for musicians and singers from all over the world to gather and enjoy making music together
🪕 Sundays Between with Easy Green @ Tennessee Brew Works, 1p, Info
+ a bluegrass celebration of the music of the Grateful Dead
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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Today's newsletter is brought to you by Davis Hunt, Megan Podsiedlik, and Camelia Brennan.