OAK HILL, Tenn. - Nashville Mayor Karl Dean has started a push against a proposal in the legislature that would give small cities within Davidson County more powers, and some have questioned where the mayor's loyalties lie.
Oak Hill is one city that could be affected. The city is eight square miles nestled in the southern part of Davidson County.
"We want to be able to serve our citizens and provide them with the services that they need," Oak Hill Mayor Austin McMullen said.
That's why McMullen supports Senate Bill 1285. It allows satellite cities to "retain any and all powers of a separate city under the state Constitution."
"(What) this essentially does is allow the smaller cities to do all the things Metro does; public works department, police and fire, potentially even schools," said Mayor Dean.
Mayor Dean has been reaching out to Davidson County state representatives asking them to block the proposal. He said the bill would duplicate services and spend more taxpayer dollars on government. "The bill that's been filed in the legislature would be devastating to Metro government," said Dean.
"It won't do anything to harm Metro any more than us picking up our trash right now does," McMullen retorted.
McMullen said Oak Hill and other cities like Forest Hill and Belle Meade just want the freedom to meet the needs of its residents without Metro intervening.
"They do things such as telling us we can't enforce our own ordinances, such as zoning ordinances," McMullen said. "[Metro officials] say we don't have the power to do that. We think under state law we do have that power."
It's a power struggle that can be settled by lawmakers, but Mayor Dean says it should be decided at the polls.
"If there's a problem with the smaller city," Dean said, "the right way to deal with this is to go to the people."
Metro Councilman Steve Glover (District 12) has called out Mayor Dean's administration.
Glover wanted to understand how Mayor Dean can support the state creating a charter school authorizer, but is lobbying against the state giving these smaller cities more power.
In an e-mail to the Mayor's office Glover wrote, "I think you guys need to let the council know where the administration's loyalty lies, state or local."
The bill passed in the subcommittee and now it advances to the State and Local Government Committees in both the House and Senate.
