Metro council members, along with community leaders gathered Friday to discuss what needs to happen to make a Community Oversight Board a reality.
Nashville voters recently approved a ballot measure to create a board to investigate claims of police misconduct.
Friday’s discussion between Vice Mayor Jim Shulman, Metro council members, and community members was a very informal discussion.
“The idea was to bring in as many diverse groups as we could,” said Shulman. “With people who helped pass it, we can come up with a procedure Metro Council can use to get the nominations in.”
“I feel ready to get to work,” said Melissa Cherry, a member of Community Oversight Now, the group that lobbied to pass the board. “It was great to have open conversation about things we’ve talked about for the last 20 months.”
Everyone agreed there are a lot of details that need to be finalized. They worked on a timeline to make sure the board is up and running by the Jan. 31, 2019 deadline.
They also talked about how to get the word out about the nomination process. Nominations can be accepted starting on Nov. 20. Shulman said he planned to make the announcement at the Metro Council meeting.
All interested residents need to submit their name and address to the Metro Clerk's office by the close of business on December 18. Once the nominees are submitted, they will have to fill out a questionnaire regarding their past interactions with law enforcement by January 4.
The board will consist of 11 Davidson County residents, seven of whom can be self-nominated or nominated by a community organization. Self-nominated individuals must compile a list of 50 signatures from Davidson County residents.
Two people will be nominated by Metro Council and two will be nominated by the Mayor's office. Four of the board members have to be from economically distressed areas.
All the nominees have to be vetted by the rules committee and approved by the Metro Council.
The initial board members will serve one year terms. Future board members will serve staggered three year terms.
Individuals can't be current or recently retired law enforcement officers, elected officials or their spouses.
