NASHVILLE, Tenn. - After the fireworks had flown and the accusations had settled down Tuesday night, it became clear Mayor Dean's legacy would not include a new jail or a massive new flood wall after city council members pulled funding for both projects.
"It would've spanned all of the low lying areas of the main water front areas of downtown," explained Dodd Galbreath, a professor of sustainability at Lipscomb University.
Dodd thinks the 1,100 foot flood wall in large part sank because public input was basically non-existent. Outlines by construction crews on sidewalks downtown even show the mayor likely got ahead of himself.
For Dodd, it's also unclear whether a standard flood wall is what the city needs.
"This is not a problem that's going away. Every major city in the world is dealing with unpredictable weather, we need new, creative ways to deal with these unpredictable weather events effectively," he added.
Downtown might not be protected from a major flood right now, but for Dodd even this failed plan in a way succeeded.
"I think Mayor Dean did us a real favor by putting his proposal on the table because without a proposal, there's no incentive to have dialogue about what the city needs," he said.
Sheriff Daron Hall also lost something last night -- a new jail he believes the county desperately needs.
"We didn't have much time and that felt uneasy to the public and it probably felt uneasy to all of us trying to get information out," he added.
Lost in the fray of Tuesday night's fireworks was a unanimous vote allocating $113 million to renovate the current jail.
"My biggest fear was to wake up with nothing and had they just removed our money we'd have nothing," Sheriff Hall said.
One project dead and another just barely hanging on.
