NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Five Nashville grassroots organizations gathered outside Metro Historic Courthouse Monday to call on Metro Council to invest more in affordable housing and community-based safety programs ahead of the first reading of Mayor Freddie O'Connell's proposed budget.
Their message was direct: Nashville's growth should not come at the cost of the people struggling to stay here.
The rally came before Metro Council's first reading of O'Connell's proposed $3.8 billion budget, which includes Nashville's largest-ever housing investment and funding for youth safety and mental health.
Advocates said they appreciate parts of the proposal — but want more.
A central demand from the coalition: fully fund the Barnes Fund at $30 million.
"We did see a jump this year up to $22 million, which is great," Shawn Reilly of the Southeast Center for Cooperative Development said. "But we really need the full $30 million for our city to really deeply make the impacts that we need to support working-class families in Nashville."
Organizers also called for safety resources beyond police and jails, including community-based programs and permanently affordable, publicly owned housing.
"If these things don't get funded, Nashvillians won't be able to stay Nashvillians," Andrew Krinks of the Nashville People's Budget Coalition said.
The groups — which include NOAH, Stand Up Nashville, Southern Movement Committee, and the Nashville People's Budget Coalition — say the city budget is the people's money, but residents don't get a say in how it's spent.
Metro Council will continue budget discussions over the next several weeks before a final vote in June. Organizers say they plan to return to City Council ahead of that vote.
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