• Some $14 million that the city relies on for police and fire overtime, MTA, and other programs will either be cut or replaced in order to pay for the MCC by dipping into the General Fund (which is what pays Metro employees' salaries and benefits).
• The MCC will have to rely on taxpayer money through a General Fund Pledge if the city's projections are off by even as little as 15%. For the record, the projections done by HVS in its feasibility study are almost always off, as evidenced by what we know about their past track record.
• Goldman Sachs has predicted that the city's bond rating will be likely be lowered because of the MCC.
• The convention industry has been in major decline for close to a decade and nobody who works in the industry can credibly say that it will return to what it once was.
• 72% of Davidson County voters wanted to see this project put up for a vote by the people. Not only did council members vote for the MCC, they voted against allowing you to cast a vote on a project which will be the most expensive single public project in Tennessee history.

Over the last few months, your Union fought hard to stop the Music City Center by helping conduct a city-wide petition drive to put the MCC up for a referendum by the voters. We urged union members to call or write their councilmember. We turned out members to the various community meetings on the MCC across the city and to speak at the Council’s public hearing. And we lobbied our elected officials. But our work was not enough. The Chamber of Commerce, once again looking to line its own pockets instead of doing what is in the best interests of the city, spent nearly a million dollars to get the MCC passed. Our strongest weapon, our members, simply did not come out in force enough to overpower the Chamber’s money.

This should be a sobering lesson as we get ready for another budget season and an election year in 2011. Metro employees simply will not get ahead until they decide to get involved through the Union to get what they want and what they deserve. That’s something to think about as Metro employees face a third straight year without a raise. As more layoffs bear down on workers to balance the budget. As General Hospital braces for another subsidy cut. And as our schools now face a $38 million budget shortfall.

SEIU will continue to fight on city employees’ behalf, but if we can’t get more members involved, our hands are tied. We ask that you pledge to do more throughout the year to help us beat back more cuts, more layoffs, and more corporate welfare.

Metro employees have gone two years without a cost-of-living increase or longevity pay, even though the cost of gas, food, and health insurance continues to skyrocket. And yet, Mayor Dean and the Chamber of Commerce continue to push forward with a new Convention Center and Hotel that they are calling the “Music City Center” without a fact-based analysis that addresses major questions about whether Nashville actually needs a new facility and who will be responsible for paying for it.

While there is a lot we don’t know about the Music City Center, here’s what we do know.

Under the current agreement, Metro would have to pay all their obligations (debt service, bondholders, etc.) BEFORE any other of its obligations. That means if the MCC project underperforms, the city still has to pay its debts before Metro employees get raises. This would affect funding for General Hospital, Metro Social Services, Metro Health Department, Metro Action Commission, and all other agencies that rely on Metro subsidies to operate. That nearly guarantees the programs will be cut and layoffs will follow.

Metro Schools would also take a hit. Sales taxes make up about 1/3 of funding for our schools. It appears now that the sales tax from the existing Convention Center and Renaissance Hotel could be redirected from the General Fund to pay for the project. Since overall sales tax revenues are going down, then it’s going to have to be made up and its likely to be our schools who are going to suffer.

Right now, the MCC proposal would include building a hotel on the property. Aside from the fact about whether the government should be getting into the hotel business, the likely company to run it would be Marriott. Marriott is one of the worst anti-union hotels in the country and has been fined tens of millions of dollars for violating workers’ right to organize and wage-and-hour laws.

Speaking of Marriott, the current proposals for the MCC would ensure that Marriott would get paid by the city if there was not full hotel capacity. That’s right—in hard times, your raise would be put at risk to prop up an anti-union company.

Notwithstanding these areas of concern, the Mayor’s Office keeps pushing forward with a publicly-funded hotel and Convention Center. It’s obvious to everyone that the economy is far different now than when all of the positive scenarios were put forth by the project’s supporters. It is time for current, credible, objective information that taxpayers can use to make an informed decision about Nashville’s largest public works project ever.

People need to understand the full impact such a large project will have on Metro’s budget, property taxes, and how this project will affect Metro employees, Metro retirees, and Davidson County taxpayers. That discussion hasn’t happened yet and it needs to start right now.

This letter was sent from the Local to Metro Councilmembers on July 31 via email:

Dear Councilmember,

I wanted to let you know that SEIU Local 205 supports the Nondiscrimination Ordinance that is presently before the Metro Council.

We want to make clear that the Union considers this to be a workplace issue that affects all Metro employees, directly or indirectly. As you know, similar protections exist for employees in the Metro Nashville Public Schools as well as in dozens of other city and county governments across the country. We expect to see those same protections extended to all employees of Metro Government.

Discrimination of any kind in the workplace is morally wrong. The Nondiscrimination Ordinance will close the current loophole that allows our city’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees to be legally discriminated against in the workplace. We believe that as an elected official, you have a responsibility to see that everyone’s rights are protected - especially those of Metro employees.

We hope you will stand in support of all Metro employees by voting to support the Nondiscrimination Ordinance.

Yours in solidarity,
Doug Collier
President, SEIU Local 205