NOAH Action: Email Your Council Member in Support of A Moral Budget
NOAH is asking for your help in ensuring the Metro Council passes a moral budget! Please take two minutes to raise your voice and advocate for a budget that funds our values. You can email the entire Council at once by using councilmembers@nashville.gov.
If you’d like to email your individual council member, follow these steps:
1. Enter your address to find your Council Member at https://www.nashville.gov/Metro-Council/Metro-Council-Members.aspx .
2. Scroll to find your District Representative.
3. Click ‘Email’ next to their name.
4. Copy, paste and make the necessary edits to the text below.
Thank you for your support of this worthy cause!
========= SAMPLE EMAIL =========
SUBJECT: Support NOAH’s Moral Budget in Housing, Education, Criminal Justice, & Economic Equity
Dear Council Members,
We know the Metro Budget has to deal with dollars and cents and the “bottom line.” But NOAH believes that budgets are also MORAL documents, that show what we believe in, what we care about, and what kind of city we want to be.
Please support the NOAH Moral Budget priorities:
1. AFFORDABLE HOUSING – (a) $30 million for the Barnes Affordable Housing Fund; (b) A separate Dept of Affordable Housing to guide a long-term plan for solutions. (Both recommended by the Mayor’s Task Force on Affordable Housing.)
2. CRIMINAL JUSTICE – Funding for the HEALS Program, to create a mental health team to answer mental health calls without the police. First year is about $800,000. See HEALS proposal at noahtn.org/heals .
3. EDUCATION – Fully fund MNPS budget, including $5.8 million for Advocacy Centers and Specialists in all elementary schools and $2 million for Restorative Practice Assistants in all middle and high schools. We must make funding for Social Emotional Learning sustainable to break the school-to-prison pipeline.
4. ECONOMIC EQUITY – Support a fully funded budget that supports the dignity of Metro employees across the city.Help us move toward a Moral Budget for Nashville that expresses our values as a community!
Sincerely,
NAME
ADDRESS
Previous Related Post:
NOAH Action: Affordable Housing and the Metro Budget
You can make a difference for Affordable Housing in the Metro Budget! The Mayor has developed his budget for Metro and has presented it to the Metro Council. They consider it and come up with their own budget, making changes that they think are important. A budget must be adopted by June 30. If we want real change in affordable housing, it is important for the Council to hear from us now and throughout June – while they will be negotiating with one another.
You can email all the Metro Council Members at once at councilmembers@nashville.gov (Please copy ahtf@noahtn.org so we can track how many emails are going to them). You may copy this sample email (below), use parts of it, or write your own. Please send as soon as possible.
SUBJECT: NOAH urges: Make Affordable Housing a Budget Priority!
Dear Council Members,
The affordable housing situation in Nashville is getting worse and worse – with skyrocketing costs, the 2020 tornado, the COVID crisis, and evictions pending. Even during the pandemic, housing costs went up – while wages went down!
We appreciate Mayor Cooper including $12.5 million in the Metro Budget for the Barnes Fund. This is a slight increase from previous years, but still not enough to make a dent in the need. The Mayor’s own Affordable Housing Task Force called for $30 million per year for 3 years for the Barnes Fund, so we can be working on a different scale.
Of course, the Barnes Fund is not the only tool we need. If we are to have a successful long-term plan for dealing with our affordable housing crisis, we need a separate Department of Affordable Housing that continues beyond any one mayor. This department will ensure that a real plan is drawn up – and that it is followed, instead of just sitting on a shelf.
We need:
1. $30 million in the Barnes Fund, each year for 3 years.
2. A separate Department of Affordable Housing led by a senior-level executive with substantial housing expertise.
Affordable housing needs to be a major priority in the Metro budget! Please join NOAH in creating a Nashville where we can ALL live!
Sincerely,
NAME (required)
ADDRESS (required)
Member, your church or organization (optional)
In addition to sending emails that go to all Council Members, sending personal emails or making a call to your own Council Member can make a big difference. Find your Council Member to email personally at https://www.nashville.gov/Metro-Council/Metro-Council-Members.aspx.