title
An ordinance amending Chapter 2.147 of the Metropolitan Code of Laws relative to the Nashville Entertainment Commission.
body
WHEREAS, the Office of Music, Film and Entertainment ("Office of Entertainment") was created in 2022, and the Music, Film and Entertainment Commission ("the Commission") was created in 2023 to address the growing creative needs in Davidson County; and
WHEREAS, in 2025, the Commission suggested additional recommendations to improve its operations and asked for amendments to Substitute Ordinance No. BL2022-1631 to streamline the processes and the efficacy of both entities to maintain future consistency for the office and personnel; and
WHEREAS, the suggested recommendations were sent to a mayoral working group, and without informing the Commission, the working group made commission structure recommendations that were not in line with the original function and purpose of the Commission, including transferring control of the hiring process of the executive director from the Commission to the Mayor's Office; and
WHEREAS, in order to move the commission's work forward, a compromise was agreed to where the Office of Entertainment was removed from the Mayor's Office and the commission would collaborate with the Department of Human Resources to interview, select, and send the candidates to the Mayor to interview and hire; and,
WHEREAS, in February of 2026, the hiring process was finally completed and yielded two candidates sent to the Mayor to interview and hire. However, after completing the interviews, the Mayor defunded the Nashville Office of Entertainment in his recommended operating budget instead of announcing its new executive director; and
WHEREAS, the Commission and the Office of Entertainment have been repeatedly devalued by this mayoral administration over the last three years and deserve to be able to complete the functions intended without impediment. These commissioners are the experts in their field, not the Mayor's Office; ...
Click here for full text