Group Files Intent To Recall Nashville Council Member Jonathan Hall
Image Credit: Nashville.gov & Ryan Kaldari / Public Domain
The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
Some Nashville residents are working to recall Metro Council member Jonathan Hall who represents District 1.
On July 15, a notice of intent to recall was filed by retired Nashville deputy Fire Marshall Charles Scott on behalf of a group of District 1 residents. The group has until August 14 to collect signatures on the petition.
Elections for the Metro Council are scheduled for August 2023, and Hall has already said he does not plan to run again because of his health. Scott, however, does not feel that Hall should finish his current term.
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According to Scott, who is planning to run for the open seat, Hall has failed to respond to constituents frequently, and residents do not even know what is going on until after a decision has been made.
“Why do we want to wait until the end of his term when we don’t know what’s coming down the pike, and people have been asking for a while to get this done?” asked Scott.
The recall intent also lists Hall’s recent troubles with campaign finances as another reason to go ahead and get him out of office.
Hall was censured for ethics violations related to his campaign finances. He failed to file several mandatory financial reports and also filed others with incomplete vendor and donor information.
Hall was cited for 36 violations and was fined $360,000. He would be ineligible to run for office again until those fines are paid.
Hall, however, defends his work and says his constituents should be celebrating instead of trying to oust him.
“You will hear the exact same group that didn’t support me from the beginning…trying to raise Cain about this and push this silly notion less than a year away from the actual election,” stated Hall. “But what you don’t hear is from the overwhelming majority who says, ‘Are you serious? This is ridiculous.’”
In order to initiate the recall election, Scott would have to obtain signatures from 15% of registered voters in the district. This would require about 2,500 signatures, according to Davidson County Election Commissioner Jeff Roberts, who says the 15% must be based on old district lines that were in place when Hall was originally elected.
A special election could happen in December, at the soonest. Policies state that a council member cannot be recalled within the last 180 days of their term.
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
