Mayor Kip Holden says the Metro Council “threw the word ‘democracy’ out the window” when they voted 9-3 Wednesday evening to bar his $748 million bond issue from being introduced. Regardless, Holden says the bond issue is not dead and confirms he intends to continue to push it forward. The mayor won’t, however, explain how he will work to convince the council to approve the bond issue for the Nov. 19 ballot by the Aug. 10 deadline. “If anything came easily for me in life, I wouldn’t know how to handle it,” Holden says simply, when pressed for details, adding that he has a strategy but won’t discuss it. One of three Metro Council members who voted against deleting the bond from being introduced, Councilman Joel Boé, says he was “defending the process rather than defending the bond.” “My vote last night does not necessarily mean that I planned to vote to put any items on the ballot, but it meant that I felt it deserved the respect [for us] to at least discuss it further and have a public hearing,” Boé says. The bond was not up for discussion on Wednesday night, and the council did not elaborate on its vote. Had it been introduced, the bond would have been discussed at an Aug. 3 committee meeting and voted on for ballot approval on Aug. 10. A public hearing would have also taken place on Aug. 10. Those voting with Boé were Tara Wicker and C. Denise Marcelle. —Steve Sanoski
Today’s poll question: Did the Metro Council do the right thing in not introducing the $748 million bond issue for discussion?
