Nashville Mayor John Cooper braces for council battle on racetrack

Entering the final few weeks of his tenure, Mayor John Cooper can boast a perfect record of passing major legislative initiatives in the Metro Council.

Catch up quick: Cooper's most notable legislative wins include funding for the new Titans stadium, the Oracle economic development deal, the 2020 property tax increase and approval of the police department's trial run to utilize license plate readers.

Why it matters: Cooper is being tested like never before as he tries to pass a funding plan to improve the fairgrounds racetrack.

State of play: There are major obstacles for the racetrack legislation to clear before Cooper even navigates a skeptical council, led by Councilmember Colby Sledge, who represents the fairgrounds area.

• The Nashville Scene reported there's little time to hold the legally required community meeting and conduct the three necessary votes before the council term ends.
• There's also the question of whether the plan needs 27 or 21 votes, which is already the subject of a city lawsuit.

The latest: Last week, Sledge proposed amending the city's capital spending planning document to alter the racetrack funding mechanism that Cooper favors. Had that measure passed, it would have killed Cooper's racetrack plan.

• It failed by a vote of 13 in favor and 15 against, with two abstaining and nine members not present.
• In addition to questions about the funding plan, there are major neighborhood concerns about noise, traffic and parking. Bristol Motor Speedway touted its noise mitigation plan in a press release last week, including a sound wall it says will "reduce sound exposure from the track by more than 50%."

Between the lines: It's an election year, and several members vying for office view the racetrack vote as a thorny wedge issue they'd rather avoid. That means even some members who normally could be persuaded to go along with Cooper's plan might choose to err on the side of caution and defer a vote.

The bottom line: Cooper must survive neighborhood pushback and legal hurdles and then convince a divided council to approve.