Council committee approves Music, Entertainment & Film Commission ordinance after questions on appointments and advisory committees

The Arts, Parks, Libraries & Entertainment Committee voted to approve an ordinance to amend Chapter 2.147 of the Metro Code of Laws governing the Nashville Music Entertainment Film Commission, after committee members pressed for clarification about appointment authority, vetting, and oversight.

The ordinance, brought by Council Member Stiles and co-sponsored by Council Members Sepulveda, Welsh, Web and Evans, was the subject of extended questions about who appoints the commission's executive director and how newly created advisory committees will be appointed, vetted and removed. Committee members ultimately approved the ordinance after discussion and a request to allow lead sponsors to participate; the committee recorded an affirmative voice vote reported as eight ayes and no opposition.

Committee members raised specific concerns about the draft language. Dave Rosenberg of the mayor's office warned that the written text listed 19 positions while stating the commission would have 15 members, and said the ordinance "doesn't say who appoints them, whether that's council, the commission, the commission chair, or some other mechanism." He also noted the draft "doesn't call for any vetting of the members" and that it "doesn't subject them to the board of ethical conduct or create any kind of mechanism for removal." Director Hall of Metro Human Resources told the committee she had not been consulted on some MetroHR-related provisions and said MetroHR "cannot provide necessarily administrative support to the commission" because the department lacks bandwidth, while adding the administration is "happy to support any board or commission in the selection and the recruitment process of an executive director."

The committee discussed the ordinance's creation of advisory committees intended to represent sub-sectors of the entertainment economy — theater, dance, fashion and others — and whether those advisory committees would be held to the same ethics and removal standards as the commission. Council Member Easley asked about a newly added job title in the ordinance, an "intimacy coordinator," and Rosenberg explained the role is common in the entertainment industry to ensure actors' safety and comfort on certain scenes, describing it as the person who helps arrange "what's gonna be comfortable for each actor." Council Member Welsh said sponsors had worked to find agreed language and urged colleagues to approve the bill.

The committee initially moved the item to the "hill" (postponed) to allow lead sponsors to participate in the discussion but later returned to the item and approved it. The approved ordinance amends Chapter 2.147 to restructure the commission and creates advisory committees; the measure does not itself specify detailed vetting or removal mechanics for advisory committee members beyond the language in the ordinance as drafted.

Next steps: Committee members asked that the administration and legal counsel provide clarification where the ordinance leaves appointing and vetting procedures ambiguous and that the lead sponsor be available for further questions; the committee recorded approval and the ordinance will proceed per the council's legislative process.