Tennessee elections, 2015

2016 → ← 2014 The state of Tennessee held local elections in 2015. Below are the dates of note: 2015 elections and events in Tennessee Candidate filing deadline for Nashville municipal elections May 21, 2015 Mayoral and city council election Local measure election in Nashville August 6, 2015 Runoff election for mayor and city council in Nashville September 10, 2015 Memphis general election for mayor and city council October 8, 2015 Races to watch Municipal elections The city of Nashville, Tennessee, held nonpartisan elections for mayor and metro council on August 6, 2015. A runoff in the races where it was required took place place on September 10, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was May 21, 2015. All 41 metro council seats—including the office of vice mayor—were up for election. Local ballot measures Metro council member term limit increase See also: Nashville-Davidson Metro Council Term Limit Increase, Amendment 1 (August 2015) A measure to increase city council term limits from two to three terms by 2023 was on the ballot for voters within the limits of the consolidated city-county metro of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, on August 6, 2015. It was defeated. If approved, this measure would have extended council term limits from two to three terms. The change would have been fully implemented by 2023. Metro council member reduction and term limit increase See also: Nashville-Davidson Metro Council Member Reduction and Term Limit Extension Ballot Initiative, Amendment 2 (August 2015) A measure to change the form of the metro council was on the ballot for voters within the limits of the consolidated city-county metro of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, on August 6, 2015. It was defeated. If approved, this measure would have reduced the number of metro council members from 40—a representative for each of the city's 35 districts and five at-large council members—to 27. It would also have extended council term limits from two to three terms. In 2015, the metro's 40-member council was the third-largest council in the country, falling under only New York and Chicago. Nashville was the 25th largest city in the U.S. according to 2013 census data. Local-hire mandate for public projects See also: Nashville-Davidson Metro Local-Hire Mandate for Taxpayer-Funded Projects Initiative, Amendment 3 (August 2015) A measure to establish a local-hire mandate for large, public projects was on the ballot for voters within the limits of the consolidated city-county metro of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, on August 6, 2015. It was approved. This measure required that a minimum of 40 percent of work hours for any project funded by more than $100,000 in metro taxpayer money would have to be from local hires from within the county rather than from any in-state workers from outside of the county. Moreover, the amendment was designed to require that "a significant effort be made to ensure" that at least 10 percent of "Total Construction Worker Hours are performed by low income residents of Davidson County." The amendment excepted work hours from out-of-state workers from the calculation. Thus, for example, if a project took 200,000 work hours and 100,000 of them were from out-of-state workers, only 40,000 of them would have to be from local workers, and only 10,000 of them would have to be from low-income workers. This exception for out-of-state workers was provided to avoid conflict with the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Supporters argued that Amendment 3 would ensure that jobs, economic growth and tax revenue stayed local. Opponents argued that the measure would be impractical and would make public projects more expensive, hurting the taxpayers and the economy. They also argued that the amendment violated constitutional prohibitions against employment discrimination. "Ban the Box" initiative See also: Nashville-Davidson Metro "Ban the Box" Initiative to Remove Criminal Background Questions from Metro Job Applications (August 2015) A measure to prohibit questions about criminal backgrounds on metro job applications did not make the ballot for voters within the limits of the consolidated city-county metro of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, on August 6, 2015. Petitioners failed to collect enough signatures to qualify this measure for the ballot. If approved, this measure -- which was referred to as "Ban the Box" -- would have required the Nashville metro government to remove from initial application forms and procedures any questions about the criminal background of applicants to metro jobs, allowing applicants to sue if this law was not followed. The initiative would have granted exceptions in the cases of certain jobs for which criminal background checks are required by state or federal law or for which a civil service commission determined that information about an applicant's criminal background was necessary to protect public safety. The initiative was designed to prevent screening applicants based on prior convictions, but it would have allowed the criminal history of an applicant to be brought up farther along in the hiring process during job interviews. "Ban the Box," the slogan adopted by initiative proponents, referred to the line and check box on standard applications that asked about the applicant's criminal history. This initiative would have removed that question from the application form. Marijuana decriminalization See also: Nashville-Davidson County Metro Marijuana Decriminalization Initiative (August 2015) A Marijuana Decriminalization Initiative was not on the ballot for voters within the limits of the consolidated city-county metropolitan government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, on August 6, 2015. The initiative failed to qualify for the ballot because the group behind the initiative did not submit any petitions by the deadline on May 18, 2015. If approved, this initiative -- which was being sponsored by the Tennessee branch of NORML -- would have amended the metro charter to prevent any metro tax dollars from being used for the criminal prosecution of an adult for the possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana. The initiative was designed to work around state law, which outlawed all marijuana use and possession. The proposed Nashville initiative would have simply prohibited the city-county government from using any public funds to enforce or prosecute against marijuana possession, rather than trying to legalize it, which would have put the local laws in conflict with state law. The initiative also contained a "private right of action" clause designed to provide citizens with standing to sue the metro government if it violated the initiative, receiving, if the suit was successful, $1,000 in damages and compensation for all attorney's fees and court costs. 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