Nashville citizens have a right to know how Amazon’s entry will affect them
The money being paid to attract the trillion-dollar company could go to schools, public employee raises, health insurance and housing for the homeless.
Amazon recently announced that the company would be splitting its second headquarters “HQ2” between two major cities: Queens in New York City and Arlington, Virginia with an operations hub slated for Nashville.
This announcement comes after months of speculation in which cities competed against each other to attract the world’s second most valuable company, including who could offer the most lucrative tax breaks and incentives.
One question begs to be asked:
Does a trillion-dollar company really need our $102 million in taxpayer dollars to come to Nashville?
To a company like Amazon, owned by the richest man in the world, $100 million must seem like chump change.
But what could those millions buy for Tennesseans?
- The $87 million offered to Amazon by the state could provide 280,000 low-income uninsured Tennesseans with health insurance for nearly six years under Gov. Bill Haslam’s failed Insure TN plan.
- The $15 million offered to Amazon by the city of Nashville could make up almost half of last year’s budget shortfall that left schools underfunded and Metro employees without promised raises.
- The combined $102 million offered to Amazon could be used to rent a market rate apartment ($1,200/month) for each and every one of Nashville’s homeless residents (estimated in 2017 as 2,337 people) for roughly three and a half years.
Key questions to ask Amazon
But beyond taxpayer incentives, how will Amazon change our city?
Will our families have opportunities or be displaced by 5,000 white-collar professionals moving to our city?
(It’s already been reported that housing speculators already have their sights on North and West Nashville, meaning that more Nashvillians, and black Nashvillians in particular, will be displaced.)
Instead of our state and city investing tax dollars into Amazon, why doesn’t Amazon invest some of its vast wealth into Nashville to mitigate the damaging effects it will bring and prevent some of the problems it created in Seattle?
Why doesn’t Amazon contribute to the Barnes Affordable Housing Trust Fund?
Why doesn’t Amazon contribute to WeGo (former the Metropolitan Transit Authority) to boost our public transportation and ease congestion?
Why doesn’t Amazon invest in workforce training so that more diverse local candidates are hired into these $150,000/year jobs?
Why doesn’t Amazon commit to safe and fair jobs paying living wages and benefits to all its employees, including construction workers, custodians, and maintenance employees?
How will Amazon ensure high minority business participation?
What community benefits is Amazon willing to provide to Nashvillians, especially those who have borne the burden of development without benefiting thus far.
Nashville should take care of its residents
As Nashvillans, we welcome everyone to our beautiful friendly city and welcome the idea of bringing high paying jobs to our city.
And while we appreciate the gesture that Amazon has made saying they are “investing in Nashville,” our city cannot survive on gestures.
The top priority of our city and state should not be helping Amazon, it should be to take care of its own people.
We encourage Nashvillians to join Stand Up Nashville in demanding that Amazon be a good neighbor and put community benefits at the core of its expansion efforts.
Anne Barnett is co-chair of Stand Up Nashville, a coalition of community organizations and labor unions that represent the working people of Nashville.
First published in the Tennessean.
