{"id":289144,"date":"2025-10-09T11:43:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/289144\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T11:43:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:43:10","slug":"metro-law-recommends-ethics-hearing-for-jasper-hendricks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/289144\/","title":{"rendered":"Metro Law recommends ethics hearing for Jasper Hendricks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In response to an ethics complaint filed in September, the Nashville Department of Law has recommended a hearing before the Board of Ethical Conduct for Jasper Hendricks, chair of the Metro Fair Board. This decision arrives in the wake of reports that NASCAR and the city are <a href=\"https:\/\/nashvillebanner.com\/2025\/08\/20\/nascar-nashville-fairgrounds-speedway-return\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">about to close a deal<\/a> to return to the Fairgrounds Speedway.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hendricks denies all allegations, calling them a \u201cshakedown\u201d in a phone call with the Banner.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On Sept. 18, four residents living in the vicinity of the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, including former Metro councilperson Sandra Moore, filed the complaint against Hendricks.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint makes three main claims:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Hendricks, a former Metro Council candidate in District 19, allegedly secretly negotiated Speedway redevelopment with Bristol Motor Speedway despite lacking proper authority.<\/li>\n<li>Bristol Motorsports also allegedly provided him with a free ticket to a November 2024 NASCAR gala, as well as contributions to his August 2023 campaign.<\/li>\n<li>Hendricks allegedly conspired with a Bristol PR person on media communications and leaked a confidential agreement between Mayor Freddie O\u2019Connell and Speedway Motorsports, Bristol\u2019s parent company, to Fox 17 that informed its Aug. 29 news report.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The complaint included photos of Hendricks at the gala, as well as screenshots of a text exchange between Hendricks and Bristol PR representative Matthew Kuhn. Kuhn volunteered exact language to use in response to a media inquiry.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In a report filed on Wednesday, Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz wrote that some allegations from the complaint could constitute violations of the Standards of Conduct laid out in the Metropolitan Code, which is why the department recommended an ethics board hearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The report dismissed the campaign contribution and secret negotiation claims in the allegation \u2014 even if true, the report said, those actions wouldn\u2019t be code violations. The report recommended an ethics board hearing due to allegations of accepting a free ticket to the NASCAR gala, accepting instructions on public relations and media communication from Bristol, and leaking the term sheet to Fox 17.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Board of Ethical Conduct, which consists of five voting members, reviews complaints against elected officials and board and commission members within the Metro government. The board can issue opinions and recommend dismissal, censure or prosecution based on what it hears.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Longtime debate reaches its peak<\/p>\n<p>For the past few years, some South Nashville neighborhood groups have been vocal opponents to NASCAR\u2019s return to the Speedway, citing noise, parking, and traffic as potential issues. An <a href=\"https:\/\/nashvillebanner.com\/2024\/02\/23\/nashville-fairgrounds-affordable-housing-charter-revision\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">alternative redevelopment plan for the Fairgrounds<\/a> put forth in 2023 proposed a public park and affordable housing, but that was blocked by a lawsuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Metro Legal\u2019s recommendation for an ethics board hearing for Hendricks adds a layer to the drama, arriving just as the debate is reaching its zenith.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/nashville\/2025\/08\/20\/nashville-fairgrounds-future-nascar-vote-referendum\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">In an Aug. 20 news release<\/a>, a coalition of environmental and neighborhood associations called on the city to let voters decide the Speedway\u2019s fate. On Sept. 24, residents living near the fairgrounds wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennessean.com\/story\/opinion\/contributors\/2025\/09\/24\/nashville-fairgrounds-nascar-racetrack-freddie-oconnell\/86312662007\/?gnt-cfr=1&amp;gca-cat=p&amp;gca-uir=true&amp;gca-epti=z115250p003550c003550e008600v115250b0064xxd006465&amp;gca-ft=150&amp;gca-ds=sophi&amp;sltsgmt=0154_D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an op-ed<\/a> in the Tennessean, calling for a \u201ccollaborative conversation\u201d and a countywide referendum about the Fairgrounds and the Speedway.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNashvillians have been clear: they want more affordable housing, more green space, and more walkable neighborhoods,\u201d said Metro councilperson Terry Vo \u2014 who represents District 17, which contains the fairgrounds \u2014 in a statement last month. \u201cThat\u2019s why I support exploring alternate uses of the Speedway site, including the idea of restoring part of it to scenic green space \u2014 a place where families can picnic, children can play, and neighbors can come together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a lot of green space around that property already,\u201d Hendricks <a href=\"https:\/\/nashvillebanner.com\/2025\/08\/20\/nascar-nashville-fairgrounds-speedway-return\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told the Banner<\/a> in August. \u201cI don\u2019t understand how that would solve anything, and that doesn\u2019t make money for the city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hendricks\u2019 Response<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on the phone with the Banner, Hendricks said that the texts weren\u2019t the smoking gun the complainants thought they were in terms of proving that he was conspiring with Bristol PR, and that he didn\u2019t need help writing his statements.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s nothing in the evidence that says anything that they\u2019re alleging,\u201d he said. \u201cAs far as conspiring to come up with a statement. I did not ask (Kuhn) for a statement. I don\u2019t need help in writing statements. I am a 30-plus [year] government professional that writes statements for other people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hendricks said that he was as blindsided as anyone else by the news that the deal was approaching, that people were calling asking for information and he hadn\u2019t heard anything. He said he contacted Kuhn to figure out what was going on.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNone of this would\u2019ve started if the opposition hadn\u2019t started their campaign against the racetrack,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are the ones calling around, trying to hire people to work against the racetrack deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also bristled at the notion that the only way he could get an invitation to the NASCAR gala was through illicit means.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you go through my Facebook page, I\u2019m with (driver) Bubba Wallace in several different things going back to 2019,\u201d he said, mentioning NASCAR events at HBCUs and in Lebanon. \u201cI worked on Capitol Hill in D.C. (I have) relationships with people all over the world. So for them to make these allegations that the only way I can get access to something is because of a free position that I serve in is insulting to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hendricks called the process a \u201cshakedown,\u201d alleging that he and his family had been receiving calls asking for money to \u201cerase bad things about me off the Internet.\u201d He also alleged that the anti-racetrack advocates offered people \u2013 specifically Black people \u2013 money to file the complaint and speak out publicly against the deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll see what they say,\u201d Hendricks said of the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In response to an ethics complaint filed in September, the Nashville Department of Law has recommended a hearing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":289145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[65516,148481,96489,148482,148483,1406,2987,148484,62,1229,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-289144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-bristol-motor-speedway","9":"tag-fairgrounds-nashville","10":"tag-fairgrounds-speedway","11":"tag-jasper-hendricks","12":"tag-metro-fair-board","13":"tag-nascar","14":"tag-nashville","15":"tag-sandra-moore","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-tennessee","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}