Columnist David MartinEarlier this week, former congressional candidate Weston Wamp took aim at Chattanooga's recent Airbnb ruling in a blog post. The article was published on a website called "Hit.The.Button," a new online publication produced by the Dynamo logistics business accelerator.
In the month since going live, the site has already featured a healthy mix of contributions from national media heavyweights like Gary Vaynerchuk, and local business trendsetters including Chad Eichelberger from Reliance Partners, Shelley Prevost from Torch and Nathan Sexton from Bellhops.
The overarching theme of the blog revolves around innovation and creating new solutions to antiquated industries. So it should come as no surprise that a critique of the City Council's short-term rental decision would find a home on that site.
In short, Wamp, who is a principal at Dynamo's parent entity, the Lamp Post Group, argues that the the council's 6-2 vote against short-term vacation rentals represents a "regressive small town" mindset. It also creates, he says, "clumsy optics" for a metro that zealously brands itself as Gig City.
Yes, the irony is thick. "Come to Gig City, where local government stifles innovation." Not to mention property rights.
When reading Wamp's article, I recalled a social media post made by a friend of mine when Chattanooga first started kicking around the Airbnb regulations can. I don't remember it verbatim, but she essentially complained that clamping down on rentals was the complete antithesis of this "progressive city's" spirit.
Hers was a popular confusion with the term "progressive." It's a tricky word, really, because while it's based on some fuzzy definition of forward momentum, the primary economic mechanisms through which political (capital P) Progressivism is realized are very restrictive: namely overregulation and increased taxation.
Three additional hallmarks of Progressivism are 1) encroachment by government into the private lives of the citizenry, 2) a disregard for personal property, and 3) the usurpation of civil society.
In this light, the council's vote to make short-term rentals illegal is Progressivism 101. It's also a perfect example of how Progressivism and progress are not synonyms.
Surprisingly, Chattanooga's prohibitive move enjoyed bipartisan support on the council, as two of its most conservative members backed Councilman Russell Gilbert's motion to kill rules that would have permitted individuals to use their own property to earn extra income. Funny, I always thought conservatives were supposed to be friends of the free market.
But politics outranked principles this go round. After a series of public forums featuring vocal voter opposition to the proposed rental rules, it seemed few on the council wanted to risk giving possible municipal election opponents any campaign ammunition. Especially considering council members themselves know first-hand just how successful single-issue campaigns can be. Anyone remember Pam Ladd?
My hunch, though, is that this matter won't be gone long. In addition to local pushback, many eyes are watching how the Nashville Metro Council sorts through a recent ruling that their short-term rental ordinance is unconstitutional. And then there are the whispers that Tennessee's General Assembly may weigh in on the matter since it would pull jurisdictional rank on the issue.
No matter what happens, however, Wamp was right in his assessment that City Council's vote delivered a black eye to the innovative brand Chattanooga has been building over the years. It was a defensive decision, reflexive and rooted in a "play it safe" mentality.
This city is teeming with people figuring out new fixes to old problems. They're inspiring and they're everywhere. Maybe City Council will join that crowd one day.
Contact David Allen Martin at davidallenmartin423@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @DMart423.