THE DUMP — MAY 30, 2025
Welcome to your weekly look at the weird, the wild, and Williamson County.
From immigration fireworks to budget breakdowns, disbarment and PAC dramas to jailhouse fiction, we’ve got it all: lies, lattes, and local government.
Let’s dump it out.
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MEMORIAL DAY RAIDERS: OGLES TURNS TRIBUTE INTO A TARGET LIST
There’s bold. There’s grandstanding. And then there’s quietly sliding nearly $3 million in federal pandemic relief funds through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to a nonprofit flagged for financial mismanagement—then watching that same nonprofit help launch a controversial immigration fund, all while your police department refuses to cooperate with federal agents.
Welcome to Nashville.
From 2022 to 2024, Metro awarded nearly $3 million in ARPA funds to the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC)—first to fund an immigration legal services pilot program, then to expand its reach and eventually co-fund the Belonging Fund, a Metro-affiliated initiative announced by Mayor Freddie O’Connell during an ICE enforcement crackdown.
As The Tennessee Star’s Tom Pappert reported, TIRRC was flagged by independent auditors for material weaknesses in its accounting and failed to properly monitor how nearly $400,000 in sub-granted taxpayer money was spent. That didn’t stop Metro from giving them another $1.6 million in 2024—nor from letting them help seed the Belonging Fund. O’Connell swears no taxpayer dollars touched the fund. The receipts say otherwise.
And now the situation has escalated.
At a closed Memorial Day press conference in the Tennessee State Capitol—yes, inside a locked government building while scores of protesters pounded on the glass—US Rep. Andy Ogles announced that the House Homeland Security and Judiciary Committees will investigate Mayor O’Connell for “aiding and abetting illegal immigration” and potentially using federal dollars to support “a criminal enterprise.”
When asked what law had been broken, Ogles replied:
“That’s why we’re going to have an investigation.”
But days later, he found his answer.
According to recent posts from Ogles—and reporting from Fox17’s Karen Aguilar—O’Connell’s office appears to have published the names of DHS and HSI agents working local immigration enforcement. The information is hosted on a city-run website created by Executive Order 30, which O’Connell signed to promote “transparency” between federal agencies and Metro departments. The names of agents and liaisons, along with dates and locations of ICE activity, were made fully public—information Ogles says could put lives at risk.
“MS-13 and other transnational gangs could easily use this as intel for their operations,” Ogles warned.
“Tell me how this isn’t a Democrat official deliberately trying to undermine President Trump’s efforts to save America.”
O’Connell’s office has said the postings are lawful and routine. But it’s not routine for a mayor to publicize the identities of federal law enforcement officers working active operations in real time—especially when those officers are dealing with transnational crime.
The ICE raid that triggered this controversy resulted in nearly 200 individuals being detained after 500 cars were stopped in South Nashville. O’Connell had directed Metro Nashville Police not to participate, later saying that ICE “does not share our values of safety and community.”
Councilmember Zulfat Suara responded online, asking:
“Who are they, where are they, and where is their due process?”
Apparently not coming, if you ask Ogles:
“Only citizens are entitled to due process,” he told reporters.
Constitutional scholars everywhere: …the hell?
Then came the quote that defined the tone:
“As people are deported, you’re going to see sobbing, tears and crying and all the other stuff. Look, if I go to Disney World and I sneak in with my three kids, you know what would happen if we get caught? They’d kick us the hell out.”
(Which really undersells the difference between overstaying a visa and dodging Goofy.)
WW BOTTOM LINE:
Rep. Andy Ogles may be opportunistic—but he’s on solid legal footing. The same can’t be said for Mayor Freddie O’Connell, who is now under federal scrutiny for potentially exposing the identities of federal agents, misusing COVID-era relief funds, and partnering with a nonprofit flagged for financial mismanagement to launch a city-supported immigration fund with questionable oversight.
This isn’t about political theater anymore. It’s about public funds, federal agents, and the mayor’s growing list of liabilities.
Ogles may be loud—but O’Connell’s the one under federal investigation.
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FRANKLIN BOMA: BAGGETT WANTS A RECEIPT
Turns out, one man on the Franklin Board of Mayor and Aldermen thinks if you’re going to raise taxes—you should at least tell people what they’re paying for. Wild concept, right?
Tuesday night, while the rest of the board wandered glassy-eyed into a 32-cent property tax rate like it was the only item on the Cheesecake Factory’s novella-sized menu, Alderman Patrick Baggett did something dangerous: he asked for specifics.
The budget proposal included a 3.4-cent increase for “capital investment,” but when Baggett asked what that meant—Mack Hatcher Southeast? Actual traffic fixes? Anything concrete?—he got a fog of bureaucratic filler. “Long-term priorities.” “General infrastructure.” The kitty. In other words: “Swipe now, we’ll email the details later.”
So Baggett proposed a real amendment. No theatrics—just a better version of the city’s own Option 2: a 28.6-cent rate that kept the infrastructure dollars intact but scaled back the operational increase. A compromise that respected both the taxpayers and the data.
He made it clear—he’s not against funding real improvements. He’s for it. But the public deserves a receipt.
“Let’s get a list of projects and show the people exactly what the money is going toward,” he later said. “If the money is for Mack Hatcher SE or NW, I’m good with it. If it’s not, we need to identify high-priority needs first.”
Example? The $29 million Carothers Road expansion, which he says might be solvable for less—if the city bothered to study the source of the traffic instead of just funding the whole CIP wishlist.
His point? If we’re going to raise taxes, let’s be honest about what we’re buying—and whether we even need it.
Baggett’s amendment failed in a 3–3 tie. Caesar and Burger supported him. Barnhill, Blanton and Peterson voted no. Mayor Ken Moore broke the tie with another no, and the full 32-cent increase passed—without a project list, without a plan, and without a clear answer for the public.
Baggett voted no—because the board refused to give taxpayers what they actually deserve: a straight answer.
WW BOTTOM LINE:
Franklin didn’t pass a tax increase. It passed the buck.
Baggett wanted a receipt. BOMA gave him the check—and told him to guess the total.
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DISBARMENT ON DECK: CONNIE REGULI HEADS TO THE SUPREMES
Connie Reguli is back in court—this time, fighting to keep her license instead of lighting it on fire. The Tennessee Supreme Court is reviewing whether Reguli deserves permanent disbarment after a disciplinary panel—and a Williamson County judge—decided that nine complaints, years of legal friction, and a career soaked in DCS gasoline was enough to strike the match.
If you’re just tuning in: Reguli started out as a domestic violence prosecutor but found her life’s purpose in torching the Department of Children’s Services—both in court and to a Facebook audience of 17,000. Her posts had the energy of a rebel manifesto and the subtlety of a flaming brick through a courthouse window.
Things went nuclear in 2018 when she let a client and her daughter, both under an active DCS order, hole up at her Brentwood house. Phones were turned off, police launched a manhunt, and Reguli handed the mom a burner phone like it was Mission: Impossible – Parental Rights Protocol. She got charged, tried and convicted. But in 2024, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed it all and basically said: “Nice try, but this wasn’t even a crime when you did it.”
Did that stop the Board of Professional Responsibility? Please. They came back like a sequel no one asked for—armed with old violations, a prior suspension, and a well-worn narrative about “a pattern of misconduct.” The Supreme Court didn’t miss the moment either. In 2023, they hit her with a temporary suspension, declaring she posed a “threat of substantial harm.” (Translation: Do not pass Go. Do not collect client retainers.)
And just for good measure, Reguli ran for judge in the middle of all this. Because when life hands you a disciplinary hearing and a criminal indictment, obviously you campaign for a robe.
The case now sits before the justices, who will rule based on written briefs. No oral arguments. No fireworks. No grand finale speech about the Constitution and parental rights. Just a small mountain of documents and probably at least one clerk muttering, “What the hell did I just read?”
WW BOTTOM LINE:
She beat the charges. She’s fighting the disbarment. And if Connie Reguli gets her law license back, the Board of Professional Responsibility may need smelling salts.
One way or another, the court will decide: is this the final chapter—or just more kindling?
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PAC TO THE FUTURE: COTHREN’S GHOST PAC STILL HAUNTS WARNER’S CAMPAIGN
It’s 2020. Cade Cothren’s out of a job, out of ethics, and allegedly in love. So what does he do? He convinces a 22-year-old girlfriend to start a “Faith Family Freedom Fund” PAC so he can attack Rick Tillis without getting his hands dirty. Real Hallmark stuff.
The problem? That’s wildly illegal.
According to testimony, Cothren told her, “Don’t worry, babe, they can’t touch us. The Registry has no authority.” Which is romantic until you realize he was talking about a subpoena.
And guess who benefited from all this faith-based fakery?
Rep. Todd Warner—whose campaign just happened to use the exact same mail permit as the “independent” PAC. Because nothing says “no coordination” like matching postage.
Now the state’s campaign finance board wants to revive its investigation, because Cothren never responded to the subpoena, the ex-girlfriend spilled everything, and Rep. Warner is still wandering around pretending this was all a coincidence. He even sat through days of Cothren’s federal corruption trial like it was a season finale.
Chairman Tom Lawless (yes, real name) says it’s time to finish what the feds started. And Warner? He’s still insisting it was all a “political hit job.”
Uh-huh. Just like the PAC was an accident, the mailer permit was a clerical error, and Cothren is misunderstood.
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WHAT THE JAIL: THE LATTE, THE LIE, AND THE LOCKUP
Williamson County is preparing to build the most expensive jail and juvenile facility in Tennessee history. And if you’re trying to follow the logic behind it all—you might need a cell of your own to sit down and breathe into a paper bag.
We’re not here to debate whether the jail is needed. That’s a fair and complicated discussion. But we are here to shine a fluorescent correctional-facility light on the nonsense being peddled by some of the loudest voices in the local GOP echo chamber—because it turns out, truth is under lockdown.
Claim #1: The Coffee Bar for Criminals
Who said it?
Williamson County GOP 2nd Vice Chair Elliott Franklin, on Williamson Watchers (Episode 2):
“The first rendition that they had, no joke, had a coffee bar in it for the criminals… Why do they need a fancy Starbucks coffee bar inside the jail?”
Reality check:
This is completely false. There is no proposal, line item or plan for a Starbucks-style coffee bar inside the jail. What does exist is a standard inmate commissary, like every other jail in America. This is how we got from “ramen and toothpaste” to “venti caramel macchiato.”
No joke? Try no evidence. Unless someone finds a K-cup line item buried in the blueprints.
Claim #2: We’re Housing Inmates from Other Counties
Who said it?
Leigh Ann Cates, Williamson Watchers co-host and WCRP Secretary:
“The jail that is being proposed… is set to hold more people in it than Williamson County has criminals to put there. We would actually… be housing inmates from other counties.”
Reality check:
“We would not, do not and won’t,” said Jail Administrator Carole Esteban, via Commissioner Meghan Guffee.
Straight from the county—not some podcast kitchen counter.
Meanwhile, the Real Facts Are…
• The jail and juvenile complex is projected to cost $325 million, with roughly $190 million allocated to the jail itself.
• The current facility is over 30 years old, with just four medical beds and increasing infrastructure failures.
• Mental health beds, safety units and upgraded classification capacity are part of the plan—not espresso machines.
• Reciprocal inmate housing happens occasionally statewide—but Williamson is not building a hotel for overflow inmates.
WW BOTTOM LINE:
Two senior officers of the Williamson County GOP just pitched a coffee shop jail and an overflow inmate motel—and both stories fell apart under basic fact-checking.
Criticize the cost? Go for it. Debate priorities? Please do.
But maybe don’t build your outrage on phantom felons from Maury County sipping caramel lattes behind bars.
When we’re spending hundreds of millions in taxpayer money, we don’t need fiction. We need facts, receipts, and maybe a bigger whiteboard—and fewer conspiracy podcasts.
So seriously—what the jail is going on here?
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FINAL FLUSH: THE SETUP, THE STOOGES, AND THE SHAME
And speaking of the Williamson County Republican Party, earlier this week, Chairman Steve Hickey released a video claiming his party was under attack—assailed by outside agitators, rogue strategists, and dishonest political actors. He spoke solemnly about the need for unity, condemned “gutter politics,” and warned against those stirring up drama for personal gain.
If only his own officers were listening.
Because while Hickey was preaching purity on YouTube, his own 1st Vice Chair Diane Chenard was orchestrating one of the most embarrassing political flops in recent memory: a sloppy hit job on a sitting Republican—Claire Reeves, a duly elected Williamson County School Board member.
And it wasn’t subtle.
Chenard kicked it off with a gotcha-style question to Dr. Reeves: Did WCS’s insurance plan cover gender reassignment procedures? Reeves, acting responsibly, passed the inquiry to HR. HR answered: Yes, it’s covered under the county plan. No, the school board has no control over it. This policy has existed since 2017 and falls entirely under the County Commission.
Case closed, right?
Wrong.
Enter amateur hour—a blogger and self-described “truth-teller” and “journalist,” full-time outrage dealer. She spun the story anyway, stripped of context and loaded for clicks. And Chenard, like clockwork, amplified it. She forwarded the blog to the County Commission, copied the school board, and demanded public action on a policy she already knew Reeves had nothing to do with.
It was a setup. It was coordinated. And it was done under the WCRP’s banner.
Let’s not pretend this was a rogue operation. The blogger seeded the narrative. Chenard lit the match. And she did it all with the ideological blessing of the same WCRP machine that can’t stop whining about “unfair attacks.” This wasn’t freelancing—it was execution. Hickey’s strategy, Hickey’s mess.
And it blew up in their faces.
Because real Republicans—elected ones, not installed ones—weren’t having it.
• School Board Member Donna Clements defended Reeves and said she handled the matter correctly.
• Dr. Margie Johnson, normally aligned with WCRP brass, broke ranks and agreed Reeves did nothing wrong.
• Dr. Dennis Driggers called the entire narrative “deliberately misleading.”
Meanwhile, Commissioner Bill Petty blinked into the chaos he helped create and called it “very concerning.” Bill, it’s only concerning because you’re responsible for it. Try reading your own committee packet next time.
So why run this charade? Because they’re desperate. Desperate for relevance. Desperate to control the narrative. Desperate to tear down any Republican they can’t micromanage.
The power’s slipping, and the sunlight is burning through the backroom deals. Instead of governing, they’re swinging blindly at the people voters actually chose. It’s not a strategy—it’s a panic spiral.
Let’s be clear: this blogger doesn’t operate independently. She’s part of the orbit. WCRP features her segments regularly. Whether she knows it or not, she’s a tool. And Chenard didn’t simply fall for the story—she weaponized it. She used it exactly as intended: to smear a fellow Republican and make her look complicit in something she never touched.
And it cracked the whole party line.
Because this wasn’t about values. Or accountability. Or transparency.
This is your GOP, Williamson County.
So if Hickey wants to condemn gutter politics—great.
He can start with the woman sitting next to him at WCRP meetings.
Because the only thing more embarrassing than this sabotage…
is pretending you didn’t see it coming.
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That’s it for this week.
Keep your receipts, check the blueprints, and never trust a podcast with prison plans.
See you next week.