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 about to close a deal to return to the Fairgrounds Speedway.
Hendricks denies all allegations, calling them a “shakedown” in a phone call with the Banner.
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.
The complaint makes three main claims:
Hendricks, a former Metro Council candidate in District 19, allegedly secretly negotiated Speedway redevelopment with Bristol Motor Speedway despite lacking proper authority.
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.
Hendricks allegedly conspired with a Bristol PR person on media communications and leaked a confidential agreement between Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Speedway Motorsports, Bristol’s parent company, to Fox 17 that informed its Aug. 29 news report.
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.
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.
The report dismissed the campaign contribution and secret negotiation claims in the allegation — even if true, the report said, those actions wouldn’t 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.
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.
Longtime debate reaches its peak
For the past few years, some South Nashville neighborhood groups have been vocal opponents to NASCAR’s return to the Speedway, citing noise, parking, and traffic as potential issues. An alternative redevelopment plan for the Fairgrounds put forth in 2023 proposed a public park and affordable housing, but that was blocked by a lawsuit.
Metro Legal’s recommendation for an ethics board hearing for Hendricks adds a layer to the drama, arriving just as the debate is reaching its zenith.
In an Aug. 20 news release, a coalition of environmental and neighborhood associations called on the city to let voters decide the Speedway’s fate. On Sept. 24, residents living near the fairgrounds wrote an op-ed in the Tennessean, calling for a “collaborative conversation” and a countywide referendum about the Fairgrounds and the Speedway.
“Nashvillians have been clear: they want more affordable housing, more green space, and more walkable neighborhoods,” said Metro councilperson Terry Vo — who represents District 17, which contains the fairgrounds — in a statement last month. “That’s why I support exploring alternate uses of the Speedway site, including the idea of restoring part of it to scenic green space — a place where families can picnic, children can play, and neighbors can come together.”
“We have a lot of green space around that property already,” Hendricks told the Banner in August. “I don’t understand how that would solve anything, and that doesn’t make money for the city.”
Hendricks’ Response
Speaking on the phone with the Banner, Hendricks said that the texts weren’t the smoking gun the complainants thought they were in terms of proving that he was conspiring with Bristol PR, and that he didn’t need help writing his statements.
“There’s nothing in the evidence that says anything that they’re alleging,” he said. “As far as conspiring to come up with a statement. I did not ask (Kuhn) for a statement. I don’t need help in writing statements. I am a 30-plus [year] government professional that writes statements for other people.”
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’t heard anything. He said he contacted Kuhn to figure out what was going on.
“None of this would’ve started if the opposition hadn’t started their campaign against the racetrack,” he said. “They are the ones calling around, trying to hire people to work against the racetrack deal.”
He also bristled at the notion that the only way he could get an invitation to the NASCAR gala was through illicit means.
“If you go through my Facebook page, I’m with (driver) Bubba Wallace in several different things going back to 2019,” he said, mentioning NASCAR events at HBCUs and in Lebanon. “I 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.”
Hendricks called the process a “shakedown,” alleging that he and his family had been receiving calls asking for money to “erase bad things about me off the Internet.” He also alleged that the anti-racetrack advocates offered people – specifically Black people – money to file the complaint and speak out publicly against the deal.
“We’ll see what they say,” Hendricks said of the hearing.
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