I.C. "Rip" Ryman is a member of the Metropolitan Council

Metropolitan Council (Davidson County)

The Metropolitan Council is the legislative body of the consolidated city-county government of Nashville, Tennessee and Davidson County.The Council has 40 members, 35 of which are district council representatives, and five of which are council members at-large. If a member resigns or dies before...

 of Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

 and Davidson County

Davidson County, Tennessee

Davidson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 626,681. Its county seat is Nashville.In 1963, the City of Nashville and the Davidson County government merged, so the county government is now known as the "Metropolitan Government of Nashville and...

, representing the 10th district.

Education and career

In October 2006, Vice Mayor Howard Gentry

Howard Gentry, Jr.

Howard Gentry, Jr. is an American politician. He was the vice mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville, Tennessee, and Davidson County, and the President of the Metropolitan Council from 2002 to 2007...

 picked Rip Ryman to be Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee. He serves on both the Parks, Library, Recreation, and Public Entertainment Facility Committee and the Public Safety - Beer and Regulated Beverages Committee.

Rip Ryman served in the U.S. military during the Korean War, from 1952 to 1954. He graduated from East High School in 1952, attended Belmont College from 1954 to 1955, and went to the University of Tennessee

University of Tennessee

The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...

 at Nashville from 1959 to 1962.

Proposals

Rip Ryman proposed raising the mayor's salary from $136,500 to $160,000, an increase of 17%, after the Metro Civil Service Commission recommendation based on the salaries of mayors in 13 other comparable cities. Ryman also suggested amending the resolution to bring down the pay raise to only 9%, because Metro employees had their salaries raised by only 4% in the four previous years. Upset by a $10 parking ticket he got outside Metro City Hall, and difficulty finding parking spaces outside the building, he proposed restricting the on-street parking open to the public to Metro city council members during the afternoons.

Votes

Rip Ryman voted against Sylvan Park historic zoning, for Lower Broadway historic zoning, and against a Westin Hotel on Lower Broadway. On the third reading, he voted in favor of the proposal for a new ballpark for the Nashville Sounds

Nashville Sounds

The Nashville Sounds are a minor league baseball team of the Pacific Coast League , and the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the city's association with the music industry...

, which included provisions for hotels, condos, shops and other businesses on the land adjacent to the stadium.

Controversies

The faith-based drug/alcohol rehab program Teen Challenge accused Rip Ryman of using his political influence to block their attempts to get land use permits for a rehabilitation facility. After the Metro government granted the permits anyway, Ryman suggested a zoning change for the property that would have effectively blocked their plans. Teen Challenge is currently suing the Metro government for $500,000 in damages as an institution and $50,000 for each of the three plaintiffs that would have been residents of the facility.