City Council Tightening Up On Disruptions During Time To Address The Council

  • Wednesday, October 16, 2019
  • Gail Perry

Chattanooga City Council Member Carol Berz began a discussion at the agenda meeting Monday afternoon about allowing citizens the opportunity to speak at meetings. This was spurred by an incident on Oct. 8 that shut down the council meeting.

 

"Why are the rules there?" she asked. While saying she understood a three-minute limit for people to speak, she questioned why are people only allowed to speak twice in 30 days? Councilman Russell Gilbert answered that those rules were put in place over eight years ago by past chairman Pam Ladd and approved by the council at the time, in her attempt to get control over the meetings.

 

"I don’t want to restrict people’s speech, but the behavior needs to be credible," said Councilwoman Berz. She asked to have the council review the rules. “Why is our time so precious that we can’t listen to people?” she asked. The council should listen to the people who put them in office, she stated. “I’m just tossing it out there,” she said.

 

Council member Jerry Mitchell said he was mostly in agreement, but that he has seen a lot of speakers who are not credible and that stop meetings. That is robbing freedom of speech from other speakers; the council is not doing it, he said.

 

"We need to add language to City Attorney Phil Noblett’s speech instructing speakers, and add warnings to not be disruptive," said Council member Chip Henderson.

Speakers should only talk about things that the council has something to do with, not situations involving Hamilton County, for example, said Council member Anthony Byrd. He added that the warning should include that a speaker who is out of line is showing disrespect and could be facing disorderly conduct charges.

 

Chairman of the Board Erskine Oglesby said that last week he asked officers to approach when he saw the situation escalating. "The speaker showed total disrespect to everyone on the council," he said and it deprived other speakers from their opportunities to address the council. If what is allowed and the consequences for not following the rules are made known to the public, he said the council would be in their rights to take the needed steps, when the time comes.

 

The council members who spoke were in favor of allowing citizens to speak each week with a time limit. Attorney Noblett will draft a resolution setting out the rules and the consequences if a person disrupts a meeting. These rules could be projected on the screen at the front of the room, suggested Council member Darrin Ledford. In two weeks, the council will see the resolution and vote on it.

 

At the opening of the regular meeting that followed, Attorney Noblett read a statement saying it is in violation of state law to disrupt a public meeting. Speaker Marie Mott afterward said she was "trying to learn diplomacy."

 

Councilwoman Berz has been given the assignment to oversee purchasing practices, and suggested that all council members attend a training session that will be held in Collegedale in mid-November. In that position, she was asked to approve $104,000 for improvements to the council’s assembly room. She instead suggested forming a committee to work on the plans to determine what is wanted and needed before getting bids. The most important upgrade will be for safety, she said. She also sees a need for a press area for filming and a work area for research during the council meetings. The money for renovations will come from the council’s budget.

 

The council at the regular meeting approved a resolution that will authorize the Mayor to enter into a Donation Agreement between the City of Chattanooga and Nippon Paint Automotive Americas, for property identified as Lot one of the Harriet Tubman Subdivision. The site is proposed for a Tax Increment Financing Project (TIF). The company will provide necessary improvements to the infrastructure that the city will expect over a set period of time. Councilman Byrd would like to amend the resolution regarding work force development to add language that new employee hiring will give precedence to residents of Chattanooga and especially to the surrounding neighborhood.

 

Council member Demetrus Coonrod said that employment should include a larger area than just the surrounding neighborhood of Avondale She said there are other impoverished areas that need work in the city. The company wants to be careful of state laws, the council was told and would like the resolution to use the language “including” the area around the site, not only “surrounding” it. Everybody should have an opportunity, said Ms. Coonrod.

 

The use of traffic cameras will be an item considered by the council in the future. City Attorney Noblett will find what is acceptable with photo enforcement. The locations where cameras remain in the city now include the S curves on Hixson Pike, two mobile units and on four red lights, the council was told. The company that operates the cameras, Census American sends tickets through the mail. Many people who receive them do not pay, believing they are not legitimate, said Councilman Ledford. The council was told that they are real.

 

 

 

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