County Commission Chairman Jeff Eversole on Wednesday asked the new County Audit Committee to look into the accuracy of a Chattanooga Times Free Press Sunday article that was highly critical of County Mayor Weston Wamp.
County Mayor Wamp told the commission, "The Times Free Press has issued multiple corrections to their own story. There were a lot of problems with how that story came together." He said, "There were a litany of errors in the article that the newspaper is owning."
The article said County Mayor Wamp withheld information about school projects from the commission, including the cost of the Gateway School, and sought his own "agenda" rather than letting the school board decide, including hiring an architectural firm to analyze various school building projects.
Alison Gerber, Times Free Press editor, said, "The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported on Sunday that Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp gave the county commission an estimate of $40 million for a Gateway school project in August when the school board’s preferred option had been priced by an architect at $82 million. After the publication of the story, county officials made the newspaper aware of two errors on technical issues, which were the subject of a print correction in this morning’s newspaper, and have been corrected online with a note disclosing the error. The remainder of the story, including its central subject, stands."
Commissioner Gene-o Shipley said, "When we bought that building, the intention was that it was going to be a tech school." He said an idea to have Center for the Creative Arts move there jumped the cost from $40 million to $80 million.
Commissioner Shipley said, "Is it going to be a trade school like we bought it for? That was the intent we all had when we paid $10 million for it."
He said he was thankful for the study by the architectural firm, saying it helped "save a lot of money" and lead to a plan to keep Soddy Daisy Middle School at its current site. He said one option had been to merge it with Soddy Daisy High, "which would have destroyed that school." He said the agreement was to keep about 15 percent of the current campus buildings, while adding new construction.
Commissioner Lee Helton said there was a memorandum of understanding on the Gateway School that would provide the planned tech school with $32 million from the TIF (tax increment financing) at The Bend project at the former Alstom site. He said, "I don't know why this is even a discussion."
Commissioner Joe Graham said BlueCross sold the Gateway Building to the county "at an unbelievable price" with the intention it be a tech school. He said the county paid $10 million for a LEED certified building "that is probably worth $30 million to $35 million."
Commissioner Chip Baker said he got "a ton of calls about the article, and, frankly, I'm embarrassed. It made me look incompetent."
He said he was concerned on the amount of money paid to architects and the allegations of the county staff "moving money around" to stay under the spending limit at which the commissioners are to vote on specific spending.
Commissioner Baker had a resolution ready to go that would move the spending limit from $50,000 back to $25,000 on items that would need to be taken before the commission for a vote. It was raised from $25,000 to $50,000 in April 2023. It would also tighten restrictions on approval of spending for professionals, such as architects and medical personnel.
County Mayor Wamp said, "I'm disappointed that this is coming to the commission as a surprise. I'm disappointed we didn't know anything about this."
He said one quote in the article by Mike Kirk, county property director, "was misassigned" relating to a shift of funds. He said it actually referred to a $3,500 expense relating to improvements at Harrison Bay Vocational School, not about a school on the building list.
County Mayor Wamp said, "In defense of Todd Leamon and Mike Kirk, it made it sound like the money was being shifted for these (new projects) schools. They didn't say it was about an entirely different project. That was one of many aspects of the story that was irresponsible."
He said the article alleged he had entered into an MOU with the school system without commission knowledge. He said, "The newspaper reporter, and whoever her sources were, did not realize that the MOU referenced in her story was from 2004, passed by this commission, and I had nothing to do with it. It was long before I was here."
County Mayor Wamp said, though the limit to vote on spending items was raised to $50,000, that the purchasing department each month prepares a report on spending items. He said the information about the funding for the school architect firm went to the commissioners, including Commissioner Sharpe, months earlier.
County Mayor Wamp said should the resolution pass, the purchasing department would have to add at least one more employee. He said the raising of the notice limit had made the county more efficient, saved money for taxpayers and helped ease the paperwork burden on purchasing employees.
County Purchasing Director Gerald Carpenter said he would need to ask for three more employees should the resolution pass. He said raising the limit to $50,000 "has helped us move more quickly."
Commissioner Shipley said, "I'm for leaving it alone. I am opposed to doing this."
Commissioner Baker said, "We need more communication, and this is one way of doing it." County Mayor Wamp said he agreed that communication could be improved, and he said he regretted not talking with Commissioner Baker. He said he had focused more on commissioners with new schools in their districts.
Commissioner David Sharpe, who frequently spars with County Mayor Wamp, said he had not been advised on plans for schools in his district, though he said up to five of the schools are in the district.
He said, "If we don't know where the money is going, we can't do our job."
County Mayor Wamp said "one disgruntled commissioner," in an obvious reference to Commissioner Sharpe, had provided the newspaper with hundreds of documents, emails and texts for the story.
A vote was held and it did not pass since it was tied 5-5. Commissioner Mike Chauncey was absent.
In favor were Commissioners Sharpe, Baker, Jeff Eversole, Steve Highlander and Warren Mackey.
Opposed were Commissioners Graham, Shipley, Lee Helton, Greg Beck and Ken Smith.
Chairman Eversole, in announcing the investigation by the audit panel, said, "We're the safety net for the taxpayers. I am asking the audit committee to do a deep dive into the article."
He told county staff to give the audit committee "full access." He said, "If there are any roadblocks, I expect you to let us know."
Commissioner Helton said, "When the results come back and they find there's no impropriety, I hope the chair will use his podium to chide the paper if there's been untruths. We depend on them to be truthful. If they have taken leaps as far as just trying to draw lines between stuff without full information, I hope you point that out. If they can't be a voice for truth, I expect this body to be - especially if there is no impropriety."
Commissioner Shipley said, "We've talked about this two hours, and there's nothing wrong with what's gone on. The mayor hasn't done nothing wrong. The mayor didn't overspend. There's not a problem, but we spent two hours on it when it wasn't a problem from Day 1."
Brooke Weaver, deputy county clerk, asked to get the original newspaper article and one with corrections (if there was such).