Re: Lincoln Park Residents Opposed To Mental Hospital Near Erlanger
Ms. Hughley, President
Tiffany A. Rankins, Secretary
Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association
Please let me start by apologizing to you and the Lincoln Park Neighborhood. As the person who raised the idea of moving the MBBHI to the Erlanger campus, I should have shared my thoughts and ideas with you before going public.
I proposed the new site as a member of the community, no longer having any affiliation with Erlanger or any other related organization. Having said that, I am very familiar with Lincoln Park and the challenges you have endured through many years and should have had the courtesy to speak with you and your organization before sharing my thoughts with the community.
As to your requests, stated in the June 10 Chattanoogan.com, I offer my thoughts -
Immediate public disclosure of all neighborhoods and properties under consideration for the new state mental health hospital.
Totally agree.
A public meeting—with representatives from the State of Tennessee, local government, and mental health agencies—to explain the criteria for site selection, assess the impacts, and allow community members to ask questions and voice concerns.
Totally agree.
A written commitment from policymakers that any decision involving historically marginalized communities will be made transparently, with meaningful community input, and only after full historic, social, and environmental impact studies.
Totally agree.
That no state or local agency proceed with any plan that would repeat the damaging patterns of displacement, gentrification, or cultural erasure that have already decimated African American communities in Chattanooga and beyond.
Totally agree.
We are not opposed to healing. But true healing must begin with justice—with decisions made with communities, not imposed upon them.
We call on Tennessee State elected officials, the Tennessee Department of Mental Health, and our local elected officials to uphold their responsibilities to Chattanooga’s residents and history.
You cannot build public health by breaking public trust.
Totally agree.
I would also like to suggest some additional considerations -
As part of the agreement to relocate the MBBHI to the Erlanger Campus, the following commitments should be considered -
The plan include a garage on the Erlanger Campus to accommodate the MBBHI staff and visitors and the Erlanger employees displaced by the new facility, as well as sufficient additional spaces to eliminate any employee parking in the Lincoln Park Neighborhood.
The current historic ballpark be transferred to the city by Erlanger with a commitment by the city to substantially improve the park and maintain it in perpetuality.
As part of the development of the site, it will include a significant beautiful, landscaped park – buffer between the Erlanger campus and the Lincoln Park Neighborhood.
A community benefit fund be included as part of the plan, to support the improvements to the neighborhood, to include an appropriate permanent recognition of the history of the neighborhood, improved neighborhood signage, streets, and lighting.
I believe that the addition of a “World Class Behavioral Health Institute” to the Erlanger campus, with the above commitments to the Lincoln Park Neighborhood, will bring substantial improvements to the neighborhood, the city, the county, and the current and future patients, families, and staff of MBBHI and the entire region.
My sincere apologies,
Bruce Komiske