City Council - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon, everyone. I'll call to order the Tuesday, August 18th meeting of the Chattanooga City Council and recognize Councilwoman Burrs to lead us in our Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation. Welcome again, everyone. Thanks for joining us today. We'd like to at the outset of our meetings give kind of a rundown of how our meetings operate for any who might be with us for the first time. We ask first and foremost that everybody silence or turn off your cell phones so we don't have DISTRACTIONS TO OUR MEETING. OUR MEETING TAKES PLACE IN TWO PARTS. THE FIRST PART IS OUR AGENDA SESSION WHERE COUNCIL WILL GO THROUGH AND LOOK AT THE ITEMS THAT WE'LL BE VOTING ON TONIGHT AS WELL AS NEXT WEEK AND THREE WEEKS OR MORE OUT SO THAT WE'RE WELL And then we also, during our agenda session, we'll have special presentations, committee and department reports from time to time. And so we'll do that all. We do have a special presentation that we'll get to in just a minute with Councilwoman Nowell. And then we'll recess as we normally do. And we do need an attorney client meeting briefly today with our city attorney. And so we'll do that during our recess. When the time comes for that, I'll announce the time that will be coming back for our business portion of the meeting, which is where we vote on all the items on our agenda for this evening. And so then at the end of that business or voting portion of our meeting, there is a time for members of the public who are here and would like to address council. And when the time comes for that, we'll just have folks to come up front to the podium and we'll have some rules that we'll read at that time. But as I mentioned, we do have a special presentation today that Councilwoman Marveen Noel will be handling for us. And so I'll yield the podium to her.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. If I might have Chief Knowles and Lieutenant Alan Green come join me. Fabulous. How are you? Absolutely. All right. As Chair said, I am Marvee Noel, City Council Representative for the great District 8. So Mayor, members of Council, and members of the audience, it is my honor today to recognize and congratulate Lieutenant Alan Green as being selected by the International Association of Fire Chiefs as the 2026 Company Officer of the Year. This is a tremendous honor and a reflection of Lieutenant Green's leadership, professionalism, dedication, and commitment to the fire service and to our community. Lieutenant Green, congratulations on this well-deserved recognition. We are proud of you, we appreciate your service, and we thank you for representing our community with excellence. Please join me in congratulating Lieutenant Alan Green. And on behalf of the council and the city of Chattanooga and Mayor Tim Kelly, we give you a cake. not really but you probably put a cake in okay you can make it in the microwave and then a pen set think of us every time you make a stroke okay and then we have if you all will allow me a second to read the certificate of special recognition presented to Lieutenant Alan Green in recognition of outstanding leadership, dedication, and unwavering commitment to the citizens of Chattanooga and Chattanooga Fire Department. Recognizing Chattanooga Fire Department, Lieutenant Alan Green, AFC 2026 Company Officer of the Year, presented by Councilwoman Marvin Knowles. Again, thank you. Thank you.

All right, Chief Knowles. Yes.

Thank you, Councilwoman, Council. I just wanted to say a few words about Lieutenant Green and the award ceremony. So the IAFC is the International Association of Fire Chiefs. And so it's not only nationally, but worldwide conference where fire chiefs and chief officers and firefighters from all over the globe come in and learn and network. And so, you know, My part, I went up there, I was fortunate enough, myself along with other chiefs within the department, to be able to attend this year and sit down with chiefs from all over the world and find out what's going on within their fire departments, good, bad, and how they're doing things. And so, but that wasn't the highlight of this conference for me. The highlight of this conference was being able to attend an award ceremony for one of our own, Lieutenant Green. And when I got the email from the committee announcing that he had won this award, you know, I said there wasn't anybody else, you know, that when they read it off that deserved it more than Alan. And so I want to read just a portion of what they read during the award ceremony in Kansas City this past week. Some leaders inspire through their words, others inspire through their actions. Lieutenant Alan Green of the Chattanooga Fire Department does both. Green built his career that extends far beyond emergency response. As a company officer, educator, author, mentor, nonprofit founder, he demonstrates that today's fire service leaders don't just respond to emergencies, they work tirelessly to prevent them while creating lasting change in their communities. As a fire and life safety educator, Green has remained what community risk reduction can look like. Using data to identify neighborhoods at greatest risk, he develops education programs that reach the communities where they can have the greatest impact. His belief is simple. Prevention begins with education. Determined to make fire safety education more engaging for children, Green authored his own children's book, Mom, Dad, What Should I Do?, The book intentionally features children who reflect the diversity of Chattanooga, allowing young readers to see themselves in the story and even as future firefighters. Proceeds from the book support Green's nonprofit and literacy initiatives, and departments across the country have already begun incorporating it into their own fire prevention efforts. Green's commitment to young people extend beyond the classroom. He founded PPCH Incorporated, Pain, Perseverance, Character, and Hope. to mentor at-risk youth and provide the encouragement guidance and stability that changed his own life through ppch and years of volunteer work with organizations like bethel bible village and barger academy of fine arts green has become a trusted mentor to countless young people throughout chattanooga His dedication earned him the Ralph Cawthron Civil Service Firefighter of the Year Award, recognizing not only his service as a firefighter, but also his lasting investment in the community's youth. Lieutenant Alan Green exemplifies what modern fire service leadership can be, courageous, compassionate, innovative, and deeply committed to serving others. By transforming his own life experiences into opportunities for education, mentorship, and prevention, he has expanded the role of company officer beyond emergency response and into lasting community impact thank you thank you lieutenant green

Y'all gave me a timer. Where's the timer?

15 seconds.

Two minutes. No, I'm not going to be long-winded, so thank you. You are so welcome. We appreciate you. Thank you all. First, let me thank God because I know where I've been in my life and where I am now, none of that is possible. I don't do this career or this calling for me. I said this at the conference People rarely have the opportunity to operate in the capacity, dual capacity of career and columns. And I've been blessed and fortunate enough to be in both. I want to thank, again, thank God. I want to thank our fire chief because he's been super supportive along with the command staff with anything I ask, they pretty much say yes. But that's because they believe in what I'm passionate about. as well as the community community supports everything we want to do in the fire department i was telling brother green we can take a program to the gas station and and make something out of but they trust us and believe us and what we're trying to do with our community ain't about showing and about being a circus it ain't about any of those things and you know just somebody i know i want to thank he might choke me out if i didn't just kidding but freddie brooks um I don't know if he's a cheerleader or if he's the coach. I don't know which one he is. He switched roles on me. So he's been very, very instrumental with a lot of things that I do. And people don't understand when I was going through some things, 14, 15-year-old boy. Didn't know he was a firefighter. And he impacted my life at that point. And he didn't know he would show up again in my life at 41 or 40, you know, at 35. He showed up again and we didn't know we was going to meet again. But he impacted my life as a firefighter. And that's the role that we play in our community, not just first responders. medical calls and fighting fires, but real community risk reduction starts before the risks even identify and show themselves. So I thank y'all for this moment. I'm gonna try to take it in. I have a hard time taking things in with awards and being recognized. So I appreciate y'all and y'all support with over the years just saying firefighters are doing a lot of work. We are in the community. We pride ourselves on that. So thank you and I'll be quiet now before I run over some more time.

Thank you.

all right well thank you councilwoman noel and congratulations again lieutenant green council can i get a motion on the minutes from our previous meeting please all right we have a motion properly seconded and the minutes will stand as published and council look with me if you will at our agenda for tonight's meeting and as you do hit your lights if you have any questions or comments on any items There are a handful of items, ordinances on final reading. And one ordinance on first reading. Councilwoman Dotley, you're recognized.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair, and I guess you would get into resolutions. I was just waiting for you. Sure.

I haven't seen any other lights.

Okay. Thank you so much. So, council, I did send out, because I was very opposed to the amendment, the, what was it, the update to the council rules. I was able to get some clarity on that. So, I did send out some proposed amendments to you all, I think, yesterday morning. Nicole shared them and wanted to just discuss those briefly, get your feedback on it. you know, see what you all thought in regards to it. I wasn't completely opposed to the rules, but the ultimate goal, the amendments are intended to clarify committee structure, broaden participation by duly elected council members, preserve the legislative authority of the full council and align committee activity with actual legislative and departmental needs and clarify the distinction between legislative oversight and executive administration. So there were, I don't know, maybe eight of those. So do y'all want me to go through all of them or do y'all just want me to kind of highlight and then I can discuss them? Okay. So the first one dealt with standing committees actually i don't worry about that one that was one i got a clarity on that one so don't worry about that one the second one was regarding the which was one of my major uh major concerns was about the number of committees we had uh so my proposal instead of the six to move it to nine and it's always open to change as well uh to keep budget and finance planning and zoning um economic development uh make community development its own separate committee because it in my opinion it does need it uh parks and public works government operations public safety and then housing and education i think that's a total of nine um but you know of course that can always be adjusted but i do highly recommend keeping community development separate uh and as well as education uh the other piece was the description for the community development, education, and housing. There were three different descriptions for that, for each one of those as well. If you want me to read it, I can. And then moving down through their standing committee, additional meetings. There was just some concerns about the timeliness or scheduling of those meetings standing committee shall meet as neat as opposed to You know meet no less than every two months. Sometimes we don't have much to discuss so the Amendment would state standing committees shall meet as needed based on upon referred legislation departmental updates let your legislative priorities public policy matters and other business within the committee's jurisdiction and standing committee shall not be required to meet on a predetermined schedule when there is no pending legislation, those things I just mentioned. That way it takes value of our time and know that we, you know, it meets when we need to meet based on these things and not meeting just because of the two months. Because sometimes you don't need to meet. Like right now we don't necessarily meet. I saw the meeting this morning about the peer cities, which I love that but we don't necessarily need a budget meeting right now you know so we don't want to force something when we don't need it that way it keeps our times you know together None assigned members. This is another concern. None assigned members attending a committee meeting may participate in discussion at the discretion of the committee chair but shall not vote at the meetings. That's the issue because each of us are duly elected and though the item will still roll out to the to the whole body, I believe all standing committee meetings shall be open to every duly elected member as it already was listed as of the council. Any duly elected council member may attend, participate in discussion, make motions, and vote on matters before the committee regardless of their assignment. That way everybody's voice is heard at that table. The participation and vote of those of duly elected council members present shall count toward the quorum and shall be included in the committee's vote. No council members shall be excluded from participation solely because that council member is not assigned to that committee. So the goal is to make sure that every council member gets a vote in every committee that they decide to participate in. you know everybody may not show up for you know depending on how we do the committees we may still do them out here you may do them a different day or whatever the case is but but based on who's there for that committee will determine that determine the quorum um the next one i mean that's neither here nor i mean you could decide on that or not um a quorum of three members required of just changing that over to be um A quorum of standing committee shall consist of a simple majority of the duly elected council members present at the meeting. Any duly elected council member participating in the meeting shall be counted toward the quorum and shall have the right to participate in discussion and vote matters. Kind of the same thing in the same space of what I just mentioned. A recommendation of passage with amendments or denial shall advance the item to the council's agenda. That recommendation of the amended language, a recommendation of passage with amendments or denial shall advance the item to the council agenda with the committee's recommendation attached. A committee recommendation is advisory and shall not prevent the full council from considering or voting upon the legislation. So that it still moves that recommendation is attached. And we can still, you know, decide what we want to do based on that, well, based on our own research. A recommendation of denial shall not constitute final action of the legislation. That's kind of just to kind of clean up a little bit or tighten up a little bit. The full council retains authority to approve, amend as we do, deny or otherwise dispose of the legislation in accordance with the city code. And, again, the last two deal with the utilization report. Just delete the paragraph if any committee held fewer than six meetings. We retain the utilization report because I think that is great. I think keeping up with what we're actually doing, what we're focused on, you know, that I really like that. Retain the utilization report, but clarify that meeting frequency alone is not a measure of committee effectiveness. So just because I meet a lot doesn't mean that I'm doing a lot. So committee effectiveness should be evaluated based upon timely consideration of referred legislation, quality of legislation, deliberation, departmental and stakeholder engagement, responsiveness to matters within its jurisdiction. and the extent to which committee work advances the legislation, the legislative business of the council. So that's kind of, I want to say, quantifying it as opposed to qualifying it. And then the last one deals with oversight. I saw that a lot in the language, and I didn't see a definition of it. So I wanted to share this, and really, for this, I really, really would like your feedback on this council. For the purpose of the rules of operation, and we will put this in here, legislative oversight means, the council's lawful review examination and evaluation of city programs policies expenditures legislation and the implementation and outcomes of laws and policies enacted by the council legislative oversight oversight may include receiving reports and departmental updates requesting information relevant to legislative matters reviewing performance measures and outcomes conducting hearings evaluating policy effectiveness and making legislative recommendations Legislative oversight shall not be construed to authorize the council or any standing committees who direct, supervise, manage, or otherwise perform the day-to-day administrative or operational functions of the mayor, city departments, officers, employees, or other executive functions except as expressly authorized by the city charter, state law, or ordinance. So those are the amendments, and I noted the ones that, you know, I got a little bit more clarity on so we don't have to, you know, i'm not submitting those but we'll love your feedback on those amendments um and and to see you know where y'all want to land on those thank you thank you mr chair thank you mr vice chair for this legislation we do have a few lights here and so we'll just go in the order in which they're cued councilwoman burrs you're recognized thank you mr chair and thank you councilwoman dotley for

submitting these amendments, I think it clarifies some things for me in addition. And the only thing that I have some additional questions about or would like to discuss is I still don't have a clear understanding of when the committees will meet, and I guess that will come, who's going to decide that? Will it be the chair of the committee? What determines that meeting schedule? And I also think we need to flesh out a little bit more what the additional responsibility of our council staff is going to be because i i see this is adding some additional responsibility to them and making sure that we're talking about the extra workload, what that estimated workload might be for staff when it comes to meeting minutes. And I imagine that these meetings are going to have to be public, so that's going to require meeting minutes. In addition, if we're having meetings outside of these regular Tuesday meetings. So I think we have to look a little bit closer at what that's going to entail. Other than that, I appreciate the the simplicity that you've given this. I think it's incorporated the changes that I feel address the substantive and better management of the committee structure that you referred to in your first proposal. So I support these. Thank you. Okay.

Please, Chair Elliott, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And Councilwoman Dotley, I really do appreciate you taking the time to provide your feedback on this. You know, as a council, we don't always disagree, but I think this is a great example of how we can work through what those issues are and try to find as common ground as much as possible. We won't always land on the same footing, but at least we're making sure that we're heard and we can work through those conversations. And same thing goes for you, Councilman Burrs. Councilman Burrs, I want to ask if this is okay, Mr. Chair. You had an additional point outside of additional responsibilities of council staff. Can I ask for that question? You're welcome.

Yeah, I think that was probably directed towards you, so that's fine.

I don't have a good sense of when you're talking about an annual utilization report, you have the additional meetings, which I imagine are going to be public. that's it's not just our time it's council staff time it's maybe um av assistance so i think when we finalize these rules i think we have to incorporate the other folks that are going to be involved because it's on top of what they're already doing on a day-to-day basis so I think we have to consider that as part of the plan. What's the capacity to meet what we're talking about, whatever the changes end up being? Because I agree that it's important for us to come up with some sort of report system so that we're able to evaluate what we are doing. And I'd like to build into that. what our our responsibilities are to that maybe there's a a certain level of reporting that we fill out that we submit to the clerk if you will if that's going to be the process so the clerk isn't 100 responsible for all of the reporting maybe i don't know but i think there's still a little bit of that that needs to be fleshed out okay um thank you councilman i'm going to start with this um

Start at a high level, then break it down. I first had this idea coming into council. I had a watching council from afar. I think I tossed this around to a couple of my colleagues on this idea. Before I even got inaugurated, Councilwoman Hill and I had talked about this. And she says, well, give it a minute. Let's fill it out first. Let's see what works and what doesn't. And even from my initial concept to now, it has evolved based on that experience. The reason I pushed this proposal is for a couple of ways, a couple of reasons. A, allows counsel to hone in on all of the functions of government that touches our legislative purview. without necessarily having to follow the buckets of departments, right? Because how we have it set up now, our committee structure directly mirrors that of the administration's departments. And, you know, that works, but it also misses a lot of things that touches our horizon. So how do you make sure that we as a council in these committees can capture all of the functions of government while also leaving a lot of space for the administration to set up their organizational chart however they need to see fit? Because even as we currently sit, there are some functions of government that we miss. currently we have no oversight when it comes to legislative oversight let me clarify that no legislative oversight when it comes to hr but this council is responsible for improving approving and amending the employee information guide that sits with hr but we have no measures to work through that properly technology services for example it has some of the largest expenditures that come out of this government and there's no legislative oversight but we approve those dollars every single week because they touch and they handle every single technology related issue for all departments across this enterprise there's no conversations with that to make sure that what we vote on as a council is actually properly been lived out right um Boards and commissions, while we as a council may not appoint every board position, we confirm every board position. And I have seen, since I've been on here, there are some things with our boards and commissions that just are not working well. There's no type of legislative oversight to make sure that these positions and these boards are working in the way that they're intended to best serve our community. So, A, it's the effectiveness to make sure we're capturing all of the roles of government. Secondly, the efficiency part of it. This council is a part-time board. Many of us have other jobs and other obligations. And in order to do this job well, it can be a lot at times, right? And for me, for example, I have... no issue if a group of my colleagues from point on a particular project or a subject matter that I trust them to do what's best for the city of Chattanooga and their districts and take that information back for the council as a whole to consider. I think this was on great display today at our strategic planning conversation. We have colleagues who are working on different pieces of legislation, and I'm excited to see what they bring forward. So I know it's going to benefit all of us. What Councilman Burrs is doing for vacant structures, that's going to benefit District 9 greatly. I, like many other people, have heard many complaints about vape shops popping up like weeds everywhere. That's going to be a great addition to my district as well, but the whole community. It allows us to build capacity. I don't need to attend every single class. committee meeting. If all nine of us attend every single committee meeting, that's not a committee at that point. That's the council as a whole meeting on each single issue. And it really just kind of debunks the whole definition of what a committee is. So that's the second piece. How do you expand our capacity for the work that allows us to certain folks to lean in on subject areas that they're really passionate about so they can help pick up those projects carried over the hump and presented ultimately to this full body um so that's why you see the structure broken down the way it is right And my thought was, hey, we didn't need all nine or 10 committees. How do we package in certain buckets, right? Because the way I have also seen the role of committee chairs, and I think I may have a different definition of this than others, I see the committee chair's job no more than just running this meeting. just like chairman davis does right and i know historically that may have looked differently for other people and i i understand and honor that's just a perspective i hold but there is one thing that uh stood out actually had leanne she brought this up to me first leon wilds and um councilman brought this up and i even had brother kevin muhammad he brought this up in some form of fashion you know how do you make sure that down the line each council person is um entitled to at least having representation on x amount of committees right and that change is in the proposals i presented today these council persons should be appointed to at least two uh standing committees also understanding that some of us don't always have the capacity to attend every single one of them But how I laid this out, it allows every single council person to attend any committee meeting that they want. And I do like something that Councilwoman Dottley presented that I think is a really great compromise. There's a language here that stood out to me. It's under, it's the second, excuse me, the fourth to the last bullet point she had, any duly elected city council member participating in the meeting shall be counted towards a quorum and shall have the right to participate in discussion and vote on matters before that committee, regardless of committee assignment. I think that's a great compromise, right? You may have a committee of three, And that standing committee member may not be able to make it for whatever reason. We have other obligations. We have other things we have to do for our district and the city. And another committee, a council person may be able to stand in and they can continue that work and meet that quorum. But the third reason I created these is to help us create some type of level of accountability, right? We have some committees that just have not met at all. or may have met once since I have been on this dais for this year, right? And there are plenty of issues that we as a council in our legislative purview could lean in to provide legislative insights on, right? And so the thought of it is how do we hold ourselves to a higher standard to making sure we're doing the work of the people? Now, the point of some of these rules, particularly asking us to meet every other month, that just means each committee will have to meet six times a year. And when I initially drafted that, I didn't think six meetings was a lot out of a 12-month period, and it provides some flexibility. But also, I want to be honest, I can't make anyone on this dais do anything. I cannot make a committee chair hold a meeting. I cannot make a council person show up to work. It is up to them to say how they're going to show up in their duly elected role. That's their purview. I think the only thing was to help us create a standard that we can hopefully achieve. And when I looked at this, I didn't think six meetings a year was too much. I am opening the hearing more. But I believe each one of these committees as they stand, or even if they alter, there's enough work that happened in these departments that will warrant plenty of work on behalf of these committees to fill six meetings a year, in my opinion. Now, one thing that I really, really probably appreciate more than anything else is this definition of legislative oversight. And I support this one wholeheartedly, because there's been a lot of confusion about what does it mean to provide legislative oversight. Me, and this is just me as a legislator, if I vote on any expenditure any budget, any policy, any program, anything that requires my vote, it is my obligation as a legislator to make sure that those things live out the way that we intended. And sometimes they don't. And that's okay. I don't think people are malicious about it. We receive audit reports that show that sometimes they don't live out the way we intend. And if we don't, by happenstance, receive an audit report or it somehow stumbles its way into the public, oftentimes we don't know what's happening. And that is the intent of our government is to provide checks and balances. not to instruct the administration on how to do their day-to-day jobs, but to make sure that we're showing up the best version of ourselves for Chattanooga and our communities every single day. And more importantly, that we're good stewards of the dollars they have entrusted us to oversee. That's it. And I think this definition draws those lines clearly, and I hope it provides clarity to everybody on this dais and everybody we work with what it actually means to provide legislative oversight. So those are my high-level thoughts on this. That is my intent for this piece of legislation. I know it is a big haul and a big overhaul for this council, but I truly believe it would make us better for it on the back end and make us better representatives for the people we stepped up and served so i'll um those are some of the points that i really can definitely support out of some of these amendments i am open to others just because i didn't mention everything does not mean i'm closed off to everything but i'm open to others but that's that's where i stand thank you mr chair councilwoman hill you're recognized thank you

So, Councilwoman Dottley, thank you for providing an itemized list of your suggested amendments to this item. As I've looked at this proposal, the thing that has been important to me is improving meaningful participation in council work. And actually today I just happened upon, I was looking at my drafts folder. I don't know if y'all get stuff stuck in there sometimes. But I had a draft email that I wrote to myself as like a little to-do list from the 15th of July last year saying, examine ways to make committee work more meaningful. And it's just interesting that we had spoken about it when Councilman Elliott was elected before he was sworn in. We talked about it then. You know, I had it on my mind a little more than a year ago. I'm glad we're at this point where we're considering it. And it's been interesting to witness the dialogue and some of the concerns. I have the red line from you, Councilman Elliott, and then I have the the chart from Councilwoman Dottley. So, as I look at those, the key thing that I see is that item one on Councilwoman Dottley's about each, everyone should be appointed and no fewer. So, Councilwoman Dottley, you said that your first item isn't one you want us to consider. Okay. All right, I'm going to mark that out. Okay. So, because we got a checkmark by that. Okay. Standing committees... I was hearing what you were saying about six. And you also talked a lot about people having more work to do. And I wonder, is nine the right number or is eight the right number versus six? It's not a hill I'm going to die on, but I do think nine makes it a little tricky. And I... not sure what i would suggest necessarily about collapsing them based on the breakout that you've done but i could see even though they're in different departments i do see that housing and planning and zoning are a nice match in that we know as a council that a lot of the way forward about um how we use our land is is part of how we make our housing policy so um that would if anybody was looking for a suggestion to go to eight that that might be one but i also could see um potentially education and community development collapsing into a single committee because community development carries so much of our youth work and we do education for the most part in the early learning space. Though obviously we have things in Hamilton County Public Schools as well. So just some thoughts there. As for the timing of the meetings, Honestly, when you were saying it was too many meetings, I thought maybe you were thinking it was every two weeks. Like to me, every six a year, every other month feels like a cadence that if we really want to do meaningful work in any of these spaces, there's plenty to keep us busy over six months. And I'll give an example of something like in economic development. we want to look again at our TIF and our pilot policies. That's something that, you know, we refined over the course of the last few years. We know we need to look at it again. We're always learning. And what I have noticed in our current committee structure is that, and this will go to the thoughts about the quorum, is that when everyone is assigned, no one is assigned. And, and so again, So I think there's plenty of work across either six, eight, nine committees. I think there's plenty of really meaningful work to be done, not busy work, meaningful work to be done. And I think that work is better done when we are in a situation sitting around our conference table, digging in on something. You know, today, talking about the... the benchmark cities that we might choose. What I recognize in that conversation is we still need some clarity on what do we really wanna count as to who's a city like us? How do we decide what our markers are for what our aspirations are? How do we wanna incorporate that into, how does administration feel comfortable incorporating that into what they do in their departments? In my opinion, none of those things are done well with a committee of nine around a dais. I find that when you've got people who come to a meeting ready to work on that one thing, you get better work done. One of my truisms is that at any meeting, 20% of the people will be prepared and 100% of people will have an opinion. just from my board work everywhere. So I think if we have a smaller group who has expressed interest, I mean, I personally don't think a chair should assign committees just willy-nilly, but based on the interest of the council people, that those folks working together we'll be able to move things forward um and and bring us better ideas than we would have if we're just like committee-ified you know group think something at a table and try to come up with a decision based on an agenda where we have three minutes left right um because i if i'm here i want to do really good work um and and i think that's what people of chattanooga deserve and i think that's what we all want to do is really good work and you can't do it in a dice like this you're you're just never going to get very far so um And honestly, I don't think Chris Acuff should get to be the one who decides what our benchmark cities are, right? Like we look to him, but if we're only group thinking it, then what we end up with is a consultant saying, okay, here's what you should do. And us being like, well, okay, you know, we've, we only had 15 minutes, so let's move on. And, and yeah. we're really smart folks like we we can make good decisions that will put us on a path as a city in a meaningful way so to that end i am concerned about the quorum piece because i mean absolutely anybody on council can and should go to any meeting that they want to and participate um and and share their opinions But if we are trying to use our committees in such a way that they actually are identifying goals, working toward meeting those goals and creating deliverables for the people of Chattanooga, I think there needs to be an understanding of responsibility. And so if there are three people assigned to a committee or five people assigned to a committee, it should be a priority to be there, but also What I wouldn't want to have happen is that a quorum can be represented by one person. Again, if everybody can be part of the quorum, then the quorum can be one person, because if any elected member of the city council is there. And because of the way that our structure works, that something will be discussed in committee, much in the way that we look to the planning commission to talk about cases and make a recommendation and then we come together and we review cases and we're able to ask our questions by no means does it limit um any council person's ability to participate in those discussions i mean i can't go to planning commission and vote council members has a vote on count on planning commission um but But if planning commission were constantly evolving by who was sitting there and how prepared or unprepared they were for that meeting, and a quorum was constantly changing, I just don't think that would be good for them. And I don't think that it would be good for us. I think we set an expectation. I personally think to Councilwoman Burr's question about scheduling, I mean, my first thought of any kind of committee is if I'm the committee chair, I'm gonna try to make it on a Tuesday. you know, I mean, and with only six meetings a year and you're kind of planning an hourly block, I'm sure that, um, our clerk could help us do that without overlapping. Um, and you know, if it can't be on a Tuesday, that, that does get more, more difficult and potentially could add work, um, for our staff, but it's work that they are, they, they are, that whole office is designed to support this type of record keeping. Um, So the quorum thing, I couldn't really support at this point unless the conversation moves me forward. The other thing I would add is, when I first read these proposed committees, there is a lot of things that fall under those committees. And something that makes me feel glad, I would say, is that, I don't know about you guys, but when I was elected, I didn't know everything. I still don't know everything. And yet when you're a committee chair, you're kind of expected to become the expert on that thing. because we're a committee of nine and if no one is in charge everybody's is you know so you're expected to be the one that i was education and innovation thanks chairman for giving me that one i was like okay now i'm gonna learn all about three one one you know um and i did but like thinking about um some of these as as larger buckets but also with multiple people assigned you have a bigger bucket but you have more people to carry the water And you don't have to be a subject matter expert on everything. You can work together and also learn about other things that maybe you wouldn't have before. it could be, you know, as a new council person, I know that I always thought, gosh, I'd love to get to be the chair of economic development one day, because that was something I didn't know a lot about, I wanted to get to learn it. And to be able to be on a committee and learn that without being chair, but be closer to what's happening, I think could be very useful in terms of leadership development on council. So those are my thoughts. And I'm glad that we have meaningful things to talk about today. Thank you.

right councilwoman noel you're recognized thank you mr chair thank you councilwoman dotley for your proposed amendments um i agree to the changes that you have made because it gives us the right to vote for our district when you take three individuals and put them on a committee and they are the ones that make the decision for my district your district or anyone else not knowing anything about what you need to know about my district in reference to. To say that you can attend a meeting but not have an opportunity to voice your opinion or to vote, that's useless. What is the purpose of being there if you can't vote? When we were elected for these seats, we were voted in these seats. no one took their votes from the individuals that voted us to put us in this seat so to say that um the chair or whomever or vice chair would make the decision of those three individuals that would make the decision for each district is um unacceptable for to me i couldn't go along with that um taking anyone's vote away from them to do anything uh is unacceptable mean i encourage people to vote all the time but then to limit my ability to vote and deny me the opportunity to speak for my constituents enforce my opinion is uh unacceptable for me as well and like um vice chair said everybody's grown can't nobody make anybody do anything and i've already forced that more than once um no one can tell you what to do but I will say the fact that your amendment does give us the right to vote. six eight nine i mean i don't understand it's nine now what is the purpose of having eight versus nine i don't get that the purpose of having six versus eight other than once again to take away that ability for that person to speak for their district or for whatever the issue might be so um i support the amendments I definitely could not support the fact that the chair gets to decide what three individual can make the decision on those, whatever is being made. I can't go along with that because once again, it's taken away from. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Councilwoman Burrs, you're recognized.

Mr. Chair, there may be others who have not spoken yet, and I'll yield my time to them first.

There wasn't, but now there is. I see Councilman Henderson who's not spoken, so I'll make my way around. Councilman Henderson, you're right. Maybe. All right. Let me keep hitting buttons. There we go.

Keep pushing buttons. That's right. Thank you, Councilman Elliott, for bringing this forward. one of the things that i've always felt like since i've been on the council that these our committee our current committee structure has always been clunky to me i mean it just committees of the whole didn't make a lot of sense and to be honest i never i never wanted to put that much energy in into trying to change it and i appreciate you putting the energy uh forward to to try to make this better i support the proposal as you've presented it right here i don't know if you're considering other amendments but i'm ready to vote on this tonight

council members back to you okay thank thank you mr chair um you know i appreciate everybody's comments because i think that we're i feel like we're so much closer than we were several weeks ago and it's interesting when we had our strategic planning meeting today how these these three initiatives came out of our conversations that i could totally see going to these various work groups if you will that almost mirror what we're talking about expanding our committee meetings and into these three initiatives that we've talked about so i feel like we're we're so much closer i still have i think the things that um that i would like to see incorporated into this proposal in addition to i'm not going to get super heartburn about narrowing down the committees i think we should keep the committees that we have because i do i do think there's plenty of work to do under each topic And whether we combine planning and zoning and housing together, I see the benefit to that. I could also see housing being its own entity and planning and zoning. So I could go either way with that. But I'd like to recommend that wherever we end with this, that as a as a chairperson for me having a plan of work that i submit that kind of gives the committee members an idea of what they can expect as they're serving on that committee whether it's going to be six meetings or what are the things that we're going to be focusing on i mean we had three topics today that we could all walk out of here today and schedule three different meetings for those of us that want to pay more or put more attention into those three topics so It's almost like what you've talked about doing evolved. We saw an example of how it can evolve just out of legislation that the three of us, that three different entities brought forward that I'd almost like to see how that pans out versus totally changing the committee structure because I feel like we did some sort of committee structure today by saying there's these three topics that we want to explore. So I'm I'm still of the mindset that I don't think we need to throw the baby out with the bathwater, that we have good committees. It's just a matter of setting some expectations for those committees and finding out, like we did today, where people's interests lie. So thank you, Mr. Chair. That's all that I have to say.

Councilman Clark, you're recognized. Thank you, Chairman Davis. Councilman Elliott, because I'm on the same line with Councilman Henderson, I do support your proposal as is, and I'm open-minded to some of the suggestions. I do want to go to Councilwoman Dotley's proposed amendment as it relates to the language and the definition of oversight. I can think back towards my time in Schoolhouse Rock when we are taught the difference between the legislative and the executive branch. And I didn't think we had to define them because I thought it was just kind of one of those things that was just understood that the purpose of our when we were elected and understanding that we were not that we were not the chief executive. It's the mayor who's the chief executive, the legislative branch, Clearly is defined not only in our Constitution of our country, but just in our oath of office That the legislative branch is a check and balance to the executive branch That we can review we can evaluate we can monitor. Those are some of the functions of The legislative oversight. I think we have gotten really really caught up on this word oversight and and maybe being confused with our jobs as council because I don't want to do the day-to-day operation of the supervision of the city. We cannot. None of those people in the back report directly to us. We do not have the legal capacity or the charter constitutional capacity to fire, hire, direct, to do any of that. So I do like the definition. I'm not opposed to that being in there. But one of the things that's missing that I think is key to our legislative... authority. There's one word and that's accountability. you know, to review, to evaluate. This definition, by the way, is spot on, I think, about what our legislative purposes should be. But, you know, part of what we also have to do when we evaluate, question, monitor, review, request reports is if there's like per se an audit that comes back and we find that there's maybe fraud, waste, and abuse. We hold the exact, our constituents expect us to hold the legislative branch responsible um accountable that word is missing in that definition for me and i'm not opposed to that because i i you can define oversight through multiple ways but i think through definition i wonder if that puts us kind of like in a cage and if it's necessary to put that into the proposal i'd be curious to know councilman elliott's thoughts on that but i do want to be open-minded to this i think um amendments have some reasoning to it i do want to go to the proposed six standing committees because i don't think it has anything to do with the number per se like if it was two committees or three committees i wanted to focus on what the purpose of this is the purpose is not to make sure everybody is chair it's not to make sure that we're condensing things It is for efficiency. Like when we combine things, from my understanding, when you were elected Councilman, Vice Chairman Elliott, I remember having this conversation with you. You were trying to streamline the process to make it a little bit better so that everybody could do more work. And for the public, actually, for us to lean in more, you know, we hear from the public a lot that they would like for us to do more substantive dialogue and committee. meaning the public can come to things other than strategic planning. I hate the fact that we push everything in strategic planning. I think we should do committee meetings at 6 o'clock on Tuesday so that the general public can come and hear us deliberate legally, right? Because we got sued. But for us to deliberate legally about things that concern them, like homelessness, they were like the committee idea, right? is not to silence a voice because you still get a vote one voice one vote after this goes to committee because that's the definition of committee it still has to come through the legal process to this diets like if i never attend a committee i almost want to do this as an experiment like not take a committee not go to a committee meeting and i guarantee you i will still submit the exact same amount of legislation on this diets because the council rules have not changed is that any council member, because everybody likes to say who can and tell you what to do and what you cannot do. You're right. We don't like to do that. I personally do not have children. You still can, with one council person, if you never attend another committee meeting in your life or chair one, you can still get with another colleague and bring it to the dais. And before we vote on it, per Robert's Rules of Order, you can still discuss it, but you still get one vote, one voice. in that process so i might experiment and never come to a committee meeting and see if that still works because i don't believe my district will not ever have a voice if i never go to a committee meeting again because i'm going to sit on this dais and i'm going to vote because everything that comes in or out of committee still got to come right here and you still get one vote and in this america it's the majority still rules there's you know five or six or whatever So I just, I want us to stay focused on the fact that the committee structure was not designed to silence, to dilute someone's voice, to take, I hear all of those statements and it is concerning for me as a person who champions the right to vote, right? Like, of course I don't want to take away your right to vote. I don't want you to take away my right to vote or my district's voice by your voice. The council rules are still the council rules. If you attend a committee meeting or not, you can still partner with your colleague to bring any legislation. The committee is just an opportunity for us to go a little deeper. That's all. And you have the choice to go as deep as you want. Elections happen every four years. Your people get to decide if you went deep enough. For me, I would like more time to sit down in a legal way in the public to really hash out more legislation. I would love to see more legislation come out of this council on multiple things, because as we see from audits, as we continue to work with the legislative branch on bulk or brush pickups, there are some policy things that we really need to hash out. And it's very difficult to do it sometimes in this nine member executive business meeting because this is the business meeting right and so anyway so councilman elliott or vice chairman elliott i'd be curious to know if you could share this with your colleague i don't know who's up next but what portions of the amendment are you comfortable um i know there was You know, let me just say for the record, the standing committee structures, I'm okay with how those are. I am not opposed to the definition of oversight being included in that. I think that's important. But that's probably about the only other portions of this amendment I would support. And I'd be curious to know, just through your leadership, because it is your legislation, if you could give some guidance to where you are leaning in support so we can move the discussion on and be prepared to vote after the recess. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Okay. Thank you. Councilwoman Dotley, you're recognized.

Thanks so much, Mr. Chair. And thank you all so much for your comments, which is what I was hoping to get some feedback from you all about what you all thought about it and everything. So just circling back to Councilwoman Hill and combining those. Those committees, I think housing planning zone and affordable housing is fine, or education and community development is fine. However, whichever we land on, I don't mind getting something to feel for that as an amendment. for councilman clark you made a very valid point for the legislative oversight in regards to the accountability piece and that is not in here so uh if you can give me uh till we come back from recess then i can get to add that in there um so because i didn't didn't think about that one for there and i guess at the end of the day i'm not dying on the hill for committees okay so where i land on this is just where i land i'm okay with You know, changing the number of committees. I do, of course, I do believe like some departments are just bigger departments. They just have a lot going on. So I do kind of stand by community development being its own separate one. And as the current chair of that, given the work that we are doing, it is quite extensive. That does need to stand on its own. uh adding education i think would be fine given that like for instance james a hearing center is going to have the head start in it you know what i mean so that's there um and then the the ideal around the planning housing is fine um the other pieces of it again It's a councilman Clark's point, you know, we can we still go have the vote at the end of the day Well, it's coming out or whatever. So like I said, I'm not dying on on the hill for this something to you that right now but did still want to make note of that but those those two things making sure that we have some of those committees broken out with the larger departments as well as the legislative oversight definition there is important I do again like the utilization report not a fan of a bunch of meetings it fixes a lot but that's fine again not dying for this uh so those are those are the ones so those two if uh the council is amenable to that um if I could just go ahead and get that add that accountability to that and then um look at those committees and just whichever two y'all, I mean, if y'all okay with combining, I think the housing plan, housing was already there and then education and community development. That's fine. The rest of those, it's just, it is what it is. But those will be the two that I would look to add as an amendment is the legislative oversight with the accountability and then those, the committee ones. okay so that's it uh mr chair and council thank you so much for the conversation it is greatly appreciated as i was drafting this i wasn't sure you know where what was landing um so i just do appreciate you all for that so thank you so much

We have Councilman Clark.

Can I yield to Councilman Elliott? Are you on the board?

I was just going to come around to him at last because I know a lot of questions were directed to him.

I wanted to offer a compromise in an area before you speak, if that's okay. Going back to the amount of times that we meet. Right now, we mean quarterly. That is how many times a year? And, you know, I understand that six, depending on the workload of departments, might seem, you know, alive. And I'd be curious if you would be open by utilizing the language at least quarterly, which is four, but not limited to. Do you know what I'm saying? I am open to that. For me, I could do six, but what I can do doesn't mean that if somebody else cannot do it, it does not mean that there's something wrong with that. But I do believe that your intent, and I want to make sure that people understand the intent and purpose of you setting a time, was so that committees who were not meeting we're actually meeting so that we could have some oversight discussion in that that manner so i'd be curious to know um and i'll go back to you vice chairman elliott in that regard to councilwoman dotley's point would you be uh open to amending that to at least quarterly meetings which means as a committee chair you could host as many as you like what this language says is at least For at least once a quarter and if you're one of those very ambitious people you can when I was the com dev I met every month on purpose You know, so and that might not be amenable, you know for most people But that was what I thought was needed at that time. I think I think again your purpose is to create an at least That you are meeting enough times to discuss some of the matters at hand. So I would like to um to Councilwoman Dotley's amendment to kind of meet in the middle a little bit as a compromise to amend that language. I'm okay with the six, but I'd be curious to know what your thoughts are about quarterly, at least quarterly, but not limiting a council person's ability to have six or seven meetings a year. So anyway, that's all. Okay.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Colleagues, I do appreciate you guys for leading on this conversation. It went so much better than last time. I appreciate y'all. Councilman Burns, I want to start with you and a couple of your points. YOU ASKED EARLIER ABOUT ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF COUNCIL STAFF. THE THOUGHT BEHIND THIS WAS IT WOULD BE THE SAME LEVEL RESPONSIBILITY AS IF ALL EIGHT OR NINE OF OUR CURRENT COMMITTEES REGULARLY MET. So at any moment, if these rules didn't change, then every committee chair just start calling meetings every single week. And for every Tuesday, it's the same workload. It's the flexibility that this office has to meet the needs of where we are currently. So it's really not changing a lot. It's just setting a different cadence. One that hopefully can be a little bit better for the staff so they can anticipate what their workload could look like down the line instead of them having a little bit more sporadic. That's the first point. The next point you had, how do you schedule... these meetings the intent was that these committees the committee chair and the committee members would decide times and dates that work for them right they don't need to be standing that's the that's one of the perks of spraying the workload out So people can figure out based on their schedules. If it's just three people on there, the three standing committee members say, hey, this is the time we meet. And if other council people want to join, that's great. And if you want to join that committee as an official member, you can do that, too. Right. You can you can have as many folks you want on that committee. That gives you that flexibility. So that's the second point I wanted to capture. uh answering the question earlier for some of the things i'm i can i'm looking to support from these amendments the first i am okay supporting this piece about the quorum uh piece i read it earlier i can read it again i'm willing to compromise on this any duly elected council member participating in meeting in the meeting shall be counted towards a quorum and shall have a right to participate in discussion vote on matters before the committee regardless of committee assignment that part i can support what you have suggested that's your fourth item from the top it's not the entire paragraph from the bottom excuse me it's not the entire one it's that middle chunk councilwoman noel i think this will also help clarify some of your concerns a little bit more, but I want to specify that these committees, if they're hearing items of legislation, they do not vote on whether something becomes law or actually passes. They will leave committee if it is required with a favorable or unfavorable recommendation or even amendments for the entire council to consider. Every single thing that goes before a committee that requires a vote will only be decided ultimately by the nine people duly elected on this council by all nine districts representing the City of Chattanooga City Council. Things do not live and die in committee. I want to specify that. So that was intentional. So we are not limiting people's votes and voices, but hopefully with the ability for all council members to plug into any committee that they want and all of these items come to the full council, it will hopefully eliminate concerns that it eliminates anybody's voice. That's the goal. The second piece is the legislative oversight. That piece I'm definitely looking to support. And I think it does make sense if we break up the community and break off community and economic, excuse me, community development education having their own committee. That makes sense for me. Economic and community development as it stands is a heavy load of a committee. As it stands, it does. work more if you pull it off that is something i can support councilman clark i am open and comfortable if you move it to quarterly there just needs to be some type of baseline that these committees are working that's my only thing and let me say this again there's a baseline on paper you can't make nobody do anything can't make nobody like that's that's something you got to take up between you and your 20 Some thousand constituents, whether how you ever you show up to do your job, I think by monthly work. But if somebody presents an amendment for quarterly, I'm fine with that, too. And so that is that's all I got. And real quick for you, switch off. And Councilwoman Diley, if you need help plugging up any of these for prepare for amendments, we can, yeah, yeah.

Councilwoman Burrs.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Vice Chair. I appreciate the response. I think in regards to the staff and to Councilman Henderson's point, when When he talked about the fact that the committees have never really operated to the full extent that maybe there was an intention, then I think this is going to change the staff's workload. So while I'm not opposed to asking them or having them be part of this because they have to be, I think we need to bring them into the conversation and make sure that we're considering them as part of that workload because if three of us decide to meet on a Tuesday, starting at 9 o'clock in the morning and they're preparing for our afternoon meetings, then I think that has to be taken into consideration with the stuff that they're already doing on a Tuesday. So that's – I don't think that it's not their responsibility because it's their expectation to support our work. I just hope that we will bring them into the conversation and not just make decisions without including them because I think it is a consideration that we listen to what their workload is on a Tuesday or another day so that – So they can be part of the process. And then I'll go back to also the recommendation that we submit some sort of plan of work at the beginning of each year so that everybody has an idea of what the meeting schedule is going to be like, whether it's going to be quarterly or that chair anticipates that there might be more of a workload based on what that group plans to do for that year. So thank you. I appreciate all the feedback. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Councilman Henderson, you're recognized.

So while we're building this in the air, this plane in the air, I don't know if we're going to present an alternate version at a later time or what. If we're going to state that any council person showing up to a meeting constitutes as a quorum, in other words we're starting out with three committee members like here we know a quorum is five for us because we have nine committee members if we're going to establish that every council person that shows up to a committee meeting constitutes a quorum at what point will we constitute a quorum it will it be at when we start the meeting will it be at when we you know ask for the motion to the minutes i mean at some point i think the chairperson if we're going to go down that road the chairperson is going to have to declare we have i don't know seven members present and five will be the the majority or you know whatever the quorum is there's always the you determine your majority by the quorum correct so if if IF OUR QUORUM IS GOING TO CHANGE BY WHOEVER SHOWS UP, AND WHAT IF SOMEBODY SHOWS UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MEETING, DO THEY NOW CONSTITUTE PART OF THAT QUORUM? AND AS A VOTING MEMBER? SO I THINK WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IF WE'RE GOING TO DO IT THAT WAY, WHAT'S GOING TO BE THE RULES AROUND DECIDING WHAT A QUORUM IS AND AT WHAT POINT THEY CAN VOTE AND ALL THAT.

just something to think about if we're going to start changing this as we as we go through here okay and vice chair elliott you're recognized thank you councilman i have an answer for that let's have a scenario let's say you're chairing the budget committee and on that committee is you councilman harvey and councilman noel right let's say councilman harvey cannot make it right and the floor is a good you have to have at least a quorum of three so it's a start right councilman harvey can't make it but this week you're you're talking about the the expenditures and technology services or how we're looking on budgets whatever you want to hold your hearing on right and councilwoman burr says hey i intend on attending this committee we got your quorum Right. You can not vote on things when you don't have a quorum. So you're correct. You cannot feel tell me if I'm wrong. You cannot approve the meetings. You cannot provide any recommendation for anything. But if you're holding a hearing to be heard on certain items, you can still have that meeting because it was publicly noticed. You just may not be able to cast a vote on anything. Am I wrong?

Normally, if you don't have a quorum, you can't vote on any item in the meeting and you have to adjourn and come back. That's the problem.

but you can still meet, but you just can't vote, correct?

Well, under Robert's rules, it's supposed to have a quorum of the body that's going to be there.

To even meet? Yes, sir. Okay, well, that's our answer on that, right? But in this case, when Councilman Harvey can make it and Councilman Burrs does attend, you now have a quorum that can meet, and she can participate in this committee. She can vote on if that item needs a vote, favorable or whatnot, she can vote on the minutes, right? We've almost had this happen before, even on this council, where we've almost didn't have a quorum, right? And if somebody leaves for emergency or whatnot, or somebody comes in, you all of a sudden have a quorum, there you go, right? It provides the flexibility, right? AND I THINK TRYING TO COMPROMISE WITH CONCERNS, IT ALSO GIVES THAT FLEXIBILITY AND HOPEFULLY CLOSES DOWN ON SOME OF THOSE CONCERNS OF EXCLUSION.

NEW SPEAKER I'M CONCERNED ABOUT HAVING MORE THAN THREE MEMBERS PRESENT AND THAT CHANGES THE QUORUM.

So let's say you have a committee that has three members on it or four members. Let's say you have four members on the committee and the quorum is three. If you have more people than needed, you've exceeded your threshold for the quorum. Everything else is just extra.

But you have established a new majority.

Yes, but I believe the language says in the rules that things go forth with a majority. So you're correct. Yes. So if the quorum changes, that majority also does change, but it's still captured in the rules because it says it goes forward.

At what time will you determine the quorum? When you open the meeting? When do we determine quorum now? Normally when you open the meeting. All right.

There we go.

And I guess my point is, does the chair then state what the quorum is so that they will then know what the majority vote is? You follow what I'm saying?

I see that. And if you need to put that in writing, we can. But I also think it gives some flexibility.

I'm just saying, we're changing what you proposed. And I think if we do that and we go to this, every member that shows up is going to be part of the quorum. And what if somebody shows up 10 minutes late and they want to be part of that quorum?

If it's before a voting item, I think it's appropriate. Well, I don't. That's my opinion. And if you want to make an amendment for it, let's do it. Because this is your complaint, and I want to make sure I'm hearing your issue just like everybody else.

I'm just saying we're changing your original proposal and increasing the quorum.

So I'm going to say this, Counselor. If you have a suggested amendment, I would love to hear it.

I just think we need to fix... the issue that we could run into by having these quorums not set.

HELP ME CREATE THE SUGGESTED AMENDMENT.

YEAH. THANK YOU, CHAIRMAN DAVIS. I THINK TO CHAIRMAN PENDERSON'S POINT IS THAT YOU HAVE DEVIATED AWAY FROM THERE IS NO AMENDMENT OTHER THAN we would like to support it as is. Because if we do not, to his point, how do we determine quorum based off who comes in, if they come in late? And so if we are going to pass this tonight, my preference is for us to make these adjustments during the recess or whenever and to, because it's only, we are voting on it tonight, is that correct, with or without the amendments?

I don't know if there's a deferral. I don't know.

But I do want to go on the record and say to his point that, you know, I support the quorum as is. I think there needs to be an established threshold. I'll say that to my colleagues. Because if we offer an amendment to that, I think it creates this Pandora's box that Councilman Henderson is speaking of. So my intent tonight is to only vote for the amendment as it relates to the definition of the purpose of the Rules of Operations. And I need another clarity because you were kind of reading it too fast, Councilman, Vice Chairman Elliott. WHAT WERE THE COMMITTEES THAT YOU WERE JUST SORRY, WE'RE FLIPPING PAGES. WHAT WERE THE COMMITTEES THAT YOU WERE AMENDABLE TO IN THE DOTLEY AMENDMENT?

ALL OF THE COMMITTEES THAT CURRENTLY EXIST WITH THE CHANGE OF CREATING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AS A STANDING COMMITTEE, AND I AM OKAY WITH CREATING COMMUNITY AND EDUCATION

So as it relates to the Dotley Amendment, you are saying that the standing, her recommendations are for budget and finance, planning and zoning, economic development and community development. So you're only saying of what she's proposing, you would only accept separating economic and community development.

Correct. Is that correct? Everything else will remain the same. Okay. So to clarify, it would also be planning, zoning and housing will remain the same in the proposal. And economic and community development will be split from economic to economic development and community development education.

I'm trying to clarify because we're a little confused based on what she's amending and what you're recommending. We want to be respectful of that. So now you're saying that of and I'm so sorry, Chairman Davis to go out of work kind of open mic now I would assume You are amendable to separate economic and community development, which will leave us at seven committee total.

I am open to amending it. I'm also open to it staying the same, too. Okay. Well, we're just having a dialogue to see what we... But I am open to the amendments for compromise.

Gotcha. I guess. All right. I just want to be clear of what that is out of respect as the original author of the legislation. Okay? So, all right. That's all, Chairman Davis.

Yes. Vice Chairman Elliott. So, I'll say this. You know... I CAME INTO THIS PIECE VERY OPEN TO COMPROMISE AND SUGGESTIONS, AND I APPRECIATE COUNCILMEMBER DOTLEY AND COUNCILMEMBER BURR, COUNCILMEMBER HILL, EVERYBODY, COUNCILMEMBER HENDERSON, I APPRECIATE EVERYBODY PROVIDING YOUR INPUT. I THINK ULTIMATELY WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IS WHATEVER SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS PEOPLE PROPOSED TONIGHT, THEY GO UP FOR A VOTE. IF THEY PASS, GREAT. if they fail so be it but i think this uh topic has gone on for some time and i think this is a great time to land on it to move on and see how we continue on as a council yeah and that's it okay right the rest of the agenda

I DO WANT TO SAY, COUNCIL, BEFORE WE MOVE ON, I THINK IT'S BEEN TIME VERY WELL SPENT, AND I WANT TO JUST THANK EVERYBODY UP AND DOWN THE DIAS, NOT ONLY FOR WHAT YOU'VE SAID, BUT FOR THE WAY THAT WE'VE TALKED TO EACH OTHER TONIGHT. THAT'S THE WAY WE SHOULD DO OUR WORK, AND IT'S VERY ENCOURAGING. AS VICE CHAIR ELLIOTT SAID, IT WENT BETTER THAN LAST TIME, TO SAY THE LEAST. MUCH APPRECIATED. ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON ANY OTHER AGENDA ITEMS ON TONIGHT'S Agenda Council. All right. I don't see any lights, and so we will move on to next week's proposed agenda items. And please hit your lights if you have any questions. Councilwoman Hill, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Under Resolutions Item B for next week, the applicant and the RPA team, our LDO team, have worked together to clarify the the issues. So a new version of this will be coming will be announced on the public agenda on Friday. It's a very small change. As we will see it, it will seem small, but it's important that it be in there. But we're going to have it as a new version. And that'll be there for voting next week. Thank you.

Council any other questions or comments about next week's agenda items? WE'LL LOOK THEN AT OUR PURCHASES UP FOR APPROVAL THIS EVENING. PLEASE HIT YOUR LIGHTS IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS. AND SEEING NO LIGHTS, WE WILL TURN THEN TO FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS. COUNCILWOMAN HILL, YOU'RE RECOGNIZED.

Yeah, I have a question about item 1a under economic development. This is a grant that we are applying for for a build out of the health clinic on the west side. It's going to, it says in the explanatory note that it's a, the match will come from a James A. Henry earmark. So my question is, who is going to run this clinic? Will we have an MOU for management of the clinic? And then who will be eligible to receive care in this clinic?

Thank you. I'm Richard Bielanek, Administrator for Economic Development. The clinic will be run by Erlanger Community Health Center.

Erlanger, okay.

and uh will it be open to anyone other yes that is my assumption that it will be but i'll confirm that for you okay well i just want to know who it's like so it'll be an erlinger clinic just a clinic in the area that's right like any other erlinger clinic that's that's what i'm thinking but i'll confirm that okay that's really cool all right so we're building it and we're just providing a space for there to be a clinic and then somebody will run the clinic that's right erlinger will run it and there will be a lease they will actually lease the space in the building from the city

Okay, that could be a terrific, a terrific model. Thank you. And that is, well, Mr. Chair, I would, another item, these Office of the City Attorney, the several that we need to re-approve, I would ask that we consider when the time comes doing that as some type of consent agenda or taking them as a package.

That's all.

Thank you very much, sir.

We will take them as a package indeed. And I've also spoken with the city attorney just briefly about in the future when these come up and we're appointing special police officers, if there's a way that we could rather than tying it to a specific job title in a specific department, just making it a general appointment. and in the course of their city duties um and he's he'll advise us if that's legal to do going forward but that might be um so that we don't encounter this situation again okay terrific thank you sure all right um vice chair elliott you're recognized thank you mr chair i have the same concern as um

Councilwoman Hill, when it comes to these code enforcement pieces, I think to spare Nicole, if we can figure out how we can procedurally do a consent agenda and just read all of this into the record and for context for people who don't know what we're looking at. Because code enforcement has been moved under public works all inspectors who previously had a special police commissions prior to that move has to be reapproved by City Council to get those special police commission so it's pretty much a procedural thing that we have to do to mirror organizational shift And so all these folks currently have it. We just have to make sure they have it again. So if we can spare Nicole and read it in the record and put it on the consent calendar, I would appreciate it. We can sure we can talk about how we do that offline. Sure.

Councilman Clark, you recognize Chairman Davis. I've got a question for Public Works as it relates to the archives upgrade. Is that to the. that is to the downtown library on the third floor that upgrade in the amount of 369 000 authorized content so it comes so there's a contingency of 37 000 but 369 000 with a total what so this is to create a special type of room like is there it's the roberts I GUESS THE ROBERTS LLC COMPANY, WHAT IS THE BUILD OUT ON THAT, KEVIN, AS FAR AS THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF, I GUESS MY QUESTION REALLY IS WHY IS THAT SO EXPENSIVE FOR, IS THIS FOR THE WHOLE ENTIRE FLOOR OF THE THIRD?

NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN. IT'S ACTUALLY A LIBRARY ISSUE, IT'S NOT PUBLIC WORKS. WILL, CAN YOU SPEAK TO IT, PLEASE? And I said public works because it's listed under public works. That's a mistake. It's a library.

Okay, gotcha. I mean, I know it's a library, but Will, can you give me a little bit more details about why that could be so pricey for? Is it for the whole entire floor or a build out of a room on the third floor?

It's renovating the third floor entirely. It's also renovating the archival space. So right now... What's happening is basically we're about 95% full of archives. This will create more room for potential archiving. I mean, still no history is being created today, and we want to continue to capture that and preserve it.

Gotcha. So the whole third floor. Awesome.

We're re-moving it around so it's more effective and better meets the needs of people today.

It's Robert Roberts LLC. Are they a contractor, or do they specialize in, like, is there some type of specialty group that does archival like i believe our contractor but i'm not i'm not aware okay i don't know them very well well there's language about that this was the apparent low bidder and then someone didn't respond so was this

so did this not go out for rebid because someone did not respond or should it be out for rebid or did we just do this as a we followed up with the individual and they were non-responsive the lowest bidder so we went with the second one with the second lowest bidder okay awesome all right thank you so much no problem of course any other questions on future considerations council

All right. Seeing none, I will just note we do have a Parks and Outdoors Public Works and Wastewater Committee meeting next week to discuss a stormwater ordinance. And that takes us through our agenda. We do need an attorney-client meeting and some time, I think, for other matters. So we will recess until 6 o'clock. utility and public public use easement in the 2400 block of gun barrel roads detailed on the attached maps subject certain additions we have a motion properly seconded on this ordinance on final reading are there any questions or comments before we vote all in favor aye any opposed and the ordinance is passed on final reading item 7b please

An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code Part 2 Chapter 38 zoning ordinance so as to rezone property located at 127 Fern Avenue from RN1 7.5 residential neighborhood zone to RN2 residential neighborhood zone.

We have a motion properly seconded on this ordinance. On final reading, are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And the ordinance is passed on final reading. And item 7C, please.

An ordinance to an end-time new city code part 2 chapter 38 zoning ordinance. So as the rezoned property is located at 2834, 2840, and 2852 Kirkman Road together with 7201 and 7215 Tyner Road from RN16 residential neighborhood zone to RTRN3 traditional residential neighborhood zone.

This ordinance on final reading. Are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? An ordinance is passed on final reading. And if you would please read item 8A, please.

An ordinance closing and abandoning a portion of an unopened alley in the 2800 block of 8th Street as detailed on the attached maps subject to certain conditions.

Move to approve. We have a motion properly seconded on this ordinance. On first reading, are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And ordinance is passed on first reading. Item 9A, please.

A resolution to repeal resolution number 32800 adopted on February 17, 2026 and adopting new rules of operation for the Chattanooga City Council.

Let's see. Councilman Clark, you're recognized.

Who else is second in queue? IT'S VICE CHAIR ELLIOTT. NEW SPEAKER I'D LIKE TO CALL FOR A ROLL CALL VOTE ON THE AMENDMENTS. I'LL USE MY TIME TO VICE CHAIR ELLIOTT. NEW SPEAKER I WAS THINKING THE SAME THING.

A ROLL CALL WOULD BE GOOD. THERE'S SO MANY MOVING PARTS.

ALL RIGHT.

SO THERE WE GO. WE'VE GOT THE MAIN ITEM ON THE FLOOR PROPERLY SECONDED. AND VICE CHAIRMAN ELLIOTT, YOU'RE RECOGNIZED. NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR.

Appreciate you counsel for the Fruitful conversation through all this I appreciate everybody's feedback what you'll see here You should have a copy of Suggested amendments that we discussed at our agenda session There are six of them which we need to take each separately now what you have here i'm gonna read them down the corn piece this is trying to close the gap for participation for everything now um there was some conversations about how does this impact um quorum on council and i understand there is some gray area with that uh that really probably needs to be flushed out even further but that's the quorum piece we talked about this oversight piece is something that i'm incredibly excited to support It clarifies a lot of some misunderstandings as to what it means for legislative oversight. You have splitting economic and community development into two separate committees. economic development being one community development education being the second one i'm incredibly excited uh to support that one you'll see that language is in there and the descriptions for it to be plugged in um as far as uh meeting cadence this is something that was suggested by councilman clark shifting from bi-monthly to quarterly that is something i am happy to support What is this next one? Oh, number six is also under there, too. So you'll see all of it. I think this is a good discussion. I think ultimately this package is something that will serve this council well overall, and I am looking forward to be done. That's all of it, whichever way we go. So, Mr. Chairman, that's it. I'll let you go from there.

Okay, so we do have a motion properly seconded on the floor to approve this resolution as it is presented, and I know there's been discussion of these amendments. Councilwoman Dotley, you're recognized.

It's just a point of clarity. So, Vice Chair Elliott mentioned the amendment. I would like to move as amended, as he's mentioned it, is that proper at this juncture? You're making a motion? To move as amended. Okay. Right.

but i i also heard that we've not heard but just uh vice chair stated that we would be taking those separately and i know we're doing a roll call vote so i'm just trying to get a point of clarity so i think in in talking with uh the city attorney just now before we reconvened because there's so many moving parts and with uh all of the language i think it'd be cleaner if we take and and we've uh there's six separate sections that we're amending okay so we'll take um What we would need is a motion on each section, if that's clear.

And I would also recommend that you get your amendments as part of the record so that there is a clear copy of that here. And then any changes that you make, we can deal with that, but give that to your clerk so she has a copy.

Okay. So reading the amendments, the... So reading the amendment separately, individually and separately.

Right.

Right. Okay. Because we didn't do an alternate version. Instead, we're just going to amend it at this juncture is why we're doing this. Is that more or less correct? Okay. Yeah. I understand.

Yeah, since essentially we're... We have a red line of a red line. Right. We're doing that.

OK, so I take out my motion to amend the whole thing and we'll move forward, as you all have stated. I don't know who's going to read the amendments, Phil.

Well, I think we have a little bit more discussion. I see Councilman Henderson.

I'm going to recognize him real quick.

You said there was six sections to this, and I only see four, but so what am I... Well, so there's the headings, but then as you look under those headings, there's actually separate... On a few of them, there's separate sections. If you see, like... under quorum there's section 1c that's being amended and then section 3a4 okay so we're not so we won't take the amendments as the heading we'll as the sections right there's that is that clear clear as mud thank you okay okay open you want me to read them would that be easier RIGHT. SIX SEPARATE MOTIONS TO AMEND IS WHAT WE WOULD NEED.

NEW SPEAKERS?

NEW SPEAKERS?

NEW SPEAKERS?

NEW SPEAKERS?

NEW SPEAKERS? NEW SPEAKERS? NEW SPEAKERS?

NEW SPEAKERS? NEW SPEAKERS? NEW SPEAKERS?

Legislative oversight may include receiving reports and departmental updates, requesting information relevant to legislative matters, reviewing performance measures and outcomes, conducting hearings, evaluating policy effectiveness, providing accountability, and making legislative recommendations. Legislative oversight shall not be construed to authorize the council or any standing committee to direct, supervise, manage, or otherwise perform the day-to-day administrative or operational functions of the mayor, city departments, officers, employees, or other executive functions except as expressly authorized by the city charter, state law, or ordinance.

Second. All right. We do have a motion properly seconded on the amendment to Section 1C. Councilwoman Dottley, you're recognized.

Oh, sorry. That was just a really long time. I apologize.

All right. Are there any other questions or comments on this amendment before we vote? And Madam Clerk, we'll do a roll call on these separate amendments.

Councilman Henderson? Councilwoman Hill?

Yes.

Councilman Harvey?

Yes.

Councilman Clark?

Yes.

Councilwoman Burrs?

Yes.

Councilwoman Doherty? Yes. Councilwoman Noem?

Yes.

Vice Chair Elliott?

Yes.

Chairman Davis?

Yes.

That's nine yeses.

All right. And so we are back on the resolution as first amended. Councilwoman Dockley.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. I would like to add a second amendment to this one. Section 1C is amended by adding the following. After the existing provisions governing committee membership assignments, any duly elected council member may participate and vote in committee proceedings regardless of committee assignments. A council member participating in a committee meeting shall be counted to a quorum. and shall have the right to participate in discussion and vote on matters before the committee, regardless of committee assignment. Second.

All right. We do have a motion properly seconded on this amendment. Councilwoman Hill, you're recognized.

Thank you. I will not be voting in support of this quorum amendment or the second quorum amendment. I hear my colleagues' concern from District 8 about the thought that in some way the current language limits people from participating in voting. I do not see that to be structurally true within this language as currently written. So I will be voting against this one and the following. I will not speak if another is brought up at that quorum. Thank you. That's all.

Okay. And Councilman Henderson. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do have, as I brought up earlier, concerns about these two amendments being included. I don't believe they're fully baked yet, so I will be voting in opposition to both of these.

Okay.

And Vice Chair Elliott. um thank you uh i agree there's some gray area with this um it's not perfect this piece i think there's needs to be room to be cleaned up um and so but i do understand the tent behind it so however it goes it goes that's how i look at it all right any other questions or comments council before we vote and again madam clerk will do a roll call vote councilman henderson

Councilwoman Hill? No. Councilman Harvey?

No.

Councilman Clark?

No.

Councilwoman Burrs?

Yes.

Councilwoman Dodd-Lee?

Yes.

Councilwoman Oak?

Yes.

Vice Chair Elliott?

Yes.

Chairman Davis?

No. Five nos? Yes. Right. Okay. So that amendment fails. And so we are back on the motion, main motion with, at this point, the first as amended. Right. And Councilwoman Dockley, you're recognized.

Yes, I will be reading on the quorum section three. Understand everybody's position, but I still want to read that into the record and make sure those votes are on the record. Section 3A4 is amended and replaced with the following language. All standing committee meetings are open to full participation by any duly elected member of the council. Any council member attending a committee meeting shall be counted to a quorum. and shall have the right to participate in discussion and vote on matters before the committee, regardless of committee assignment. Is that the second? That was the second one, right? I'm not sure. Okay, yeah, so that one.

So I move to approve a motion on that amendment. And for your record, that is actually section three of the rules for council meetings, and that would be A4. A4, okay, section A4, yes.

Thank you, thank you for your- Yes, ma'am.

So we have a motion. Is there a second? Second. All right. And we have motion properly seconded. Are there any further questions or comments before we vote on this amendment? All right. Seeing none, Madam Clerk, please take a roll call vote.

Councilwoman Knowles?

Yes.

Councilwoman Dotley?

Yes.

Councilwoman Burrs?

Yes.

Councilman Clark? Yes. Councilman Harvey?

No.

Councilwoman Hill? No. Councilman Henderson? No. Vice Chair Elliott? Yes. Chairman Davis?

No. That's five noes. All right. And that amendment also fails. And so we are back on the main motion as amended.

Councilman Harvey, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I propose an amendment to the meeting cadence. I did like what Councilman Clark recommended is instead of the six meetings, moving it to quarterly. So I make a motion to amend with the following language. uh independent of any active referral each standing committee shall meet no less than once per quarter to conduct committee business receive departmental updates provide oversight and remain engaged with matters within its jurisdiction all right we do have a motion properly seconded on this amendment are there any questions or comments council before we vote

Your lawyer will remind you that that is an amendment to Section 3A4. Right.

All right. Well, seeing no questions or comments, Madam Clerk, if you would please take a roll call vote.

Councilwoman Noll?

Yes.

Councilwoman Daly? Yes. Councilwoman Burrs?

Yes.

Councilman Clark?

Yes.

Councilman Harvey.

Yes.

Councilwoman Hill.

Yes.

Councilman Henderson.

Yes.

Vice Chair Elliott.

Yes.

Chairman Davis.

Yes. It's nine yes. And that motion is, the amendment is adopted. And we are back on the motion as amended again. Councilwoman Dotley, you're recognized.

Yes, thank you so much, Mr. Chair. We almost finished, which is great. I'm going to move up to the develop the shoot up to the committee structures. and state that this is Section 1C. Is that right, Mr. Attorney? Yes, ma'am. Okay. For Section 1C, replacing the former language with 3, Economic Development Committee. Well, the number's not going to be 3. Well, the numbers don't matter.

But it is subsection 3.

It is subsection 3. Okay. Yes, ma'am. Subsection 3. Economic Development Committee shall consider economic development within the city and its relationship to real property, brownfields, workforce development, pilots, tax incentives, arts and cultural special events, and private public financing tools. Four, Community Development and Education Committee shall consider matters within the Community Development Department, including community centers, community engagement, community health, and the Family Justice Center. The committee shall also oversee the Department of Early Learning. including Head Start, Early Learning, Partnerships, Community Forward, and Related Divisions. That's in the form of a motion.

Second.

All right. We do have a motion properly seconded on this proposed amendment. Are there any questions or comments, Council, before we vote? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, if you would please take a roll call vote.

Councilman Henderson. Councilwoman Hill.

Yes.

Councilman Harvey. Yes. Councilman Clark?

No.

Councilwoman Burrs?

Yes.

Councilwoman Dally? Yes. Councilwoman Noll?

Yes.

Vice Chair Elliott?

Yes.

Chairman Davis? Yes.

All right. And that amendment is adopted. We are back on the main motion with all of its amendments.

and vice chair elliott you are recognized this this last one's a little tricky because the print is a little bit different the bottom section section va as amended to the following this is a follow-up from the cadence meeting it's technically supposed to be section 4a is that correct phil yes sir it's in under accounting and accountability and reporting yes um i would like a motion to move uh moves to approve that as amended with this.

Did you want to read the language as we have been?

Sure. This is the original language. If any committee held fewer than six meetings in the calendar year, fewer than once every two months or experienced a quorum failure rate exceeding 20%, the report shall flag this and city council chairs shall address this in the next strategic planning session. It replaces it with the following. If any committee held fewer than four meetings in a calendar year, fewer than once per quarter, or experienced a quorum failure exceeding 20 percent, the report shall flag this, and the council chair shall address this cause at the next strategic planning session.

All right. And you've made a motion, and we have a second. All right. We have a motion properly seconded on this final amendment. Are there any questions or comments before we vote? ALL RIGHT. SEEING NONE, MADAM CLERK, IF YOU WOULD PLEASE TAKE A ROLL CALL VOTE.

NEW SPEAKER COUNCILMAN NOELL. NEW SPEAKER COUNCILMAN DOTLEY. NEW SPEAKER COUNCILMAN BURZ. NEW SPEAKER COUNCILMAN CLARK. NEW SPEAKER COUNCILMAN HARVEY. NEW SPEAKER COUNCILMAN HILL. NEW SPEAKER COUNCILMAN HENDERSON. NEW SPEAKER VICE CHAIR ELLIOTT. NEW SPEAKER GERMAN DAVIS.

NEW SPEAKER NINE YESES. NEW SPEAKER ALL RIGHT. AND THAT AMENDMENT IS ADOPTED. Vice Chair Elliott, you are recognized. I move to approve as amended. All right. We have a motion finally to approve as amended. And I'll just say again, council, before we vote, I think this has been time well spent. I think this is the way we ought to do our work carefully and deliberately and respectfully. So we will... Well, might as well do another roll call vote. We better have a vote.

Roll call vote, please.

Councilwoman Dahl?

No, and because I tell you why, anytime you will deny a person an opportunity to vote anytime, anywhere, I cannot support it, totally.

Councilwoman Dahl? Yes. Councilwoman Burrs?

Yes.

Councilman Clark?

Yes.

Councilman Harvey.

Yes.

Councilwoman Hill.

Yes.

Councilman Henderson.

Yes.

Vice Chair Elliott.

Yes.

Chairman Davis.

Yes. All right. Eight yeses and one no, and the resolution is adopted. Item 9B, please, Madam Clerk.

In resolution authorizing Department of Technology Services GIS Division to partner with the Hamilton County GIS Department in the procurement of a leader mapping service, airborne laser mapping used to capture precise 3D surface elevations for the Hamilton County City of Chattanooga geographical area using Wopert Inc. to be used to create a digital elevation model and two... foot contour across the entire city for engineering and mapping purposes, with the city of Chattanooga being responsible for $40,000 of the $176,108.49 overall expense.

We have a motion properly seconded on this resolution. Are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And the resolution is adopted. Item 9C, please.

A resolution to reappoint Matthew Shea Cofer to the Air Pollution Control Board for a term beginning on August 18, 2026 and ending on August 17, 2030 as a joint appointment with Hamilton County Government.

Motion approved. We have a motion properly seconded on this item. Council, are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And the resolution is adopted. And finally, 9D, please.

Resolution authorizing the appointment of Kelly Janice as a special police officer on arm for the City of Chattanooga Department of Public Works expressly limited to the performance of the duties in her position as Assistant Director of Development Services in the Land Development Office.

Move to approve. We have a motion properly seconded on this resolution. Council, are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor? AYE. ANY OPPOSED? AND THE RESOLUTION IS ADOPTED. And we're happy now to welcome Weston to the podium to present our purchases for this evening.

Good evening, Council.

Good evening.

We have five purchases recommended for approval this evening. The first is with Public Works. This is a one-time purchase of caterpillar trash compactor to be used at the landfill. The purchase from Stowers Machinery will be in the amount of $1,363,680.96, utilizing the source well contract. Item number two is with wastewater. They requested an increase of $60,000 to agreement PA100568 with Nippon Sanso Matheson to cover current and future invoices through September 20, 2026. The new annual spend limit will be $445,000. item number three is also with wastewater this is a new agreement for machining fabricating and related equipment repair services for wastewater this will be a four-year agreement with an annual amount limit of 150 150 000 the award will go to valley mechanical as the best bid Item number four is with DTS. This is a new agreement for web hosting services and platform support subscription for technology services. This will be a three-year agreement with an annual amount limit of $50,054.64. This single source agreement will be awarded to Pantheon Systems. And finally, item number five is consolidated pipe and supplies requesting a 5% increase to PA100445 due to the increase in market prices. The new annual limit will be $52,500. We approve.

We have a motion properly seconded to approve these purchases. Counsel, are there any questions or comments before we vote? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed?

And the purchases are approved. We have one sole source purchase to report this evening is for software licenses and cloud support for wastewater inspections in the amount of $25,350. Okay.

We will go around the dais now for committee reports. We'll start with Chairwoman Nolan, Councilwoman Nolan.

No report.

Okay. Councilwoman Dodley.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have no report, but I did, with your permission, wanted to make an announcement. I'm so excited about it. So this is my second term. And in our first term, ARP dollars were allocated to build out a cafe. Alton Park is finally done. It's called Coco Cafe. So we will have our grand opening Monday, August 24th at 11 a.m. at 618 West 38th Street. And it's a big deal for our community, but I want to specifically give a shout out to Councilman Henderson, Councilwoman Hill, Councilwoman Noll, former Councilman Ledford, now Commissioner Smith, and Councilman Hester. They were the original team that was here that voted on that, and it has taken years. You hear me? Before I got on council, I was working on this. Years to get it done. So it is, and former Councilwoman Burrs. It's taken a long time. Part of it is actually some of the strategies she shared with me, so... So I am excited. I wasn't at strategic planning today because we finally got our health permit. Praise the Lord. So now we are officially able to open Monday. And so I invite you all out to that event. Also, Mayor Kelly and his administration, you were here a lot of that Monday. But I had to really, I wanted to say thank you to council because a lot of y'all have heard me ramble on about that. Some of y'all just got here and I know y'all have heard me ramble on about it. And for really Councilwoman Hill who hears me rant, has heard me rant often. uh chair um but i think i just i just want to invite y'all if you can't tell i'm very excited and if you can make it make it we'll be open uh monday starting at 11 a.m and then the rest of the time is 7 a.m to 3 p.m monday through friday so thank you council thank you to the city to the mayor's office for supporting this endeavor we've created jobs in the community um half of the employees actually live in the neighborhood so it is It's so much, so much more. And with just a small investment from the city, we've been able to really move the community forward. So again, thank you to Mayor Kelly, Councilman Henderson, Councilwoman Hill, Councilwoman Noel, Councilman Ledford, Hester, and Commissioner Smith, because they were here from the beginning. And I thank them and I thank you, Council, for all you all hearing my rantings about it all year. So that is it. That's all of my report. And that's it. Okay. Thank you.

Council members.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No committee report, but I do want to announce again I'm having a District 6 summit on Thursday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. It'll be at the Family Justice Center, and breakfast will be served. So I invite all of you all to attend, the community as well. There's flyers outside if you want to grab one. And we'll be talking about connectivity, economic development, and entrepreneurship. in district six and how that how that connects to our economic and workforce development to carta to the chattanooga airport of course the chattanooga library and some of our entrepreneurship programs that are located in district six so i welcome anybody to attend and learn more about what we're doing thank you mr mayor councilman henderson councilwoman hill councilman harvey

Hey, Mr. Chairman, we will have a public works committee meeting next week to discuss a stormwater ordinance. I'm serious.

That's all. Councilman Clark. Thank you, Chairman Davis. No report, but I do want to give a special shout out to everyone who attended the Brainerd Park community meeting. yesterday in the middle of a very serious weather event. Despite that, we had 40, I don't know where Kim Strong is, but she was definitely one of our key coordinators of that event. We have 47 attendees meet at the Brainerd Golf Course to hear about Updates from various city departments including from Mandy green who was president who's our chief operating officer chief Knowles we had the assistant chief Daniel Jones people from weigh-in I wears weigh-in from our deputy director of public works was there and I was joined by my colleagues count vice chairman Elliott and COUNCILMAN HENDERSON AND COUNCILWOMAN HILL, THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING TO SUPPORT THOSE COMMUNITY EVENTS. WE ENJOYED GETTING OUT, SUPPORTING EACH OTHER, AND I APPRECIATE THAT, AND THE COMMUNITY APPRECIATES THAT, AND THAT'S WHAT WE CALL BRINGING COUNCIL TO THE COMMUNITY. SO THANK YOU AGAIN TO THE MAYOR'S OFFICE FOR BRINGING YOUR TEAM. PEOPLE LOVE THOSE UPDATES, AND IT'S JUST A WAY FOR US TO CONNECT OUR COMMUNITIES TO COUNCIL. SO ANYWAY, THANK YOU ALL FOR YESTERDAY.

NEW SPEAKER R. AND VICE CHAIR ELLIOTT.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Counsel, I would first like to start by thanking all of you, as my colleagues. This piece of legislation was hard, much harder than I ever expected. But, you know, i think today we showed we can do hard things that can be transformative for us and continue to do hard things for our city so i thank you all for leaning into the conversation and the dialogue i hope this is a step and a stronger direction for the nine of us to move forward on better working relationships so we can as minimum, keep the main thing the main thing, and that's showing up for Chattanooga. And so thank you all for engaging in that. I'll end with announcing that our annual district nine district nine town hall will be on september 14th at six o'clock at second missionary baptist church uh graphics are to be released but i just want to go ahead and announce that now for everybody um who wants to attend whether you're district nine or not um this opportunity to talk about where we are with our previous projects talk about some of the projects we secured in this previous budget happenings around the district and also an opportunity to capture any concerns so we can make sure the city is showing up the best we can for our district so that's all mr chair

And that takes us to the portion of our meeting where we're happy to recognize members of the public who are here to address council. And so if you're here for that purpose, please come to the podium down front here and listen while our attorney reads the rules.

Yes, sir. And at the end of each council business meeting, the chair will recognize members of the public who wish to address the council and here's your rules. Each speaker wishing to address the council can only be recognized at the microphone up front that's provided for that purpose. Can't have more than three minutes to speak and you can address the council only upon matters within their legislative and quasi-judicial authority and not on matters which are not under their authority or regulated by other governmental bodies or agencies. Do not engage in any vulgar or obscene language nor use the floor to personally attack or personally denigrate others and address the council members as a whole and not make comments directed towards individual council members. And lastly, do not engage in disorderly conduct or disrupting a public meeting, which is prohibited by Tennessee law, and someone commits that offense if the person substantially obstructs or interferes with the meeting by physical action or verbal utterance with the intent to prevent or disrupt a lawful meeting or gathering. Having stated those rules, sir, please go ahead and give us your name and your district.

District 9, before we begin, I'd like to make myself clear. I'm not here to advocate against a shelter being built. I'm here to advocate for what I see as common sense barriers to entry on any publicly funded shelter, primarily dry facilities and criminal background checks for sex offenses and violent crimes. An off-sited statistic is Chattanooga lags behind all the other major Tennessee metros in the proportion of sheltered homeless people. This is true, and Mr. King is pushing a low barrier shelter as the only solution. However, I believe we're missing some important context. Knoxville does not have a low barrier shelter. Their shelters require sobriety. Nashville does not have a low barrier shelter. The rescue mission requires church program attendance and prohibits intoxicated use. Memphis actually does have a low barrier shelter with 22 beds for women and five beds for men. So I ask, how have these other cities managed to get their homeless population sheltered despite no significant low barrier shelters? If these other cities did it without a low barrier shelter, and we want results like these cities, why is a shelter that permits drug and alcohol abuse the solution? I thought, surely other cities have run something of similar scale before, so I began researching. I cannot find a single shelter that meets the definition of a 24-7 low barrier with 500 beds anywhere in the country. Even somewhere as progressive as Skid Row, where there is shelters with 600 and more beds, they require an ID to ensure that residents pass a Megan's Law background clearance. Let me be clear, what Baron King and Chatt Foundation are proposing is unprecedented for a city of our size on a national level. The largest comparable 24-7 low-barrier example I could find is the Dallas Bridge Center with roughly 300 beds and $8 million to build it and operating with an annual budget of over $6 million. Yet it's still so hated by its host neighborhood that the city of Dallas is committed to moving it or breaking it up. If 300 low barrier beds in one place couldn't work in Dallas for 6 million, how are 500 low barrier beds going to work in Chattanooga for 750,000? None of this adds up. The local media is completely asleep at the wheel. And Barron King has made a quarter million dollars since the last time he could be bothered to go to a community meeting in the MLK community that he says he serves. A year and a half, 18 months, a quarter of a million dollars, 36 podcast episodes created, one community meeting. This community needs a shelter, not a trap house, not a drunk house. Thank you.

My name is John Schmeckle. I've lived in Chattanooga for five years. I don't know what district. I'm homeless right now. I want to bring to your attention an issue. Something's broken in the police department. Just over a year ago, I was hit by a car. My hip was shattered. And the car was a cream-colored mercury comet. And the police report lied about it. It said it was a black Honda SUV. And the police report defamed me in a way that made it appear that it was my fault for getting hit. The reason why this is still relevant for me is the county medical officer, Dr. Stephen Miller, he gave me a referral to Erlanger to have a follow-up operation to fix the botched operation so I can go back to work. But Erlanger is refusing to honor the referral. So if I was able to get the insurance of the driver that hit me to... pay for me to go to a different hospital, and I could get my life back. And I went to internal affairs of the police department. You know, it's just like there are so many mistakes, and I wrote all about it, and it was a black hole. I never heard back from them. And so I bring this to your attention. Something isn't working right in the way they handle this type of issue from the public. Thank you.

Thank you.

My name is Thomas Bass, District 6. I want to bring a matter to your attention. On Sunday of this past week, I went to the airport landfill where you dumped your rubbish. When I got there, the guy checked me in and then they walked around the back of my truck and said my truck was overloaded. I've been going to that landfill because I live in that area for 42 years next month. I have 42 years living in the Edgman Forest. Anyway, they went to the back of my truck and said, your truck is overloaded. had a center-sized truck to be honest about it my truck does have a truck rack on it you know some of y'all probably seen with the ladders they put ladders on them but it was given to me and i just took it i'm not in construction business i'm retired i don't somebody want to got a long board i'll let them put it up on their 12 foot 16 foot board because they don't fit in a regular truck but anyway uh The attendant, the senior attendant, he came down. He said, I recognize you. He said, we don't change the rules. You can't bring this in here. I said, well, what do I need to do? Go back home and take the stuff that's on the top and level it out a little bit. How much? And the guy who took my license, they said he was new. He said, oh, no, you can't come back. Not with this load. I recognize this load. You can't come back with this load. I said, that doesn't make any sense to me. Go home, level it out, and come back. Oh, no. You're not going to do that. I said, well, I need to talk to your supervisor. He said, he's in that truck, but he's not going to talk to you. So what I did, I left. Went back to next, went back to a company called CWS, which is the same company that pulls your rubbish from that site. I went over there. They let me in. I dumped my load. And while I was dumping my load, a young man came up and I told him what had happened to me. And he said, well, don't feel bad. I'm banned. I said, what? He said, yeah, they told me I had 12 times to come out. And they said, I've been over here more than 12 times. I said, how did they know that? He said, I don't know. They just said, but I'm banned. And I got an argument and I ended up calling the police. I said, you did what? I called the police on them. The police actually came to that site. Anyway, uh, I went ahead and unloaded my truck. I'm just simply saying, y'all need to consider doing this. Do away with it. Save everybody the aggravations. Do away with that dump site. All of them. Thank you.

Council Member Burrs.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Bass, can I get your contact information after the meeting? Thank you.

My name is Brad Harwell. I'm from District 1 and a business owner here in the Chattanooga area. I was attending a chamber event last week and we were discussing the Chattanooga 2.0 initiative and how there are several school districts where it's much more likely for someone to end up in prison than to end up going to college. Knowing what I know from environmental testing and what I know about the heat maps for lead-based paint and the effects of lead-based paint and mold on emotional dysregulation and emotional control, as well as memory issues, memory recall, some concerns started to come to my mind immediately. And so my question to y'all is this, how often are we independently testing at these school districts for lead-based paint, for mold, for asbestos, for VOCs, because that all disrupts the learning process. The best predictor of someone going to prison for a violent offense by far is the amount of lead in their blood. The second variable, if you triple it, doesn't account for half of the variance. And so that would be a good place to start. I don't know if there if these Children are going to prison for violent offenses. But if they are, that would be a great place to start. And then mold would also be something that needs to be tested regularly, at least quarterly. And and so that that's my concern. I'm trying to figure out how to become a better part of this community. And that seems like a great place to start.

Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to address council this evening? Move to adjourn. All in favor? Aye. We are adjourned.