(bright upbeat music) - [Announcer] You're watching highlights of the Chattanooga City Council meeting, a production of WTCI-PBS.

(bright upbeat music progressing) - Alright, ordinances on first reading from the Mayor's Office.

Madam Clerk, 6A please.

- An ordinance amending Ordinance No.

9365 substituting ARTSBUILD for Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga, Inc. as the official arts agency of the City of Chattanooga to reflect the designated name as ARTSBUILD as the official arts agency of the City of Chattanooga.

- Alright.

Councilwoman Berz.

- Move approval.

- Second.

- Okay.

We have a motion on the floor to approve with a proper second.

Questions or comments before we vote?

Roll call Madam Clerk.

Oh, well, okay.

I saw a hand.

Let's go.

Nevermind.

Go ahead.

- Councilwoman Berz?

- Yes.

- Councilwoman Coonrod?

- Yes.

- Councilman Gilbert?

- Yes.

- Councilman Ledford?

- Yes.

- Councilman Mitchell?

- Yes.

- Councilman Oglesby?

- Yes.

- Vice-Chairman Smith?

- Yes.

- Chairman Henderson?

- Yes.

- Eight yeses.

- So moved.

Now moving to resolutions.

Madam Clerk, if there are no objections from the Council, would you take A, C, and D please?

- Is it A, C, and D?

- That's correct.

7A, C, and D. - Item A.

A resolution authorizing the Mayor or his designee to enter into a Donation Agreement, in substantially the form attached, with Thomas W. Popp and wife, Ladonna S. Popp, for the acceptance of Tax Parcel No.

110F-C-018 on Hamill Road and to execute all documents necessary for the completion of the transaction.

Item C. A resolution authorizing the Administrator for the Department of Economic and Community Development to award up to $360,000.00 in HOME Program funding to Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise, Inc. to assist in the development of the Mai Bell 2, a rental housing development located at 1715 Union Avenue consisting of forty-seven (47) units, of which nine (9) units are reserved for income-qualified households.

Item D. A resolution requesting the Land Development Office and Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency to review the existing codes and provide suggestions on neighborhood limitations of non-owner occupied short-term vacation rentals in the Short-Term Vacation Rental District.

- I'll have Vice-Chairman Smith followed by Councilwoman Coonrod.

- Move approval, Mr.

Chair.

- Second.

- Okay.

We have a motion on the floor to approve item 7A, C, and D with a proper second.

Questions or comments before we vote?

Roll call Madam Clerk.

- Councilman Oglesby?

- Yes.

- Councilman Mitchell?

- Yes.

- Councilman Ledford?

- Yes.

- Councilman Gilbert?

- Yes.

- Councilwoman Coonrod?

- Yes.

- Councilwoman Berz?

- Yes.

- Vice-Chairman Smith?

- Yes.

- Chairman Henderson?

- Yes.

- Eight yeses.

- Motion carries.

Now Madam Clerk, let's move down to 7E, F, G, and H if there are no objection from the Council.

- Mr.

Chair, I'd like to, no, that's okay.

I was gonna pull one out, but I think we got our questions resolved on that item.

I'm sorry, sir.

- Okay.

E F, G and H then, Madam Clerk.

- Sir, on G, we gon' defer that one.

- Ah, that's right.

Okay.

Let's do E, F, and H. We'll take G separately.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

Item E. A resolution authorizing the City Treasurer to execute a contract, in substantially the form attached, with Nationwide Recovery Service to provide collection services for the City of Chattanooga for three (3) years beginning March 1, 2021, plus two (2) consecutive one (1) year extensions.

Item G. A resolution authorizing the, I'm sorry, you wanted item F?

- E, F, and H. - Okay.

- E, F, and H. - Alright.

Item F. A resolution to amend the contract with Russ Blakely and Associates, LLC, so as to extend the term for three (3) months through July 1, 2021, at no cost to provide benefit advisory and open enrollment services and act as Agent of Record for all benefit options.

Item H. A resolution to extend the contract term with ComPsych Corporation for the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) rates for eligible employees are $1.15/employee per month and $1.49/employee per month for sworn employees, for a total contract cost not to exceed $43,500.00.

- Alright.

Councilman Gilbert followed by Councilwoman Berz.

- Move to approve.

- Second.

- Okay.

We have a motion on the floor to approve items 7E, F, and H with a proper second.

Questions or comments before we vote?

Councilman Gilbert, is that an old hand?

- No.

On the next item, sir.

- Okay.

Alright.

Roll call Madam Clerk.

- Councilman Oglesby?

- Yes.

- Councilman Mitchell?

- Yes.

- Councilman Ledford?

- Yes.

- Councilman Gilbert?

- Yes.

- Councilwoman Coonrod?

- Yes.

- Councilman Byrd?

- Yes.

- Councilwoman Berz?

- Yes.

- Vice-Chairman Smith?

- Yes.

- Chairman Henderson?

- Yes.

- Nine yeses.

- Motion carries, 9-0.

Now Madam Clerk, let's go back to item 7G please.

- A resolution authorizing the Chief Human Resources Officer to enter into an agreement with Johnston & Associates, Inc. for third party administration of injury on duty occupational health programs for a two (2) year term, with a renewal option for an additional three (3) years, for a total contract cost not to exceed $183,480.00 per year.

- Thank you, Councilman Gilbert for catching that.

Councilman Gilbert.

- I'd like to defer this to March the 9th.

- Okay.

We have a motion floor to defer to March the 9th with the proper second.

Questions before we vote?

Roll call Madam Clerk.

- Councilwoman Berz?

- Yes.

- Councilman Byrd?

- Yes.

- Councilwoman Coonrod?

- Yes.

- Councilman Gilbert?

- Yes.

- Councilman Ledford?

- Yes.

- Councilman Mitchell?

- Yes.

- Councilman Oglesby?

- Yes.

- Vice-Chairman Smith?

- Yes.

- Chairman Henderson?

- Yes.

- Nine yeses.

- So moved.

- Alright Madam Clerk, let's take items 7I and J please.

- Item I.

- Mr.

Chair, I would like to vote on those separately please.

- Okay.

Both of them?

Alright.

Madam Clerk, let's do 7I.

- A resolution authorizing the Chief Information Officer (CIO) to enter into a one (1) year agreement with Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc. for the Learning Management System software and support, to be used by the City's Human Resources Department, for an amount not to exceed $37,515.50.

- Okay.

I see two hands, Vice-Chairman Smith and Councilman Gilbert.

- Are you calling me first, sir?

- Vice-Chairman Smith.

- Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you to Councilwoman Berz for earlier today, making sure to keep us all on our toes.

And we asked a number of questions about some of these items, and item I in particular, they asked some questions about, I had not received that information yet.

And therefore, I would like to move to defer this item until March 9th.

- Very well.

I have a motion on the floor to defer to March 9th now with a proper second.

Questions or comments before we vote?

Councilman Gilbert, is that a hand?

- I just want to make sure by deferring this, would that hurt the contract in any kind of way?

- Well, let's see if we can get somebody on the line.

Brent.

I see Brent Messer.

Go ahead and bring in Brent Messer, Madam Clerk.

And maybe this is more for Human Resource Department but... - The chairman has toggles.

- Ah, Vice-Chair.

Oh, Vice-Chair.

- I'm sorry, one second.

Got it.

- Good evening, Mr. Messer.

- Hello.

- This is under your department.

Councilman Gilbert has a question.

- Yes, sir.

- Will this hurt any way by deferment?

- I don't believe so from a licensing perspective or from a support perspective, no, no sir.

- Okay.

Thank you.

- Alright.

Good.

Any other questions for Mr. Messer?

Let me switch back over.

Vice-Chairman Smith, your hand's still up.

So you've got another question?

- I do not, sir.

- Okay.

Alright Madam Clerk, oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Vice-Chair, you can excuse our guest, which you've already done.

Any other questions or comments?

Okay.

We have a motion on the floor to defer item 7I until March the 9th.

Madam Clerk, roll call please.

- Councilman Oglesby?

- Yes.

- Councilman Mitchell?

- Yes.

- Councilman Ledford?

- Yes.

- Councilman Gilbert?

- Yes.

- Councilwoman Coonrod?

- Yes.

- Councilman Byrd?

- Yes.

- Councilwoman Berz?

- Yes.

- Vice-Chairman Smith?

- Yes.

- Chairman Henderson?

- Yes.

- Eight yeses.

I'm sorry, nine yeses.

- Nine.

So motion to defer till March the 9th carries 9-0.

Now Madam Clerk, 7J please.

- A resolution authorizing the Mayor's appointments and re-appointments for the Board of Construction Appeals; Chattanooga Housing Authority; Chattanooga Public Art Commission; Form-Based Code Commission; and Wastewater Regulations Appeal Board, as outlined with the following particulars.

- Alright.

Councilwoman Berz followed by Councilman Oglesby.

- Move approval.

- Second.

- Okay.

We have a motion on the floor to approve item 7J with a proper second.

Questions or comments before we vote?

Roll call Madam Clerk.

- Councilwoman Berz?

- Yes.

- Councilman Byrd?

- Yes.

- Councilwoman Coonrod?

- Yes.

- Councilman Gilbert?

- Yes.

- Councilman Ledford?

- Yes.

- Councilman Mitchell?

- Yes.

- Councilman Oglesby?

- Yes.

- Vice-Chairman Smith?

- Yes.

- Chairman Henderson?

- Yes.

- Nine yeses.

- So moved.

Now we move to item 7K please.

- A resolution approving a Special Exceptions Permit for use of a Late Night Entertainment facility located at 2301 Milne Street, more particularly described in the attached documents.

- Councilman Byrd followed by Councilwoman Coonrod.

- Thank you, Chair.

I just wanted to say thank you to Ms. Diamound Brown for all the hard work she put into our community, and for reaching out to the Neighborhood Association president and leaders in the community to ask for this special gathering permit for her to run her restaurant.

And they said yes with open arms to give her a chance.

So with that, I move to approve.

- Second.

- Okay.

We have a motion to approve item 7K with a proper second.

Questions or comments before we vote?

Roll call Madam Clerk.

- Councilman Oglesby?

- Yes.

- Councilman Mitchell?

- Yes.

- Councilman Ledford?

- Yes.

- Councilman Gilbert?

- Yes.

- Councilwoman Coonrod?

- Yes.

- Councilman Byrd?

- Yes.

- Councilwoman Berz?

- Yes.

- Vice-Chairman Smith?

- Yes.

- Chairman Henderson?

- Yes.

- Nine yeses.

- Okay.

So moved.

7L please.

- A resolution authorizing the Chattanooga Police Department to accept an award of $28,000.00 from Hamilton County via the 2019 HSGP (Homeland Security Grant Program) to fund two projects: (1) $18,000.00 active shooter training; and (2) $10,000.00 for police canine, for the period of September 1, 2019 ending April 30, 2022.

- Councilwoman Berz.

- Move approval.

- Second.

- Okay.

We have a motion to approve with a proper second.

Questions or comments?

Madam Clerk, roll call please.

- Councilwoman Berz?

- Yes.

- Councilman Byrd?

- Yes.

- Councilwoman Coonrod?

- Yes.

- Councilman Gilbert?

- Yes.

- Councilman Ledford?

- Yes.

- Councilman Mitchell?

- Yes.

- Councilman Oglesby?

- Yes.

- Vice-Chairman Smith?

- Yes.

- Chairman Henderson?

- Yes.

- Nine yeses.

- Motion carries 9-0.

We now move to committee reports.

I will take them as I see them on the screen.

Councilwoman Berz?

- No reports, sir.

- Councilman Oglesby?

- Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

We had a report today in ECD where we got an update on our pilots.

That's all I have, Mr. Chairman.

- Very well.

Councilman Gilbert?

- We had a great department meeting today on HR, and I appreciate all the information that she gave to all of us today.

- Okay.

Thank you, sir.

Councilman Mitchell?

- Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

We had Public Works and Transportation committee meeting today where we had a discussion about our sewer rights and we will have another committee meeting on the 9th of March.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

Councilman Coonrod?

- No reports.

- Councilman Byrd?

- No report.

- Vice-Chairman Smith?

- No report, Mr.

Chair.

- Councilman Ledford?

- Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I do not have a report today, but with your permission, I think we need to add a Planning and Zoning committee meeting on the 9th of March.

- I think that would be very appropriate, sir, since that will be our Planning Day.

Alright.

Madam Clerk, if you would make a note of that please.

Add that to our list of committees on the 9th.

- Yes I will.

- While we are speaking about the 9th, Mr. Attorney, any word on our governor's executive order to extend electronic meetings?

- I have heard from the Tennessee Municipal League that it is going to be extended for one more month.

I have not seen a copy of the order, we're supposed to know that within the next couple of days.

It does expire on the 27th, so the past practice has been to let us know about two days before it expires, but we've heard warning from MTAS that it's extended for one more month.

- Okay.

Alright.

Very well.

- Yes, sir.

- Well, that concludes committee reports.

Under other business this afternoon, Councilman Byrd did ask for Chief Roddy to come on and give a report of the incident that happened, I think, in the last day or two.

So Councilman Byrd, unless you have a question, I'll just go ahead and bring Chief Roddy in.

- Please, yes.

- Alright.

Mr Vice-Chair, I think Chief Roddy is on his way.

Good evening, Chief.

- Good afternoon Council, can you hear me?

- We can.

Thank you, sir.

Councilman Byrd?

- Okay, thank you.

Chief Roddy, over the weekend, I had a lot of calls and a lot of allegations come up about the Chattanooga Police Department about a 15-second TikTok video that some passages passing by took of an officer and a young man fleeing or running from the officer.

And I just wanted to get some information on that if you can update us and to know if there's an investigation going on, and are we looking into it because a lot of constituents are in a, say, a bad place by the video, and they wanna know if we're looking into it and what's going on with that case.

- Absolutely, sir.

To give an update in line with the press release which the Police Department put out.

The Police Department did respond into a robbery call on Gunbarrel Road on Thursday, February 18th.

As that call came in, your officers responded into a restaurant located on Gunbarrel Road.

Upon their initial arrival into the restaurant, they found the restaurant in complete gambles.

We released a partial video, given or actually taken by one of the employees of that restaurant showing the level of destruction that the suspects committed inside the store.

While committing that level of destruction and vandalism inside the store, they then began to make threatening words and movements towards some of the employees.

One employee step between two of the other employees, and the three individuals that were inside committing the vandalism, as he states, is an order to just to try to protect them.

At that time, the three suspects then began to violently attack him, resulting in significant injuries up to and including they robbed him of his cell phone.

So at that point, after he had basically been knocked to the ground and assaulted and robbed, the individuals left the store, got into a vehicle, that vehicle was observed, that description was given out over the radio, as we call a BOLO, I'm sure you're all familiar with our vernacular, and the description of the suspects.

That vehicle, and the three suspects outside of the car, were located a short time after that in one of the parking lots on Gunbarrel Road.

As the officer, the first one on scene, attempted to engage with the individuals and to detain them for further investigation, became involved in a physical resistance from that subject who then managed to escape from that officer, took off on foot.

That subject is the one that you have seen being tackled in a 20-second video.

That subject from what we see on the video, and we are still compiling our own body-worn camera, in-car cameras, any surveillance footage from the numerous businesses on Gunbarrel.

All of that and the actions, the short bit of action, that was shown on that video was what's being compiled in an administrative review currently.

That's gonna handle the same track of any type we have an allegation of any level of misconduct, potential misconduct by Chattanooga police officer, it will follow that same process as I have explained to you all in past occurrences.

So I can assure you, sir, we are doing an administrative review of that incident.

However, as I stated in the press release, with this incident, as with many incidents that your Police Department becomes involved in, there is always more to it than a 20-second video.

So we are putting all that together, and as soon as we're able to get that larger comprehensive picture of what went on, it will work through the process and we will be able to release more information about it.

- Wow, man.

Thank you, sir.

Being the chair of Public Safety, a lot of people reach out.

And like you say, through that video, that first part is very quick and you see the officer and a young man on the ground, and you hear of our officers assaulting or hurting or doing something unethical, that perception tends to divide our community, divided us, and divide the city of Chattanooga as a whole.

And just the fact of the perception of even the young men who were involved in the incident at the store, you know, everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but I think we have to hold truth to our process and try to make sure that these things get worked out the proper way so that we can have a better understanding and not have any quick reactions without all the facts.

So I really appreciate you.

I definitely will be in touch with you to continue more conversation as the investigation go on.

And I just wanted to know, have there been any type of a complaint filed against us for misconduct or anything dealing with this?

- From my last check with our Professional Standards Division, we have not received a formal complaint.

However, we started our own administrative review which we do as a matter of routine.

If there's some type of incident that has questions about it, we will initiate an administrative review.

So that is where it sits at this time.

If a formal complaint is made, that will couple with the administrative investigation and they'll run together.

- Thank you for your service, Chief.

Thank you.

- Thank you, sir.

- Councilwoman Coonrod?

- Thank you, Chair.

And thank you Chief for providing us with that information.

You know, I spoke to you about it as well, but Councilman Byrd made a statement that says, "You're innocent until proven guilty."

And I'm gonna just say this and kind of back up off of it, is that, are we just saying that in regards to people that are getting arrested, I mean, does that not apply to our police officers too?

Because we watched the 20-second video and we condemned our police without even seeing what the full story is.

And for me, I think that we can no longer continue to uphold disruptive behavior when it comes to our community, we're (indistinct) they were disruptive.

Court says, "If you're doing something against the law, you're gonna be arrested."

Now I don't agree with the language that the police officer used, didn't really get to see much detail about the fighting or to see how was it going or if it was, but yes, that needs to be investigated with that, but it's twofold for me.

We have to hold the police accountable like we do always, but we also have to hold the citizens accountable to their actions as well.

It's both.

Like, we can't just continue to say, "Well, the police did this, so we gonna give you a pass for your actions."

No.

We gotta make sure that we're fair across the board.

If the police officers is wrong, we need to let that be known, but we also need to let it be known that we're not gonna continue to uphold or condone this disruptive behavior when it comes to our restaurants, our place of businesses, because this is the type of behavior that prevents investment in our communities.

Thank you, Chair.

- Alright, thank you.

Any other questions or concerns for Chief Roddy?

Okay.

Alright.

I'm seeing no hands, Chief.

Thank you for being here this evening.

- Thank you all.

It's good to see you.

- Alright.

Mr. Vice-Chair, you can excuse our guest.

Alright.

Now we come to our time when we recognize persons wishing to address the Council.

Go ahead.

- Hello everyone, this is Ginger Moss.

I'm from District 2 in zip code 37405.

Councilman Mitchell is my representative, and I am here to talk, in fact, about re-imagining public safety.

I'm not here to discuss the suspects in the TikTok video that Chief Roddy was just questioned about, but instead I do want to discuss the behavior of the officer seen punching and cussing in that video.

I call upon the Council to get answers to some very specific questions.

Has the officer in that video been disciplined in the past?

Has a use of force report been created and reviewed?

And is that the same thing as an administrative review that chief Rodney referenced just moments ago?

The Police Department strategically released just a portion of footage from inside the restaurant which reflects poorly on the suspects, but didn't wait until they finished compiling everything to release any of it.

So why didn't they release that 20-second segment from the bodycam footage that is actually what is in question to the public?

Why release just what they want to show that might make the suspects look bad and not actually show the same segment but from the bodycam footage, rather than the across the parking lot footage?

Why released some and not all?

What is the CPD trying to hide at this time?

Were the officer's names, all officers involved, listed on the affidavit and the report, or was it just one arresting officer?

And is that policy, and is that an appropriate policy?

When will this Council get behind a 100% independent civilian oversight board with full subpoena power which has been proven to reduce excessive force in cities that have them?

Thank you.

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