- (upbeat music) You're watching highlights of the Chattanooga City Council Meeting.

A production of WTCI PBS.

(upbeat music) - Under special presentations just not, we have a special award that we need to recognize from the Chattanooga police department.

Chief, you want to come forward and- - [Chief] Good evening Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, council.

I'm Mark Gibson.

I'm the police chief at Cleveland.

And on behalf of the Tennessee Association Chiefs of Police, I'm pleased to congratulate the Chattanooga police department.

This agency has fully demonstrated it's commitment to professional law enforcement by recognizing their responsibilities to their community and the citizens they serve to protect.

They exemplify the best professional practices with integrity by proving their compliance with the standards of the Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation Program, The Tennessee Associations of Chiefs of Police their board of directors.

And on behalf of the accreditation program is honored to present Chief David Roddy and their, for their third Accreditation Award.

Much like a college degree for an individual.

The word accreditation signifies, years of work and accomplishment in many goals of the department.

The ultimate goal, the ultimate award is assurance that they provide professional and courteous service and accountability to their department.

So what does it mean for accreditation?

The department cannot progress through the process successfully without becoming intimately familiar with their policies and procedures, new and old they provide proof that they follow those policies.

They- the policies, what they say they do, the proofs mandated by accreditation, demonstrate that they- they do what they say next is just as important.

The process does not end up on ward of accreditation.

The department must maintain annual updates to checks and balances to retain accreditation.

This keeps us on the- the continual progressive trajectory of best practices and professionalism and police services.

Accreditation provides assurance that our department attending those issues are attended to those issues that create the greatest liabilities for the department and also to their community.

On the behalf of the TACP, We congratulate Chief Roddy, your accreditation manager-Lieutenant Eddie Chamberlain and the command staff, and the entire men and women for the outstanding work that they put forth to attain this standard of professionalism.

Thank you.

(audience clapping) - If I may council, what this signifies one for me personally, is how much work Lieutenant Eddie Chamberlain and our accreditation staff put into giving the proofs that demonstrate and document what amendment- men and women of this department do every single day.

The policy is not just a bunch of words.

It's not just papers, not just something in the computer it's what they work through and for, and with every single day to support this city.

And the fact that we received acknowledgement of their professionalism means the world to me.

If I could ask every member of the Tenant Police Department in the room to please stand up.

Okay, (audience laughing) If I can order everyone that works for the police department in this room to stand up, I can only do that for a little bit longer and I'm going to do it.

(audience laughing) This is about a small part of the team that made this happen.

So I personally thank this department for the work they do every day, and Chief Gibson, I appreciate the acknowledgement of what our agency was able to produce as far as accreditation.

Thank you, council.

(audience clapping) - And at this time we are going to recognize a police officer that is retiring after I think 25 years of service- service, Councilwoman Coonrod.

- [Councilwoman Coonrod] Thank you chair.

If Sergeant Jefferson will come up to the mic please Sergeant Jefferson, I wanted you to come to council today so all of us could recognize your work with the police department and after 25 years of serving on the force, you've,-you've, you know impacted a lot of people lives in a positive way in the areas that you served just put from patrol to community outreach.

I know we went round and round at least 10 times about me coming to different (laughs) citizens police academy.

I finally was able to get there and really witness your passion for the work that you do.

I just, you know, want to give you your flowers while I I got an opportunity to is that I really value the work that you've done with the police department.

And I really wished that you could stay (laughs) - [Sergeant Jefferson] No.

A little longer (audience laughs) but I do and Chief, right is over there Cause they say, but I, you know really wanted you to come and be celebrated.

You know, we are in a time where a lot of our black officers are retiring like right behind each other.

We need to really get those.

Get more people into the police department that has got a caring heart like you do.

That truly want to serve and impact the inner city community the areas that black people reside in and all over the city of Chattanooga.

And I appreciate that.

Thank you.

- [Sergeant Jefferson] You're more than welcome.

- Does anybody else wanna say- (audience claps) - Hold on one second.

Councilman Byrd, I think has something.

- Thank you Chair.

Sorry, I just want to tell you thank you for your service, man.

I don't want to say your age but I just remember as a kid coming up on myself and just you always just been a voice.

People can talk to like just, just a human being.

You know, a lot of times as young African-Americans we grow up in we hear a negative tone about police officers all the time but officers like yourself every time I saw you you was like a brother, a friend, you will talk to us you'll shoot it to us straight.

And it was time for us to leave a party, You say, "Y'all got to go."

If it was time for us to get off the street, we had to go but we respected you and you just always just been a down to earth guy.

Man, the department is losing a great, a great person.

And I just appreciate your service.

And I know you're going to go on to do great things and just thank you for being a part of this team, man.

And I look forward to seeing you in the future brother.

Thank you so much.

- Yes, Sir.

- Yep.

We've got one more, Councillor Ledford.

- [Councilor Ledford] Thank you Chairman, Sergeant, I don't know what we're going to do without you brother, We've been, we've been friends a long time.

You're in my phone.

You've always answered it when I've called you.

I love the way you are able to articulate the truth in what our Chattanooga police officers do every day and share that passion with us through Citizens Police Academy of which I am very, very very proud to be a graduate of.

I just want you to know you have made an impact on so many lives.

You've made an impact on so many different areas in our community.

I just hope that you, you, you stay here and you do something with us in this community.

You're not leaving us I hope and he's, he's not going to answer that- (audience laughs) but in all seriousness, my brother, you know I wish you all the success and healthiness in your retirement and whatever you do you're going to do fantastic things as council members said.

Just know that that we're gonna, we're gonna miss you.

We're gonna miss you terribly, okay?

We you've, you're a part of us - Sir, Sir?

Chief, did you have a word?

- [Chief] No, I don't have a word.

(audience laughs) - If we could capture this event where Wayne Jefferson does not have anything to say I'll just echo everything that everybody said but for those of you that are not familiar Sergeant Jefferson has led our citizens police academy for how many years?

- 49 years.

(audience laughs) and in and out of all of the decades of work that Wayne has done for us he demonstrated a skill that I believe is lost in society or losing it's place in society.

That is the ability to give a differing opinion not make enemies while he's doing so.

Even with the most sarcastic fast balls, a human could throw at somebody and have them love him at the end of that interaction, that is a skill that I believe is one of the strongest components of being a police officer and Wayne demonstrated it for 25 years.

It's incredibly impressive.

I will ask another group if they can everyone that is here to show support for Wayne would you please stand up?

These are members of the Citizens Police Academy, Alumni Association (audience clapping) with police officers and a bunch of people that love Wayne.

(audience clapping) - Well, I guess I got to say something Cause I'm getting pointed out.

- You had the problem, the pump - I just want to say thank y'all.

It's been a joy, twenty-five years of being there've been ups and there has been downs but these folks here or who I did it for and I tried to do it to the best of my ability, and as they told me, I am not allowed to go anywhere as of yet, but I'm trying, but I continue to recruit try to get the best officers we can get in here, and I continue to educate, I love this job.

I enjoyed it, and as I limp off into the sunset just want to say thank y'all.

- Thank you.

(audience clapping) - Okay, we do have a scheduled public hearing on our budget ordinance that we have proposed for next week.

So at this time I'm gonna turn the chair over to our budget and finance chairwoman, Councilwoman Byrs - Call to order the budget and finance committee meeting the purpose.

Well, let me first, this is an official meeting.

So, may I have a motion on the minutes, second?

- Second.

Anybody in opposition?

- Thank you.

So this is a public meeting about an amendment we want to make to the budget, and I'm going to ask our Head of Finance Davey Madison to come up and just explain it.

- [Davey Madison] Council members today, I'm on the agenda for next week.

We are requesting that this council amend the budget for a special revenue fund known as the Narcotics Fund.

This amendment is really being asked, and what it really does is acknowledge that the level of revenues that were anticipated in the initial budget amendment was not achieved by the tune of about two-hundred and forty thousand dollars.

The appropriations, however were needed and have been expended who will be expended by June 30.

State law requires that if revenues come in less than those that were anticipated then the budget has to be amended and a different revenue source identified or expenditures reduce in this particular case, additional revenues were replaced by the shortfall, or the shortfall was replaced by reserves that were in the designated fund, and all of those funds are restricted for the purposes for which they were initially appropriated.

That's the purpose of this amendment.

- Okay.

Thanks Daisy, and earlier today, we had at council a full explanation over the law requires that before we can amend the budget we have to have a public hearing with that within 10 days before the final hearing, and so we're in compliance.

So this is the public hearing.

I call it to order, and is there anyone that wants to make any comments before the body, relative to the amendment the proposed amendment to the budget.

- You're making my life very easy.

Okay.

Then if there are no comments to be made, I I end this meeting and turn it over to you Mr.Chair.

- All right.

Now move into your order of business for us tonight.

City Council, Council of [inaudible] Smith.

- Thank you, Mr.Chair.

Earlier today, during our agenda session I mentioned that Resolution 7-A, I would be moving that we request the body to put that place that at the end of our agenda as the items that will be voted on for that will be pending the outcome of the protest hearing that occurs in other business.

So I would like to move that 7-A be placed at the end of our agenda, please.

- So tonight we have no ordinances on first reading we move now to resolutions, Madam clerk, if you would let's take 7-B,C and D together.

If there are no objections from the council - Item, being a resolution authorizing the Chief Human Resources officer to renew an agreement with Cigna to provide active city employees with two PPO, dental plan options and one HMO dental plan wherein dental options for retirees will consist of both at PPO and HMO plan option four contract term one year beginning July 1rst, 2021 with one optional one year renewal term remaining for an approximate annual employee pay cost of one million three hundred-fifty thousand dollars.

Item-C it resolution authorizing the appointment as Isabel Kirby as a special police officer unarmed for the Department of Public Works to do a special duty as prescribed here in substance certain conditions, Item-D.

In resolution authorizing the Chief Human Resources officer to extend the existing contract with the Hartford to administer the city's leave management program through September 30th, 2021 edit calls not to exceed thirteen-thousand five hundred dollars.

- What's the pleasure of the council?

- Motion to approve.

- We have a motion on the floor to approve Items 7-B, C and D, with a proper second.

Questions or comments before we vote.

Roll call please.

- Councilwoman Coonrod?

- Yes.

- Councilmen Bert ?

- Yes.

- Councilwoman Dali?

Yes.

- Councilwoman Berth?

- Yes.

- Councilman Hester, - Yes.

- Councilman Leper?

- Yes.

Councilman Hill - Yes.

- Ms.Chiarman Smith?

- Yes.

- Chairman Henderson?

- Yes.

- Nine Yes'.

- So moved.

Now move into committee reports earlier today, and I will give this in the form of a report earlier today we did reach consensus on the committees going forward ,and they are as follows, and I'll list a council person that is going to chair that committee.

Economic Development Committee be chaired by Councilman Coonrod ,Public Safety Committee by Councilman Byrd.

Parks and Public Works Committee ,by Councilman Hester, Equity, and Community Development Committee by Councilman Dotly.

Education and Innovation Committee by Councilwoman Hill.

Planning and Zoning committee, Councilman Ledford.

Budget and Finance committee, Councilwoman Byrs ,and the legislative committee, Vice Chair Smith.

That is in the form of report.

We did have Public works Committee today, Councilman Hester, would you like to report on that, sir?

[Inaudible] - Thank you sir.

- Councilwoman Coonrod?

- [Councilwoman Coonrod] Thank You chair.

I just want to say I loved serving four years as a Y of D. That was my passion, but listen as I want the constituents know, and everybody listening on the news as of today, all emails, calls and show ups.

I need you to direct out at the Councilwoman Dodley.

I'm passing that on to her, and anything economic development related, contact me.

Thank you.

Just wanted to make that.

- Thank you.

Councilwoman Dodley.

- [Councilwoman Dodley] I don't say much - Thank you Council - I appreciate that.

- I know you do, I know you do.

- Thank you so much, Councilwoman Coonrod and I look forward to serving all of our constituents on the Community Development and Equity.

- All right, now that we've got all of that out of the way we'll move now to other business.

We do have a RFP protest here in this afternoon.

Chief, would you come forward again, please?

Could you present the protest by this company?

- [Chief] Yes.

- Thank you.

- [Chief] So the protest was submitted by MetLife.

This is for the contract for voluntary benefits as well as FMLA management and other various benefits.

The protest was submitted by MetLife.

They, the action requested was to verify that there was no miscalculation and evaluator.

Number three is pricing score.

We did confirm that there was indeed no miscalculation and we still recommend that the award go to Symetra, who was the original vendor that we sent notification of award to.

Furthermore, the employee with MetLife who filed the protest is no longer with MetLife, and we did receive an email from the regional director of MetLife, his name is Todd Lawrence, and he asked that we proceed without any representation from MetLife.

- Okay.

Very well.

Any, any questions or comments for the chief?

- I don't mean, we might should ask just to make sure no one's here from Metlife.

- Well believe me I was gonna do that.

Okay.

Okay.

Just to confirm, are there any representatives from MetLife here this afternoon that would like to address the council?

I'm seeing no representative.

Thank you Chief.

- Yep.

- We recommend the approval of award to Symmetra.

- Okay.

- Councilwoman Coonrod is the best committee Chair of Economic Development I've ever worked with.

(audience laughter) - Okay.

Madam clerk, if you would, we moved item 7-A to the end of our agenda would you please at this time, read 7-A.

- Yes.

- IT resolution authorizing the Chief Human Resources officer to enter into an agreement with Symetra to provide long-term disability insurance group life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance.

If a Malay leave management system volunteers cell phone, life and voluntary short-term disability insurance for three-year term effective effective July 1st, 2021, with an option to renew for final two-year term with the city's portion in the amount of two hundred and thirty thousand dollars for an estimated annual cost of one million one hundred and sixty-nine thousand dollars.

- What's the pleasure of the council?

- We have approval.

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

Any questions or comments before we vote?

Madam clerk, roll call please.

- Councilwoman Hill?

- Yes.

Councilman Ledford?

- Yes.

- Councilman Hester?

- Yes.

- Councilman Rivers?

- Yes.

Councilwoman Dali?

- Yes.

- Councilman Byrd?

- Yes.

Councilman McCombrod?

- Yes.

- Chairman Smith?

- Yes.

- Chairman Henderson?

- Yes.

- Nine Yes'.

- Motion to approve carries nine,zero.

That does conclude all items on our agenda this afternoon.

We now move to recognitions of persons wishing to address the council this afternoon.

- Good evening - Sam Covosovich ,1337 Village Green Drive, District three.

About a month ago from public works, a bunch of us came down here.

We don't have quite as many tonight but because everybody worked in the sun all day today and it was kinda hot.

But I, we talked before about our pay raises and different things and not.

We talked about, we asked y'all about being recognized as essential workers.

Well, and y'all give us some great acclimates and everything about y'all agreed that we should be that way.

Well, we had it come up again today, and one, it was asked to the mayor on the radio they were explaining to him about the, the rescue plan which I understand met with y'all last week, and they went over different things about where this thirty-eight point six million dollars could be spent.

So, essential workers got brought up again.

I think it was where it said, let me look real quick that the premium pay to essential workers could be up to thirteen dollars an hour and back pay until March, 2020.

You know, all of us from public works.

Like we talked a month ago where all the tornado hit the pandemic and all, and and everybody knows we were out there in the middle of it all.

Today he just spoke up and says, well this money is just going to have to be looked at very hard, and it, it just kind of puzzled us because we still are asking to be essential workers because when a snow hits or some kind of pandemic, you know garbage has always got to be picked up.

Brush trucks are always running and public works is always there and they send the non-essentials home but the other people are still always there.

So I like to bring it up to y'all again, to be on this thought process of y'all figuring everything out that we'd be recognized for essential workers again and consider us for some of this back pay money that the comptroller was talking about back to March, 2020 and it could be up to $13.

I'd appreciate it, If y'all would look at this very seriously and keep us in mind, because we've got a lot of people that are trying to make decisions at public works whether they want to stay or go into the private sector, you know, and, and you know we're already short handed, as I told y'all before but I appreciate anything y'all could do to help us out.

- Councilman Hester?

[Inaudible] - You have my support on that, thank you.

- Councilman Byrd?

- Thank you, Chair.

Attorney field, is that how we all are not echo Councilman Hester's concerns?

And we do a hundred percent.

I know I do to support that but is that a decision this body can make, and can we do that , or is that administrative decision?

Because ,I don't want these guys looking at us and we're sitting here and telling him we agree, We understand, and then we leave out of here and they get nothing or they hear nothing.

And then a month or two later, they come back and they say, you guys said, you agree, but you did nothing.

- Yes, sir.

- Is that something that this body can do?

or is that something this body has authority to do?

Or is that a administrative thing?

- The mayor is in charge of the administrative functions here at the city and the employees that work under it.

You fund those programs though, and it's an issue as to how you would deal with the funding in the budget ordinance.

- Thank you.

- Well, chief, you read my mind.

I'm glad you're up here in our meeting last Wednesday, it was my understanding.

The comptroller said that it was the decision of the Mayor as to who is an essential worker, Is that correct sir?

- Correct.

- The other thing I'll say we did discuss earlier today that we will be presenting to council an update on compensation study that started back in 2020.

So we were planning to do that in July as we move into the budget process and we are committed to implementing as much of the compensation plan as we can.

One thing I will mention on the, the ARP dollars in particular ,related to essential employees what can be the money can be used for final guidance has not been released on this, on this this federal funding stream.

So, and it will not be released until sometime in July, so we're not making any decisions related to ARP funding until we get final guidance.

As the comptroller said, don't let the money burn a hole in your pocket, waiting until you get the rules before you start spending it and get yourself in trouble.

So, we will wait and we will create a comprehensive plan along with council, and our plan is to make some generational changes in the city using that those funds but we will be addressing pay as much as possible in the upcoming budget.

- Thank you, sir.

- Thank you.

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