WHAT'S NEXT
Councilmen will vote on Resolution 2181 today at East Ridge City Hall. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.
Two days after Red Bank opened a door to government, another municipality is expected to slam it shut.
On deck for today's East Ridge City Council meeting is a resolution seeking to "establish proper decorum and civility" and limit communication between officials and residents during public comment periods.
"For all inquiries concerning operational statements, finances, budgets or otherwise shall be in writing and presented to the City Council," the resolution continues.
If approved, the resolution will allow the city manager to provide a written response "not later than the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting."
The council meets every two weeks.
Resolution No. 2181 surfaces four months after some residents berated a council that overlooked a six-figure budget deficit. It also follows a recent meeting in which councilmen failed to identify a $265,000 expenditure known as "Special Project 3" when a resident asked what it was.
"It's to prevent what happened this year," said Mayor Mike Steele, who suggested the resolution. "If citizens are looking for back-and-forth, they're walking up for the wrong reasons.
"You have a few citizens who enjoy making the city manager and council look silly," he continued. "Let's be honest; they love it. We want to provide correct information."
East Ridge councilmen will vote two days after Red Bank Mayor Monty Millard went in the other direction. On Tuesday, he changed the city's agenda to allow residents to speak before commissioners vote on ordinances and resolutions.
Previously, residents only were allowed to speak minutes before the meeting adjourned.
"People can still speak at the end of the meeting," Millard said Tuesday. "But it's extremely important to allow our citizens to express their opinions before we actually consider items to vote on."
Immediately after the new change was announced, longtime Red Bank resident David Hafley approached Millard and suggested adding "a little more detail" to the agenda section dealing with new business.
"We want to know what you're voting on," Hafley said. "This is a good move."
Chattanooga, Collegedale, Hamilton County, Red Bank, Signal Mountain and Soddy-Daisy do not require residents to submit questions in writing during public comment periods, a mandatory segment of each city's meetings.
Contact Chris Carroll at ccarroll@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6610.
Chris Carroll covers federal politics for the Times Free Press. A Chattanooga native, he went to Red Bank High School and graduated with honors from East Tennessee State University. Chris investigated violent crime, municipal government and hospitals before taking the political beat. For tornado coverage, he and Pam Sohn won a first-place Tennessee Associated Press Managing Editors deadline reporting award. In 2010, Chris won the Golden Press Card Award of Merit and another deadline reporting ...
Where's the so called Tea Party on this one?What a joke.
Well it appears that it is more business as usual in East Ridge. The Council wants to do what they want when they want without any input from the citizens. What they are proposing no citizen concerns ever see the light of day. They are submitted to the City Manager and a response is given back to the Citizen in writing. No one else ever gets to even hear the response. Why don't they just go ahead and go all the way and just abolish public meetings all together that way they dont even have to worry about the citizen's listening to what they are doing. Face the facts, the "leadership" in East Ridge has become so accustomed to their back room deals that they can't stomach the thought of citizens having any input. You know something is wrong when the Council doesn't want citizen involvement.
Or login with:
New Account