Chattanooga City Judge Russell Bean this evening released a statement criticizing Mayor Ron Littlefield's administration for suspending a $400 a month car allowance given to him and five top city administrators.
"If you had contacted me about that I would have explained to you that it is absolutely not feasible," Bean wrote in the e-mail to Richard Beeland, the mayor's spokesman.
Beans said state law does not allow a judge's compensation to be changed during his term of office and the move could put his state jurisdiction at risk.
The judge said he does use his personal vehicle for some city business, often driving around town to study traffic and parking problems that he finds out within court.
"I would not mind having the car allowance removed but I do believe that it cannot be done until the end of the term," he wrote.
Littlefield suspended the allowances Wednesday. They had been given to certain administrators since 1998 to compensate them for not having take-home city cars.
Bean also slammed the administration for not communicating directly with him over suspending the allowance.
"Richard, I do wish that the Administration would contact me directly on these issues rather than me just reading them in the news," he wrote. "The first time I knew that the Administration was thinking about reducing the car allowance was in the news rather than an email or phone call to me."
The result, he said, was that "One news agency is now reporting that I am receiving a raise during my term which is incorrect. Because of this I am releasing this email to the news media in an effort to straighten this information out."
See Friday's Times Free Press for complete coverage.