Chattanooga City Attorney Wade Hinton said Councilman Larry Grohn didn't break any rules when he suggested that council legislative analyst Thomas Tansil go to a Ted Cruz rally on Aug. 10.
Tansil attended the event and offered the pledge of allegiance to Cruz's more than 900 supporters. Tansil said last week he was asked to go by Grohn, and he would request leave for the time to avoid running afoul of rules prohibiting political activity on city time.
Grohn said all he did was connect Tansil to the Cruz campaign, because Tansil served at the U.S. Naval and Marine Reserve Center on Amnicola Highway that was attacked on July 16.
"My basic conclusion that there was no coercion or order to attend a political event. It was a request," Hinton said.
That means no city codes were broken, but Hinton cautioned council members and all supervisory city staff to be careful when making requests of employees.
"When we request things [employees] may feel like they have to go," Hinton said.