The City Council, which took the unusual move of subpoenaing the district attorney general to come before it, is composed of members who are, among others, staunch backers of Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke (and his initiatives), such as Chris Anderson and Moses Freeman, stated skeptics of VRI, such as Yusuf Hakeem, and others who have been mentioned as 2017 mayoral candidates, such as Ken Smith.
An appearance by Pinkston before the body would allow each faction to grandstand about their perspective of VRI and not likely have the effect of moving the issue forward.
In addition, the council has authorized the spending of some $1 million on VRI and may want to deflect responsibility for the program's thus-far inability to reduce gang violence. It's not up to Pinkston, solely, to bear that blame.
He and Berke are scheduled to meet next week, and we believe that meeting has the potential to move the needle on closer cooperation between the city and the district attorney's office on the gang violence initiative. Both men claim they have done their utmost to foster that cooperation, but a disconnect for whatever reason has become plain.
The City Council, in the meantime, is free to seek out Pinkston for additional insight into the nuances of why certain gang cases wind up as misdemeanors, others go to federal court and still others get the harsher treatment officials expected at the outset.