Madison Myers, Rickey Phillips and Joshua Myers march in the M.L. King Day parade on Monday, January 20, 2014, in Chattanooga, Tenn.For the first time in 46 years, Chattanooga may not have a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade.
Sherman Matthews, president of the Unity Group, cited organizational issues and delayed permits from the city as reasons why the the parade, scheduled for Monday, has been canceled.
He said that the city did not approve a permit for the parade until Thursday. Once the permit was received, a barricade company that has set up for the parade for several years said there wasn’t enough time to get the job done.
Matthews said the parade is “symbolic and would have a lot of meaning to our youth.”
“Now we’re playing games,” he said.
According to Matthews, the Unity Group has contended with a “power storm of problems” involving increased regulations put on them by the city including the need to pay for police services and insurance.
Lacie Stone, spokeswoman for Mayor Andy Berke’s office, said the committee in charge of closing down streets for events did not receive a certificate of insurance from the Unity Group until Tuesday or Wednesday.
Stone said city employees issued the permit afterward as quickly as they could, but the timing has unfortunately impacted the parade plans.
The city is now attempting to work with the Unity Group to ensure that the parade does happen, she said.
Jojo Scott, owner of Chattanooga Flasher Barricade, the company that Matthews had expected would be handling the cones, said he never received a traffic plan.
“You can’t put a deal like that together in five minutes,” he said.
“I don’t have a traffic plan, and how can I do it if I don’t have a traffic plan?” Scott asked. “I don’t know what streets they’re blocking, using, or even where it’s at.”
Scott said a member of the police department called him around 3 p.m. Friday and that was the first time he had heard of plans for the parade.
Ordinarily, the traffic plan is submitted two to three weeks in advance, Scott said.
This year the parade was scheduled to go down one lane of North Moore Road and conclude at Brainerd High School instead of going down Martin Luther King Boulevard as it has for decades.
Matthews said when you look at the regulatory hoops he claims the city put up, “You have to ask yourself why.”
“Obviously, they did not want this to take place,” he said. “It’s a repressive government that says if you don’t do things the way I want to do them, then you’re not going to do them at all.”
This year’s parade was scheduled to be on Brainerd Road, a change from previous years.
Although the parade has been canceled, there are still many Chattanooga events happening throughout the weekend and Monday.
Contact Staff Writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6731.