Tim Boyd demands apology after public spat

A heated spat between two Hamilton County officials has spiraled into a full-blown public drama.

District 8 County Commissioner Tim Boyd is calling on Mayor Jim Coppinger and his chief of staff, Mike Compton, to make a “sincere public apology” after Boyd and Compton exchanged tough words following last week’s commission meeting.

From the commission dais last week, Boyd criticized Coppinger for opposing commission discretionary spending, saying Coppinger spent $4.4 million at his own discretion on supported agencies in the county budget.

Coppinger wasn’t in the room, so Compton, who typically stays quiet during public meetings, rose to the mayor’s defense. He said “there were about 15 things wrong” with what Boyd said.

“I challenge you to say that when the mayor is here, because that was just ridiculous, what you just said,” Compton told Boyd during the meeting.

After the meeting adjourned, Boyd walked down to where Compton sat and said it was “pretty bold” of him to challenge Boyd’s statements.

“Everything, really!? Everything was wrong?” Boyd said as he stood over Compton.

Compton’s response was short and concise.

“Oh, you’re full of s–. Get the hell out of here,” Compton said.

The two men parted ways, but the tale doesn’t end there.

Sheriff Jim Hammond said Wednesday that Boyd came to him last week for a law enforcement response.

“He asked me if I would arrest [Compton]. I said, ‘No’ and ‘You could go ask a magistrate to give you a warrant, although I don’t think a magistrate would sign it,'” Hammond said.

Hammond said it’s not illegal to tell someone they are full of excrement.

“I don’t think so, that’s why I was hesitant to pursue it. He wanted it on public profanity. The city has old laws like that, that I don’t think the state has,” Hammond said. “This is one of those areas that’s very gray.”

Boyd said Wednesday his conversation with Hammond was supposed to be private. And he said he never asked for Compton to be arrested over the squabble.

“I talked to the sheriff privately about whether or not there were any grounds for public profanity and disorderly conduct,” Boyd said. “And I think it was a legitimate conversation based on where [the argument] happened and how bad it was. There were 20 people in there and the guy was cussing me out.”

Boyd read into the record Wednesday a letter he wrote calling Compton’s comments “the most disrespectful and unprofessional display of anger ever directed toward an elected official or perhaps anyone in the history of this room.”

Compton, who was Sen. Bob Corker’s chief of staff when Corker was Chattanooga’s mayor, declined to comment Wednesday. Nor did he apologize.

But Coppinger did respond.

He wants to know what he’s supposed to apologize for.

“I wasn’t even present for any of the discussion he had,” Coppinger said.

And during the meeting Wednesday, Coppinger answered Boyd’s criticism over the $4.4 million in the budget for supported agencies.

He listed all the programs Boyd was referring to: forest fire prevention, soil conservation, air pollution control and agriculture programs; the city/county planning agency; the Humane Educational Society; the Chamber of Commerce; Erlanger hospital and other agencies that provide services for residents.

“There’s nothing in this budget that is discretionary for the mayor,” he said.

He called Boyd’s initial argument a distraction.

“What was in dispute was if we had the money to fund discretionary spending, and more importantly the process we used to do that,” Coppinger said.

Contact staff writer Louie Brogdon at lbrogdon@timesfreepress.com, @glbrogdoniv on Twitter or at 423-757-6481.