Chattanooga City Council members decided two weeks ago to stop eating a city-paid meal in the time between their committee meetings and their regular meeting as they work on a city budget.
“We are trying to save some money,” Councilman Jack Benson said.
Mayor Ron Littlefield said last week that he would present an amended budget with reductions that were more substantial than “cutting out the sandwiches before the council meeting.”
Mr. Benson took exception to the comment.
“It’s small money, as the mayor says, but small money on top of small money equals big money,” he said.
But not all council members agree with the decision.
Councilwoman Sally Robinson said council members spend a great part of their day at the meetings, which usually run from 3 to 5 p.m. before the regular meeting starts at 6 p.m. Last week, the committee meeting started at 1 p.m.
Ms. Robinson said she thinks “breaking bread together” gives some civility to the council and said that, most of the time, all they eat is some chips and sandwiches.
“It’s certainly not extravagant,” she said.
Randy Burns, the council’s internal auditor and management analyst, said this year’s food budget is $8,000, compared with $7,200 for the coming year.
REALTORS TAKE ON PROPERTY TAX
The Chattanooga Association of Realtors has launched an advertising campaign against the proposed Chattanooga property tax hike, a news release said.
“Our position is entirely economic and not at all political,” said Randy Durham, president of the Realtor group.
A full-page advertisement is scheduled to run several times in the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the news release said. Other local outlets will also receive the advertisement.
Mayor Ron Littlefield announced a proposed tax hike of 64 cents per $100 of assessed value. The City Council has been debating the tax hike for several weeks, and the mayor plans to submit a revised budget plan with a lower tax increase this week.
FUNDRAISING FOR MEMORIAL
The city’s Department of Education, Arts and Culture will begin a $3 million fundraising campaign to renovate Solders and Sailors Memorial Auditorium, city officials said last week.
“Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium stands as a monument to the men and women of Chattanooga who have given their lives in service to our city and nation,” Mayor Ron Littlefield said in a news release. “Mayor Robert Kirk Walker made a commitment years ago to complete the renovations of the Community Theatre on the third floor of the auditorium. And this campaign will see that project through to completion.”
The City Council voted 6-2 Tuesday to allow the campaign to happen. Councilwoman Deborah Scott and Councilman Peter Murphy voted no, saying they would like to see a business plan.
The $3 million renovation project will be donor-driven, engaging volunteers, in-kind donations and other means to restore the Community Theatre, city officials said. It is a smaller venue in the auditorium that will seat about 700 people, officials said.
CITY ANNOUNCES EDUCATION FORUM ON HATE CRIME
The city’s Office of Multicultural Affairs and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Criminal Justice Department are hosting a joint presentation on hate crime, city officials said.
The forum will have presentations from the U.S. attorney’s office, Eastern District, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice.
The presentations will be 6 p.m. Thursday in the Dorothy Hackett Ward Theater in the UTC Fine Arts Center.
For more information, contact Nicole Gwyn, Office of Multicultural Affairs, at 423-643-6715 or gwyn_n@mail.chattanooga.gov.
COUNTY COMMISSION ON HIATUS
The Hamilton County Commission will not have another regularly scheduled meeting until July 1. It took care of several items at its meeting on Wednesday, including:
* Rezoning 6810 Holder Road from residential to commercial
* Rezoning 9733 East Brainerd Road from agricultural to commercial
* Accepting $143,156 in federal grant money for the Sheriff’s Office’s “Safe Journey” Project
* Awarding a $88,687 contract to Office Coordinators for furniture, furnishings and equipment for the County Mayor’s Office, Conference Room and Filing Room at the Hamilton County Courthouse.
SHERIFF CALLS INVITATION A MISTAKE
After previously questioning Sheriff Jim Hammond for using seized drug money to buy a car for himself, Hamilton County Commission Chairman Fred Skillern on Wednesday criticized the sheriff for putting his office number on an invitation to a political event next week.
“No elected official should use county equipment or phones to further their election,” Mr. Skillern said.
The invitation is for Sheriff Hammond’s “Re-Election Reception” set for June 24 at the Renaissance Center in Georgia, which is owned by Emerson Russell, a Chattanooga businessman. The invitation says attendees can call the sheriff’s office number to RSVP for the event.
Sheriff Hammond said using the publicly paid line to receive responses to the invitation was a mistake.
“It unfortunately points out some of my human weaknesses,” Mr. Hammond said Wednesday after the County Commission meeting.
The sheriff said it’s not a fundraiser per se, but he will accept donations. He’s paying for it out of his own campaign funds, he said, and it will cost $7,000 to $8,000.
The sheriff would not say who brought the problem with the invitation to his attention.
The Hamilton County Election Commission and County Attorney Rheubin Taylor said the invitation doesn’t break any laws or county policies.