City workers will get to bend the Chattanooga City Council's ear before the body passes a new set of employee rules. But Councilman Moses Freeman says they won't get into a tit-for-tat debate with city administration.
The council met with city human resources staff Tuesday to discuss some of the new provisions in the new employee handbook. And while several city employees and union representatives were there, they were not allowed to speak.
Saying that the administration had worked with employees throughout the 18-month process of developing the handbook, Freeman said the council needed to simply review the policies first.
"The 18 months in which employees had an opportunity to participate in this process has been very dynamic," he said Tuesday. "But we are at the point now where I believe, in most cases where a union is involved, the conversation has to be focused."
Instead, the council questioned the city staff about the new rules, and it will hear from employees during its agenda session next week.
"It would be, in my opinion, inappropriate for us to be in a role of negotiating changes to a document the administration worked very hard on," Freeman said. "We are not agents of the union, we are not representatives of the administration, we are legislative."
His preference was to hear from employees at an agenda session, or during a council meeting.
He said later Tuesday during a regular meeting that city employees who wanted to speak on the policy should come to the council's human resources committee next week.
Last week, two city employees addressed the council about being left out of the final discussion.
Public Works employee Jeff Templin told council members there were "many issues left unresolved from the employees' perspectives" after the administration negotiated with workers to craft the policies.
Employees had been a part of the discussion for more than a year, but they felt they were being left out of the final decision making, according to Steve West, a city worker and member of the Service Employees International Union.
The council also unanimously approved a resolution to enter an agreement with CBL Properties & Associates for $40 million in improvements to the interchange between Hamilton Place Boulevard and Interstate 75. The additions would add a northbound on-ramp and a southbound off-ramp from the interstate to the Hamilton Place mall area.
The bulk of the cost, $32 million, would come from federal highway funds through the Tennessee Department of Transportation. And CBL agreed to put up the $8 million local match for the work.
Councilman Larry Grohn, who represents part of the mall area, thanked CBL for putting up the funds.
"There's eight to 10 years of work behind this, and I just wanted to show the appreciation of myself and this council," he said.
City Transportation Director Blythe Bailey said the federal funds were specifically marked for the interchange and the city could not use them on any other projects.
Contact staff writer Louie Brogdon at lbrogdon@times freepress.com, @glbrogdoniv on Twitter or at 423-757-6481.