A Hamilton County resolution providing $50,000 to support temporary housing for displaced guests of the Budgetel Inn went into effect Christmas Eve without Mayor Weston Wamp's signature, according to an email to commissioners.
The funding was part of an interlocal agreement with the city of Chattanooga that provided a total of $100,000 to the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition to extend hotel stays for families who had previously lived at the Budgetel Inn in East Ridge. The motel housed hundreds of people when it was shut down Nov. 16.
The Chattanooga City Council approved its $50,000 half of the spending Dec. 13, and the Hamilton County Commission authorized its portion Dec. 14. Both boards OK'd the money unanimously.
In response to questions about why he didn't sign off on the commission's action, Wamp issued a statement Wednesday.
"Our community is experiencing a serious shortage of affordable housing that demands our attention, but this resolution came together hastily and lacked protections to ensure taxpayer money would only go to people in need," the statement said. "My office has worked diligently to support the families of students displaced by the closing of the Budgetel, and we are actively pursuing sustainable solutions to prevent any student homelessness in Hamilton County."
Commission Chairman Chip Baker, R-Signal Mountain, said he stands by the resolution, and he is disappointed it became law without the mayor's signature.
"I would agree that the resolution came together quickly because the situation arrived quickly," he said in a phone call Wednesday.
Baker said the county worked with its partners on the City Council to provide relief at the coldest time of the year to help people at risk of homelessness.
Hamilton County Clerk Bill Knowles told commissioners in an email Wednesday the resolution went into effect Saturday without a signature from Wamp. The mayor has 10 days to either sign or veto a resolution once it has been approved by the commission and submitted to the mayor's office.
Staff Photo by Olivia Ross / Different signage from the District Attorney's Office is seen around the front of the Budgetel property. The city of Chattanooga and Hamilton County have pledged $50,000 apiece to help former motel guests.District Attorney Coty Wamp, the mayor's sister, asked a judge to close down the Budgetel Inn, stating there had been a high volume of crime there over the past few years. A motion she filed said there were four known sex offenders living at the motel in close proximity to children. The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office later identified a fifth.
In an email Dec. 20, the district attorney objected to officials using public funds to provide hotel rooms for people with criminal histories, sending a list of guests to commissioners and local news organizations that the district attorney's office found to have criminal records in Hamilton County.
"I'd prefer, as a taxpayer, to not be paying for two months of free hotel rooms for child molesters," she wrote in email to the Chattanooga Times Free Press on Dec. 20. "I'd prefer, as a taxpayer, to not be paying for two months of free hotel rooms for adults with extensive criminal histories."
Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly's chief of staff, Joda Thongnopnua, later stated that no city or county funds were supporting hotel rooms for sex offenders.
Mackenzie Kelly, the director of community engagement at the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition, said the lag time between the resolution's approval by the commission and its ultimate effective date 10 days later has not affected the organization's ability to pay for hotel rooms. The resolution commissioners approved Dec. 14 states the coalition must spend the city's appropriation before using county funds.
Hamilton County Administrator of Finance Lee Brouner said in an email Wednesday that the county has not yet received an invoice from the homeless coalition and has not transmitted the funds to the organization.
County officials will do so once they have verified certain items required in the resolution -- that the assistance is limited to temporary housing for displaced Budgetel guests, it is limited to a three-month period up to March 15 and the city has already spent up to $50,000.
As for the former guests of the Budgetel Inn, the homeless coalition is still working to find permanent places for people to stay, Kelly said.
"Our numbers are down on hotel rooms," she said in a phone call Wednesday. "We are housing folks. ... We're just doing our best to find permanent solutions for folks because we do know that this funding is only a temporary stopgap."
When the organization presented its request for funding in mid-December, Kelly said, the coalition was providing temporary accommodations for about 110 households. Although she didn't know that exact figure Wednesday, Kelly said, that number has decreased daily as families move into permanent housing.
Before the allocation from the city and county, the homeless coalition was using crowdsourced funds to place Budgetel guests in hotel rooms, which was also supplemented by $50,000 from the Tennessee Housing and Development Agency.
Reporter Ellen Gerst contributed to this story.
Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249. Follow him on Twitter @flavid_doyd.