Following the shooting death of a 38-year-old businessman outside Patten Towers, Hamilton County will allocate $180,000 in hotel-motel tax revenue to support overtime pay for Sheriff's Office deputies assigned to the downtown Chattanooga area.
Hamilton County commissioners approved the funding in a 10-0 vote during their meeting Wednesday, transferring that money to the Sheriff's Office. Commissioner Warren Mackey, D-Lake Vista, was not present.
Since the fatal shooting of Chris Wright last month, Chattanooga police have boosted patrols downtown, and the Sheriff's Office has also assigned deputies to support those efforts. Darryl Roberts, 57, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with Wright's death on Sept. 28.
(READ MORE: Video shows interaction before fatal shooting of Chattanooga businessman Chris Wright)
Commissioner Joe Graham, R-Lookout Valley, said any major employers lured to Hamilton County will want to know the region has a thriving downtown.
"If we don't have a thriving downtown and a safe downtown, we're going backwards," Graham said at the meeting. "(Using) these hotel-motel funds is absolutely the best way do it, and the best way to do it today. Not two weeks from now, not a month from now -- today. Let's get the ball rolling."
Both Hamilton County and Chattanooga levy taxes on hotel stays to fund tourism-related efforts. As part of the budget county officials approved in June, commissioners agreed to freeze funding for the Chattanooga Tourism Co. at nearly $10.4 million, the same as the prior year, and retain about $1.7 million for county use.
The $180,000 allocation will still give officials about $1.5 million to spend throughout the remainder of the fiscal year, Mayor Weston Wamp told commissioners.
Before Wright's shooting, downtown business owners had voiced concerns about violence around Station Street, Sheriff Austin Garrett told commissioners.
"There's been ongoing crime issues downtown -- they happen countywide -- but there's been a concentrated amount of crime downtown that the business owners see," Garrett said.
After Wright's death, the sheriff met with a group of 20 or more business people, he said. One hotel owner told Garrett he was dealing with a series of cancellations. The shooting gained national and international attention.
The $180,000 allocation would help sustain overtime pay until July, Garrett said. Sheriff's Office spokesperson Brad Hartman said in an email last week that four deputies and one sergeant have been assigned to the downtown area special patrol initiative, although the number could fluctuate depending on the need. Officers aren't being pulled from other assignments.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga mayor, police chief confront downtown safety concerns)
"Perception is reality," Garrett told commissioners. "So when violent acts happen ... we have to take notice of that and be solution-seekers."
Friday night, Garrett said, he and members of his command staff were on a five-hour foot beat from the riverfront to Main Street.
"I was stopped by at least 15 people Friday night thanking us for being down here -- some local, some not," Garrett said. "One homeless person stopped me and thanked me."
Since being assigned to the downtown area, Garrett said, Sheriff's Office deputies have recovered a stolen vehicle using license plate reader technology, and last Thursday evening, they were involved a high-speed vehicle chase downtown after a motorist came dangerously close to pedestrians in a crosswalk, according to police. The driver, Eric Johnson, faces more than a dozen charges, according to the Sheriff's Office, including driving under the influence and a felony warrant for violation of the sex offender registry.
"As a sheriff, I've got an obligation to the taxpayers that live in the city just like I do in the unincorporated areas," Garrett said in an interview. "I've got an obligation as a peer with the police chiefs to help them any way I can with the resources and assets I have. They'd do the same thing for me. ... We want to make the entire county safe. We have a $1 billion tourism business here, and it extends beyond downtown."
Commissioners initially questioned why they didn't have more time to consider the resolution. It was added to their agenda at the end of their regular Wednesday meeting.
"In spite of a small procedural issue with this resolution, I think we all have to recognize that in our downtown area ... the extra boots on the ground these dollars will provide are going to make our business owners more comfortable, patrons more comfortable and hopefully make the criminals uncomfortable," Commissioner Lee Helton, R-East Brainerd, said during the meeting. "I think it's a totally appropriate use of the dollars."
Mackey, who was present for the early part of the board discussion on the matter, said there are other areas outside downtown Chattanooga that also deserve attention.
"We're putting an emphasis on downtown, and it's important," he said during the meeting, noting that tourism helps cut down on taxes paid by constituents. "But at the same time, residents in the outlying areas need to be protected as well."
County leaders have been discussing crime for years, said Commissioner Greg Beck, D-North Brainerd.
"If we don't get a handle on crime, period, in Chattanooga and Hamilton County, we're going to be talking about the same thing 20 years from now -- the next two or three sheriffs," Beck said during the meeting.
"There's no way we can get to the bottom of this thing," he continued. "It's like trying to find a root of kudzu. ... You just keep cutting the kudzu off, and it keeps growing back. You have to think about getting the legislature to strengthen the hand of the district attorney. That's the only way we're going to stop this stuff."
Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.