Many residents cannot easily attend the Hamilton County Commission’s Wednesday meetings because the 9:30 a.m. start time interferes with work.
Now, Chair Jeff Eversole, R-Ooltewah, said he hopes to see a resolution in the coming weeks that would change the meeting time to later in the afternoon, potentially between 4-5 p.m. Broached by Commissioner Chip Baker, R-Signal Mountain, on Wednesday, the idea garnered support from a handful of commissioners.
“We need to put ourselves in a position to where people can get here, and throughout my 2 1/2 years — almost three years — of being a commissioner, the No. 1 suggestion that we’ve received is, ‘Why not change the meeting times?'” Eversole said in an interview.
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He said commissioners should hear from a broad audience of residents.
“They want to be heard, and they want to be able to participate,” Eversole said. “I think effective government is when you solicit, you encourage and you get ideas from your constituents, and you give them an opportunity to speak.”
Eversole asked County Attorney Janie Varnell to help draft that change. Varnell said she would look into it and asked commissioners to consider employee overtime, particularly for the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.
The issue cropped up a few times during the commission meeting Wednesday. That meeting drew a packed crowd of residents who were there to speak on a plan that would guide development in unincorporated parts of Hamilton County.
“I think we’ve kind of left our citizens out,” Everesole said. “Like here today, how many took off work to come sit?”
Baker brought up the idea of changing meeting times Wednesday, noting he flagged the issue when he was elected to the board in 2018.
“It would be great if we changed our meetings to 5 p.m.,” he said. “It gives people more access to us.”
Commissioner David Sharpe, D-Red Bank, was similarly supportive of Baker’s proposal and pointed to the impact the commission has on school teachers and students.
“When we’re voting on the ability of the school board to offer a pay raise for teachers and better funding for our schools, all of those teachers are in the classroom,” he said. “They can’t come here at all.”
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The community needs an opportunity to speak, said Commissioner Steve Highlander, R-Harrison, although he suggested holding sessions to set the agenda in the morning and meetings to vote on matters in the evening. That would help cut down on costs, he said.
As is, commissioners hold an agenda session the week before their regular voting meetings. Both occur at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesdays.
“I think it’s very important that our citizens have an opportunity to speak,” Highlander said.
Collegedale Vice Mayor Tonya Sadler, who has announced plans to run for Eversole’s commission seat in May, recently made a similar recommendation. Sadler said she will push for changing the commission’s meeting time, at least for voting meetings, from 9:30 a.m. to later in the evening.
Eversole has said he intends to run for reelection but has not provided specifics. Eversole has amassed more than $47,000 in donations in recent months, according to his most recent campaign finance report.
“I’m not going to go down that road right now,” Eversole said Wednesday, asked about the entry of a challenger. “We’re going to be making some announcements in the coming future.”
Contact city and county reporter David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.