For many years, the Hamilton County Commission has held meetings on Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. This means many regular people like you and me with 8-to-5 jobs can’t attend and participate in local government decision-making live without having to miss work or arrange time off.
No one should have to choose between going to work and school or being able to advocate for our neighborhoods or public schools because of a meeting time.
(IN THE NEWS: Hamilton County Commission meetings to temporarily stay at 4 p.m. — again)
I have been attending in person and watching County Commission meetings online since around 2015. I’ve watched hundreds of meetings, where commissioners deliberate over critical issues from short-term vacation rental licensing to public education funding, and where they deliver long personal diatribes or sermons that may or may not directly relate to the matter at hand.
I remember sitting in the audience in 2019 when then-Commissioner Katherlyn Geter from District 5 introduced a resolution to support 6:30 p.m. meeting times. The resolution died in committee, but the shared hunger in our community for more accessible meetings has lived on.
I don’t watch the meetings because county government is particularly exciting. I watch because the public comment periods are a fascinating snapshot into issues that members of our community care deeply enough about to travel downtown, from all parts of Hamilton County, to 625 Georgia Ave., and speak within a three-minute limit to a room of decision-makers about what we believe needs to be done to make our community better.
The question of “What moves the people of Hamilton County to action?” is answered weekly on Wednesdays at the Hamilton County Commission.
Over the last 10 years, I’ve heard dozens of community members make public comments around concerns ranging from teachers having to pay out of pocket for school supplies to how our tax dollars are or aren’t allocated in projects, like plans to turn part of Enterprise South Nature Park into an industrial area.
This wide variety of concerns over the years shares a common thread: how often community members tack on an extra request to their public comment. “Oh, and by the way, y’all need to look at moving these meeting times. I had to ask for work to be here.” Or, “Why do y’all meet at 9:30 a.m.? I’m a student and I have class at this time.”
The county commission has power over a number of critical areas that impact our everyday lives, including:
› The public education budget, funding 79 schools and more than 6,000 full-time employees.
› The sheriff’s office budget, funding the county jail and 540 full-time employees.
› Zoning decisions that impact our neighborhoods, including building in floodplains, density and where everything from foster care homes to liquor stores is allowed.
› How our tax dollars are leveraged to incentivize opportunity — like the creation of jobs that should be well-paid, long-term careers.
› Funding for the county health department, where our residents can access critical vaccinations for infants, family planning, vital record keeping, opioid addiction prevention support and much more!
Moving the meeting time to the evening means more stakeholders can lend their expertise during the county budgeting process. More accessible local government means more of us can help shape decision-making in real time, in the room where millions of our local tax dollars are allocated every year.
The Hamilton County Commission is the only publicly elected board in the county that meets before 3:30 pm. All other elected bodies meet in the afternoon or evening, including:
› Hamilton County School Board: 4:30 and 6 p.m.
› Chattanooga City Council: 3:30 and 5:30 p.m.
› Governing boards for East Ridge and Lookout Mountain: 5 p.m.
› Governing boards for Red Bank, Signal Mountain, Soddy-Daisy and Collegedale: 6 p.m.
Hamilton County residents: urge your commissioners to vote on March 11 against going back to 9:30 a.m. meeting times and in favor of evening meetings.
Michaela Winter, of Chattanooga, is a Tennessee native and a community organizer.