Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.
The Chattanooga City Council met on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, for its regular meeting, which included a public hearing on the proposed FY 2027 budget amendment. The council also held a substantive debate and vote on a resolution to initiate the historic landmark designation process for multiple city-owned and privately held properties, ultimately approving it 5-4. Several rezonings were passed, including a significant affordable housing development on Old Lee Highway, and the council hired a new Legislative Affairs Director.
FY 2027 Budget Amendment Public Hearing
General Public Comment
Historic Landmark Designation Resolution (Item 9B) Councilman Clark presented a resolution directing city staff to research, conduct outreach to property owners, and prepare applications for local historic landmark designation for a list of over a dozen properties, including City Hall, the Tivoli Theatre, Soldiers and Sailors Auditorium, Lincoln Park, several historic cemeteries, and buildings on Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Rezoning: Old Lee Highway Affordable Housing (Item 8D) MATCO Affordable Housing, in partnership with the Chattanooga Housing Authority, proposed rezoning properties for a 130-unit affordable housing development.
Rezoning: 3935 Cromwell Road (Item 8C) A rezone to neighborhood commercial zone for a church intending to operate a daycare.
Rezoning: 2411 Archery Street (Item 8F) A rezone to a commercial corridor zone.
Legislative Affairs Director Appointment (Item 9C) A resolution to hire Christina Spears as the city council's Legislative Affairs Director.
Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome. I'll call to order the Tuesday, October twentieth meeting of the Chattanooga City Council, and recognize Councilman Clark to lead us in our Pledge of Allegiance and invocation. God, that we pray bring glory to your name, Lord. Uh, please uh we pray God that you keep our mayor, our city council members, Lord, and our president and all of our armed forces uh out there protecting our country and our city, Lord, that you give them the wisdom and the will to do the right thing, God, Lord, as we consider legislation today, Lord. I pray God that we do it in a way that brings glory to your name, God, and that is the right thing to do based for the citizens of the city of Chattanooga, God. And your Jesus' precious holy name we do pay pray. Amen. All right. Well, welcome again, everyone. Um just uh housekeeping note. If you have a cell phone, make sure it's uh silenced or on vibrates. We don't have any um any distractions in our meeting. Um we like to provide at the outset of our meetings kind of a rundown of how the meeting operates you'll know what to expect uh this afternoon and evening. Um so our meetings are uh held in two parts. Our first part is our agenda session, um, during which um we have special presentations and um tonight in particular we do have um a special presentation in the form of a public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget amendment, um, and so we will get to that shortly. Um from there, uh the city council will um consider the minutes from our previous meeting, and then the council will have uh discussion as needed on any items that are on our agenda uh to be voted on this evening, as well as items on our agenda next week, and then looking farther ahead, the three weeks or more out, we look at all those items so that we're well prepared um as they come before us. So uh we will have that discussion amongst the council. Um sometimes we have committee or department reports during this first session of our meeting. We do not have any tonight. Um, and so once we've concluded our um agenda discussion, uh we'll have a recess and typically during our recess, we have a meeting with our city attorney, and we do need to have one this evening. Um, and so when we get to that point, I will announce the time at which we will return after our recess. And then when we get back, um we will vote on all the items on our agenda this evening. And uh once we have done that, there will be a period at the very end for public comment for anyone who would like to address counsel on any topic. Um, you're welcome to do that at the podium down front. Um, and our attorney will read some rules for that section of the meeting when we get there. Um, and so uh this public hearing that we have on our budget amendment, um, that will be um specific to the budget amendment. Um, and so if you have just general public comments, just hold those to the end if you would. So with that being said, I will yield the chair to councilman Henderson, who's the chair of our budget and finance committee to lead us in our public hearing. All right, thank you, Mr. Chair. Call to order the budget and finance committee. Can I get a um motion on the minutes from the last meeting? Second. All right, without objections, those meetings uh minutes will stand as recorded. Uh, so the sole purpose of this budget and finance committee this afternoon uh will be to conduct a public hearing on the FY27 budget, a proposed budget amendment uh that we will be uh having as for first read next Tuesday. Uh we have decided as a council that we limit these um uh public hearings to a total of one hour with each speaker uh getting two minutes to address the council. Uh so it is 335, and we'll set a time limit of 435. And at this time, I will open up the floor for our budget hearing. Would anybody like to come and address the council on our FY27 budget amendment? Come on, Chief. The floor is now open for public hearing. And if you would just give us your name for the record, what district you live in? Janice Gooden from the Great District 8.