Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Clarksville City Council held its regular session on October 1, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the City Council Chambers. All members were present except Councilman Chandler, who was excused. The meeting included public comments, approval of routine items, committee reports, a prolonged debate on a performing arts facility agreement, a failed parking ordinance overhaul, and a major presentation on city budget structure.
Ruck, a familiar name and face with the Roxy Regional Theater. Ms. Rock, if you would please come forward, give us your name, and you have five minutes. Good afternoon, Mayor, and members of the council. For those who have not met or spoken to me before, my name is Emily Ruck. I'm the artistic director of the Roxy Regional Theater and have been since August of 2023. I wanted to speak to you in person tonight since I know your inboxes are flooded, and I wanted to make sure that what I had to say was heard, mainly because I want to set the record straight on a few things and address a couple of concerns that you all brought up last week, as well as that I've seen repeated online. First and foremost, I think it is important to reiterate, and I would hope that you would all be more active in helping our residents understand this, that property taxes cannot be used to pay for the project of the performing arts center. That is a repeated concern I'm seeing on the internet, and understandably so as a resident and homeowner myself. I certainly don't want higher property taxes, but that's not at play here. And without quelling those concerns, you are allowing a false narrative to run rampant. I want to give you some details on where the Roxy Regional Theater currently stands financially and its profitability since, even though we are a separate entity from the Act Authority, this continues to be brought up and questioned. Of course, the Roxy has dealt with its share of financial shortcomings in the past. When I took over running the organization in April of 23, the Roxy had less than three weeks of payroll for a nine-person staff in our account. Through presenting productions that were not only recognizable to audiences young and old, but minimized costs as well. We have been able to maintain a track record of every show making back its investment and then some until recently. Twenty productions in a row, almost three full seasons until the final show of season 43, which was presented in our temporary space. I knew moving into the temporary space would cause a loss eventually, as our capacity to make a profit of off productions has been more than cut in half, and costs are not going down. That's simple math. Of course, the Roxy has received support from the city through the years. However, the claim seen online that the city has poured millions into the Roxy is barely true. Going back 11 years, not counting the sale of the building before the Roxy Regional Theater was moved under the umbrella of the Act Authority and taken out of the city's annual budget, the city has given the Roxy a total of $822,028 in funding assistance. Throw in the sale of the building, which the city would be refunded for as part of the interlocal agreement. The total comes to 1,632,028 over 11 years. That is approximately the amount some other nonprofits receive from the city in only a time period of roughly a year and a half. I've also repeatedly heard why can't we just rub off a section of FM Arena to perform? The answer is we have. The comment was made last week that we would be leaving the debt to the next generation to solve, and that is simply not true. The responsibility of keeping this burden off of the city's full shoulders falls squarely on Cameron as the executive director of the act, but also on myself as the artistic director of the resident company and anchor tenant. That's five minutes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Former Councilman Ron Erb is going to serve as our chaplain of the day. The Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Councilman Peters. Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you to please stand. And Councilman Erb. Let us pray. Father, we come humbled before you this evening, holding you up as King of King and Lord of Lords. We thank you for these elected officials seated up here on the dais.