Okay, good evening, everybody.

It's six o'clock.

I'd like to call this meeting to order.

We'll begin with an invocation led by Councilmember Adams, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilmember Thomas.

Please rise as you're able.

Tonight I'd like to read a passage from Adrian Marie Brown, the author.

The future is not an escapist place to occupy.

All of it is the inevitable result of what we do today.

And the more we take it in our hands, imagine it as a place of justice and pleasure, the more the future knows we want it.

And that we aren't letting go.

Okay, Mr.

Johnson, would you please call roll?

Councilwoman Adams.

Councilman DeBartelaven.

Here.

Councilman Grant.

Here.

Councilman Hill for you.

Oh, here.

Councilman Honeycutt.

Here.

Councilman Lloyd.

Here.

Councilman Parker.

And Councilman Thomas.

Eight members are present, Mayor.

Okay.

Thank you.

Is there a motion on the minutes of the June 9th meeting?

Motion to approve.

Okay.

Motion made and seconded.

Any questions or discussion?

Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

All right.

Um tonight's agenda.

Are there any items to be withdrawn?

Are there any items to be postponed?

Councilmember Honeycutt.

I'd like to make a motion to postpone item 11E to July 7th.

Okay.

Postpone motion made and seconded to postpone item 11e to July 7th.

It's been made and seconded.

Any questions or discussion?

Councilmember Adams, do you have questions?

Okay.

All those in favor of this postponement, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion to postpone carries.

Councilmember Adams.

Yes, Mayor, I'd like to request a postpone item 10C until July 21st for applicant's request.

Okay, motion made to postpone item 10C to July 21st has been made and seconded.

Any questions or discussion?

Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

Any other items to be postponed.

Any items to be added.

We don't have any memorials or honorary resolutions.

Um and the consent agenda.

Councilmember Honeycutt.

I would like to request that ordinance 13W be removed from consent.

Okay.

13W is has been removed for Councilman Honeycutt's request.

Councilmember Parker?

And 12R.

12R will also be removed per Councilmember Parker's request.

Any other changes to the consent agenda?

Okay.

Seeing none, all those in favor of approved.

Oh, I need a motion on the consent agenda as adjusted just now.

Move to approve.

Okay.

Motion made to approve the consent agenda has been made and seconded.

Any questions or discussions?

Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

Okay.

Uh time now for my mayor's report.

First, I want to thank everyone who took part and helped organize the Juneteenth parade on Friday.

The MLK Commission has done an amazing job making this event bigger and better every year.

It was great to see so many people out there during the parade and then the and the party afterwards at the park.

I want to make a special thank you to our Empower Knox team, our summer in the city interns, CAT, and all the other city folks who represented the city in the parade.

It was um I'd say one of our best Juneteenth parades ever.

I had a great time, and I feel like the people who are enjoying it did too.

Tomorrow we are kicking off our country's 250th birthday party with a special kitorific.

We are partnering with James White Fort, the East Tennessee History Center, and the women's basketball hall of fame for a free, fun-filled event all along Hill Avenue.

Uh families and can enjoy free tours of those museums, special games, and lots of patriotic fun.

So Kitorific is every Wednesday, and tomorrow is no exception.

It'll be tomorrow from 10 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

on Hill Avenue, right over there, and hope to see all of you out there.

It's a really really fun day.

I'm look forward to stopping by.

We're also going to be celebrating on the 4th of July at the city's festival on the 4th at World's Fair Park.

This family friendly event kicks off at 5 and culminates with fireworks and the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra on the performance lawn.

We've also partnered with this with downtown store Nothing Too Fancy for a commemorative 250th t-shirt.

They're on sale now, so get one while they last.

They're pretty cool.

And they have that nice soft cloth that nothing too fancy specializes in.

So I hope you have a chance to check that out.

I also uh want to take a moment to recognize Stephanie Brewer Cook, our ADA coordinator, the last 29 years.

Um Stephanie is retiring at the end of this month, and I just want to take a few moments to speak about her many many contributions to our city.

She's been a passionate champion for accessibility for all, and I want to reassure you, council members and the listening public that we are going to continue advancing the work that Stephanie has been doing for so many years.

Starting July 1st, HR Director Betsy Cunningham will become the city's ADA coordinator.

And this is the standard of practice in many of our peer cities.

Stephanie, I mean Betsy will work closely with other HR members specializing in ADA resources and working to connect others with vital resources in the city.

So if you need an interpreter for an event, you can call HR or send an email to ADA at Knoxville TN.gov.

If you see something in our city that is not ADA accessible, you can call HR or email us, and we will connect you with engineering to get it fixed.

If you or someone you know needs a special accommodation, give HR a call and we will connect you to the best person to help.

The bottom line, ADA considerations are now ingrained in the work of departments across the city, and that's thanks in part to nearly three decades of work by our colleague Stephanie Brewer Cook.

Because of her advocacy, she has helped not only remove physical barriers, but more importantly, changed perceptions and mindsets.

Thanks to Stephanie, Knoxville is a more welcoming, inviting, and accessible city, and we appreciate Stephanie's diligence and commitment.

Last week, a big crowd turned out to honor Stephanie at a reception at the Public Work Service Center, and I proclaimed June 17th, 2026 to be Stephanie Brewer Cook Day in Knoxville.

And Stephanie has that proclamation already, but I wanted to share one excerpt uh from it to um counsel tonight.

Here's the here's the excerpt.

Stephanie's leadership has inspired and grown a citywide commitment to accessibility.

She has profoundly improved the quality of life for countless residents through her dedication and tireless advocacy, leaving a legacy that will benefit Knoxville for generations to come.

Stephanie's here tonight.

If you would please raise your hand and let's give Stephanie a well-deserved round of applause, the thank you so much.

And now, uh quick reminder about our rules of decorum.

We are here to do the city's official business.

Those who wish to speak either to a specific agenda item or during public forum need to sign up with the city recorder before 4 p.m.

Do not use profanity, and when speaking to specific agenda items, you must stay on topic.

Remarks must be germane to the question ahead of the assembly.

That is, statements must have bearing on whether the pending motion should be adopted.

Those who fail to adhere to these rules will be ruled out of order.

For those who are listening, please note if you disrupt a public meeting, you will be asked to leave or escorted out.

Thank you in advance for respecting these rules.

And that concludes my mayor's report.

Are there reports of committee or council members serving on committees or boards?

Okay.

Are there general council member?

Oh, council member grant.

Yes, um, we had our audit committee last Wednesday and just wanted to make constituents and a public aware of the updates that came out of that meeting um regarding the uh nonprofit verification list.

So I definitely want to thank Finance and Office of Community Safety for getting that list uh in a timely manner uh to help the process in terms of making sure that nonprofits you know have all their documentation and also making sure that we're uh rewarding these nonprofits uh in the right manner.

So I just wanted to update everybody on that.

So we did get the verification list throughout the audit committee.

So thank you.

Okay.

Are there general council member announcements?

Councilmember Adams?

Yes, thank you.

Uh three things.

Uh one, just a big thanks to uh the community and volunteers, KPD, KFD, KUB.

Um, and um all of the the city's help with the construction on Sevier Avenue.

It made the Sono Pride event bigger and better than ever, and I really appreciate everyone keeping folks safe and um making it uh as smooth as it could be.

So thanks for that.

Um two events that are happening uh this week.

Knoxville soup is uh microfinancing uh community oriented event that is happening on Thursday, July 25th, uh in South Knoxville.

There are presentations from some small organizations that are looking to uh hopefully win um the vote of everyone participating and get a little bit of funding for their project, and it's open to all.

Uh you can learn more about that at uh knoxville soup.org.

And the other event is for uh city council.

The next meet and greet is Friday, this Friday, June 26th at 8 30 a.m.

until 10 a.m.

at Old Severe Market.

It is just a casual meet and greet uh for an opportunity to just have conversation, community, and some coffee.

So everyone please come out.

Thank you.

Councilmember Parker.

Oh, thank you, Mayor.

Um, I actually wanted to uh get a little bit more clarification if you don't mind, um, with your announcement about the uh disability services are moving over to human resources, and human resources will also continue to be, or the human resources director will also continue to be the Title VI coordinator, correct?

So disability services and the Title VI coordinator as well as human resources department director.

What about the Disability Services Council?

Will it continue?

Yes, absolutely.

I'm planning on calling a meeting later this summer.

And will that be under the mayor's office?

It's called the mayor's council on disability issues, and um I'm looking forward to reconvening that.

We haven't set a date yet, but um, you know, hope to do it within this season, you know, this summer.

And I have been asked questions about uh the membership of that council and if it's gonna be.

Yeah, no, we're gonna um continue with the council and there's uh there are some vacancies, and uh we'll look forward to filling those vacancies.

And if you have if you hear from community members who are interested in serving, please send me their names and and we'll um make sure that's fully uh, you know, just active and engaged and back meeting again more routinely.

And then finally, um you did mention that if employees or or individuals in the community have questions or concerns about uh disability services or other that they could contact the HR department.

Will there be any sort of um name change for the department so that people will not have to remember that it's housed in human resources, but be able to find it on our website where these services are housed?

Um yeah, we're we're still working out those details.

I think there's some information on the web already, but uh we can try to make sure that it's even as clear as it can be.

If you have some suggestions, I'm happy to hear those out to make sure that people know who to call uh for, you know, these uh whatever issues with whether it's uh built environment issues or employee issues or issues that are between two private park priorities and they just need some guidance on how to get help.

Okay, those are some of the questions I just wanted to take this opportunity to ask those.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Councilmember Honeycutt.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, just wanted to say thank you to the West Hills Community Association for hosting a great summer picnic last Saturday in West Hills Park.

A lot of great neighbors and community members showed up for that.

Uh and to thank, you know, three in particular city departments that uh were the hit of the star of the show.

Uh the fire department, thank you for bringing out the fire truck and turning on the hose for the kids.

That was wonderful.

Uh thank you to the police department for bringing out the horses.

Uh incredible ambassadors and the kids obviously really well.

I loved it and the kids really loved it too.

As you can imagine horses and a fire truck at a picnic.

I mean, it doesn't get better than that.

Uh, and then thank you for uh Knoxville Knox County Planning for being there to talk and engage with community members about the comprehensive plan that's going on called what's uh what's next Knoxville.

So uh obviously the comprehensive plan is really important, means a lot of community input, and so everyone in the audience, please go to what's next knoxville.com uh to fill out surveys, learn more and get engaged.

So thank you all.

Thank you.

Councilmember Grant.

Yes, um, thank you, Mayor.

Um, just wanting to rebuttal um, you know, this past weekend, Juneteenth holiday, uh, you know, wishing all the fathers out there, hope they had a great father's day as well.

Um in the MLK Commission.

Can you know I appreciate the work that you guys are doing to continue to allow the history uh to be known in our community?

Um that parade and that event rolls every year.

Um, just so seeing the value in that.

So I definitely wanted to say thank you for that.

Um next Wednesday, July 1st.

Uh, Parks and Rec will officially be taking over Chihuahua Park.

Um, and in celebration with that, the city parks and Rick and a bunch of other partners uh we're gonna be hosting an event um at the Chihuahua Park Midway side from 5 p.m.

to 8 p.m.

I'm encouraging everybody to come join.

Uh we're gonna have food trucks, we're gonna have different vendors, kids, uh activities for kids, and so uh would love to see as many community members in my constituents um if you can to attend uh next Wednesday, July 1st from 5 to 8 p.m.

at Chihuahua Park.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

Moving right along, unless there are any other announcements.

I don't see anything.

We'll move on then, please.

Thanks, Mr.

Johnson.

Line B is a resolution appointing a city council representative to the African American Equity Restoration Task Force to serve as chair.

Move to approve.

Second, okay.

Motion to approve has been made and seconded.

Um, just a quick point of information.

The current uh chair and two other members of the task force are present today.

Uh Tanisha Baker Fitzgerald, Deborah Porter, and Pastor Jones are present.

Should uh council members have questions for them.

Uh Councilmember Grant.

Yes, I uh before we get started.

Um, I want to make a move to amend the resolution, um, just by striking a few words.

Uh the first whereas clause, uh, where it says supported by a hundred million dollar financial commitment by the administration, and just replacing those words with supported by a hundred million dollar commitment made by the administration to apply supportive grants totaling no less than a hundred million dollars.

Just want to make sure that we have that clarity just to make sure that you know the commitment of the administration and creation of the task force is accurately stated to avoid any confusion in the future in terms of how we make this financial commitment.

Okay, motion to amend has been made by council member grant and seconded.

Any questions about the amendment?

Councilmember Parker, a question about the amendment?

Okay, uh, seeing none, all those in favor of this amendment, please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion to amend carries.

Now back to the motion, original motion as amended.

Councilmember Parker.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

Um I wanted to bring this resolution because it came to council's attention during a recent um grant workshop that um we did not have a representative on this task force.

Um, a task force that the city council um created uh by resolution, uh first adopting a resolution, acknowledging the harms of of urban removal, and then um renewal of I've kind of changed the name of it myself um and then a follow-up resolution uh to form the task force and when I revisited that uh resolution uh the members of the task force were appointed for the life of the task force uh and and we did not distinguish um uh a or or high uh uh or um create a city council representative at that time even though the resolution was brought by former vice mayor uh Glenn McKenzie who was appointed as a member of the task force um once uh the the former vice mayor's term ended um I was under the impression that we would appoint a new representative from the city council and since the majority of the area um and and the um residents that we're we are discussing in terms of this resolution are in the sixth district I thought it appropriate that the sixth district uh representative uh serve on that task force as the city council representative so I brought the uh resolution for today for us to discuss um and hopefully we're all in agreement that uh that any city council committee or task force should have a city council uh representative on it so that is what's before us today.

Okay uh council member Adams.

Thanks.

Um I am absolutely in favor of having uh council representation I think it's something um I remember from uh early days of our orientation thinking about um there needing to be council representation there so I'm glad that this is coming forward.

I had a couple of questions about the structure and the I haven't looked at the bylaws of this task force but I just wondered um if if it is time for those bylaws to be looked at um and if that is something that this uh resolution needs to be saying or if that's something that um needs to be tasked uh as as it moves forward I can answer that question if it was for me it's kind of to to the group but absolutely want to hear what everyone has to say.

Just to point out quickly that um I used the same language that was in the resolution when we formed the task force so hopefully there wouldn't be any confusion but uh I included a section at the end um uh you know requiring that the task force update their leadership structure um and documents to align with these decisions council member uh you I'll go to council member grant and then we can continue the discussion go ahead yeah and and thank you um first and foremost I definitely want to say thank you to councilwoman Parker for bringing this forward and councilwoman um Adams for your question um I think it's very important right to you know possibly take a look at the bylaws um to figure out where can we make room for improvement um this resolution has been active uh for the past five years and um well I think great you know tremendous strides have been made right I don't want to discredit this task force in any way um especially you know it's it's leadership right and so you know if I'm able to step into this this role of chair uh that will be one of the first things that I do do um obviously with the support of the other task force members to see how can we restructure this to re take a look at the bylaws?

Um, obviously get new council members, including myself caught up on what the process has been, um, and see if there's any room for improvement.

So having a conversation with Mrs.

Baker and those committee members who've been able to sit on this task force for some time.

I look forward to the opportunity to seeing how we can transition into a much more useful uh task force that that offers a little bit more clear, you know, clarity on these things.

Um so to answer your question, I you know, I do think that's something that we should revisit um in terms of the bylaws.

Councilmember Adams, I'll I'll just say uh that I uh first I'm commanded to commend uh the members of the task force uh they do have term limits, they serve three-year terms.

I think council member McKenzie was the only one who was to serve the duration of the tall 10-year commitment is my understanding.

This was created from scratch, so the t the task force itself took it upon themselves to work on creating bylaws.

I believe those are posted on their uh on the web page, as is um you know, annual impact reports.

That's that's up on their web page.

Um, and um council, not you know, six of you are were not present at that time, but every time there's been new appointments to uh to this task force that's been brought to you all.

Come, you know, some of the candidates have come through community or council members, and those have all been approved by council over the years.

But obviously, you know, time you know that times have changed, and you guys weren't there for those those uh beginning points.

So just those are just some points of information to share.

Councilmember Honeycutt.

Yes, uh, first of all, I'm uh very supportive of this initiative and appreciative of uh you all both bringing it forward and being willing to serve in this capacity.

That's it's great.

I guess to your question, councilwoman Adams, you know, the the bylaw question feels like at this point it could be handled at the committee level and maybe doesn't have to be part of the formal resolution uh unless someone felt really strongly like that, you know, language need to be there.

I know you're going to address it at the committee level, so that's probably uh as far as I'm concerned, probably okay uh to not have it, you know, dictated by the resolution.

So thank you.

Councilmember Adams.

Um thank you.

And I've hearing uh council member Grant talk about you know that's absolutely something that he's interested in doing.

Um it sounds like there's uh uh openness to that, and that uh my interest in that comes from just serving out a lot of boards and knowing that after you have some time, like you start to figure out like, oh, this could be something we could tweak and make better.

Um, and because I'm on the rules committee with with you, so we do that stuff.

Um the other question I had, uh, and again, this is truly for discussion, is the uh setting of chair with this.

I'm just curious.

I I'm 100% supportive of having someone from council.

I was interested in the desire from both of the uh council members who sponsored this to designate a chair um before having discussions with the sitting folks who are on the task force.

Uh councilmember Parker, did you want to speak to that?

Yeah, I can definitely speak to that.

Um the resolution um clarifies our intention that uh that the task force um adhere to the or at least you know strive towards the goals set by uh resolution adopted by city council and and acknowledges a council representative being the best person to kind of guide that ship.

Um that was my thinking with uh appointing the the chair.

We it's also um not uh it it's something that is commonly done.

Um, you know, the golf course committee uh has always had a city council chair um until recently the audit committee always had a city council chair.

Um and I think that it's good practice.

So that was some something that I recommended.

Mr.

Grant, yeah, and just kind of piggybacking on that.

Um, you know, just creating a direct line in terms of policy and funding.

Um I also think about the increased accountability from council's perspective as well in terms of of chairing this task force.

Um, and you know, just being able to strengthen um the communication between both community and city government as well.

I think we you know, having a council member actually chair will help strengthen that communication as well.

So any further questions or discussion?

Councilmember Healthy?

Yeah, is Ms.

Baker here somewhere.

I can't really everybody's in the live back here.

Can you come to the podium, please?

Thank you for your service, by the way.

Thank you.

Um were you all consulted about this at all?

Did you all know this was going on?

No, I didn't know that there was a plan to kind of restructure um the task force itself.

So okay.

So and do you all have already elected a new president or chair?

Yes.

To take over when next month or in summer sometime.

When did we elect them?

Yeah, when.

Um, I think it was a couple of months ago, actually.

So it was a person who actually Reverend Vincent Jones, um, who's been serving on the task force, and so just really thinking about who had the time and the capacity because it's a lot um of investment when you are serving in that role.

Um, who's being able to show up not only at those meetings but community events and um engage our stakeholders in some of the conversations and the goals that we've had so that election has happened.

And when does he become president or chair?

When does he take over as chair or he already has?

July 1st, July 1st, okay.

And it was kind of it's kind of in between, so officially my term ended the last meeting of this cycle, which was a couple of weeks ago, but that's when we had the rain and it flooded, so um that got delayed, but he officially will um take chair in July.

Okay.

I was just wondering if you all were involved in this at all.

So now we know.

Thanks.

Okay.

Uh councilmember no lights are on.

Any further questions or discussions?

Okay.

Seeing oh, no, okay.

Councilmember Adams, okay.

I'll be super brief.

Um, given uh what uh councilwoman Helsley and Ms.

Baker were talking about, I just encourage as uh you know, assuming that this passes, that there be good dialogue with the folks who have been serving and have been through recent elections and make sure that there's good um you know transfer of knowledge and transfer of responsibilities.

Councilmember Grant.

And I just want to state for the record um that I'm gonna be leaning on, you know, the committee members who have had the time and serving um not only for the knowledge but to make sure that you know I don't want to be seen as coming in and you know taking over um so I will I will rely heavily on this committee uh to support you know myself as chair moving forward um and relying heavily on this administration to make sure that we're um occupying in a in a productive way to make sure that the community truly benefits from this task force.

Thank you.

Any other questions or discussions?

Seeing none, all those in favor please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

12F is a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into an amendment to an agreement with the state of Tennessee Department of Transportation for the look for the Liberty Street Multimodal Project, increasing the total project funding to 2 million 332,342 dollars and extending the date of completion to December 31, 2026.

Move to approve.

Motion made to approve and second it.

Any questions or discussion?

Councilmember Grant?

Any other questions or discussions?

Seeing none, all those in favor please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

12G is a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into an amendment to an agreement with the state of Tennessee Department of Transportation for the Northwest Greenway Connector Phase 2 project, increasing the total project funding to 7 million 227,492 dollars and extend sending the date of completion to December 31, 2028, districts two, three, and six.

Move to approve.

Second.

Motion made to approve and seconded.

Any questions or discussion?

Councilman Honeycutt.

Yes, I just want to point out for the record and and for everyone that I just commend this as a really effective use of taxpayers' money because 80% of the cost is being paid by T Dot.

So only 20% of the cost uh is actually paid by the local tax dollars, and we're leveraging a large portion of TDOT money to get this great greenway done for our community.

So uh it's uh good job by the engineering department to take advantage of that program and to deliver this using uh those dollars.

Thank you.

Any other questions or discussions?

Seeing uh seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

12H is a resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute an agreement with Davis H.

Elliott Construction Company Incorporated for on-call services for traffic signal detector loops in an annual amount not to exceed sixty thousand dollars for a one-year term with two optional one-year renewal terms.

Second.

Motion made to approve and seconded.

Any questions or discussions?

Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

12i is a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with integrated response systems LLC for on-call services for traffic signal detector loops in an annual amounts not to exceed sixty thousand dollars for one-year term with two optional one-year renewal terms.

Motion made to approve and seconded.

Any questions or discussion?

Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

12J is a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with the Salvation Army to provide an amount not to exceed $65,000 in homeless general funds for the provision of emergency shelter service and essential services to approximately 45 individuals through the Joy Baker Center.

Move to approve.

Motion made to approve and seconded.

Any questions or discussion?

Seeing none, all those in favor please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

12K is a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with Catholic charities of East Tennessee to provide an amounts not to exceed $30,000 in homeless general funds to provide emergency shelter services through Samaritan Place.

Move to approve.

Motion made to approve and seconded.

Any questions or discussion?

Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

12 L is the resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with Volunteer Ministry Center Incorporated to provide an amount not to exceed $54,720 in homeless general funds for the provision of emergency shelter and essential services through its dental clinic and resources center.

Motion made to approve and seconded.

Any questions or discussion?

Councilman Honeycutt.

Yes, I just uh general comment for several of these items addressing homelessness.

I just want to say we all understand you know that homelessness is a large problem that our city's dealing with.

Um the city can't tackle it alone.

We need a lot of these great partner organizations that are out there in the community doing important work every day.

So thank you to these partner organizations uh that are on the list uh for the work you do.

It's incredibly important, and we know you don't receive as much recognition as you should, and we can't give you as much money as you need uh with our limited funds, but I'm happy to support you know this whole series of resolutions to to help where we can.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Any further questions or comments?

Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

12 M.

12 M is a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement agreement with Volunteer Ministry Center Incorporated to provide an amounts not to exceed 40,000 dollars in homeless general funds for the provision of rapid rehousing services.

Motion made to approve and seconded.

Any questions or discussions?

Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

12 and is a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with the Knoxville Knox County Community Action Committee to provide an amount not to exceed $65,000 in homeless general funds for the provision of rapid rehousing services.

Motion made to approve and seconded.

Any questions or discussion?

Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

120 was a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with community mediation center to provide an amounts not to exceed $25,000 in homeless general funds for the provision of eviction mediation services to 300 individuals facing eviction within the city of Knoxville.

Motion made to approve, has been made and seconded.

Jen Comiskey is here to speak in favor of this from the community mediation center.

If you come to the podium and please state your name and address for the record.

Hi, my name is Jen Comiskey.

My address is 504 Irwin Drive.

Thank you all for uh for having me here and for letting me speak just briefly about the important work that our organization is doing because I think that the eviction prevention part of this might be a little bit less understood.

And I think that there might be some folks who don't know much about what our organization is doing in terms of homelessness prevention and why it's so important for this to be part of the plan.

Um I'm the executive director of community mediation center.

I've been in this role for about a year, but I've been with the organization since 2005.

So I've spent my whole career at this organization and I've seen over time the good work that we do.

We provide mediation services in this context for the day of court.

So we have teams of mediators available at General Sessions Court for people who are on the eviction docket, people who are within within a couple hours or a few hours of being uh getting an eviction judgment.

And that's where we come in, uh, where we have people who are trained to work with people who are not represented by attorneys.

We don't deal with uh a lot of landlords that are more, you know, kind of uh more corporate type uh landlords.

We work with a lot of small uh businesses, uh kind of mom and pop landlord tenant uh relationships, uh and we are specialists at working with people who are not represented with attorneys and navigating all of the difficult ethical quandaries that can come up with people who are unrepresented in terms of screening for appropriateness, making sure that people get connected to resources when they need it, making sure that people aren't being taken advantage of uh by someone when there's a power imbalance, and screening for when people really do need to get legal advice before making choices.

So our team is specialists at doing that, and we've been doing that for years.

Um so through mediation, landlords and tenants can have a structured conversation about what's happening.

Um sometimes that means people are able to stay in the residence, they're able to avoid having to leave, they're able to come up with a workable plan to deal with uh the issues that they're facing, and uh sometimes it means working out a different move out date to where they have more time to leave to line up additional housing.

Sometimes it means they can do a judgment pending or a dismissal pending performance, meaning that even if they do need to leave, they're leaving without an eviction judgment on their record that would make it even more incredibly difficult for them to find housing elsewhere.

So I just wanted to take just a few moments to let you all know about the importance of this work that we do and how it is very hands-on direct services to people who are literally in danger of being evicted, you know, within 10 days of that ruling.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Ms.

Comiskey.

Any uh further questions or discussion?

Council Member Thomas.

Oh, I don't think your microphone's working either.

Uh maybe use Mr.

Frost.

Use Mr.

Frost.

The councilman here.

Okay.

Can you hear me okay?

Yes.

Yeah, I just briefly wanted to say how much we appreciate the work you're doing.

And this body here is um offered assistance to the uh legal aid department and their uh efforts to try to provide attorneys, but we can't cover all of that.

So too many people fall through the cracks on that, and it's it's a huge crack.

And so uh the efforts that you make where people can have some degree of power in the bargaining process uh without an attorney is uh is um immeasurable.

So um really want you to know that we reappreciate what you're doing, and uh don't hesitate to come back and ask for some help, and we'll do what we can.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

I appreciate it.

Yeah.

Any other questions?

Well, and I just want to piggyback what council and Thomas just reiterated because you guys this is just a fraction of what you guys do.

I mean, the the community mediation center not only focuses on you know evictions and but even my own experience.

Um, you know, I was able to receive some training for you guys in terms of you know de-escalating certain things in our community, um, whether it's domestic violence or whether it's you know some type of personal interaction that we're having in our community.

And so this is just a small percentage of what the community mediation center does.

Um, and you know, you humbly only uh reiterated just a small fraction, but um they do a lot of great work, and so uh, you know, anything that I can support, you know, in terms of you guys, please again like Councilman Thomas said don't hesitate.

That means a lot.

May I say one thing in response to that?

I just want to shout out to the fact that we're able to do so much work with so little, is because we have an amazing team of volunteers.

We have a very small staff, we run on a very small budget, but we operate large teams of volunteers who we train, supervise, mentor, and they go out as as uh councilman grant said uh into many court and non-court disputes, and it's because of their passion and their commitment and their willingness to give up their time uh that we're able to do the work that we do.

So I also want to pass along all praise to them.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Any further questions or discussions?

Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

12 P is a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with Catholic charities of East Tennessee to provide an amount not to exceed $25,000 in community development block grant funding for an updated security system at its Samaritan Place Facility District 3.

Move to approve.

Motion made to approve and second it.

Any questions or discussion?

Seeing none, all those in favor please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

Um I just want to give a shout out to uh the housing and neighbor development team for partnering with these great nonprofits in our community, Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, Samaritan Place, Volunteer Ministry Center, Community Mediation Center.

Uh they all do good work, and it's wonderful that um through our housing and neighbor development resources, we can augment the good work they're doing.

So thank you for that.

Next item, please.

12 Q is a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with Legends Global for full service management of the Knoxville Commission Convention Center, World's Fair Exhibition Hall, and Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum at an annual cost up to $905,000, plus approved consumer price index adjustments.

Move to approve.

Motion made to approve and seconded.

Uh, any questions?

Yes, Councilmember Adam.

Yes, I just had a couple.

Um Ms.

Boebert.

Absolutely.

If you could, Mary uh Vogert, please state your name and address for the record.

I know you who you're here for, but uh if you could just identify, Mary Bogert 2112, Chathaway Boulevard, Miraville, Tennessee.

Thank you.

Uh, and thank you for all the work that you've done over the years with Legends and and with all the facilities.

Um, I just wanted to ask a couple of questions.

Um, first about the the process that will be used um for um reservations, knowing that uh the the goal is to make sure that we've got usage of the facilities, that we've got um a lot of different activities happening there.

Um can you speak to to that?

Absolutely.

Well, we have a booking policy that was in place that's the way we've always operated.

Uh that booking policy allowed us to book within 14 months.

That is now changing uh to 18 months.

Uh we collaborate with Visit Knoxville.

Uh going forward, we will be meeting with Visit Knoxville and City Administrators on a monthly basis to talk about ways to maximize things that we can do.

Just working together, um, you know, to maximize the usage of all the facilities, picking the best pieces of business that will drive economic impact.

Can you also provide some assurance knowing that there are um there are big events that come and then there are smaller events that may be ones that we've done for years.

Can you provide some assurance that this contract doesn't change how access will be available?

Absolutely.

Well, um let me start by saying that the entire team that's been in place is still in place.

So that's a positive thing.

We work very, very closely with our community partners.

We have what we call our legacy events that are important to the city and to us.

Uh fantasy of trees, for instance, dogwood home and uh garden show.

A lot of these are legacy events that have been here with us for years, nativity over at the Civic, and we're going to continue to honor those.

None of that will change.

Um, you know, we love our uh local community partners.

Actually, you know, those events also help pay the bills.

So uh we want to maximize usage and there's space for just about everything.

It's about putting the pieces of the puzzle uh in the place.

Um, you know, we do uh I gave you an analogy when we were speaking earlier.

Um, uh the urban league, for instance.

Uh we had an opportunity that we, you know, we booked the Urban League for their gala every single year.

They always get a Thursday in October.

And if you know Phyllis, you don't ever want to upset Phyllis.

But one year we had an opportunity to book a 2,000 room convention.

So I reached out to Phyllis.

We talked about it, told her about the opportunity, and that's what a good community partner is.

She knew it was good for the city as well.

Uh we did incent them.

They got a nice champagne toast that year, uh and they moved and were able to do both of them.

So those are the types of things that we do uh in order to work with our local partners to make sure that we're maximizing uh the space and making good decisions on behalf of the city.

I really appreciate you speaking to that and um providing that assurance that um community events along with the the blockbusters will all have the opportunity.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

Okay.

Councilmember Perker.

I just wanted to clarify that we are um I was trying to find the term of this agreement, and I couldn't pull it up quickly enough.

Mr.

Rosen, yeah, I think it's five years with two chances.

Yes.

So potentially a 15-year-old agreement.

And this is um uh new name, same operation.

It is, right?

Formerly ASM Global, now Legends.

So we work with that.

Awesome SMG, yes.

Okay, awesome.

So I just wanted to clarify that on the record.

So folks, we're we're we're clear on that.

Thank you.

Councilmember Honeycutt.

Yeah, uh, just uh again for clarity too.

Just uh I appreciate you all and your team and legends going through the process.

I know a national level RFP was submitted.

You know, a lot of different con you know organizations uh were considered for this.

Uh and I'm glad that at the end of the process, you know, you all were selected as the best value for the city.

Uh so thank you to the department for going through that process.

Thank you to you all for going through that process, but that assures all of us, and at least me in particular that you know we're you know being wise with the taxpayer dollars and selecting and it is good that you have been in the city and operating these facilities and you have that in inside knowledge that'll that'll help a lot to keep consistency.

So I'm supportive of this and appreciate the process that you all went through to uh to bring sort of uh assurance to to the city.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any further questions or discussion?

Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

Thank you.

Thank you.

12R is a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute any documents necessary to apply for and accept a fiscal year 2026 office of for victims of crimes grant from the U.S.

Department of Justice in the amount of five hundred thousand dollars with no required local match to support the development expansion and strengthening of victim service programs.

Second motion made to approve and seconded, Councilmember Parker.

Thank you.

Um I had a quick question about this grant, five hundred thousand dollar grant.

Uh and I appreciate the additional information that was in the grant routing form.

Um 500,000 for the grant, no required match, but the grant routing form says a match is budgeted.

So I was just trying to understand that a little bit further.

If we were if we were if this was budgeted for a million dollars with 500,000 and grant funding or there is no match required for this grant.

Right.

But I'm my question is why on the ground grant routing form does it say that there is a match budgeted.

I'll have to pull it up.

I don't have the answer to that right now.

I've reviewed this grant, there is no match required.

Okay, all right.

I will abstain on this vote, but I appreciate the clarification that the plan is to um, if there was any match required at all, I would not we would not apply for this grant.

Oh, I hear that.

But what I'm trying to understand is the the scope of the project.

Um right now it looks like three-year grant, five hundred thousand would support um a victim advocate position, just one position.

We're gonna ask for two here, and then we're not gonna hire someone we we would contract.

So right now we have one overdose death advocate that is on a grant now.

That grant is now sunseted.

So if we do get this grant, what we're gonna ask for for this grant is one advocate to work with um overdose death task force and one advocate to work with our violence crimes unit.

But again, we would contract with that, but we not hire an employee.

Okay.

And this grant's good for three years.

Thank you.

Thank you for that clarification.

Okay, any further questions or discussions?

Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

Motion carries a seven, zero with one abstention.

Okay.

13 S is an ordinance to close the southern portion of East Oklahoma Avenue as it abuts property at 510 Oklahoma Avenue, Glen Oak Missionary Baptist Church, and authorizing the mayor to execute quit claim deeds to the adjacent property owners, fourth district.

Motion to approve.

Motion made to approve, has been made and seconded.

There is one person signed up to speak to this item in opposition.

Mr.

Jesse Ursary.

Mr.

Ursula, if you could come to the podium, state your name and address for the record, and you'll have up to three minutes to address counsel.

Thank you.

My name's Jesse Earthri.

I live at 515 East Oklahoma Avenue, directly across from Glen Oak.

When I first became aware of this about three hours ago, I couldn't exactly read whether this was going to be closing Oklahoma Avenue and if quit claims were going to make their way across the street into my property.

I've since become a little more aware of the limit to what we're doing here.

And as far as a limit to gifting the church the property up to the existing curb and not reducing the Oklahoma right away in any way and not privatizing any of the parking, I flip mine being for it instead of against.

I did talk with one of my neighbors, and the proposal came up that for gifting the church with this uh property public property.

We might consider an easement to allow uh public to use the playground.

Uh that would be a nice gesture, but in any case I'm still for it instead of against it now.

Okay, thank you.

Councilmember DeBardily then.

Um thank you for speaking and I understand your concern.

It took me some time to wrap my mind around it, but uh the i the condition is gonna stay exactly as it stands today, and it's not up to the curb to track your room for a future sidewalk, which I appreciated about it.

Maybe in favor uh that the right-of-way for a sidewalk remains.

Okay, any further questions or discussion?

Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

13 T is an ordinance to approve and adopt the fiscal year twenty twenty-seven twenty thirty-two Noxville capital improvements programming, including the fiscal year twenty twenty seven capital improvements budget, City of Knoxville applicant, all districts, motion made to approve and seconded.

Any questions or discussion?

Seeing none, all should be an emergence.

Uh does this need to be an emergency?

Since the fiscal year is Charles, does this need to be on emergency, Mr.

Swanson?

Not used, yeah.

Well, heard it would be on that.

Well, uh, Mr.

Johnson thinks that maybe since this is uh the last council meeting in this fiscal year, it might make sense to do this on an emergency.

So it takes only one reading.

Is there a council member who'd like to make that motion?

I'd like to make a motion to there's been a motion to read it on an emergency basis.

It's been made and seconded.

First we'll vote on whether to read on emergency.

Any everyone understand what you're voting on?

All those in favor, please say aye.

Any opposed?

The motion to read it on an emergency basis uh passes.

Now back to the, you know, the same motion but under slightly different status.

Any further questions or discussion?

Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries, and we can just do it all in one reading.

So thank you, Mr.

Johnson.

Just good to be on the safe side.

13W is an emergency ordinance appropriating the sum of 45,464 dollars from the community improvement fund and editing same to community agencies and organizations as set forth in an attachment.

Motion made to approve and seconded.

Councilmember Honeycutt.

Yes, thank you.

Uh I just had a small um update I needed to make to my 202 funds uh for the record before we voted on it.

So again, just for everyone's clarification out there, 202 funds are the small amount of money each council member gets to give to certain organizations that apply for it.

So if you are a nonprofit or a neighborhood organization and want to apply for some of these uh money, you can do that uh through our office, and we can get you information.

Uh so the the basically the small, I was happy to see that uh several of our organizations meet met their goal.

So I could not give them the money that I hope to give them in the record, which is wonderful.

Uh so my I have to basically amend um to move my let's see.

I'll I make a motion to move to amend attachment one to excuse me to amend attachment one to the ordinance by striking out 250 for South Doyle Middle School PTSO and inserting $1,000 for the South Doyle Middle School PTSO.

So I'm able to give them more money than I originally hoped, which is great.

Uh this would revise the total appropriation to the of the ordinance to 46,214.

Second.

Okay, motion has been made to amend for what Mr.

Honeycutt just said has been made and seconded.

Does everyone understand the motion to amend?

Of course.

Oh, Mr.

Johnson.

Uh Councilman Hunica.

Were there two organizations that you were?

No, it's fine.

I amended it to the just the one.

Just the one.

Okay.

Um can I check the math on that before we vote on that?

Sure.

Sure.

Yeah.

Okay.

Uh-oh.

I threw a curve ball.

It's not good.

It's always good to check with the city recorder.

You can entertain them for a moment.

I'm sorry.

Who has some dad jokes from Father's Day?

Yeah.

Well, just fine.

We'll we'll I'll amend to keep from throwing a curveball at the last minute here.

So I'll I'll amend my motion to be the original thing that Will and I talked about.

Yeah, you like that?

I tried.

I tried.

Sorry, South Doyle.

Sorry.

Blame Will.

I move to amend attachment one to the ordinance by striking out 250 for South Doe Middle School PTSO PTSO and inserting $750 and striking out 250 for the Knoxville Opera Company and inserting 500.

And to revise the total appropriation of the ordinance to 46,214.

Second.

Okay, let the record reflect that he withdrew his last amendment and is making this new amendment for what he just read, Mr.

Johnson.

Is the math?

Okay.

The motion to amend has been made and seconded.

Any questions or discussion on this amendment?

Yeah, is everyone is everyone this is your last chance to use the money?

Yes.

Seeing no further questions, Mr.

Honeycutt, any third okay, all those in favor of this amendment, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The motion to amend passes.

Now back to the original motion as amended.

Any questions or discussion?

Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

Okay, we have three people signed up to speak at public forum.

Um each person uh is invited to come up to the podium and you'll have up to three minutes to address council.

First is Yvonne Newbert.

Ivan Newbert, if you could please make your way to the podium, state your name and address for the record, and you'll have up to three minutes to address counsel.

Thank you, Miss Middlebrook for helping.

And the microphone part in front of it.

Thank you, council.

Thank you, Mayor, uh, for this.

I'd like to speak on the for lack of better terminology, um, disclosing of our disabilities office.

And I know that you said, you know, the human resource um is going to take over this, and my first the problem I have with all of this is it looks like there was no stakeholder input, meaning the disabilities could um community, and one of the things you know with everybody talking that everybody's talking about, well, there's ways that we can get ADA disabilities information to the disabled community.

But what I'd like to address is there's more to this office than that.

Um it's the programs that have been developed, and an example of one of the programs is was created by Stephanie, and every new police recruit class, we have a disability day where the leaders come and do disability training with our law enforcement and other like with transit um and this program is also, you know, part of what happens through disability services in cities.

And we need programs like this to continue because programs like this open the doors, open communication, give education.

If it wasn't for programs like this, um, we could have lots of safety issue lawsuits in our city.

But thanks to the work that's been done by Stephanie, who knows the disability community, who knows the ADA laws, who has gone above and beyond what I've examined other disability offices across the state.

And Knoxville, we've done some good things through the work of this.

And also with the council, you know, mayor, you said the council's going to be, we'll get this up and going.

Where's it been?

You know, what's been happening for the past couple of years.

Um there's not been anything happening with this, and that's a disturbing.

Thank you, Miss Newbert.

Um, the three minutes are uh thank you for your commentation.

And I represent like the National Federation of the Blind of Tennessee, Tennessee Valley Chapter.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next person uh signed up to speak is Vivian Scheife.

Ms.

Scheip, if you would come to the podium, state your name and address for the record, and you'll have up to three minutes to address council.

Vivian Scheip, 3615, MLK 37914.

When you seek information on Cody, which stands for the Mayor's Council on Disability Issues, you find all these statements about the City of Nashville's commitment to accessibility and empowerment.

Cody was declared as the vital sounding board for the city administration.

However, that is all smoke in mirrors for the truth, it's much different.

Cody is supposed to have a minimum of nine members with a maximum of 21.

Instead, there are only five members, and the city website says there are no openings.

And Cody was directed by the mayor not to meet for the last two years while a survey was conducted.

What survey?

And why were they directed not to meet on issues of disability while the survey was being conducted?

Exactly.

Who did you survey?

Certainly not the whole city of Knoxville.

And what has happened to all the Cody meeting minutes?

They have disappeared off the website.

Now, we learned that days before the retirement party of the disability coordinator, disability services are no longer a priority of this administration.

And any questions regarding compliance issues will be henceforth handled by HR or calling 311.

An examination given, the explanation given by a representative of the city was that that each department will be able to handle any issues that arise.

The proclamation made by the city mayor on March 11th of this year on disability advocacy day states the city's commitment to eliminate disparate issues that individuals with disabilities face.

However, by its own action, the city of Moscow has committed disparate treatment by creating unequal, disproportionate and unbalanced opportunities for a specific group of people.

Furthermore, the decision has put and created a barrier for those people to obtain resources, services, and opportunities.

And in addition, remove the only avenue to have an advocate to report instances of discrimination.

If you remove the advocate, why in the world did you even create a proclamation?

The leaders that were in place were ADA certified, their subject matter experts receiving major recognition in the nation for their knowledge and dedication.

They carry the living experience of those in need of the services that people may call about.

Are you going to spend the dollars needed to educate every single person in all the different departments that you are now going to tell people to call?

Will those dollars not be better spent creating full-time positions and benefits for a disability department?

That decision which was made in the dark was the wrong decision to make.

It is discriminatory and should be reversed.

You should not save money on your lean budget by eliminating services for the citizens who need them the most.

There should be an immediate search open for a new disability coordinator.

Each of those 21 positions must be filled, and they should be filled by suggestions and approval by every single council member and not by the mayor.

Okay.

The next person signed up to speak is George Childress.

George Childress.

Okay.

If you can um come up to the podium, state your name and address for the record, and you'll have up to three minutes to address council.

Thank you, guys.

Uh, for letting me speak today.

Excuse me.

The podium uh does lower if uh if you wish to lower it.

It's it should be okay.

Okay.

Now I'm decently tall, you know, I'm a little short, but decently tall.

Okay.

Uh so again, I appreciate you guys let me be here today to speak about this matter.

And uh, you know, I love the city of Knoxville.

Let me just go ahead and first say that.

Um, I wonder though, where we are going with the city of Knoxville within this building.

Uh dissolving the disability resource office, uh, you know, uh DSO for Knoxville, I think is a mistake in the wrong direction, right?

Because say you take these positions, what Stephanie does, what Misha did, and you drop all of that workload onto HR when HR already has a huge workload within themselves, right?

And so, I wonder at what point does those questions and these advancements within the community, when does that fall through the cracks, right?

Because these people working with HR already have all this workload that they're dealing with, and then everything within the disability community is going to be dumped on top of them as well at that point, right?

And then another question that I have.

Stephanie always in the community, always doing, you know, what whatever kind of events it may be the last year, spent time with KPD training recruits and just giving them kind of an inside look of the disability community and how they can help us out in the the field itself, right?

So, my question is when that happens, when the new HR person takes over, you know, Stephanie's role more or less.

Are they going to be in the community doing these same things, or are they gonna be more hey, the community comes to us, right?

The community comes here to the city of Knoxville, or are they going to be out in the community doing the same stuff that Stephanie did?

So that's like a general question to you all at this point.

Um, Mr.

Childress, this is an opportunity for us to listen.

We don't I'll come speak to you after the end of public forum, but this is a our opportunity to listen to you.

Fair enough, fair enough.

Um, and yeah, I'm I'm I'm I'm very uh passionate person when this when I come when it comes to this.

Uh, been a wheelchair for about 38 years now, right?

I had a wreck when I was 19.

And so I've been able to see both sides of what life is, you know, and on the able-bodied side, it's great, right?

But being on the disabled side body, uh disabled side, right?

You know, it's like you're in a prison.

And uh, gosh, you know, before I had my rec, I didn't really think about the disabled community.

I didn't think about people like me and others in this community, and I just really fear that the direction that this city is going with this is that we will once again be voiceless and just another like nothing, right?

And I know that you know genuinely you guys do not want that to happen, but with the dissolving of the disability services office, uh, with the removal of the ADA coordinator role into just being dumped into HR, I very much see that happening.

But the thing you all should remember is at the end of the day, each and every one of us, y'all included, will face some kind of disability in your lifetime, whether it be something, you know, like being in a wheelchair or just elderly in general.

And so I think it's just a very big disservice to dissolve that into HR and make their workload that much harder.

But thank you all for your time.

Thank you.

Okay, council members, uh, that concludes public forum.

Um without objection, this meeting is adjourned.