Tonight's meeting of the Chattanooga City Council could be short given that there are no ordinances under first or final reading currently on the agenda. The agenda states that the Council will be voting on 'a resolution accepting and adopting a mission statement, goals, and objectives for the fiscal years 2010 and 2011 budgets.' Similar resolutions have appeared on past agendas for several months, but have been deferred in each instance.
However, time is running short for the Council. The FY 2010 budget was originally set to begin on July 1st. The legislative body had to adopt an interim budget for the first few summer months on June 2nd. This year, the City Council is taking a more proactive role in drafting the City's fiscal budget—a task normally carried out by the mayor's office. The Legal and Legislative Committee will be discussing both the budget mission statement and Mayor Littlefield's cabinet appointments at 3:15 p.m. today.
Yesterday, Cliff Hightower reported on the status of the mayor's cabinet positions, writing that the Council may approve the appointments later this evening:
A new Cabinet for Mayor Ron Littlefield could be confirmed as early as this week, the Chattanooga City Council chairman said. “I hadn’t heard of anyone talk about a special meeting with the department heads,” Councilman Jack Benson said. “At this point, it looks like it could be passed.”
According to the City of Chattanooga, the nominees and their corresponding salaries are as follows:
- Police Chief Freeman Cooper: $116,822.41
- Missy Crutchfield, Department of Education, Arts & Culture: $103,452.40
- Beverly Johnson, Department of Neighborhood Services: $111,535.33
- Donna Kelley, Department of Personnel: $111,535.33
- Steve Leach, Department of Public Works: $111,617.59
- Daisy Madison, Department of Finance and Administration: $124,812.40
- Michael McMahan, City Attorney: $105,765.10
- Fire Chief Randy Parker: $74,895.67
- Bernadine Turner, Department of Human Services: $111,535.33
- Larry Zehnder, Department of Parks and Recreation: $108,461.39
David Morton
stephen42 on June 23, 2009
I'm saddened but not surprised to see our fire chief as the lowest paid position on the mayor's cabinet.
Rob on July 1, 2009
Maybe this is cliche, but is there a problem that the county has to dismiss so many teachers this year but to cut these salaries in half might immediately save twice as many of those jobs and help hundreds of students?
bill238 on Aug. 26, 2009
How to hire 3 more police officers without costing the City of Chattanooga a single penny?.......eliminate Missy Crutchfield's $103,452 outrageous patronage position created by generous Mayor Littlefield for daddy Crutchfield's support in the election.