FAQ

Q: How many seats are there on the Red Bank City Commission and when/how do we vote for them?

There are five seats on the City Commission and all seats are nonpartisan. All five seats are elected on the November general ballot, with two elected in the presidential year election cycle and three elected in the mid-term year election cycle.

There has been a change in our election procedure this year due to a change in state law that was voted on in 2023 and went into effect on January 1, 2024. Red Bank previously had three “district” seats and two “at-large” seats, though all five have always been elected at-large; the three districts were mere residency requirements for candidates. After SB0526/HB0817/Public Chapter 391 went into effect this year, Red Bank was legally required to change its election procedure.

This year, when you vote on November 5th for Red Bank City Commission, you will see phrasing on your ballot that says “Red Bank City Commission, Vote for TWO” and then one list of ALL qualifying candidates; you’ll vote for your TWO preferred candidates and the top two vote-getters will win.

Q: Will Red Bank ever become a part of Chattanooga?

The short answer -- No. The longer but still short answer? Not a chance.

The City charter would have to be revoked either by referendum (i.e., voted on by registered Red Bank voters) or by the state, for which there is no known precedent.
ALL City assets would have to be liquidated, debts paid in full, and 80+ employees laid off.
Red Bank would then become unincorporated Hamilton County.
And finally, a SECOND referendum would have to pass to opt in to annexation by the City of Chattanooga.
All of this to say, small hyper-local government is more responsive, more nimble, and more efficient than larger units of government like bigger cities, county, state, and federal. Red Bank is working well and I wouldn’t want it any other way!

Q: What was the tax rate when you were elected and what is it now?

When I was elected in November 2020, the Red Bank municipal tax rate was $1.39/$100 of assessed value. Four years later, the Red Bank municipal tax rate is $1.67/$100 of assessed value. That increase has funded our first responders and city services in a multitude of ways, including cost-of-living increases, the replacement of a 1979 Fire Pumper Engine that no longer had parts being made for it, an online work order and citizen service request portal for Public Works that replaced work orders via post-it note and paper, new vehicles and body cams for our Police department, technology upgrades to live-stream and record City Commission meetings for the first time ever, our first-ever IT Manager position (so our Police Chief didn't have to keep spending time away from overseeing the safety of our community to act as our IT specialist and spend hours installing new software on every City computer or fix an IT issue), and the creation of the Department of Community Development that will be proactive in strategic planning, economic development, and grant identification & writing, just to name a few. Learn more here about how we've been righting the ship after decades of neglect and fiscal irresponsibility.

By the way, did you know that when you pay your property tax bill, you're paying your Hamilton County taxes (at the rate of $2.2373/$100 of assessed value), your Red Bank municipal taxes, your Red Bank sanitation fee ($192/year), and your Red Bank stormwater fee ($70/year) all together? So, you might hear someone in Red Bank say, "Your taxes are going up XX% this year!" and think that your entire tax bill is going up that much. In reality, when there is a municipal tax increase, it only applies to the Red Bank municipal tax portion of your bill, which is on average only about one-third of your entire tax bill (and does not apply to your sanitation or stormwater fees, as those are flat rates).

Q: Why can’t City Commissioners discuss voting items outside of public meetings?

The Tennessee Open Meetings Act, also known as the “Sunshine Law,” requires that any local board discuss voting matters in public meetings. Specifically, members of the same elected or appointed board are not allowed to discuss voting matters with each other outside of a public meeting. This allows all board members and members of the public to be able to listen to, engage with, and ask questions about voting matters in real time. Interestingly, this law does not apply to the State Legislature.

Q: What does the City of Red Bank do?

The City operates a multitude of departments, services, and even a utility.

Fire: 15 FT firefighters & 45 PT firefighters, 2 stations, 24 hour coverage
- Fire emergency response, prevention, and awareness, medical assists, mutual aid, hazardous materials response, building & life safety inspections, smoke detector installation and battery changes, community CPR trainings & First Aid trainings, and school education programs
Police: 26 FT officers, shares a facility with the Court, 24 hour coverage
- Law enforcement response, prevention, and awareness, criminal investigations, K9 unit, mutual aid, distracted/drunk driving outreach, and school education programs
Public Works: 28 FT employees, 1 facility, on-call coverage in the event of emergencies
- Daily management of our streets/roadways, solid waste (garbage, brush, and bulk trash), stormwater, street sweeping, recycling, fleet services, facilities, parks & recreation, community service program in collaboration with the Court, and support for the Cemetery, Festival Planning, and Parks, Trails, & Recreation Citizen Advisory Boards
City Hall: 5 FT employees, 1 PT employee
- Administration, records management, finance, human resources, IT, payroll, and public relations
Community Development: 4 FT employees, housed at City Hall
- Planning, grant-writing & management, zoning ordinances, building inspections & permitting, economic development, community outreach, and support for the Public Art and Nonprofit Citizen Advisory Boards
Court: 2 FT employees, a special assistant, and an elected judge; shares a facility with the Police Department
- General Sessions jurisdiction, court docket preparation, records management, misdemeanor adjudication, pretrial hearings, and community service program in collaboration with the Public Works Department
Stormwater Utility: The City has managed this utility since 2002 and until Fiscal Year 2024--
- Stormwater fees did not cover the cost of operations; and
- The City of Red Bank had never mapped the Stormwater system or infrastructure. The culvert failures that have occurred and cost taxpayers a hefty price to repair due to emergency status could have been prevented if the system had been mapped and routine checks and maintenance conducted back in 2002. We are currently in progress to complete the first-ever mapping of the Stormwater system and will build a maintenance schedule into the City’s first-ever Capital Improvement Plan, which is also currently in progress.

Q: What's going on with the City's noncompliance with our National Park Service land swap agreement?

The land swap agreement was initially signed in 2011 by the City and the National Park Service (with TDEC, the TN Dept of Environment and Conservation, acting as our liaison). In the agreement, the City of Red Bank promised to complete the plan by 2014. As part of that agreement, the City promised to develop two non-adjacent parcels on what is now the White Oak/Stringers Ridge Connector Trail, as well as 25% of the 11.97 acres at the former Red Bank Middle School site, into park/recreation space for the benefit of our community. Obviously, the City failed to develop any of that by 2014.

The City held a small community input meeting in January 2017 but made no progress. Then, in the fall of 2019, the former City Manager (allegedly under the direction of the City Commission at that time) reached out to TDEC to see if the NPS would allow them to substitute a third parcel on what is now the White Oak/Stringers Ridge Connector Trail in lieu of preserving any of the former Red Bank Middle School site as park/recreation space. After TDEC communicated with NPS regarding this request, the NPS began questioning why the agreement had not been completed in 2014 as promised by the City.

The NPS then reviewed the original 2011 agreement and determined that it should never have been approved in the first place, as the two non-adjacent Stringers Ridge parcels didn't meet NPS criteria for a land swap (definitely a failing of the NPS and not just Red Bank in that regard). In May 2020, the NPS mailed a certified letter to the acting mayor at that time, Ruth Jeno, notifying the City that they were cancelling the 2011 agreement, thus requiring the City to come up with a completely new agreement to replace the cancelled one. Instead of communicating this with the public, the City administration and leadership kept the cancelled agreement private and on September 1, 2020, the City Commission at that time (acting mayor Ruth Jeno, Commissioner Ed LeCompte, Commissioner Carol Rose, and appointed Commissioner Tyler Howell) issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to sell off the ENTIRE 11.97 acres of the former Red Bank Middle School property to a developer with no criteria, no parameters, no restrictions, and without ANY public input since that January 2017 meeting.

Here's a quote from that RFP (I have the document saved, so email me if you want to read it in full):

"The City is not seeking to have any form of partnership role in the development of the site. The City seeks to sell the real estate..."

On October 30, 2020, the Chattanoogan published an article about the City's noncompliance status and their failure to fulfill the agreement they signed with the NPS. At my first meeting in December 2020 after I was elected on November 3, 2020, I voted alongside Mayor Berry to cancel the RFP so that we could begin a decision-making process on that property and the new land swap agreement owed to the NPS that would be community-centered and public-input driven. Our motion failed that night and the RFP was allowed to remain open until its closure date on January 5, 2021.

However, due to the transparency brought out around this cancelled land swap agreement, through my advocacy alongside other City Commissioners, and through the leadership of our current City Manager, we were ultimately able to cancel this RFP and begin the process of a Small Area Study of the former Red Bank Middle School site, with ongoing public engagement opportunities. This process has already put us on track to creating a new agreement with the NPS to replace the over $1.5 million land/recreation value that the City owes not only to the NPS, but to the people of Red Bank.

Long story short, we're getting there! But we're not going to rush this process because whatever happens to that middle school property and whatever new agreement we are able to create with the NPS are hundred-year, generational decisions for our community. We'll continue to engage the community through public meetings, surveys, presentations, and feedback sessions so that we get this right and so we can get our red-flag status removed at both the State and Federal level, thus making us fully eligible and competitive for a multitude of grants and funding opportunities!

Q: What’s going on with the Former Red Bank Middle School Site (FRBMSS)/that big empty field close to Food City at 3715 Dayton Blvd?

This has been the #1 topic of discussion in Red Bank since 2020! So, where are we are now?

The City is currently in process to complete our first-ever Comprehensive/Master Plan, as well as a Small Area Plan of the FRBMSS. Multiple surveys and community meetings have been held since late 2023 to gather public input, in addition to conversations with TDEC and the NPS regarding potential land swap options that may include land at the FRBMSS. Stay tuned for upcoming community meetings and feedback opportunities!
Once feedback is incorporated, it will come back before the Commission for action, which could be immediate or could be postponed until the completion of the Comprehensive Plan.
A request for proposals will be issued based on the Small Area Plan.
Proposals will be vetted by staff and any that meet our criteria will be presented to the Commission for review.
The Commission may select a proposal and will discuss funding and a timeline. Do we self-fund with cash, loans, or bonds? Do we wait for grant opportunities to offset costs? All opportunities will be thoroughly researched and discussed before a final decision is made.
Once the project is selected and budgeted, construction can begin!

Q: Why can’t we plant more trees for shade at White Oak Park?

First, a little history. Did you know that White Oak Park is built over a landfill? Until 1979, the land that is now White Oak Park operated as a Hamilton County landfill. It was closed at or near capacity and nothing else was done there until 1996, when the City of Red Bank was fined for having a leachate problem (contaminated water that has leached out of a solid waste disposal site), for violation of water quality laws, and for lack of a stormwater pollution prevention plan. Landfill capping began in 1998 and in 2002, the City commissioned architects to design a park to be built on 13 acres of the closed/capped landfill. White Oak Park officially opened in 2003. From 1998 to 2023, the City was required to test water quality from various outfalls around the cap. The State authorized the City to cease testing last year since the cap is over 20 years old and continues to do its job. There are still methane vents in place around the park that help prevent build-up of methane under the cap.
As to why larger shade trees can’t be planted there, it's due to the landfill cap. It's as shallow as four feet in some areas and so planting trees that might be deep-rooted could cause ruptures of the cap.
What does all of this mean? Well, we can’t plant large shade trees in the park, but we can look at potentially adding more shade structures, shade sails, and more covered play areas throughout the park to make it more comfortable for park visitors!