Clarksville City Council asks to be exempted from state Sunshine laws

During Thursday night’s regular session of the Clarksville City Council, members voted to ask the state to make the Sunshine laws not apply to the body and city government, with multiple council members stating the law, which states all things done on behalf of the public must be done within the light of the public, gets in their way of being collaborative and having private conversations.

The amendment’s sponsor, Wallace Redd, says he feels the local council body should simply be following the same rules as the state legislature, which he says has less restrictive sunshine laws and more restrictions on public records and communications between council members on matters of public interest.

An amendment, proposed by controversial council member Wallace Redd, asks the state to “allow local governments to fall under the same ‘Sunshine laws’ and rules that the state legislature follows.” While council person Brian Zacharias noted that the amendment should be that the state legislature follows the more open rules that local governments follow, Redd did not change the direction the amendment flowed and opined that local governments should not have to follow the current state Sunshine laws, which requires all conversations, decisions, and communications to be open to the public.

No matter Redd’s original intention, other council members quickly opined their feelings on the current sunshine law. Outspoken Council Member Karen Reynolds says she believes the “sunshine law as written stifles communication and collaboration.” Council Member Wanda Smith inquired how this would impact the ethics codes, with Redd replying that if it became law, violations of it would no longer be unethical. Council Member Wanda Allen says she agreed with the amendment and reiterated that current ethics violations would no longer be against the law if this became the new law.

The amendment passed 8-4-0, and will be included on this year’s legislative agenda – which will be presented to the state legislature as a list of the top items impacting Clarksville that the city wants the state to assist with. Voting yes: Zacharias, McLaughlin, Little, Redd, Marquis, Allen, Reynolds, Shakeenab. Voting no: Smith, Holleman, Streetman, Lovato.

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Tessa Luntz named City of Clarksville’s Human Resources Director

Tessa Luntz has been named Director of Human Resources for the City of Clarksville, effective immediately.

Having most recently served as the department’s Deputy Director and as Interim Director when the top position was vacated, Luntz now permanently ascends to the head of the department that is devoted to developing and supporting the City’s workforce in the areas of benefits and compensation, employee relations, Equal Employment Opportunity, Risk Management, safety, and workplace training.

Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts said Luntz is well-equipped to lead at the next level in HR for the City’s multi-faceted workforce. “Tessa brings a depth and breadth of experience in human resources to the city, and has a proven record of success in developing the talent to provide first-class service to our citizens.” Mayor Pitts said.

“Her thorough knowledge of the law and her problem-solving attitude make her the right choice to lead our city during these challenging days of recruiting and retaining top talent. I could not be more pleased that she has accepted the position of Director of Human Resources,” he said.

A Clarksville native with vast professional and educational experience in the field of human resources, Luntz said she is eager to serve the City as department Director. “I am honored to continue serving the City of Clarksville and the wonderful employees within this organization in a different capacity,” Luntz said.

“I look forward to this opportunity, and I am equipped with the knowledge, competencies, and experience to lead the City of Clarksville’s Human Resources department as we incorporate the components of Mayor Pitts’ strategic vision,” she said.

An Austin Peay State University graduate who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (2015) and a Master of Science Degree in Management (2018), Luntz is also certified through the Society for Human Resources Management.

She began working in the public sector at the state level, with the State of Tennessee Department of Human Resources, in 2016. 

Luntz joined the City of Clarksville Human Resources department in January 2020. 

She has been married to her husband, Austin Luntz, for four years, and they welcomed their first daughter, Amelia, in April 2023.

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Clarksville Police Announce Department Promotions

The Clarksville Police Department held a promotion ceremony at Freedom Point located in Liberty Park on Monday. Agent Jason Smock, Detective Brittany Hubbard, Dispatcher Samantha Jenkins, and Officers Cody Heath, Casey Headley, Kristen Ashford, Joshua Clegg, and Matthew Roederer all received promotions within the department.

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Mayor & Council set to re-appoint embattled Roxy Director Ryan Bowie to Parking Commission for 2-year term

Ryan Bowie, who is embattled with allegations of inappropriate touching, sexual harassment, and financial mismanagement of the Roxy Regional Theatre, is set to be re-appointed to the City Of Clarksville’s Parking Commission. The resolution will be presented at tonight’s Executive Session of the Clarksville City Council on the consent agenda, which is reserved for legislation that is not expected to have any discussion or disagreement. If passed, he would serve until October 2024. You can email the council here: citycouncil@cityofclarksville.com

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Free Wi-Fi available now available in 2 Clarksville parks, 2 more on the way

In September of this year, three wireless hotspots were installed at Heritage Park and one additional hotspot at Valleybrook. They are currently active and providing free access to Wi-Fi for park guests.

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City won’t investigate touching/sexual harassment complaints on Roxy’s Ryan Bowie; he will continue working with children & the theatre

In the time since a half-dozen complaints have been received about Roxy Theater Director Ryan Bowie, alleging inappropriate touching, assault, sexual harassment, stalking, and inappropriate relationships with actors under his employ, two members of the Roxy’s Board of Directors have now resigned in protest as its own executive committee cleared Bowie of any wrongdoing, despite making changes including an HR director position and an “intimacy choreographer.”

Bowie’s name is closely associated with the Roxy Theatre, the City of Clarksville, and the Children’s Theatre programs; however, the city, led by Mayor Joe Pitts, says they can’t investigate the allegations because he’s not actually a city employee and isn’t bound to any ethics rules the city may have in place.

Emails obtained by Clarksville Today show the Roxy Board determined that “any of the allegations made against Mr. Bowie do not rise to the level of liability from a legal standpoint,” so they would no longer investigate the matter, either.

Citizens have been clear, whether there is a legal liability or not, where there’s smoke, there is likely fire, and this many complaints didn’t happen overnight or from single incidents. Citizens, actors, and even the APSU Threatre program professors have all made it clear — The Roxy can’t continue on its current path with the city and the children’s theatre program with Ryan Bowie at the helm, and if we’re waiting on a “legal liability,” the damage will have already been done to the Roxy & the City of Clarksville. Bowie is an agenda item on Thursday’s City Council Meeting at 4:30 p.m. [more documents inside full story…]

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Learn how to do business with the city at Clarksville’s Reverse Vendor Fair

The City of Clarksville Reverse Vendor Fair invites local and regional business owners to the Wilma Rudolph Event Center on Wednesday, Oct 12, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. to learn how they can have the City as their newest client.

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Actors say Roxy Theatre Director Ryan Bowie harassed, stalked, touched without consent

An actor at the Roxy Regional Theatre says he and a dozen others have been victims of harassment and inappropriate conduct by Director Ryan Bowie for at least the past year, with some complaints going back much further. In January, after several actors detailed formal complaints, the theatre’s Board of Directors & the Executive Committee admitted “mistakes have been made” and determined that Bowie, along with other staff, would enroll in “extensive HR training,” and someone on-site would be trained as an “Intimacy Choreographer.” Additionally, an HR Director would be appointed. Now that the city is directly involved with the theatre and its liability, the actors, and some city council members, are still concerned about ongoing issues at the downtown Clarksville landmark and are calling for action — they want Bowie removed as the Executive Director, weary of several lawsuit threats involving his actions.

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Former Clarksville City Garage Worker Stole More Than $1,600

The Comptroller’s Office investigation began after city officials reported missing cash deposits from scrap metal sales. Investigators determined that Smith stole $1,053 by failing to turn over proceeds from scrap metal sales to the city’s revenue department.

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Clarksville recognizes 130 employees during annual “Cause for Applause” event

This year, Mayor Pitts received 130 recognition nominations from the department heads, consisting of 65 Shining Stars and 65 Rising Stars. The Employee of the Year award went to Willie Scott, from the Clarksville Street Department.

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Clarksville is holding a listening session about parking — but they didn’t invite anyone to attend

Just before 4 p.m. Monday, the City of Clarksville quietly added a meeting to the events calendar for Tuesday at 5 p.m. — a “listening session” where they want to hear input from the public about the downtown parking options, except they didn’t tell anyone. In fact, at least one parking commission member was caught off-guard about the timing, as it happens at the same time the Mayor and one commission member have to be inside the City Council chambers for their own meeting.

So on Tuesday, at 5 p.m. the Mayor’s Parking commission will hold a listening session to decide the public’s input on parking, but the Mayor nor some of the commission will be in attendance, and they hope you won’t either, because they made no formal notice or announcement, despite promises from Parking Director Michael Palmore there would be a public outreach campaign to notify the public of the meeting, as he stated during a conversation last week when discussing the listening session.

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Clarksville Parking Commissioner asks reporter to stop recording public meeting during controversial topic

During last week’s meeting of the City of Clarksville Parking Commission, Commission member Andrea Herrera asked a reporter to stop recording a portion of the public meeting, in violation of the state’s open meeting act, which allows for all portions of a meeting to be viewed, accessed, and recorded as a matter of public record. Herrera also asked for a special parking exception to be made for one of her employees, which seems to be a direct conflict of interest to her new role, and was visibly upset when the other commissioners didn’t necessarily accommodate her.

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Addition of ParkMobile app allows almost-free downtown parking — The city’s new nightmare

Thanks to the addition of the ParkMobile app to the existing parking meter infrastructure, and the fact that the two systems can’t communicate – you can park downtown in a metered space for as little as $2 for the entire day — and there’s nothing the city can do to stop it without removing either “1st-hour free parking” or getting rid of the ParkMobile app. Here’s how… and you never even have to leave your office, workplace, or downtown home, thanks to the app.

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City says it will accept & keep payments made during free parking times; won’t disable app

In response to an inquiry from Clarksville Today, Clarksville Parking Manager Michael Palmore says the city will not disable the new ParkMobile app (which is now used to pay for downtown parking) during city regulated ‘free parking’ hours on evenings, nights, and weekends. Palmore stated he doesn’t want visitors to “get comfortable with free parking” and if they pay during “free parking time” without knowing the rules, the city will simply pocket the money.

Palmore added that “anyone who has paid [on nights/weekends] is probably a visitor”. There are no clear signs posted about free parking on nights/weekends when using the new app, and it sends reminders during free periods that payment is required.

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Clarksville Police will no longer tow vehicles for parking violations, despite $500K in unpaid fines

In a recent City of Clarksville Parking Commission meeting, it was revealed that the Clarksville Police Police Department is now refusing tow requests from the city’s parking enforcement officers. This, combined with the city’s fear to take on the liability for booting illegally parked vehicles, will continue to add to the over $500,000 of unpaid fines, and lack of downtown parking availability, as people know they can park all day without paying the meter, without any penalty or enforcement.

The city currently has no viable way to collect unpaid tickets or enforce the laws on vehicles. The city has stopped projecting unpaid fines as potential revenue until it’s collected since so little of it is ever paid.

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