‘Firegate’ report to be released next week
By Ron Clayton
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Copyright 2007 Chattanooga Publishing Company
ATHENS, Tenn. — A trio of attorneys is set to release next week a report on the mayor and city manager withholding information from the City Council about the city’s fire rating.
Even before the release, one Athens City Council member this week dubbed the issue “Firegate” and was chastised by the mayor for making “an incendiary comment.”
Mayor John Proffitt and City Manager Mitchell Moore have acknowledged that they did not tell council members for almost a year that the city’s Insurance Services Organization fire rating was going to drop from Class 3 to Class 4. The group acted after the city failed to make improvements in manpower and equipment to retain the Class 3 rating, records show.
City Attorney Chris Trew and two other lawyers, Randy Ayres and former Assistant District Attorney Richard Newman, were tasked by the City Council to investigate and are scheduled to deliver their report at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
At a council work session this week, Councilman Dick Pelley referred to the controversy as “Firegate” and said the information already available makes the issue “a significant event in the history of Athens.”
Mr. Proffitt replied that Mr. Pelley had made “an incendiary comment.”
“I’m troubled with that label. Your opinion is not appropriate,” Mr. Proffitt said.
Councilman Hal Buttram said he thought the whole issue had been blown out of proportion.
“There was an error, but how grievous was it?” he asked.
He said the fire department’s good response time and low loss amounts are more important than ISO numbers.
Mr. Pelley said that wasn’t the issue.
“This isn’t about the fire department. It is about behavior” of the mayor and city manager, he said.
Mr. Pelley and Councilwoman Shannon Alvey have asked whether the two withheld the information so council members would vote to annex the Mount Verd bypass and an industrial park across Interstate 75. The council approved the annexation but rescinded it after the ISO information came out.
Mr. Moore has said he made a mistake and forgot to tell the council about the falling ISO rating.
However, Mrs. Alvey has obtained copies of letters between the ISO and city government over a nine-month period. The letters show Mr. Proffitt and Mr. Moore knew for months that the city’s fire rating was going to be dropped, but they didn’t tell the council members until just before the new rating took effect.
The lowered rating could cause fire insurance premiums to rise for business, industry and residential customers, according to Garry West with the University of Tennessee’s Municipal Technical Advisory Service.
The report from the attorneys is expected to include information from the ISO and interviews with Mr. Moore, Mr. Proffitt, Fire Chief Bob Miller, Police Chief Chuck Ziegler and others.
Council members are expected to decide after hearing the report whether to hold an additional meeting to address the issue, officials said.