Council Delays Vote on Proposed Policy Changes by JOYANNA LOVE the Work Would Take 10 Hours
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TUESDAY 161st YEAR • No. 118 SEPtEMBER 15, 2015 clEVElANd, tN 16 PAGES • 50¢ Council delays vote on proposed policy changes By JOYANNA LOVE the work would take 10 hours. tions in Bradley County Chancery Court. He said he would also like Grisham to Councilman Avery Johnson said he Banner Senior Staff Writer "He is an expert in the type of prob- The case is yet to be heard. meet with police consultant Larry would like to see the city update its poli- lems we have been having," Banks said. A separate motion to set aside Wallace on CPD policies. cy on nepotism. The Cleveland City Council delayed The Council voted unanimously to $10,000 from the sale of surplus equip- Recommended changes would have “I still have issues with the nepotism making any policy changes recommend- delay the decision until it could get ment to cover the cost of hiring the attor- eliminated the appeals process, removed policy because it allows us to still hire ed by the human resources committee Grisham’s input. ney was unanimously approved. a seven-day waiting period for termina- members of the immediate family in the Monday. The Council is in favor of hav- Councilman David May initially said Councilman Bill Estes was absent. tion and included the city manager in same department, as long as they are ing an outside attorney review the policy he wanted to delay the issue, because he Banks said the policy has not been initial discussions with employees rec- not a supervisor of a relative,” Johnson first. was not ready to vote on it. Later, Banks changed in 22 years and needs an ommended for termination. Other said. “I just think we need to take a seri- Attorney J. Gregory Grisham of voiced his support for delaying the vote. expert’s input. Although the entire policy changes to update the policy to match ous look at that. I don’t think it’s going to Leitner, Williams, Dooley, Napolitan “I would feel more comfortable if we has not been reviewed since then, actual practice in the department and help anything, the way it is written.” PLLC will be hired by the city to review had a little legal advice, so we can stay amendments to various sections have updates required to comply with state He said issues can arise in a depart- the policy. out of court,” Banks said. been made as recently as 2011. and federal laws were also recommend- ment if family members “react” when a Councilman Richard Banks said the The city currently has two employees, "We need to focus on staying out of ed. family member is reprimanded. city could likely hire the attorney for a Lt. Steve Tyson and Officer Jeffery Chancery Court and staying out of the Banks said he also wanted to delay the rate of $225 an hour. Banks anticipated Griggs, who have appealed recent demo- front of the newspaper," Banks said. vote because Estes could not attend. See COUNCIL, Page 5 Inside Today city pay BCSO review officer expands resigns By JOYANNA LOVE Corrections staffer Banner Senior Staff Writer investigated for The Cleveland City Council has expanded the scope of a previous- fraternization ly approved compensation plan review to include a comparison of By ALLEN MINCEY the city’s benefits package. Banner Staff Writer "We have lost employees to A corrections officer on staff at some cities that had better bene- the Bradley County Justice Center fits,” Mayor Tom Rowland said. Banner photo, lARRY c. BoWERS has resigned amid an investiga- He said the company “would SuNSEt MEMoRIAl GARdENS is located on North Lee Highway. The owner of the Bradley tion of violation of Sheriff’s Office Falcons get by give a broad qualitative assess- County cemetery, Cecil Lawrence Inc. of Douglasville, Ga., is facing deadlines from the office of policies. ment” on how the city’s benefits 10th District Attorney General Stephen Crump and the Tennessee Department of Commerce and According to the Bradley Philadelphia compare with other municipali- Insurance. The deadlines are to answer various complaints concerning maintenance and operation County Sheriff’s Office, ties. The Atlanta Falcons had to of the cemetery. Corrections Officer Dawn Glenn Steve Thompson of Burris, come back after blowing a big allegedly violated Thompson & Associates present- lead to beat the Philadelphia two parts of a ed information Monday about the Eagles. Volunteers linebacker department policy study to the Council. Curt Maggitt is out indefinitely subsection deal- As a part of the study, Sunset facing DA petition after suffering a hip injury ing with frater- Thompson will compare the Saturday. The Cleveland Lady nization with salaries of city employees with the Raiders earned a win over inmates and market average for those jobs. Ooltewah in soccer. The Lee Cemetery owner has two weeks bringing items “When we set the plan in place Flames and Lady Flames are into the jail with- several years ago, we had looking to pick up wins on the golf out authorization. designed it so that step four was links. See Sports, Pages 9-11. to address variety of complaints Chief Deputy equitable to all the jobs in the Brian Smith said By LARRY C. BOWERS Glenn marketplace,” Thompson said. Monday he asked A new time for Banner Staff Writer The step-pay plan follows a “We have a number of folks who the Internal pattern that each time an Cecil Lawrence Inc., the owner of Sunset have filed complaints against the Affairs division of the BCSO to some old ideas employee qualifies for a step, and Memorial Gardens and Hilcrest Memorial cemetery, both from Cleveland and investigate claims that Glenn vio- As the American economy con- a step is funded in the budget, Gardens in Cleveland, has only two weeks to lated the policies. He made con- tinues its upswing, in spite of the the employee receives an 8 per- from out of state. We have the address a petition filed by the office of 10th complaints and we have tact with the IA division around 9 recent plummet by the U.S. stock cent increase. Judicial District Attorney Stephen Crump, and a.m. Sunday. market, it might be a good time to Thompson said he would be documentation.” a similar consent order filed by the Tennessee — Assistant District Attorney The violations of BCSO policy return to an idea known as “sov- looking at all of the pay grades to subsection 1.16 are a part of the Department of Commerce and Insurance. Drew Robinson ereign money.” For a perspective, see if changes need to be made. Assistant District Attorney Drew Robinson employee and discipline hand- see the guest “Viewpoint” on “I don’t know that it (the step- said Monday the petition filed by his office is book. These policies are: Page 12 of today’s edition. pay plan) is totally fair,” headed to Chancery Court, and a hearing before “We’re claiming they did not do what they Item 7 — Fraternization or Councilman Avery Johnson said. Chancellor Jerri Bryant. said they would do,” Robinson continued. improper conduct with inmates Forecast Johnson said he would be in “We have a number of folks who have filed Cecil Lawrence Inc. had agreed to maintain whether outside or inside the facil- favor of a compensation plan complaints against the cemetery, both from certain standards and procedures based on res- ity by means of communication placing more emphasis on expert- Cleveland and from out of state,” said idents’ complaints related to maintenance and (email and such). ise and experience. Robinson. “We have the complaints and we have upkeep of the cemetery grounds and mau- Item 18 — Bringing in any item Thompson said looking at a documentation.” soleum at Sunset Memorial Gardens on North from outside the jail to be used by new pay formula was beyond The attorney general’s petition is for contempt the inmates. what the firm had been asked to to enforce a consent decree from January. See SUNSET, Page 4 Smith stressed that Glenn was See CITY, Page 5 See BCSO, Page 5 Store gets Lee staffer Today looks to be sunny and mild, with a high near 80 degrees. Tonight’s forecast calls for mostly McDonald killed in Fla. clear skies, with a low around 55. Wednesday should be sunny, with a high near 83. Wednesday night opposition accident calls for mostly clear skies, with a By ALLEN MINCEY low around 58. By BRIAN GRAVES Banner Staff Writer Sunset: 7:48 p.m. Banner Staff Writer A much-loved and well-respect- Sunrise: 7:24 a.m. Some residents of the ed member of the Lee University McDonald area are urging staff recently lost her life in a Index Bradley County commissioners to Florida traffic accident. uphold the Regional Planning Karen Brown, 57, died in the Commission’s rejection of rezon- Friday afternoon accident in Classified................................14-15 ing that would allow for a dollar- Comics...........................................6 Blountstown, Fla., where she was type convenience store to be built reportedly on Editorials......................................12 in the neighborhood. Banner photo, BRIAN GRAVES Banner photo, BRIAN GRAVES vacation. She was The Broadway Group LLC had one of two people Horoscope......................................6 requested the parcel of land near AllAN lARSoN, a resident of the Bridgewater MElISSA BAllARd, developer of the McDonald Obituaries.......................................2 subdivision, expressed his concerns about a pro- property, told commissioners the proposed new store killed in the two- See McDONALD, Page 4 posed convenience store. would not increase traffic in the area. vehicle accident, Sports........................................9-11 with three others Stocks............................................4 being injured. TV Schedule..................................7 The second fatality in the Weather..........................................8 Ad Hoc Animal Florida State Road 69 traffic Around Town accident was Brown Control group identified by the Mina Deluca reaching a major Florida Highway Patrol as Glenda milestone ..