By Nathan Prewett, For the Tribune
LEEDS – The Leeds City Council has rejected a proposal from the Board of Education to implement a $2 million capital improvements project to the athletic programs for the high school before later settling a litigation case, though very little information was given.
Councilwoman DeVoris Ragland-Pierce (Credit: Nathan Prewett)
Before turning their attention to the agenda, the council heard a proposal from Leeds Police Chief Paul Irwin about purchasing new body and vehicle cameras from Axon Enterprises. He said that the body cameras feature a live-streaming ability where viewers can communicate with an officer.
The cameras also feature a navigation system that pinpoints where an officer is in cases such as when they are calling for support. Car cameras will reportedly be able to scan up to three other vehicles and report any that have been stolen.
The proposal was approved for a cost not to exceed $415, 461,21.
Later, the council came to a proposal from the Leeds Board of Education to approve the capital improvements plan for the high school. The plan would have constructed a field house containing locker rooms, meeting spaces and parking spaces, as well as renovating the Jerry Oxford Jim and fixing drainage issues at the middle school, said Superintendent John Moore.
However, the proposal was met with opposition from several on the council who raised concerns about funding.
“I don’t see the city spending $2 million on the high school,” said Councilman Kenneth Washington. He went on to say that there were other projects more needed for the community, namely a civic center, though he clarified that the schools were still important to him.
Councilwoman DeVoris Ragland-Pierce echoed Washington’s concerns and similarly said that a project such as a community civic center would be more important, especially for juveniles, though she agreed that some renovations are needed to the athletic buildings.
“I think that, as a city councilor, we’re supposed to be transparent when it comes to city business,” she said. “And I know that some of this was proposed in that tax increase that we talked about a couple years ago and most of our constituents – they didn’t agree with that, they didn’t want that. So I think that, for me, I think that it’s a good idea on what (the board wants) to do because I grew up in Leeds and I went to that school, and yeah, it does need a facelift but it is not worth $2 million of the city’s taxpayers’ money to do so.”
Council members Eric Turner and Angie Latta said that the bathrooms there were in much need of repairs.
“Whether or not this is the right way to go about it, I don’t know yet,” said Latta. “But the bathrooms in of themselves are a huge issue that needs to be addressed.”
Moore spoke and said that while the dissenting council members raised good points, the city uses the facilities for its metro programs, which include football, cheerleading and basketball.
“We don’t charge anything, we don’t ask for anything,” he said. “The city does a lot for the school system, we’re aware of that. So this is not just an investment in the school system; it’s also an investment in the youth programs that have used those facilities for the entire city.”
Mayor David Miller (Credit: Nathan Prewett)
Sometime afterwards, Mayor David Miller agreed that a civic center is more needed but mentioned that the city is facing mandated reclassification of police and fire employees, and the coming changes could mean a required 10% increase in pay for all city employees. Rising prices caused by inflation have also caused complications and put strain on revenue. He added that there are future projects with uncertain costs.
“I must agree with (Washington and Ragland-Pierce) that this is not the time for us to spend $2 million of city funds for this particular project, as worthy as it is,” he said.
The resolution failed after a 2-4 vote. Afterwards, the council added an item to the agenda to go into executive session.
Just a little more than an hour later, the council returned and Miller announced that the council would take action on an item that would allow the city to settle a litigation case, which was approved by all except for Turner.
City attorneys Scott Barnett and Johnny Brunson could not spare much in the way of details, but Barnett said that the settlement had no monetary amount.
During public comments, Ernest Mitchell spoke about what he said was profiling being done by officers of the police department. He said that he had heard from other citizens that people have allegedly been pulled over by police for being out of state or for unimportant reasons, and expressed concern that Leeds was in danger of being similar to the Brookside police practices that have gained national attention.
Mitchell also said that he feared that the new technology being purchased may lead to officers violating citizens’ rights.
Irwin later rebuked Mitchell’s comments, saying that his claims were hearsay and that they were things that he “had no factual knowledge about.”
“Everything he said was what someone else told him,” Irwin told the Tribune. “And we’re not Brookside. We have probable cause when we make our traffic stops. We have video cameras where I can pull it up if somebody files a complaint to investigate whether or not it was an illegal stop.”
In other business, the council:
- Determined a property on Parkway Drive to be a nuisance,
- Refunded $56,192.59 to a taxpayer not in the city limits, and
- Approved $26,500 to replace the overhead doors of Fire Station No. 1.
Meetings are held on the first and third Mondays of every month at City Hall on 1400 9th Street Northeast. Agenda packets can be seen online at the City of Leeds website.
