CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Clarksville City Council has agreed to move forward with a study of COVID-19 hazard pay eligibility, also called premium pay, for former city employees.

The debate over how the money was allocated continued at the council’s meeting on Thursday, with several people attending to support revisiting the matter. The biggest item in question was whether employees who worked for the city between March 2020 and March 2022 were eligible for premium pay, as only employees who were working for the city in March 2022 received the checks.

Former employee: It’s the fair thing to do

Former city employee Debbie Smith served the City of Clarksville as the grants analyst from May 2015 to Dec. 31, 2021. She said she was surprised to find that ARPA money was being used for premium pay.

“I never heard about any of this till after the fact, and being the grants person for the city, I should have been part of those conversations given it was my job to inform Ms. Matta and the mayor about how grant money can be spent. Any conversations I had with Ms. Matta about premium pay, I advised against it as it would open a huge can of worms.”

Smith said she believes a prorated amount for former employees would be appropriate.

“If prorated payments were made to employees not employed at the beginning of the period, then the same should be done for those who were not employed at the end. It’s the fair thing to do. And in my opinion, the full amount should be given to the families of the employees who died from COVID,” Smith said.

Shifting it to the whole council

The resolution presented at the executive session on Aug. 25 asked the Finance Committee to study the premium pay decision. According to City Attorney Lance Baker, the resolution was written as a request, so the Finance Committee would have the option to decline.

“At the executive session there was a comment made, so I have decided to amend my resolution,” Councilperson Wanda Allen said. “What it (the amendment) basically says is that the council will have a special called meeting no later than the 25th of September.”

Allen noted that the meeting to study hazard pay would include the entire council, along with the city finance director and the human resources director.

“It will be a working session, so it won’t be a formal meeting. Nobody will be voting. We will be sitting there working through this so that we can come up with some type of solution for our (former) city employees, and if we don’t come up with a solution, at least we will be able to have a conversation about it and see what we can do,” Allen said.

The amendment passed 8-4.

Councilperson Trisha Butler inquired about other allocations of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. The money, of which $11.8 million went to city employees, has already been allocated to multiple other projects. However, there is some money left in that fund.

“We do have leftover money that was unallocated, $140,000 I believe, from the initial $25 million and change,” said Mayor Joe Pitts.

The resolution passed 9-3 as amended.

Voting yes on the resolution were Wanda Allen, Trisha Butler, Travis Holleman, Dejuan Little, Ambar Marquis, Karen Reynolds, Joe Shakeenab, Wanda Smith and Brian Zacharias.

Voting no were Mayor Joe Pitts, Wallace Redd and Stacey Streetman.

Allen told Clarksville Now after the meeting that she believes this to be a step in the right direction.

“I think that we are headed in the right direction, and I believe that the council will come together to address this issue with transparency.”