CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The City Council raised questions at their recent meeting about the proposal to abolish the Parking Commission and move parking enforcement under the Police Department, with one council member suggesting a delay for more study.

Councilman Joe Shakeenab, who sponsored the ordinance, provided a breakdown of his almost four years on the Parking Commission, and the concerns that have come up. This includes the Parking Commission’s inability to enforce violations if someone doesn’t pay for a ticket.

“(During) my time on the Parking Commission, we’ve looked at a lot of issues that surrounds parking, primarily downtown, but it goes beyond downtown,” he said during Thursday’s meeting.

‘The commission can’t make anybody pay’

One consistent issue has been lack of enforcement. “We can’t make anybody do anything. Even if the Parking Authority gives tickets, the commission can’t make anybody pay. We can vote on it, but we can’t make them do anything, and they don’t have to go to City Court.”

He also talked about debt associated with the city garage falling under the Parking Commission.

“The Parking Commission argues every month that this is not our problem; this is the city’s problem,” Shakeenab said. “It should be the City Council’s problem, because the City Council is the one that votes on the budget. … CPD needs to control it (parking) for our entire city, because they have an enforcement function. City Court has an enforcement function. The Parking Commission doesn’t.”

During the April Parking Commission meeting, Shakeenab said, he asked members what it would take to decommission the Parking Commission. “Because in my eyes, there has to be a better way to do this,” he said. “We need real oversight on this, and we need enforcement functions to do it right and make it work for everyone.”

Concerns of ordinance’s impact on CPD

Councilman Jimmy Brown said he doesn’t have a problem with disbanding the Parking Commission, but he does have concerns with how the ordinance could impact the Clarksville Police Department.

“Our police chief already has the police department, over 400 employees, he oversees dispatch for police and fire, and we’re wanting to give him another assignment to add to what he’s responsible for,” Brown said. “Should he get extra pay for having to oversee what was another agency that’s going to fall under him now?”

Brown said he would like to see the ordinance deferred, so it could go before the Public Safety Committee for review.

Shakeenab said CPD is already in charge of parking city-wide. “So, this isn’t really adding more to their responsibilities,” he said. “The personnel that are working parking right now, that personnel would go to CPD, and they’re already trained in parking. They would get the other requirements that they would need to have, and those conversations have been taking place over the past month.”

Clarksville Now has reached out to the City of Clarksville to confirm how many people the Parking Commission has on staff.

| DON’T MISS A LOCAL STORY: Sign up for the free daily Clarksville Now email newsletter

Brown said the police department is already down 40-50 officers, and he asked what this would mean for their patrols.

Shakeenab said this proposal wouldn’t be taking officers off the roadway, and they should have the manpower to handle the responsibly. “This stuff would also go to City Court because right now it doesn’t,” Shakeenab said. “So, it’s more than just about CPD and the Parking Commission. We’re talking about city-wide, what are the rules and who regulates the rules for city-wide parking?”

Hoping to find some middle ground

Councilwoman Stacey Streetman said she will be in favor of postponing the proposal for another month. “I myself would like to dig a little more into this. I’ve kind of heard some pros and cons on both (sides), and I’d like to see if there are any changes that need to be made.”

Streetman said it would still be great to have the Parking Commission to be able to give input. “But I also know that when we get complaints, we don’t write the rules,” she said. “I think it would be great, for one, to be able to find a middle ground there.”

She also said she would like to see how surrounding communities enforce parking.

Shakeenab said that Metro Nashville has 45 officers handling parking enforcement, in addition to a non-profit that helps offset that number since “45 isn’t enough.”

Mayor Pitts: ‘It is not functioning to the benefit to the citizens’

Mayor Joe Pitts said parking in the city is out of hand. “People are parking on sidewalks, parking in front of fire hydrants, they’re parking in front of mailboxes, driveways, we get it constantly.

“And this will streamline and simplify the parking in our city and make one department responsible instead of it having two heads. While it has function, it is not functioning to the benefit to the citizens, and we need to change it,” Pitts said.

Shakeenab said parking rates downtown are decided by the Parking Commission, and he believes that shouldn’t be part of the commission’s duties.

The City Council will meet for their regular session meeting Thursday, June 4, at 6 p.m.

| DOWNLOAD THE APP: Sign up for our free Clarksville Now app