Johnson City provided little new information Monday about why it attempted to shut off power at the Haven of Mercy homeless shelter last Friday.
The city did provide a copy of an order issued by Chief Building Official Jeff Canon, which repeats a section of city code that states the chief building official has the authority to disconnect power and other utilities if they pose a danger to inhabitants.
The order asks that service be disconnected from the property, located at 123 W. Millard St., until itâs cleared by a city inspector.
Reached Monday afternoon, Canon directed a Johnson City Press reporter to the cityâs media relations department.
Although members of a Johnson City board expressed frustration at the pace of plans review, city staff say they’re maintaining a dialogue with representatives of the Haven of Mercy homeless
Johnson City has hired a Knoxville attorney to investigate an official complaint against City Manager Pete Peterson by a fire department employee.
Fire prevention officer Roger Davis says Peterson threatened his employment after he looped a state official in on a conversation about housing homeless people with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) at the Ashe Street Courthouse.
In his complaint, which the Johnson City Press obtained through a public records request, Davis said Peterson sent emails âdirectly berating me and threatening my current and future employment with the city.â
âThis is a temporary use meeting an extraordinary circumstance created by the COVID pandemic,â Peterson said in an Aug. 15 email to Davis, Fire Chief James Stables and staff in the planning department. âThere are very limited options for housing homeless positive patients. We need to make this work with minimal changes, if any are needed. We DO NOT NEED TO GET THE STATE FIRE MARSHAL