■ THE CITY PAPER

3-23-06

CITY NEWS

[image]
[image caption] Photo by Josh Anderson. An unidentified motorist honks his horn as he is blocked by protesters on the corner of Eighth and Charlotte avenues on Monday. On Wednesday, state and Metro officials came to an agreement on how to better coordinate further such demonstrations.

[Headline] Nicely, Serpas near agreement on protests

[Subheading] Pair say 'higher level' personnel will plan more for future demonstrations

BY JOHN RODGERS
jrodgers@nashvillecitypapercom

A day after bickering over the disruptive protests in downtown this week, an agreement appears to have been reached between the state and Metro Police to involve "higher-level" personnel when planning for future demonstrations.

The disagreement began Tuesday after interim Department of Safety Commissioner Gerald Nicely sent an e-mail to state employees that said Metro Police "was well aware" that the protesters were coming Monday and that the traffic jam state workers experienced was a "Metro issue."

Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas then denied the city knew in advance that the protesters from the health care advocacy group American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT) were coming to block downtown streets.

Tuesday night, Nicely and Serpas spoke. Wednesday, Nicely said, and Serpas confirmed, that the two have agreed to involve "higher-level" officials in planning for protests next time.

"We agreed that we're going to get together and make sure that we work together and plan better for future events," Nicely said.

[Subheading] Planning should've been better

In retrospect, Nicely said higher-ups from the state and Metro should have met before the disruptive protests this week.

"[The planning] was probably down at a lower level, and there's nothing wrong with the guys who are doing it," Nicely said. "It just should have been escalated to a higher level earlier."

Serpas said after speaking with Nicely that he is "satisfied that we are moving forward" and that he had a cordial conversation with the commissioner.

On Wednesday, the protesters, Who are pushing for more dollars and choices for home- and community-based health care as opposed to nurs-ing homes, moved their demonstrations from downtown to Metro Center, making stops at the state's TennCare Bureau and then traveling to the Nashville office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Meanwhile at the Capitol, Col. Mike Walker, the head of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, instituted a restricted access policy Tuesday and Wednesday, meaning that "people without legitimate business" were not allowed inside the Capitol, said Melissa McDonald, a spokeswoman for the Department of Safety.

Overall, Metro Police arrested more than 100 demonstrators Monday and Tuesday.

No arrests were made Wednesday, according to an ADAPT spokesperson.
CP

تاريخ الصورة

الثلاثاء 23 جولاي 2013

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السبت 5 ديسمبر 2020

الألبومات

• Nashville - Free Our People Hearings, March 2006

الزوار

209

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