Councilwoman in court over residency, says she was threatened

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – A Chattanooga City Councilwoman testified inside of a Hamilton County courtroom Thursday as she tries to maintain her seat.

The issue at hand inside the Hamilton County Circuit Court was whether or not Councilwoman Demetrus Coonrod has lived in District 8 in the past couple of years.

An anonymous tipster sent an email to several city officials claiming Coonrod moved to a residence in Harrison. 

However, Councilwoman Coonrod testified on Thursday this is not the truth.

City Councilwoman Demetrus Coonrod testifying at a hearing to determine if she still lives in the city council district she represents.

In the midst of her hearing on determining where she lives, Coonrod made the accusation that the person who tipped off city officials about her residency situation had ulterior motives.

“I have an idea of who it is, the person,” Coonrod testified. “She called me before she released the information, and she told me she was going to release the information if I didn’t drop out of the race. And I told her that I wasn’t going to drop out of the race. I was still going to continue to run, and she told me that she was going to release the information, and I was like, ‘okay, as long as you put your name on it.'”

That anonymous tipster claimed Coonrod no longer lived at her foster mother’s residence in Eastdale.

Instead, they alleged she had moved to a Harrison home.

Coonrod testified she purchased the home in 2022 to use as a vacation rental, and to eventually move into it.

However, she testified she has since allowed her daughter and grandson to live there instead, because her father became ill, and she needed to focus on taking care of him.

Coonrod said her daughter pays monthly rent and utilities to her to live the home, while she primarily stays in Eastdale with her foster mother Vivian White.

Coonrod’s attorney Keith Grant asked White, “Why do you let her stay there? Why do you let her live there?”

White responded, “Demetrus has always been special to me, and I’ve always seen how she’s tried to do the best she could.”

White went on to say Coonrod stays at the Eastdale home no less than 3-4 times a week and has been there “at least half or more days since 2022.”

Coonrod’s daughter testified that the councilwoman only stays at the Harrison home no more than “once or twice a month.”

Coonrod also testified to briefly living with her now husband at another home in Eastdale in 2020-2021. But she says they now live separately so she can retain her council seat, and he moved to a home in another district.

She testified they plan to move back in together once she is no longer on the city council.

Chattanooga city auditor Stan Sewell said he led an investigation into Coonrod after receiving that anonymous tip.

He said he poured through dozens of documents related to the 2022 purchase of the Harrison home.

These included campaign financial disclosures, bank records, driver’s license and her affidavit of residency.

One of the documents discussed at length was a mortgage package from the Tennessee Housing Development Agency.

Coonrod was eligible to work with them as a first time home buyer.

However, Sewell testified, “Based on the investigation that we conducted, I would not be able to conclude that she had moved or transferred her residence.”

It’s worth noting that the Chattanooga city code or charter currently does not define what exactly makes a person a resident.

The State of Tennessee gives the following definition in T.C.A. 2-2-122.

“The residence of a person is that place in which the person’s habitation is fixed, and to which, whenever the person is absent, the person has a definite intention to return; provided, that a person may not register to vote using a business location as the registration address when the sole basis for the person’s presence at such location is based on a business or commercial use.”

Coonrod says in the meantime, she’s watching her back. She testified to unusual behavior from the tipster.

She stated, “The people that sent this anonymous email, they’ve been riding around, trying to see wherever I am at on the weekends to see where they can catch my car or email it in.”

Hamilton County Circuit Judge Michael Dimitru will be issuing a written opinion soon to determine whether or not Coonrod gets to keep her seat.