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Council approves application for opioid-abatement grant to expand co-responder teams amid debate over alternative response
Summary
Knoxville City Council authorized the mayor to apply for a Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council grant to expand co-responder teams and related services. The move passed after lengthy debate about transparency, long-term city funding obligations and whether police-led co-response could sideline non-police alternative response options.
Knoxville City Council voted to authorize the mayor to apply for a Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council grant to expand co-responder teams and related services after a protracted public and council debate over program design, transparency and overlap with proposed alternative response models.
The resolution authorizing application and acceptance of a grant (item 11i) passed with the tally announced by the mayor as "motion carries seven-one-one" after extended public comment and Council discussion.
Speakers from community groups raised transparency and policy concerns. Elizabeth Rowland of Knoxville Heart said the application period for the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council communities grants had closed in October 2024 and that the council had been told the next cycle opens March 2026; she also said the agenda packet showed a submission date in December 2024 and…
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