Coonrod’s tech classes under investigation
The Enterprise Center, a nonprofit group, has turned over information to the city auditor as part of an investigation into technology classes run by Chattanooga City Council member Demetrus Coonrod.
Via a program called Tech Goes Home, Coonrod’s nonprofit, ReWake, is one of a handful of organizations that provide computer skills training to people seeking employment after coming out of prison.
On March 4, City Auditor Stan Sewell, City Attorney Phil Noblett and members of the Chattanooga City Council received an anonymous email raising questions about Coonrod’s work with Tech Goes Home and whether there might be discrepancies in the sign-in sheets for the program. The Enterprise Center is providing the city auditor with student surveys and attendance rosters associated with Coonrod’s classes.
“Since our founding in 2003, the Enterprise Center has earned the respect and trust of our community by working hard to build a more technologically advanced and socially inclusive culture in Chattanooga,” President and CEO Debra Socia said in a statement. “Community trust is critical to our mission, which is why we are eagerly cooperating with the city’s audit department to investigate claims made against one of our vendors.
“While we promise to get to the bottom of this matter, we will not be distracted from our mission to unite people and organizations through technology in our community,” Socia said.
In an email, Sewell confirmed he is investigating allegations against Coonrod but said he could not comment any further.
Tech Goes Home participants who are coming out of prison receive $15 per hour during the 15-hour program, which helps make up for lost work time. Participants also receive a free computer once they graduate.
Instructors keep track of who attends the classes, and participants fill out surveys that gauge their skill level before and after completing the program. The Enterprise Center does not pay anyone to lead the classes.
ReWake’s work through Tech Goes Home was exclusively funded by the United Way of Greater Chattanooga, which paid for student stipends and laptops. It did not involve any city money. Funding
from the United Way also supported the work of other nonprofit partners that were teaching computer classes to people coming out of prison.
Terran Anderson, a spokesperson for the United Way of Greater Chattanooga, said in a phone call March 21 that the organization was leaving questions about Coonrod’s nonprofit to the city. Anderson did not respond to an email or voicemail Friday.
The Enterprise Center receives city funding for other projects, which include some core Tech Goes Home programming, a government information provider called ChattaMatters and workforce development initiatives. Started in 2015, Tech Goes Home also offers computer skills lessons to seniors, children and Spanish speakers. About 12,000 people have graduated from the program in that time.
In July 2022, the Chattanooga City Council approved a $30 million spending package that allocated federal pandemic relief funding to dozens of projects and organizations, which included $1.5 million to the Enterprise Center for a program, EdConnect, that provides home internet access to Hamilton County students.
Excluding those dollars, the Enterprise Center has received almost $6.7 million from Chattanooga since Jan. 1, 2020, according to the city. Much of that funding passed through the organization in support of the EdConnect program.
John Pelissero, director of government ethics for the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, said the public has to question why a city-funded organization would bring on a nonprofit run by a member of the Chattanooga City Council.
“It’s only going to raise questions that need not be brought forth,” Pelissero said in a phone call. “It’s easy to take a leap from, ‘Well, they could have hired anybody or any organization, but they chose the one that happens to be headed by a member of the City Council.’ That’s going to raise suspicion even if there’s no substance to it.”
The Enterprise Center does not hire elected officials to serve on its staff, according to the organization. Coonrod’s classes did not receive any city, county, state or federal money, and the nonprofit wasn’t paying her.
Coonrod is a two-term member of the Chattanooga City Council who was first elected in 2017, ousting incumbent Yusuf Hakeem. This August, she is challenging Hakeem in the Democratic primary for his seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives.
Tax filings made to the Internal Revenue Service indicate ReWake has had no more than $50,000 in gross receipts per year from 2021 to 2023.
In an emailed statement, Coonrod said she is aware the city is investigating allegations about whether she lives in the city and her nonprofit’s work with the Tech Goes Home program.
“It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the specifics of these investigations except to say that any allegation that I acted improperly is untrue,” she said. “Nonetheless, I have fully cooperated and will continue cooperating with the city on these investigations. I look forward to putting these issues behind me so that I may focus on the needs of District 9 and my campaign to represent the citizens of District 28 in the Tennessee House of Representatives.”