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City council to consider Roxy funding Thursday





The Roxy Regional Theatre in downtown Clarksville.BY CHERI REEVES/Main Street Clarksville

The Roxy Regional Theatre in downtown Clarksville.BY CHERI REEVES/Main Street Clarksville

The Clarksville City Council is scheduled to vote Thursday, Feb. 2 on an ordinance amending the city’s budget that would remove funding of the Roxy Regional Theater.

The proposed ordinance was originally sponsored by former council member Vondell Richmond and included a decrease of the theater’s funding of about $77,000 — funds that would be returned to the balance of the city’s General Fund.

The proposed pulling of the funding was in response to charges of an alleged hostile work environment involving Roxy Theater’s Executive Director Ryan Bowie.

Clarksville City Council member Trisha Butler has picked up the ordinance’s sponsorship in Richmond’s place, as she explained in the council’s informal meeting on Thursday, Jan. 26.

“We, and our supported charities, need to operate above reproach,” Butler said.

The Ward 12 council member said the incident, involving the accusations lodged against the Roxy, is why government should not be in the business of entertainment.

 

 

“I will vote ‘yes’ on this item,” Butler said.

The ordinance faced the city council in its December meeting, however, the council voted to push the decision into 2023 in order to await results of an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruling on the allegations, scheduled for January.

Clarksville attorney Tracy Knight, who represents the Roxy, told the council that the EEOC has closed the case regarding the allegations and there is no other action or findings.

“On Jan. 10, the EEOC closed the case with no findings, no recommendations and no further investigations into the matter,” Knight said.

The EEOC’s investigation followed action taken by the Roxy Regional Theatre’s Board of Directors once they received the complaints against Bowie, including that he subjected employees to a culture of harassment and abuse.

In a response to the allegations last August, Roxy board member Stacy Turner said the board took proper action against the allegations made and put into place measures to alleviate future issues.

Human Resources Director Stephanie Stafford stated that the Roxy Regional Theater takes complaints of a hostile work environment and harassment very seriously and that it would not tolerate any misconduct from anyone affiliated with the Roxy.

Since the allegations surfaced, the Roxy board has implemented extensive HR training for all of its staff members.

The Clarksville City Council is scheduled to vote on the funding of the theater during its Thursday, Feb. 2 meeting. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

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