Mayor Andy Berke

Mayor Berke issues statement on business reopenings.

Governor bill lee decided that it is time to open tennessee back up.

On monday, chattanooga's mayor andy berke held his weekly facebook live to discuss how the city will address covid-19 and what his plans are for re-opening essential businesses.

He announced that chattanooga will continue to follow stay at home orders.

Andy berke/chattanoo ga mayor-" i do think that it is extremely dangerous for us to set arbitrary dates and just say that this when something is going to happen without closely examining the facts."

On tuesday, hamilton county mayor jim coppinger announced the county will move along in the reopening process despite mayor berke's announcement.

Jim coppinger/hamilt on county mayor-"what any respective mayor may choose to do in the ten municipalities that we have in hamilton county, is their choice."

With the two mayors on separate pages, many people are wondering why mayor berke has decided to go against governor lee and mayor coppinger.

Despite being contacted by local meda outlets, tuesday evening mayor berke took his frustrations to cnn.

Andy berke/chattanoo ga mayor-"it does cause a lot of concern for our residents when the mayor of a city is saying one thing and right outside it is another rule.

This is just confusion for people.

" dan stand-"we reached out to mayor andy berke's office numerous times today.

We were hoping to get a clearer understanding of the city's stance on their stay at home order as well as an updated response to mayor jim coppengier's decision to have a soft opening of hamilton county."

His office sent us this statement.

"the most important thing we can do to reopen the economy is to make sure people are safe.

To keep people safe, we should listen to experts, filter their guidance through the lens of what local business people can tell us, and create clear guidelines for businesses and their customers."

Mayor berke will be on news 12 now this morning friday morning to answer some tough questions.

You can view the rest of his statement on our website, wdef dot com.

In chattanooga, danielle moss news 12