A full-page anonymous newspaper ad hits the stormwater proposal by Mayor Ron Littlefield and touts a less expensive one offered by the Blue Ribbon Water Quality Committee.

The ad in the Chattanooga Times Free Press in Tuesday morning editions says it is paid for by "area business organizations, business owners, faith-based organizations and non-profits."

Bill Raines, chairman of the panel, had little comment on the ad. He referred a reporter to Robin Derryberry, local public relations specialist whose firm set up a website critical of the Littlefield plan.

Robin Derryberry, president of Derryberry Public Relations, said, "We were asked to place the ad on behalf of several grassroots organizations, many of which also sponsored ChattanoogaStormwater.com. The website is 'not' critical of the city or the mayor. It is neutral, by design.

"No member of the committee provided funding to the ad that was placed.

"While the stormwater issue is extremely complicated, the ad was developed to share information in a manner which is easily understandable to user fee payers. People want to know the impact of the proposed fee rate increase to their household budgets, their businesses or to non-profit organizations that make such a difference in the community.

"In the end, the ad was meant to inform the general citizenry about the impact these proposed fees would have on their pocketbooks."

Mike Mallen, a member of the Blue Ribbon Committee, called the ad "intellectually dishonest." He said it is "unfair to the city and the public works department" that he said has potentially very costly obligations to meet regarding expected upcoming water quality enforcement actions.

Mr. Mallen, an environmental attorney, said, "I was surprised to see the ad in this morning's paper, though I had heard rumors on Monday that some members of the committee were preparing such an ad.

"I am curious to know if certain members of the Blue Ribbon Committee were involved in the ad. I know I certainly was not consulted on the concept, much less the content."

Mr. Mallen said the ad "severely oversimplifies a much more complicated problem. I have said all along that this issue is just not about the rate. It's intellectually dishonest to focus all the attention on the rate."

Mr. Mallen said he had believed the committee's charge "was to come up with a solution to make the city's stormwater program more efficient, while keeping the ratepayer in mind and meeting the city's environmental obligations."

He said the ad "puts the cart before the horse. We don't yet know how much the enforcement actions are going to cost the city."

The ad, which appeared hours before a 2 p.m. City Council committee meeting in which the council was to discuss the two stormwater proposals, is headlined: "Attention Chattanooga!"

It says, "Over the past 90 days a group of business people appointed by the Chattanooga City Council have been working on recommendations to address ways to meet regulatory needs of the city's stormwater program.

"They used the mission given to them by the City Council to develop recommendations that would be good for the environment, minimize impact to user fee payers and provide a clear direction for the future.

"The group was comprised of business leaders with expertise in engineering, commercial real estate, government, environmental law, non-profit organizations and business. Together, they have amassed over 245 years of experience that they've called upon to develop recommendations for the City Council to consider."

There is then a section in which the two proposals are compared with the mayor's tabbed "cost you more."

The ad says if the mayor's proposal is selected, "businesses will be tempted to move their businesses out of Chattanooga to places like Bradley County or Rhea County, which have NO stormwater fees."

It says non-profits "who are already challenged during this current recession will be forced to offer fewer services to those in need."

The ad says the mayor's proposal does not offer enough credits to encourage businesses to spend money for stormwater abatement.

It states:

Bottom Line:
If the more costly proposal is successful, Chattanooga's stormwater fees will be the highest in the entire Southeast."

The ad encourages citizens to call council members and gives the phone number.

Mayor Littlefield was traveling on Tuesday and not available for comment.