Thank you, Mayor Littlefield, for finally breaking your silence. You have endured lies and half truths from the Chattanooga Tea Party for weeks now and we have waited to hear from you. Real Chattanoogans know that the lies spread by this so-called patriotic group are doing the real damage to Chattanooga's reputation. Lying and fear mongering is not a justifiable basis for recalling a duly elected mayor. When the attacks and lies also come from those with money, power and a false sense of their own spiritual walk, then I am reminded that you cannot serve both God and money.

There is a power struggle going on for Chattanooga. Some are selling their souls in order to gain it back.

There are also two fundamental, un-American, and undemocratic problems with this out-of-control Chattanooga Tea Party. First, what they are doing is actually harmful to our system of government. They are bullying the majority by the minority. They have found some loophole that allows only a fraction of voters in the last mayoral election to override the will of the people. The 8,000 signatures they need only represent a small portion of those who voted.

And where would it end? We could turn around and the opponents of the Tea Party could then recall the next candidate and the next and the next and it would never end. We have a systems in place to take care of the problem the Chattanooga Tea Party voices. We have elections every four years and we have term limits. If you do not like a policy someone pushes through or supports then you change the law. The Tea Party though would not have the muscle they are trying to flex. So that just makes the Tea Party a bully by the minority.

The second problem is that while they claim loyalty and fealty back to the founding fathers, these same founding fathers would not agree with their tactics. They would not support circumventing the will of a duly elected official through loop holes and tricks. They would not support the half-truths and lies that have been spread in order to get people to sign the petition. They would not support the problem that has occurred in the petition process because no one could believe that 37% of signatures out of only 8,900 needed would be invalid. They would not support the blatant personal agenda that the Tea Party and recall leaders have for their own ambitions.

They have created a mountain out of a mole hill just so they look good. They are small-minded men and women who want political power but could not get noticed any other way than work a recall effort. Not surprising that some are considering a run for the office if it opens up. Now that they have gotten some of that attention they are strutting around like puffed up chickens looking for someone else to bully. The kind of politicians these people will produce are only the one who will do what is popular and not what needs to be done or what is right. They will create politicians who are beholding to them and work to make the Tea Party members happy.

Is that the kind of government we want in Chattanooga? Now all you see is who is next on their list. They are trying to recall city councilpersons, school board members and anyone else standing in their way. Who decided that what the Tea Party was for was good for Chattanooga? This is Chicago-style politics to the worst degree. It is almost fascist in the way it is trying to remove its political “enemies”.

I think more damage is being done to Chattanooga than this small property tax ever would have. So instead of removing a hangnail, which is what the property tax increase was, these people choose to amputate the whole hand. These Tea Party people do not represent the national movement. This is local, personal and greedy.

Johnny Franks

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Rest assured that all the citizens that recalled Ron were not Tea Party members.

It is good to have the recall option as it will make officials more careful with their decisions. All thes politicians get elected saying that they want to be "public servants" and all too often our servants become our masters.

This is a good message for the next mayor. You can be held accountable for your actions.

Jay Wilson
Chattanooga

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I must say that you are 180 degress out of synch, Mr. Johnny Franks. Get use to the people actually becoming activists for accountability.

What would George Washington disagree with about that? Actually, if brought back to life today, I feel he would be wanting to take a little more drastic action than a civilized recall. So maybe all of the scoundrels need to feel fortunate these recall efforts are the way things are done today, and not a duel to the end, as some did earlier in the life of this nation.

Stop whining and get use to it. The people have every right to do what they are doing. This goes for any town, city or state in this nation.

Joe Blevins
Guild, Tn.
autofashions@aol.com

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Mr. Franks,

You fall right in line with the mayor and City Council members as being non-caring and non-accountable to the citizens of Chattanooga. You say the so called patriotic groups are doing the real damage to Chattanooga. The real damage is being ranked number 11 in the nation of high crime, but here again our mayor says no problem and there are definitely no gang problems.

Mr Franks, you certainly sound like a lot of people across this great nation that would be completely satisfied with anything the government does, but its your right to be one of the most lackadaisical citizens of Chattanooga. Insert head in sand until this passes over.

By the way I was asked to sign the the recall with absolutely no flex, no bullying and no threats.

Bob Maxwell