Gregg Juster, a leader with the Chattanooga Tea Party, said Mayor Ron Littlefield lawsuit seeking to block the recall effort "reveals the mayor’s contempt for the will of the people."
Mr. Juster said, "Rather than acknowledging the legitimate concerns of his constituents, the mayor and his legal team are staking Mayor Littlefield’s political future on various legal technicalities.”
Jim Folkner of Citizens to Recall Mayor Ron Littlefield, said, “The lawsuit that Mr. Littlefield has filed in Circuit Court grasps at several frivolous points. One point, the mayor’s suit hangs on the fact that a date is not attached to each signature. It is obvious that the intent of that provision was to insure that signatures were gathered during the prescribed 75-day period for obtaining voters’ signatures.
"The Election Commission’s own attorney is on record as verifying that the Election Commission staff informed the petitioners that a date was not required next to each individual signature. Additionally, each form that was used was approved and accepted by the same staff.
”Further, Mr. Littlefield’s attorneys make the technical argument that the petition is not in the form of a question. The wording is very clear that the intent of the petition is to recall Mayor Littlefield. The wording was reviewed and approved unanimously by the entire Election Commission Board on June 16, 2010."
Larry Grohn, a volunteer coordinator for the Chattanooga Tea Party, said, “Throughout this recall we have operated above board and in good faith, not resorting to personal attacks, staying on the petition issues with dozens of volunteers pounding the pavement. So it is troubling that at this late hour, when the people have spoken, the mayor’s strategy is to nullify and crush the voices of 10,000 Chattanooga voters.”
According to Charlotte Mullis-Morgan, election administrator, a total of 15,559 signatures were turned in and the Election Commission staff has validated 9,903 signers are registered Chattanooga city voters.