I had the opportunity to attend the East Ridge All Candidates Rally Monday at Spring Creek Elementary School. I would like to give a brief rundown on the candidates and my perception of how they performed.
First, John Clemmer, he didn't care enough to show up; you shouldn't care enough to vote for him.
Second, Scooter King, he initially comes off as very impassioned about why he is running. However, when you dig deeper he didn't want to give his opinion about anything having to do with the current management of the city. If he can't give his opinion, how could you vote for him not knowing where he stands.
Third, Patricia Cassidy. She seems to be running for the right reasons but not knowing that the city of East Ridge doesn't control the schools in the city and thinks Highway 41 is called Route 1 shows that she doesn't have the requisite understanding of how the city operates to be effective.
Mimi Lowrey appears to have a fairly good understanding of some of the issues but her self-confessed 20-year vendetta against the city is very troubling. We need leaders not just someone to sit back and tell everyone what they are doing wrong.
Ann Pruett had no comprehension of anything. She hadn't looked at a budget or anything else in regard to the management of the city. She could point to no specifics and at one time referenced the prior 12 city managers that the city has had. The only problem is that in its history East Ridge has only had five city managers. She admits that $160,000 for a part time city attorney is OK with her and a city manager on Facebook more than running the city is no problem at all. Whoever talked this lady into running should be ashamed of themselves. She obviously is not running for the right reasons.
This brings me to the two gentleman that came into the forum with specific facts and specific ideas on how to move this city forward without raising taxes. They had done their homework and showed that they are running for the right reasons. Those two men are Marc Gravitt and Denny Manning. They are the two that will get my vote and I urge everyone in East Ridge that cares about the future of the city to vote for Marc Gravitt and Denny Manning.
John Garth
East Ridge