“Unemployment numbers in District 9 are simply unacceptable,” said Yusuf Hakeem, candidate for city council in that district, citing statistics provided by the Ochs Center (see chart below).

“Let’s take the part of the district identified as ‘Census Tract 12’. Even allowing for the highest margin of error, unemployment in that area is at 22 percent. Nearly one quarter of job-eligible district residents are unemployed,” said Mr. Hakeem. “In the same area, 37.7 percent of families had income below the poverty line in the last 12 months. That is shocking.”

Mr. Hakeem took issue with his opponent’s recent public comments on job creation. “He was quoted as saying, ‘We've had the continuing expansion of jobs, and even though some of them aren't in the district, they're certainly within commuting distance.’ Obviously there has not been an ‘expansion of jobs’ available to everyone, and when my opponent speaks of ‘commuting distance,’ I challenge him to talk to District 9 residents without a car and without access to reliable public transportation that would get them to jobs out of the district.”

He continued, “My opponent stated that it was ‘amazing’ that I would be critical of his efforts at job creation.’ My response to that is that it is amazing he thinks enough has been done for the district he represents.” Mr. Hakeem cited his experience as the former chairman of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County North Georgia Transportation Planning Organization as key to his grasp of the problem of getting people to available jobs.

“Clearly, a successful approach to reducing unemployment in District 9 must be multi-pronged,” Mr. Hakeem said. “We must support more business creation in District 9, giving access to nearby jobs to residents. We must take action on making more public transportation options available to residents. And we must ensure that young people in particular are prepared to take the jobs that are out there.

“I am dedicating myself to helping find and create solutions to this problem, and I look forward to working with residents, businesses and government agencies to generate new ideas and constructive progress.”

Statistics provided by The Ochs Center:

Council District 9 partially overlays many Census tracts: 114.11, 123, 122, 32, 33, 29, 28, 134, 4, 11, 14, 26, 25, 24. There are three 12, 13, and 32 in which the majority of the tract is within the district. The percentages represent the aggregation of these three tracts.  Data are from ACS 5 yr 2007-2011 files. (Ochs Center notes)

Percentage of family households: 62.9%

Households with one or more people 65 years and older: 24.5%

Percent high school graduate or higher: 76.2%

Percentage African American: 76.8%

Percentage White: 15.1%

Percentage Hispanic: 6.0%