Mayoral candidates David Crockett and Larry Grohn on Tuesday hit Mayor Andy Berke on his announcement that the city was making a $1 million donation to the new Children's Hospital in memory of the Woodmore children who died in the Nov. 21 bus wreck.
At a press conference at City Hall, former City Council member Crockett said, "The most self-centered, political mayor in memory just hit a new low with this pledge of $1 million of city taxpayer money.
"A flock of lawyers have already started circling the tragedy, among them is Mayor Andy Berke’s family’s law firm. This prompted the Tennessee Attorney General to issue a stern warning not to take advantage of this tragedy by enriching themselves at the expense of the taxpayers. Now they are joined by Mayor Berke in an attempt to take 'political' advantage of this tragedy.
"The expansion of Erlanger Children's Hospital was announced a year ago with no apparent interest by the mayor. He did not include it in his state of city speech or his budget. Nor did he discuss with the council - until last week in a hastily called press conference he announced that he would pledge, in the children's memory, he would bring up a donation in four parts to be voted on in future budgets by a future council (and mayor) not yet elected.
"While we pray for the children and their families in lieu of this terrible tragedy, this is nothing more than a blatant political stunt using the memory of these precious children. For starters, it's not Berke’s money - it belongs to the taxpayers. If he wants to contribute his own money then we will all join in contributing to the children's hospital and to the families of the children.
"This may be a good cause but it might not be in the city's mission. The hard part of a mayor’s job is not turning down bad causes, but turning down good ones. This does nothing for the families of the children killed nor anything for the children and people of the Woodmore community. A million dollars is hard to get for a council district. A well thought out project in that area might be a better use of the public’s tax dollars.
"I strongly suggest to Mayor Berke and future city administrations to please refrain from such activity that amounts to nothing more than using public funds for personal political gain."
Later in the day, Councilman Grohn said that "recent criticism of Mayor Berke’s pledge to the Children’s Hospital is spot on. Andy Berke is attempting to buy the vote with taxpayer dollars to hide his failed tenure."
Councilman Grohn said, “Over the past four years, and especially since the early summer, the current administration has attempted to buy the vote with taxpayer money and political favors. Berke has been running the city using bribes and politics, picking winners and losers with a pay-to-play mind set. Those within the current administration’s inner circle have seen a skewed reality over the past four years while most of the city has been left out. Violence has spread into our suburbs and many Chattanoogans continue to live a life of diminished hopes and increased fears. The mayor is saying – Re-elect my administration (which is sorely lacking in experience and totally devoid of ethics) and I’ll promise you $1,000,000 over the next four years.
"The $1 million pledged is a gross disservice to our community in an undemocratic move by the administration. The administration is trying to bind the new incoming council in April, 2017 to including the funds in four separate capital budgets. $1 million dollars is approximately the amount of money needed to fund one police academy. There are several initiatives within the city’s scope of influence which would have a more direct impact improving the quality of life for its citizens. Andy Berke is attempting to buy voters and take advantage of our community during this devastating tragedy in his re-election bid."
This is the full text of the Crockett press conference:
My name is David Crockett. I served on the City Council for three terms from 1990 until 2001. I also served as the City Council Chairman and Chairman of the Economic Development, Environment and Strategy committee. I loved the time that I spent on the Chattanooga City Council and the relationships I had with fellow council members. During that time, we had tremendous energy and accomplishment in this city and launched the Renaissance of Chattanooga. I was proud to be an initiator of many of those projects.
It was also a time of not only great investment but also unequaled fiscal discipline with three property tax cuts of fifty cents each. I initiated the efforts that funded those tax cuts and have the best record on taxes and fiscal responsibility of any local, state or federal official from Hamilton County. My respect for the City Council and for fiscal discipline is why we are here today. I respect the institution of the City Council and will never do anything to compromise its members.
Mayor Berke has done just that with a blatant political stunt of pledging $1 Million to Erlanger Children's Hospital in memory of the Woodmore children killed and injured in the in the tragic bus accident. One of the reasons I am in this race is that the Berke administration is the most political and least ethical of any city administration in recent memory. This illustrates and confirms that.
A flock of lawyers has already started circling the tragedy, among them is Mayor Andy Berke’s former law firm. This prompted the Tennessee Attorney General to issue a stern warning to individuals and law firms not to take advantage of this tragedy by enriching themselves at the expense of the taxpayers. Now they are joined by Mayor Berke himself in an attempt to take “political” advantage of this tragedy.
The expansion of Erlanger Children's Hospital was announced a year ago with no apparent interest by the mayor to fund it. He did not include it in his State of the City speech or his budget. Nor did he discuss it with the council until last week in a hastily called press conference in which he announced a pledge of $1 million dollars to Erlanger Children's Hospital in the memory of those children who were injured or lost their lives. This would be voted on in future budgets by a future council and mayor not yet elected.
While we pray for the children and their families who were victims of this terrible tragedy, this political stunt dishonors their memory.
For starters, it's not Berke’s money; it belongs to the taxpayers. If he wants to contribute his own money, then we will all join in contributing to the Erlanger Children's Hospital's fund and to the families of the children through the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga which has already set up the appropriate fund.
This may be a good cause but it might not be in the city's mission. The hard part of a mayor’s job is not turning down bad causes, but turning down good ones. This does nothing for the families of the children nor anything for the children and people of the Woodmore Community.
A million dollars is hard to get for a council district. A well thought out project in the Woodmore Neighborhood might be a better use of the public’s tax dollars and a more appropriate memorial.
I promise not to compromise the integrity of the office of Mayor of Chattanooga or that of the Chattanooga City Council by doing anything in this way.