Ken Smith
Urging Republicans to get out the vote in the city election next March, District 3 City Councilman Ken Smith on Monday said only a handful of voters decide the key positions of mayor and City Council members.
"The turnout is embarrassing and it keeps going down," he told members of the Pachyderm Club.
He noted that just 13,000 votes were needed to win the mayor's seat in the election in 2013.
For City Council seats, he said about 1,200 are needed for District 1, 1,500 for Districts 2 and 3, 1,000 for Districts 4 and 5, 800 for Districts 6 and 7, just 600-700 for District 8 and 1,100 for District 9.
He said there is some "voter fatigue" coming after the big presidential balloting, but he said Republicans "have got to get out and vote."
Councilman Smith, who is running again for his council seat after being considered a strong mayoral possibility, said, "Many are not happy with the direction the city is going."
He said shootings and murders in Chattanooga are shooting upwards, there is an anti-business climate and a "horrible compliance record on projects."
He told the group, "To say that violence is going down when this year we have already had as many shootings as we did in all of 2014 "is very disingenuous."
The first duty of a leader, he said, "is to define reality."
He said a number of City Council incumbents may face opposition, including three or more against Chris Anderson in District 7 and Yusuf Hakeem in District 9.
Of Councilwoman Carol Berz in District 6, he said, "Her meet and greet list has more Republicans on it than some Republican events."
He stated, "The budget could have passed with six votes without many council members cracking a binder."
Councilman Smith said Republicans have made great strides in winning elective office - except for mayor and council in the state's large cities.