Chattanooga, Who's Picking Your Mayor??

  • Saturday, March 4, 2017

The final day to vote for Chattanooga's Mayor and City Council representatives is just around the corner. Based on the numbers of people who voted in early elections, citizens are near comatose with election excitement. There are four people running for mayor. One of them is going to win on March 7th with barely enough voters to fill the bleachers for a Little League game.

If city election participation follows the traditional pattern, 15 percent of Chattanooga's registered voters will decide who directs spending more than a billion city dollars over the next term.

 

While many Chattanoogans aren't interested in who leads their city, many outsiders have cared enough about it to donate great sums of money to make sure Mayor Berke remains in office for another four years. He has amassed an enormous campaign war chest of donations from people living in the areas surrounding Chattanooga. Why the profound generosity? We don't know for sure, but anyone who has studied local politics knows that much of Chattanooga's political machine conveniently resides outside of the city limits. Donating to campaigns has long been been recognized as the path to access and influence local officials. 

 

Based on his last four years, it seems certain Mayor Berke will continue spending for projects and services that his donors enjoy most, whatever cost is required to make it happen. Why pave boring city streets when one can announce a million dollar signature project. While Chattanooga taxpayers habitually bear the burden for poor mayoral decisions, Signal and Lookout Mountain folks have wisely decided they should use their taxes to pay for things that service them. In all fairness, it's possible that Mayor Berke's outside donors are just trying to do what's best for Chattanooga. 

 

There are other good reasons why non-resident business donors prefer Mayor Berke. The city mayor's office is one end of the pipeline for giving business property tax breaks. A number of CEOs and owners who have received tax breaks have made generous donations to Berke. These multi-million-dollar tax breaks mean Chattanooga foregoes collecting millions in property tax revenues every year. Chattanooga residents have heard over and over again that the business tax breaks are essential to obtain high paying jobs for its residents. Berke has supported this mindset. He says he supports work force development, yet his business plan has been the same one that has been in effect for more than 20 years. If it's so effective, perhaps he could explain why so many of his biggest donors live outside Chattanooga in cities that give no property tax breaks. Why do those same cities have median household income levels 3-4 times higher than Chattanooga's?

 

Berke's fourth quarter campaign financial disclosure form indicates he had a balance of $414,490 after he spent $108,615. Berke has out-raised his closest mayoral challenger 15-1 and he probably needs that amount to fight his strongest mayoral challenger, Councilman Larry Grohn. Despite the lack of a high dollar war chest, many think what underdog Grohn lacks in donations, he makes up for in practical ideas. 

 

If you read Mayor Berke's financial disclosure forms, it's easy to see the admiration society for Berke is not totally limited to wealthy donors living just outside the city limits. He has collected an enormous amount of money from many attorneys in Nashville. Who knew Nashville attorneys cared about what happens in Chattanooga politics? Perhaps Councilman Grohn was on the right track when he concluded Berke was planning a war chest to run for Governor in 2018. Nothing turns out attorney support faster than a fundraiser for a potential gubernatorial candidate. Sadly, many government jobs go to campaign donors and their clients. Money talks and big  ($1,000-$1,500+) campaign donations say "governor take my call" However, it's possible all the Nashville attorneys are just concerned about Chattanooga's welfare. 

 

Speaking of the donor benefits, it's not only Nashville attorneys that like Mayor Berke. He has received a number of donations from the engineering, design, and architecture folks that have for years received the city's multi-million-dollar contracts for recreation, parks, sewage projects, and bike lane engineering. Berke has a donation from Arcadis G & M, Inc. for $5,000. This oft-used engineering firm can exceed the cap for individual donations by donating through its PAC. Perhaps the sizable donations and large number of contracts going to these city contract recipients are just coincidental.

 

Let's not forget to recognize all the Political Action Committees (PAC), that have donated money to Berke. They are TN Laborers' PAC $7,600, Plumbers and Steamfitters local #43 $1,250, PAC, DVA Holding Company PAC-$2,000, Iron Workers Local $5,000, Walter Landsen PAC $1,000, Reagan Smith Associates PAC $1,000, United Auto Workers TN PAC $2,000, Unum PAC $1,000, Service Workers International Union PAC $5,000 and the Adams & Reese PAC.

 

Mayor Berke has received donations from members of the firm Bass, Berry and Sims. This out of town law firm is paid by the city to assist in the sale of Chattanooga city bonds. This firm makes serious money helping Chattanooga take on more long term debt. One wonders why this out of town law firm would have known or cared that Berke was running for re-election, much less made a donation. 

 

Additional Berke campaign donations have come from many of the locally based highly placed movers and shakers of US Express, CBL and Associates, Chattem, Unum Insurance, and Vision Hospitality Group, the Chattanooga Choo, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of TN. All of these companies currently have or previously received multi-year business property and/or personal property tax breaks (PILOTs) from the city of Chattanooga. Mayor Berke has also received nice donations from attorneys who work for the Miller and Martin Law firm. This law firm's attorneys represent most of the companies that apply for and receive multi-million-dollar property tax breaks from the city of Chattanooga. Cozy warm relationships are defined not illegal. 

 

If you do not plan to vote, please rethink that plan. For everyone who plans to vote March 7th, do not be disheartened by massive donations. Donors that don't live here can't vote. The only thing that truly counts on Election Day is your free vote. 

 

Please consider voting for, Larry Grohn, a candidate that knows the value of a tax dollar and how to stretch one. Amazingly he does not appear to be intimidated by Chattanooga's time-honored political machine. More importantly he can tell you specifically what he would do differently to correct some of Chattanooga's most pressing problems. How refreshing is that?

 

Deborah Scott

Chattanooga

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