City Council District 9 candidate Demetrus Coonrod said incumbent Yusuf Hakeem "hit a new low in Chattanooga politics" in recent comments about her. Councilman Hakeem said his opponent has been making irresponsible statements.
Ms. Coonrod said, "Unfortunately this is not that first time women in politics have come under attack by their male opponents who seem intimidated by strong and vocal women.
We’ve seen this behavior exhibited in our president and most recently by Fox News host Bill O’Reilly who viciously poked fun of the hairstyle of African American Congresswoman Maxine Waters.
"However women and men must stand together against this behavior for the sake of our daughters, our wives, sisters and mothers and should not accept such disrespectful and degrading name calling against women. Marginalizing women is not a norm and should never be tolerated in Chattanooga or anywhere.
"Yusuf Hakeem’s comments against me are unfounded, distasteful, shameful and quite frankly is just plain ole disgusting and is a poor example to our young men.
"Hakeem’s behavior is a clear indication that he is yet again desperately hanging on to his seat he barely won in his last election, which is why he is stooping so low to defame my character. But I ask voters not to become distracted by his volatile and erratic outbursts of anger that many of us have now become all too familiar with.
"Our community is in crisis and we cannot afford to become misled by the petty name calling my opponent has resorted to. Let's remain focused on the issues of building infrastructure in our community, developing our youth who fall prey to gangs, and creating a fairer economy for low income seniors and working class families in my district.
"I know you are just as fed up as I am with the lack of development and progress happening in District 9 under our current city councilman. But as our former first lady once said, 'When they go low, we go high.' So I ask that you hang in there, get out and vote like never before and know that change is on the way and together as your next city council woman, we will soar higher in building safer and more vibrant places for the people and our children to live, work and play."
"As an experienced community servant and city councilman, my personal character and professional ethics are the primary guides of my public service.
The voters of District 9 foremost desire a leader that is an honest broker of solutions, and that has demonstrated an ability to build coalitions across our community.
Councilman Hakeem said, "Throughout this race my opponent has publicly, carelessly, and repeatedly made irresponsible and counter-productive statements about me and my supporters. For some this may be politics as usual, but I believe it indicates my opponent’s troubling disinterest in forging the crucial alliances that will be necessary to tackle the issues most important to District 9.
A community as diverse as ours can’t afford a councilperson that is inclined to divide in the interest of personal political gain. Politics can indeed be a rough and tumble business, and it’s plain to see that Ms. Coonrod simply prefers it that way. That’s unfortunate.
"On the other hand, I have always striven to be accommodating, negotiable, and willing to work with anyone that is open to diplomacy and mutual respect. While Ms. Coonrod trades in divisive and destructive insults, my work and service will continue.”