posted April 7, 2005
WMBW Radio conducted interviews of both candidates for mayor - Ron Littlefield and Ann Coulter.
Here are the transcripts:
WMBW: Good morning Mr. Littlefield.
Littlefield: Good morning.
WMBW: Both of you have said that you have unique backgrounds and experience that make you most qualified to serve as mayor. In this area of experience, what separates you from Ann Coulter?
Littlefield: I have practical, on the ground experience. I have worked on both the executive and the legislative sides of government. I have been involved in both public and private enterprise that relates to government, so I would have to say that my experience is much more broad based. Actually, I’ve been responsible for a large department of city government. If you’ve ever had to dig the city out of a foot of snow, or something of that nature, your experience exceeds that of someone who hasn’t had that opportunity.
WMBW: Do you think, though, that in some ways that might be working against you with some people who would say, “well he’s had so much public experience or government experience, that you’re almost a government insider”?
Littlefield: Except I’ve been outside of government for quite some part of my career I was in private enterprise for eight years, actually. And even though it was private enterprise, I was working with other governments in other parts of the country. So, if people are worried about someone having too much experience on the job in how to make the job work, I can’t really reconcile that. But I do have a lot of experience and background in government. I know how to make government operate efficiently and effectively and that’s the difference in my candidacy and my opponent’s candidacy.
WMBW: If I had to ask you one issue where you are most passionate, where you really feel like this is the direction Chattanooga needs to go, almost to the point where you would draw a line in the sand, what would that issue be?
Littlefield: Jobs. We have to rebuild our manufacturing base. That’s the way we support families. If we want to, if we want our community to prosper, if we want the spirit of our community to soar, people have to have a sufficient job to send their kids to school, to pay their bills. Right now I’d say that we are not meeting those needs.
WMBW: Both you and Ms. Coulter have made faith and values a central piece of your campaigns. You both have stated that you consider yourselves to be Christians. What is your personal faith, and how do you define being a Christian?
Littlefield: My personal faith is I am a believer in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. And I have traveled that road for a number of years. I have put my life in His hands. I have put this election in His hands. And to me, that is the mark of being a Christian. It is putting your life, turning your life over to Christ and letting Christ direct the consequences of your actions.
WMBW: You have said that you favor government support of faith-bases initiatives. Can you get specific about the support, where it would come from, what some of these faith-based initiatives might be when we’re talking about Chattanooga?
Littlefield: We contract with a number of agencies to take care of people’s social and personal needs, and in my opinion many faith-based initiatives can do that in a better fashion, in a more efficient fashion than the government can. A lot of them are what we used to call welfare-related types of functions and some have to do with family violence issues and such as that. And I think the support of faith-based initiatives for those purposes is a good and proper use of government resources. Where would it come from? It would come from where all government sources come from, either tax-bases (and that comes from different sources, not just property tax), or from other sources—grants and such—other sources that are available to the government that might not be available to other providers of services.
WMBW: You mention that word, “tax.” And some of these questions, by the way, are a follow up to the survey of candidates for mayor from the Chattanooga Resource Foundation. And in this survey, when asked whether you would raise taxes or add additional taxes to fund local education, you were the only candidate to answer, “yes.” This is a very important issue, obviously, with a lot of voters.
Littlefield: Sure.
WMBW: They’re going to say, “is he going to raise my taxes?”
Littlefield: At the moment, the city is not really in the education business and I don’t see that changing in the near or even distant future. Education is a function of county government. But to be consistent, and to be responsible as a public servant, I think that you always have to leave the door open for something as critical as education. If greater needs arise, I think you have to leave the door open to some sort of support. I voluntarily voted with the rest of the majority of the council for a number of years to provide $8.5 million that comes from a sales tax, and not the property tax, to the county school system for quite some time. That initiative has been taken away from us now when that whole sales tax passed countywide. So, from time to time sales tax initiatives and other forms of taxation provide themselves as an opportunity to further fund education and other worthwhile purposes. And I think any responsible person running for office should say, should answer that question, “yes,” because schools need the resources and that’s the critical issue. Do you need it? Is it absolutely essential to educate children? Then the answer should be “yes.” And so I stand by that answer.
WMBW: Also in this survey from the Chattanooga Resource Foundation, when asked the question about whether you opposed city mayors issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, your response was “yes.” Since this has become a national issue, what is your personal position on gay marriage?
Littlefield: I oppose gay marriage. I don’t think that you can reconcile it biblically. And I know a number of gay individuals. I’m sure everyone does. I have gay friends and we talk about this sort of thing. And I have had a number of them say to me that they know it is not biblically sustainable as a lifestyle. Anyone who answers that question, though, in knowing the mayor’s office in Chattanooga will tell you the mayor’s office has nothing to do with marriage—either gay marriage or any other type of marriage. And I would oppose the mayor’s office getting involved in the marriage issue. The County, county commissioners can actually marry people. City councilmen can’t. Marriage is such a hot issue and civil marriage—I prefer a religious marriage ceremony myself—civil marriage is one that I think the mayor’s office should not get involved in at all.
WMBW: You have said that you support abstinence-only sex education in the public schools. The question, “would you support sex education that only taught abstinence?”
Littlefield: Yes I would. I think that that is a proper thing for public schools to do. I have heard all of the arguments, pro and con, about other types of training—birth control methods and things of that nature. But I think teaching abstinence only is something the public schools should do because it gets into creating a moral value and establishing a code, which worked well for my generation and I’m not just an old fogy. I think some things that have worked well in the past we should keep.
WMBW: Now there are those that when they go to vote on Election Day are very partisan. And they would vote just for republican or democrat. But the mayor’s race is nonpartisan.
Littlefield: Right
WMBW: That doesn’t really play into it. However, there are going to be those who would like to know where you stand, would you consider yourself conservative, moderate, liberal, maybe even some politicians that you would align yourself with?
Littlefield: I’m conservative and I align myself with a wide variety of politicians. But those who are conservative from a funding standpoint—I think most politicians nowadays will admit they’re liberal in terms of social interactions, civil rights issues, and things of that nature. And I don’t think that’s the question you’re asking—but conservative in terms of government doing what government is supposed to do—not having big government, not overfunding government, not taxing without a reason or providing a service. I’m conservative in those ways.
WMBW: In your campaign literature I have seen Ron Littlefield there and then the picture of the big train. I believe you call it the MagLev train.
Littlefield: Yeah.
WMBW: Is this a dream or is this something you would really like to see in our area sometime down the road?
Littlefield: I really tried to stay away from that issue because people think it might just be a dream, but if you look at the traffic that we have now between Atlanta and Chattanooga and, increasingly, between Chattanooga and Nashville, if you look at the increasing number of trucks on the interstate projected to double in the next ten years, we’re going to have to have some other way of getting back and forth. There are a number of troubling predictions. The Atlanta Regional Commission did a study and said that they plan to spend $50 billion in Atlanta over the next twenty-five years trying to improve the traffic flow through Atlanta. And they expect the trip from Marietta to Hartsfield during that period of time—even with spending that kind of money—to double from forty-two minutes to almost eighty minutes. And so we have to have another way of getting around. This is a form of transportation that’s common (not MagLev, but high speed rail) in other parts of the world. And I think we’re going to see it come to this country as well. You know, Chattanooga was a leader in building the interstate system and I’ve been around long enough to know that there was a world before the interstates and now that we take them for granted, that something else is coming along. We tend to, about every fifty years, to come up with a new, big public works project that takes us to the next level and something is coming. And all I’m trying to do with that brochure is that Chattanooga needs to remain on the leading edge of transportation technology. That’s our past. That’s our present. And that’s our future.
WMBW: So if I understand correctly, what you’re saying is it’s something you would be open for and you would be willing to take the lead for Chattanooga, but it might not happen this year or next year.
Littlefield: Oh, it won’t happen. I can assure you it won’t happen this year or next year. But we’ve already conducted, the federal government and the states of Georgia and Tennessee have conducted a lot of studies on this possibility and we have about $10 million in federal transportation funds to continue that work.
WMBW: Why don’t you dream for just a minute. Take us down to the next generation. What would you hope, let’s say, in twenty years to see in Chattanooga?
Littlefield: In twenty years, I would hope to see Chattanooga a much more balanced city, a city that is taking advantage of its beautiful resources, this God-given scenery that we have that attracts so many people to our area. We’ve done great things in transforming our downtown. I am proposing that we turn that kind of attention to the area west of city, not to abandon the downtown. It’s a great drawing card, but that we focus our attention on filling the Enterprise South Industrial Park and all of the other unused and underused industrial areas in the city that would fill our citizens’ pockets with enough money for them to have a future for their children and that Chattanooga take its place as a city on a hill, that it becomes known for its religious resources as well, which are fantastic here.
WMBW: You have had a very successful career up to this point. Why, at this stage of your life, would you say, “I think I’m going to run for mayor of Chattanooga”?
Littlefield: I’m ready. I have spent thirty years building a base of knowledge and experience that I can utilize to take this city forward seamlessly. I could move right into the mayor’s office and continue the progressive track that we’re on. I think that’s what the citizens of the city want to see. And that’s something that I know that I can bring to pass. And that’s why I’m running for mayor.
WMBW: Mr. Littlefield, thank you for spending time with us this morning.
Littlefield: Thank you.
COULTER
WMBW: Ms. Coulter, good morning.
Coulter: Good morning to you.
WMBW: Both you and Ron Littlefield have said that you have unique backgrounds—your experience—that makes you most qualified to serve as mayor of Chattanooga. What would be some of the unique things in your background—places you’ve worked—that you think really prepared you for this particular job in Chattanooga?
Coulter: I think Chattanooga has given me a great education about how to do all the kinds of things that a mayor needs to be good at. I’ve been in, I’ve had my own small business here. I’ve had executive level positions for the last 12 years, day in, day out, week in, week out, at the executive level, revitalizing this city. And also, prior to that, a background with workforce development and job training which is critical that our workers have the right kind of skills for the right kind of jobs and our employers know how to find them and how to make use of them. So I’ve got that experience too. That’s important for a mayor to understand that dynamic and be able to work on it and in those executive level positions, worked on revitalizing neighborhoods because I was head of the city’s office of economic and community development, a very neighborhood-focused agenda and funding for neighborhood-based initiatives. I was head of the regional planning agency. I worked for both city and county governments and then as River City Company Executive Vice President. So I think it’s that executive level experience, along with my fiscal responsibility, having never overspent a budget, living, always, within my means, and my ability, also, ability I think to bring people together in a very positive and inclusive way throughout my career.
WMBW: Now you mentioned the River City Company. There are going to be those who say, “I’ve heard of River City, but I don’t really know what they do.” Can you help us out as to what River City has done, what they’re doing, and what your role as Vice President was?
Coulter: River City Company is a private nonprofit. It’s one of Chattanooga’s wonderful public/private partnerships that we’re known for around the country and even around the world in some cases. It’s like Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise and others that are involved. A real partnering of civic, business and neighborhood important things happen. So there’s a private nonprofit. I was there for four years. I’ve had a twenty-five-plus career here, but the last four years Executive Vice President there, and River City is focused on making sure that our downtown becomes and is solidified as the economic generator for the whole region, so it’s really a part of the city’s and county’s overall economic development strategy.
WMBW: Now you mention the word “development.” There are going to be some who say, “she’s got a lot of high-powered developers behind her.” How do you react to that? Is that a positive? Is that a negative?
Coulter: I’ve got a lot of people behind me. A lot of people that may not be very well known. I’m so pleased to have the breadth and depth of support that I now have—neighborhood leaders, civic leaders, business leaders, friends from my neighborhood where I grew up, friends from my current neighborhood and all kinds of people. I’m proud to have everybody’s support.
WMBW: One of the things that I believe I’ve even seen in your literature, you’ve talked about faith-based initiatives.
Coulter: Right
WMBW: And programs, I believe in your case, one dealing with schools, to get people to volunteer for schools.
Coulter: Right, in fact, I think I’m the only candidate in the race that’s proposed a faith-based initiative.
WMBW: Talk to us about specific support, financial or otherwise that you would give, as mayor, to local, faith-based programs.
Coulter: Well I have a background in that and I’ll draw on that background. When I was head of the city’s office of economic and community development we (that’s largely funded by Federal dollars. And as everybody knows that when you’re dealing with Federal dollars there’s all kinds of rules and regulations and a sensitivity about delving into areas that might be considered supporting any particular religion.) Well, we realized in Community Development, that some of the best work in neighborhoods and with people that need help is done by faith-based organizations. If we didn’t have the strength and breadth of faith-based institutions in our city that we do, we would be almost a desperate place, and I think everybody realizes that. So the kind of things that I would work toward would be to assist faith-based institutions and delivering better and more services to the people that they work with. I know how to do that. I know how to make use, to get around in a way some of the Scriptures. I had a background of doing that with regard to developing housing with faith-based institutions, vital services to children and the elderly, the homeless. So I’ve got a pretty extensive background with that.
WMBW: Both you and Mr. Littlefield have made personal faith a central piece of your campaigns. You both state that you’re Christians. Can you define a little bit more clearly what you mean when you say that you’re a Christian?
Coulter: It’s pretty clear to me, it’s clear to me that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior. I grew up in the Methodist church, in fact, my parents helped found the church. It’s St. John’s on Highway 58. It met first in our home and then in a school, and now in a large church. And my husband and I now are members of an Episcopal church.
WMBW: Now some of these questions are in response, as a follow up to something that the Resource Foundation, the Chattanooga Resource Foundation put together in a survey. And in the first candidate survey, when asked the question about whether you opposed city mayors issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, your response was “not applicable.” You commented that on that question, you said, “marriage licenses are handled by the county. As mayor, I will not be involved in this issue.” There are some who are still going to wonder where you do stand on that issue.
Coulter: Let me mention, first, before I get to that, how much I appreciate the service that you’re providing in doing this interview as well as with the survey. The survey was informative to me for example. I learned some things about other candidates, even though not everyone responded, the major candidates did. For example, one of the things I learned with regard to the question of “would you raise or support additional taxes for the school system,” my opponent, Mr. Littlefield, said, “yes, under certain circumstances.” I found that to be very interesting, particularly since that is clearly a county responsibility. But to get back to your question, about gay marriage, City Mayor does not have any authority or responsibility on that issue. It is against the law in Tennessee and I believe in obeying the law. There will probably be, it looks like, moving through the State legislature, a ban on that. I will support whatever laws are in place. One of the things that I learned, a valuable lesson early on in public life, and I’ve been there a number of years, is that whatever position I’m in, that’s public, I represent that position, I represent taxpayers, often, I represent staff, so you won’t see me, you’ve never seen me express a public opinion about something that wasn’t within the confines of my authority and responsibility. Clearly there are some things in the community I feel those and I struggle with those as well that are moral- and religious-based issues. That is one. I believe that in not speaking out any further on that I’m not getting involved where I shouldn’t go. You know the mayor does not have the responsibility to make any statement or the authority to make any change on that issue. I had a close friend who was from San Francisco and worked with the government of the city of San Francisco during the time that the new mayor almost created chaos in his own city with regard of what he did with stepping out with that issue. You won’t find me doing that.
WMBW: So you would say there in San Francisco, the mayor stepped out of bounds.
Coulter: Right.
WMBW: You’re just not even going to go there.
Coulter: I will not go beyond the bounds of the law and I will not make any public statements about that unless it comes to be within my confines. Right now city mayors in the State of Tennessee don’t have any responsibility or authority.
WMBW: There was another question where you put “not applicable.” And that dealt with whether you were pro-life or not. Since every politician has an opinion on this issue, and since it is very important with many Chattanoogans, they’re going to want to know, “Is she pro-life?” “Is she pro-choice?” Is that an area where you would mind sharing that with our listeners?
Coulter: Right. As a politician, I don’t have a public statement. My statement, my response to your question was, “yes, I believe in it. I am pro-life.” I believe in value for all human life. You know I gave birth to a child. I’m a mother. And I know that that is one of the most special and awesome gifts that we’re provided. But again, a little bit of the same answer to the previous question, where as a politician I don’t have a public opinion about that. I have a personal, private opinion about it. But in that, the mayor has no responsibilities or authority to make any change in that area. All I can do is muddy the waters. I really look to, particularly, religious leaders and other civic leaders who have some responsibility there. A lot of those issues are in the courts, as you know, to be the ones to speak out with authority and responsibility in that.
WMBW: Here’s an area where I’m sure you’re going to feel very comfortable in giving us some specifics, and that’s with relation to jobs.
Coulter: Right.
WMBW: If you go to your web site and it talks about issues, jobs is number one. It’s one thing for someone who’s running for mayor to say, “I want to create jobs.” How is Ann Coulter going to create jobs in Chattanooga?
Coulter: Focus. Partner. Make sure that I keep the pressure on every day, that I am as fully informed as I can about opportunity. I have experience retaining and recruiting jobs to our city, both small companies and large companies. I have a platform that’s workable, that’s doable. Partner with county government, with State government, with TVA. I really believe we’ve got an opportunity now in Chattanooga like we’ve never had, I believe. And symbolically, I grew up, just up the highway from what we then called the TNT plant. I grew up in Murray Hills. That is now, in Enterprise South, the most incredible opportunity we’ve ever had in my lifetime in our community to attract jobs here, an eight-hundred acre flat site. Going to infrastructure. We now are able to market that in a way that we’ve never been able to. And I’ll do that. I know how to sell Chattanooga. I’ve done it both in Chattanooga and around the country and even outside the United States. So it’s marketing, it’s focus, it’s having the city in sound financial shape so that as we need to make investments in new jobs, we’re well positioned to do that. It’s making sure that we take full advantage, which we never have, but we’re trying. We’ve made some important initial steps to connect in a very important way for the knowledge-based jobs of the future for the opportunity that we have on the Technology Corridor. To think that we’re just up the road from the fastest, most powerful computer in the world, and yet, we’ve not quite yet figured out how to plug in, in terms of economic development. I’ll work on that. And then also, the backbone of our economy here are small businesses. I’ve got a small business strategy, how to grow small businesses, provide micro-loans, provide the right kind of assistance to small businesspeople who want to get started. One of the things that I enjoy the most about the campaign is the door-to-door walking I do. We go door to door six days a week. We were in St. Elmo yesterday. We’ll be in East Brainerd today. And I also walk small businesses when I do that. And the stories I hear are incredible. The optimism I hear is incredible. People will do some amazing things as entrepreneurs, as small businesspeople with just a little bit of help. I want to make sure that we’re ready to provide that help so we have that diverse economy.
WMBW: Now you mentioned diverse economy. You said technology, you’ve talked about small business, that land that we’re talking about, the former TNT plant. Any industries that when you put on your sales hat, that you’re thinking let’s target this or let’s head in this direction? Any dreams in terms of specific industries that you’d like to see there?
Coulter: The one’s that have been most visible, I guess one’s that we think of, the kind of big plant, the knowledge-based jobs of the future are automotive-based. It’s still an incredibly important driving sector of our economy and of the world. The South, in particular, has been pretty competitive and Tennessee as well, in attracting automotive-based industrial jobs. So that one’s clearly on the radar screen. One of the misconceptions, I think, about people is that there’s old industry, new industry, dirty industry, clean industry. If an industry is competitive these days, it’s all focused on knowledge-based jobs of the future. And that’s what we need to go for.
WMBW: Going back to schools for a minute, you have said that you support abstinence-only sex education in the public schools and that abstinence is 100% effective in preventing pregnancy and STDs. Would you support sex education that only taught abstinence in schools?
Coulter: That is something that—the policies of the school board—is something that the city government gave away or moved out of some years ago. A lot of people in Chattanooga remember when we had a city school system and a county system. State law was also changed to create a different sort of school board and school superintendent responsibilities. One of the things I’ve said throughout the campaign is people talk to me about public education. They talk about it a lot because it’s really uppermost on everybody’s minds, that and jobs. As mayor, since I don’t have the responsibility to impact school policy, I’m not going to go there. I’m not going to tell them how to do things because that’s not my responsibility. I fully support the work of public education. I volunteer in a public school every week. They are wonderful places of learning. We have some challenges there, clearly, if we’re going to have the right kind of work force. So I will fully support and stand behind the decisions of the school board and the Hamilton County Commission have to make ‘cause that’s their responsibility. At the same time, abstinence only is the only thing that’s been 100% effective. Realizing that the high school years and middle school years for our children are so incredibly important. I’ve been the parent of a teenager, and I know that they face very difficult, almost adult choices on a day-to-day basis, it’s really important for parents and schools to work hand in hand and provide them clear choices about their behavior and what the impact of their behavior is. And clearly, the thing that is most effective in preventing pregnancy, preventing the difficulties that students get into, when they’re hit with having sex at a young age and with sexually transmitted diseases, the clear, clear choice should be abstinence.
WMBW: So you’re for that type of curriculum, but you, because you say that the city does not really control education, you don’t want to quite say that that would be what you would be in favor of teaching only.
Coulter: I think that’s a pretty clear restatement of what I said.
WMBW: Okay. Just make sure we understand that. And while, on one hand, you say it’s not the city’s responsibility, you are, though, for like faith-based initiatives or volunteers having an impact in the schools.
Coulter: Right
WMBW: You’re still for that.
Coulter: How I talk about that is that the city mayor has the ability to insure that all children are successful learners, realizing that, the point being that an awful lot of education and the ability for children to be good learners in school happens beyond the classroom door. It happens in the family. It happens in the community. It happens in churches and faith-based institutions, in temples and synagogues and so forth. That support for children, that ability for them to be effective learners before they get to school and after school in the afternoons is something that a mayor can play a big role in and that’s where I will seek to have as much impact as possible, particularly with the calling for recruiting 1,000 volunteers, primarily at the elementary school aged level, through faith-based institutions. One of the concerns that I’ve heard throughout the campaign is the importance of reading, young children being able to read. And people know that and I hear this particularly from people in, from religious leaders and those affiliated with religious institutions, is that if children cannot read, they don’t learn to read, then they can’t get good jobs, they probably won’t graduate from high school. They can’t really participate in the democratic process. And they can’t be fully involved in developing their skills for life. And that’s why I think one of the important places—and I hear this as I work in the campaign—to recruit volunteers is through faith-based institutions. They have a direct stake and a desire to make sure that all children are better readers.
WMBW: One of the things that you, you know, do not have to declare or put on the ballot for the mayor’s race is, you know, democrat or republican, and I’m not trying to peg you on that one, but if you could describe yourself politically, would you consider yourself a conservative, a moderate, a liberal, maybe even some politicians that you can say, “I have similar views as that politician or this one.”
Coulter: As a politician, I’d have to think that maybe the first adjective I’d have to put on myself is a novice. You know I’ve never run for public office before. I’ve never worked in a campaign before. I’m not affiliated with any political party. I would never be attracted to run for partisan office. It’s not, it’s not in my background. It’s not how I view the world. It’s not how I behave. I have people of all kinds of backgrounds working on my campaign, even at high levels. A lot of them I don’t even know what their party affiliation is and most of them haven’t asked me. It’s not a factor in this nonpartisan race. So having never run, never worked in a campaign, I don’t have a track record of being pegged as one thing or the other. Maybe that’s why some people do try to peg me. If I had to give a broad, a more broad answer, I think your suggestion of a moderate is how I would describe myself across the board on everything from fiscal to social issues.
WMBW: Okay. One last question.
Coulter: Alright
WMBW: You have been very successful in what you’ve done up to this point. Why make the transition and say, “I want to become mayor of Chattanooga”?
Coulter: I believe this city has given me an incredible education from being born here and raised here, graduating from public high school, the jobs I’ve had, the opportunities this city has given me to learn things that add up to a mayor’s resume: the executive level, decision making and implementing, taking action and getting things done. And you get to a point in your life to look back on, and I did this about a year ago in a very soul-searching kind of a way where you realize that if you are to make the best use of your ability, if you are to really—and I was raised to believe this—leave this world a better place than you entered it, if to the best of your ability, whatever those abilities are, then you may need to do something different with your life. You may need to be able to take some chances. You may need to step up to a challenge the way you never have before. And as I look back on my career, my life here, my dedication to this community, I discussed with my family in particular in a course like this, running for public office, it very clearly was the right thing for me to do. I believe that we’re ready for strong, positive leadership and change in this community and I think that I best represent the way to bring that about.
WMBW: Ann Coulter, thank you for spending time with us this morning.
Coulter: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
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