Roy Exum
So now comes the question: Imagine that the four men running for Mayor in tomorrow’s election were together in a rowboat on the Tennessee River and a huge barge was coming in the opposite direction. Now imagine the rowboat being flipped by the barge’s wake and all four candidates without lifejackets. Who would be saved? The short answer: Chattanooga.
Yes, our 2017 election appears to be something of a joke with the least attractive ballot in memory but what is not funny is that the winner will guide our city for the next four years. Suddenly the election becomes a serious business and, after what has occurred in the last four years, there is little doubt in my mind we would be best served by the outgoing City Councilman, Larry Grohn.
Larry is smart and well-focused. At times he can also be polarizing and unpredictable, as he has shown on the Council, but I believe his heart wants the best for the city and I have always liked him. I think he is a serious thinker and feel, especially with the benefit of a sound staff, he will knock down the unwelcoming wall that the incumbent, Andy Berke, has figuratively but tightly built around City Hall. The Mayor’s office will be bright and open-to-all once again and Larry will embrace the ideals of office.
Most of all, I trust Larry Grohn with the lives of those who live and work in Chattanooga. Conversely, I have no respect and no trust for Berke based on his revolting actions, especially in just the last year. Andy has imploded rather sensationally. I have no feelings either way for the other two candidates, David Crockett and Chris Long, because I see neither as a viable contender.
When Andy Berke was elected in 2013, he had what appeared to be bipartisan ‘promise’ but has failed miserably as a leader. One newspaper editor attributed Berke’s lack of engagement to the belief Andy is uncommonly shy but his record reflects otherwise. He’s made more mistakes, from everything from encrypting staff phones to allegedly being involved in a tawdry affair, and he has vilified the political office and proven numerous times he cannot be trusted.
Without the respect of the Chattanooga civic community and failing to properly serve his constituency, Berke is a disappointment best known for the constant upheaval of key roles on the Mayor’s staff. His Chief of Staff, Stacy Richardson, has repeatedly been painted as inept and the stories former staff persons tell about Berke’s inner office are most concerning.
A total of 7,678 took part in early voting and, with a light turnout expected tomorrow, the chance for a runoff dramatically increases in both the Mayor’s race and the City Council voting. Three City Council members are running unopposed while the light turnout could yield surprises in the other six districts.
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The City Council should align the city voting with the county/state election. It would increase the number of voters, save thousands in operational costs and be far more convenient for city voters to participate in the county and state voting.
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IT WAS DAVID Foster Wallace who once said, “In reality, there is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some Diehard's vote."
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GEORGE CARLIN: “I have solved this political dilemma in a very direct way: I don't vote. On Election Day, I stay home. I firmly believe that if you vote, you have no right to complain. Now, some people like to twist that around. They say, 'If you don't vote, you have no right to complain,' but where's the logic in that? If you vote, and you elect dishonest, incompetent politicians, and they get into office and screw everything up, you are responsible for what they have done. You voted them in. You caused the problem. You have no right to complain. I, on the other hand, who did not vote -- who did not even leave the house on Election Day -- am in no way responsible for that these politicians have done and have every right to complain about the mess that you created."
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ONE MORE FROM George Carlin: “Now, there's one thing you might have noticed … I don't complain about: politicians. Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don't fall out of the sky. They don't pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do, folks. This is what we have to offer. It's what our system produces: Garbage in, garbage out. If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're going to get selfish, ignorant leaders. Term limits ain't going to do any good; you're just going to end up with a brand new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So, maybe, maybe, maybe, it's not the politicians who suck. Maybe something else sucks around here... like, the public. Yeah, the public sucks. There's a nice campaign slogan for somebody: 'The Public Sucks.’”
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Just the same, if you are a registered voter in Chattanooga tomorrow – Do Your Part.
royexum@aol.com