Jerry Summers
The upcoming election for the highest non-law enforcement position in Hamilton County is being contested on an almost hourly basis in the news media and television by the three leading Republication candidates to replace County Mayor Jim Coppinger.
The first County Executive was Dalton Roberts who rose from a county employee position to become the first individual with that title.
Dalton brought unique talents to Hamilton County Government. He not only was a talented politician in the then dominant Democrat county, but he was also a skilled song writer and musician in the classic country music field.
Prior to the advent of modern cable television, political campaigns were less costly, and the campaign cycle would normally be pretty low key until the last 30 days when the perennial letters of support would start to show up in the two competing daily newspapers, the Chattanooga Times (Democrat) and Chattanooga Free Press (Republican.)
One unwritten rule that is now being continuously broken was that one politician did not get involved publicly in another race other than their own. The usual tactics of being “on the ticket” in the alleged controlled wards were less visible but not necessarily less costly for those times.
The competition and influence between the two newspapers and their support was eagerly sought by all candidates.
When the election day marked sample ballot came out in the press the day before the elections many voters could be seen carrying a copy of the editorial preferences of their favorite newspaper into the voting precinct.
A familiar participant in local politics was Dalton Roberts, the son of a Methodist minister born on August 19, 1933, in Decatur, Alabama, but who was raised in the rural Highway 58 area. He attended Tyner High School and later Kirkman Technical School, Trevecca College and the University of Tennessee where he earned a master’s degree in special education.
He would eventually go to work for County Judge Don Moore who fired him in 1977. Dalton went to court to get his job back, won the case, and then resigned his former employment position after serving only one day back on the job.
When the Tennessee Constitutional Convention of 1978 enacted the new executive-commission form of government he ran for Hamilton County executive, won against the Republican candidate, and would be re-elected three times before deciding to end his political career.
His 18 years of public service was described by Pam Sohn of the Chattanooga Times as “before, during and after those years of public service, he was musician, writer, philosopher, popular after-dinner and lunch speaker, self-described “hell-raiser” and consummate storyteller who could inspire us, lecture us, make us laugh, make us cry and summon the best of us no matter what the circumstances of the day.”
He was the forerunner and original thinker on several successful and unsuccessful projects in Hamilton County during his terms of office until he retired in 1994.
The big disappointment during his career at the courthouse was his support to secure the passage of legislation to create Metro government which he believed would lead to the reduction of expensive duplication of necessary services in the nine created independent municipalities in Hamilton County.
Although other politicians got much of the credit, he was instrumental in laying the foundations for future growth with four industrial parks, the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Trade Center, and early steps towards acquiring the former Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant (now Volkswagen assembly plant site.)
His contentions that consolidated government of schools, sewer services, the Tennessee Aquarium, and the Riverpark were too futuristic but now are touches of reality in our community.
Dalton fought many political battles. In 1981 he told an assembly of high school students, “If you want to do anything, somebody is going to make fun of you.”
A student of history, that statement may also be an adaptation of one of Winston Churchill’s famous quotes that “You have enemies? Good, that means you’ve stood up for something, some time in your life.”
This would be a consistent theme of his to “be who you are, live your life, and don’t worry about what others think.”
He would continue to use his song writing and musical talents in his political campaigns. His re-election stops would not only include all of the customary venues, but he would also solicit votes in many of the honky-tonks and roadhouses throughout the county with the request that if they liked his music and jokes to please vote for him on Election Day.
In 1982 he wrote “Things That Really Matter – The Wit and Philosophy of Dalton Roberts.”
It was a compilation of 52 articles about interesting people and events that had occurred in his life before that time span
The coincidence that it was released during that year’s election may have just been incidental planning?
Although his “original intention was to sell the book at a set price to raise funds for his re-election campaign,” he abandoned that expressed goal upon the advice of his then wife.
However, he did express political wisdom by altering his message to prospective readers by stating, “So I am giving a copy of the book to anyone who contributes anything to my campaign...and to those who can’t contribute but want to read it.” (Same message different approach.)
Through his songwriting career he allegedly wrote hundreds of country songs including “The Lights of Chattanooga” and many gospel songs.
(It is unknown as to whether the present Hamilton County mayoral candidates have any musical talents that are outside the scope of this article?)
On Dec.
9, 2015, Dalton Roberts would die leaving many friends and contacts throughout the community.
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Jerry Summers
(If you have additional information about one of Mr. Summers' articles or have suggestions or ideas about a future Chattanooga area historical piece, please contact Mr. Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com)
Dalton Roberts