From left are Bob Edwards, president ; Ron Elliott, speaker; Julia L. Bates, Director of Programs for the Tennessee Democracy Network, and Neal L. Thompson, program chairman
Newly elected City Councilman Ron Elliott, who represents District 9 and who received over 70 per cent of the vote, spoke to the Civitan Club about his involvement in city government.
The UTC graduate, former community activist, and former city employee is now president of the Tennessee Democracy Network, a non profit organization.
Councilman Elliott said that his district is the most diverse in the city.
He represents areas ranging from Missionary Ridge and Highland Park to East Chattanooga.
Councilman Elliott said he is an advocate for all the people of his district.
He said that city government should not be about partisan politics - between Democrats and Republicans.
He spoke of the lack of equality in the city funding, stating that the district he represents receives less than the other districts.
He told the club members that he threatened to vote again the new city budget unless his district received more money. After his position was known, his concerns were addressed by the mayor, he said. Only then did the new budget get his vote, he said.
The son of a Nashville police officer said that his number one priority is to upgrade the Chattanooga Police Department by raising the salaries of both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments as well as EMT employees.
He told the Civitan members that the city Police Department is loosing the best people to other police agencies because of the low entry salaries, and that issue is the number one priority fpr him
He said when the state required property tax rates are determined that he would not rule out a property tax increase if he thought that it was needed.
He further said that he was getting the city to appropriate from a special fund $1,000,000 for the paving of the surface of the road of the 6.8 mile sections of both North and South Crest Road on historic Missionary Ridge. He indicated that the total cost is now estimated to be $15,000,000. And he said it may take years to complete this much-needed project because the total budget for all road paving needs in the entire city of Chattanooga is only $10,000,000 per year.