Rob Healy

Former Parks and Recreation head Rob Healy turned in his qualification papers Wednesday to run against Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield in the spring, and now he awaits a decision by election commissioners on whether he can run.

The Hamilton County Election Commission has delayed ruling on whether Mr. Healy was eligible until he turned in his qualifying papers.

Mr. Healy, who was fired from his parks and recreation job by Mr. Littlefield in 2006, said Wednesday he made sure he went above and beyond minimum requirements.

"I turned in close to 100 signatures, and they needed 25," he said.

The city attorney, the election commission attorney and the state election administrator all have said Mr. Healy does not meet eligibility requirements to run in the election.

According to city and state officials, the Chattanooga City Charter states a person running for office must live in the city for a year before the qualifying date of Dec. 18. Mr. Healy has said he believes the law means that he must live in the city for a year before the March election. He moved to the city in February.

To verify that Mr. Healy's paperwork is in order, the signatures on his petition must be confirmed as valid, said Charlotte Mullis-Morgan, deputy administrator for the election commission. But she said Wednesday she would not be able to check the signatures by the end of the business week.

"I probably won't get it checked until this weekend," she said.

Once the signatures are verified, the Election Commission probably will meet in a couple of weeks in a special meeting to decide if Mr. Healy can run, she said.

Mr. Healy said he did not know what he would do if the commission ruled against him.

"I'm just going to have to wait and decide," he said.

Also on Tuesday, Scott Seagle, a local contractor who teaches history part time at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Chattanooga State Technical Community College, picked up qualifying papers for mayor. Mr. Seagle said he plans to turn in his petition within the next week to two weeks.

He has no political experience, he said, but he decided to run because voters needed an "alternative to the current mayor."

"I feel like there's some issues that need to be addressed," he said.