Audio clip
Ron Littlefield
If Chattanooga annexes more land, the City Council might have to get bigger to ensure adequate minority representation, a councilman said.
Russell Gilbert said the nine-member panel might have to expand by one or two members, because Mayor Ron Littlefield’s plan to annex several large tracts of land could bring thousands of white residents into the city.
“It will change and it will be looked at again,” Mr. Gilbert said of the council’s minority representation. “It will most definitely be looked at again.”
The city attorney’s office said any expansion of the council would require a City Charter change, which voters must approve.
Councilman Peter Murphy said some of his constituents have expressed concerns about how annexation would affect the racial makeup of some districts, which could affect election results.
“I’ve had constituents raise concerns about a ‘whiter’ city,” Mr. Murphy said.
However, he said the city could make sure minority representation is addressed — without enlarging the number of districts — when redistricting occurs in 2011. The council will have sole responsibility for redrawing city district boundaries.
“I think expansion of the council is a mistake and unnecessary,” said Mr. Murphy, who joined the council in April.
Every 10 years, local governments are required to redraw their district lines based on the latest Bureau of Census figures.
The City Council formed in 1990 after several residents who felt minorities were not represented fairly in the mayor-commission form of government filed a lawsuit. The residents won the lawsuit, and a court order established the current mayor-city council form of government.
Three districts were established to make sure they would be made up of a majority of minority residents. A fourth district was created to be a “swing” district. The minority districts are 5, 8 and 9, represented, respectively, by Mr. Gilbert and Andraé McGary, who are black, and Mr. Murphy, who is white. The swing district is 7, represented by Manuel Rico, who is white.
Mr. Murphy defeated a black opponent, J.C. McDaniel, in the City Council runoff race last month.
Mr. Littlefield has proposed annexing all areas now in Chattanooga’s urban growth plan, which includes parts of north Hixson, areas east of Highway 58 stretching toward Ooltewah and communities butting up against East Brainerd. Most residents of the areas are white, figures show.
Residents on the fringes of the city can start reaping the benefits of city services such as fire protection if they are annexed, the mayor said.
A U.S. Census study of designated unincorporated locations showed that, in East Brainerd and Ooltewah, 86.4 percent of residents were white, 9.4 percent were black and 1.5 percent were Hispanic.
The population of the city is 60 percent white and 36 percent black, U.S. Census records show.
Councilwoman Carol Berz said looking at how annexation would affect the city districts is premature without having the 2010 Census data.
“Obviously, if you’re going to annex more areas that are Caucasian the city’s going to be more Caucasian,” she said.
Mr. Littlefield said Chattanooga is becoming more diverse. Hispanics, Europeans and Middle Easterners are all moving into Chattanooga.
“This community has moved beyond when race was drawn on a map,” he said.
Dr. Berz said many whites have begun moving downtown into once predominantly black neighborhoods.
“People of all races are living all over the city,” she said.
Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Beck will be involved in redistricting county commission lines in 2010. He said he knows racial representation issues forced the creation of the City Council form of government in 1990.
But a lot has changed since then, he said.
“If it’s going to be a black-and-white issue, we haven’t progressed much,” he said.
Cliff has worked for the Times Free Press for five years and covers Chattanooga city government. He previously covered Rhea County, as well as transportation and growth and development in Southeast Tennessee. A native of Maryville, Tenn., Cliff graduated in 2003 from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis on journalism. Before coming to Chattanooga, he was a crime reporter with Hernando Today, a supplement of The Tampa (Fla.) ...
Diversity is wonderful. Look what diversity has done for us. Representation which is rich with diversity must be good. (At least those are views which I'm led to believe by the diversity crowd.)
I am so sick of the race card being played in the media. Come on people, we have a black president now. This potential annexation is purely all about the TAX MONEY! I have fought it before and will continue to do so. If I wanted to live in the city I would have moved there!
It's interesting that media commentators consistently ignore the City's glaring hypocrisy on urban sprawl -- on the one hand, no one chastises the City for sprawling as fast as they can away from its core by annexing outlying property, but on the other hand, the "Green Team" (a defacto arm of the City) hectors individuals who choose the same thing for themselves, their businesses and their families.
"Residents on the fringes of the city can start reaping the benefits of city services such as fire protection if they are annexed, the mayor said."
"...sprawling as fast as they can away from its core by annexing outlying property,"
This bit about annexing is nothing but a money grab. What the city has to offer (fire protection), the residents usually already have. The tax burden does not offset the benefits. Chattanooga and Signal Mountain want to annex surrounding areas simply for the tax revenue. Clearly, the increased tax revenue is more than the cost of any benefits the city offers the people in the annexed areas or the cities would not bother.
No thanks. I prefer to live outside of the city.
"I have had constituents raise concerns about a "whiter" city" says Mr. Murphy...Wow!!! If that were the other way around...That being said I'm going to make a prediction that some of you people in the burbs may be kicking yourselves in 10 years for not joining the city. This will be a much richer city after Volkswagen, its suppliers and the businesses that service their demand join the tax paying masses of Chattanooga. I can understand why you wouldn't want to be apart of the city right now, but if you look at things long-term you may be getting quite a bargain for the future. That's my opinion anyway.
What a joke of an article. This whole annexation garbage has nothing to do with race and diversity and everything to do with Littlefield wanting a bigger tax base. Like I've said before, if we "county folk" wanted to live in the city, we would. Those of us from Middle Valley and north live there because we don't want to be in the city and pay city taxes. It might not be too soon to start a recall campaign on Littlefield. He needs to be told that bigger government is not the answer. This seems to be the only thing he ever talks about since winning re-election. Hey, maybe Soddy should annex all of the unincorporated Hamilton County lands! I wonder how ol' Ronnie boy would feel about that?
If anyone can give me a single example of an improved service I would receive for a doubling of my taxes, I would love to hear it. There is NO upside. This is nothing more than thievery. The quality of city services is no better and sometimes worse than I already have in the county. I spend plenty of money in the city. I have no reason or desire to give politicians even more funds to squander.
I second that, cave_demon!
Actually what annexing these areas will do is shift the power balance in the city from Democrat to Republican.
All of the areas to be annexed, such as East Brainerd, Ooltewah, Hixson, Middle Valley, Harrison and outlying areas of the county are predominantly Christian, Conservative and Republican, so with that many new voters and new citizens that can now become candidates, you will definitely see a shift towards more Republicans winning local elections, and thus a shift away from some of the liberal, "green" things the city has done in the past. Factor in that the next governor will most likely be Zach Wamp, and the state legislature is a republican majority and most likely will be for the next 10 years and the age of Democrat is at an end in Chattanooga.
Mayor Littlefield's legacy wont be merely annexation this second term, but he will be known as the mayor who shot is own political party in the foot and ceded power to the Republicans by adding a huge Republican voter base to the city's list of eligible voters.
When looking for corruption in this annexation issue you simply follow the money people:
The county raises property taxes by stealth this year.
Their method: magically raising the value of everyone's home in Chattanooga and the County by 30-50% in 2009, during one of the worst housing recessions in America's history.
However, most Chattanooga Realtors will tell you the average price of a home increased 5 percent from 2004-2007, and the downturn in the economy in 2008 essentially negated that increase, yet still everyone's appraisal value went up 30-50%- property tax gouging? I think so, and know most of you do as well.
Annexation means taxation by force- new citizens watching their property tax double, and not having any voice in the matter.
Suddenly Mayor Littlefield wants to annex those same areas where property appraisals went up 30-50% in the county and at the same time says "oh we haven't raised the property tax rate" during my administration.
Yes you did, you did it in a sneaky way.
Once again we see taxation without representation is alive and well both within the city and the county government.
It's a sad day for both city and county residents.
The city was making budget cuts just last year, can't even keep up infrastructure and services within the city and now they are going to worsen the problem by offering the same shoddy services to more people.
Hey Mountains Shadows, just wait until your pretty streets are repaved in chip seal, and look like backwoods redneck gravel road. Then you will experience the full joy of being a citizen of Chattanooga just like the rest of us.
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