IF YOU GO
What: Public forum for District 3 school board applicants
When: 6-8 p.m. March 22
Where: Hixson Middle School
CANDIDATES
Mendi Catlett
• Job: Hairstylist
• Education: Edmonson Junior College, 1991; Hixson High School, 1990
David Lawrence Cowan
• Job: Retired administrator from Hamilton County Schools, part-time graduation coach at Lookout Valley Middle-High School
• Education: Master of education in administration and supervision, Tennessee Technological University; B.S. in secondary education biology, Middle Tennessee State University
Charles Leslie Elliott
• Job: Licensed agent at Alder & Cox Insurance Inc.
• Education: Master of education in administration and supervision, Middle Tennessee State University; B.S., Tennessee Wesleyan College
James S. Goebel
• Job: Branding and marketing specialist at Cumulus Media (Talk Radio 102.3, News Radio 1150)
• Education: Media technology student at Chattanooga State Community College since 2009; Hixson High School, 1992
Mary B. Lewis
• Job: Tennessee academic specialist, Public Consulting Group
• Education: Doctor of education, University of Alabama; educational specialist, University of Alabama; M.S., Covington Theological Seminary and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; B.S., University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Greg Martin
• Job: Family service manager, Lakewood Memory Gardens
• Education: B.A., Bryan College, 1985; master of divinity, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 1987; doctor of divinity, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 1993
Laurie Shipley
• Job: Retirement plan specialist, Barnett & Co. Investment Counsel
• Education: B.A., business administration, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Joe Smith
• Job: Certified substance abuse counselor and reality therapist, YMCA of Metropolitan Chattanooga
• Education: UT, marketing, 1974; Chattanooga State, P&C Insurance, 1981
Ken Smith
• Job: Chief information officer, The Johnson Group
• Education: Management of information systems, UTC, 1994
Joy Ward
• Job: Retired teacher and business owner
• Education: B.S., UTC; M.S., Trevecca College
Tammy Bishop Zumbrun
• Job: Community relations specialist, Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union
• Education: B.S., business marketing management, UTC, 1983
Retiring Hamilton County school board member Everett Fairchild was honored Thursday night, and by Friday the process of replacing him was under way.
The Hamilton County Commission had received 11 applications by late Friday. Commissioners will appoint someone to represent District 3 for the remainder of Fairchild's term, which ends in 2014.
Wearing a red boutonniere, Fairchild sat for his final Hamilton County Board of Education meeting Thursday night following a reception in his honor. Superintendent Rick Smith presented him with a plaque thanking him for his years of service to schools.
Fairchild began teaching in 1951 at Dickinson Junior High and was principal of Hixson Junior High for 25 years. He joined the school board in 1993.
"It has been my privilege to work with a lot of very dedicated, professional people. I have enjoyed my work with the kids. I have enjoyed my work with this board and the superintendent," Fairchild said Thursday. "I have the fondest memories of the time I've spent."
Interim District 3 County Commissioner Mitch McClure said the Friends of Hixson group will host a public forum for the applicants March 22.
"We thought the PTA would be able to handle it, but because of the political nature, they declined," McClure said.
Commissioner Greg Beck, who wanted to hold the interviews in public, said he wouldn't be attending individual meetings with candidates.
"I won't be doing any private interviews," Beck said. "I will be attending that public forum. If I have any questions, I will give them to the moderator."
Until September, when the winner of a District 3 special election for County Commission takes office, the areas of Hixson and Middle Valley in that district will be represented at the county level by two people they didn't elect. McClure was appointed by commissioners last year to fill a slot opened when Jim Coppinger was tapped as county mayor.
At Thursday's commission agenda session, District 3 commission candidate Mitzi Yates, a Democrat, asked for public interviews of candidates for the school board seat.
"What you can do in private, you can do in public," she said. "It was brought to my attention that perhaps some of the interviews already occurred."
The Republican seeking the District 3 commission seat, Marty Haynes, said he thinks a public forum will be sufficient.
Yates also asked County Attorney Rheubin Taylor to provide her with the statute that says the commissioners should appoint for the remainder of the term and not until the next general election, which is the protocol for filling vacancies in constitutional offices.
Ansley Haman covers Hamilton County government. A native of Spring City, Tenn., she grew up reading the Chattanooga Times and Chattanooga Free Press, which sparked her passion for journalism. Ansley's happy to be home after a decade of adventures in more than 20 countries and 40 states. She gathered stories while living, working and studying in Swansea, Wales, Cape Town, South Africa, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Ga., and Knoxville, Tenn. Along the way, she interned for ...
Kevin rejoined the Times Free Press in August 2011 as the Southeast Tennessee K-12 education reporter. He worked as an intern in 2009, covering the communities of Signal Mountain, Red Bank, Collegedale and Lookout Mountain, Tenn. A native Kansan, Kevin graduated with bachelor's degrees in journalism and sociology from the University of Kansas. After graduating, he worked as an education reporter in Hutchinson, Kan., for a year before coming back to Chattanooga. Honors include a ...
