Campaign finances
Campaign disclosures for Chattanooga’s municipal election reveal incumbent Mayor Andy Berke had $414,490 on hand as of Jan. 15, according to the Hamilton County Elections website. He nearly doubled the $274,855 he had in his campaign’s coffers as of July 1, the beginning of the reporting period. He spent $108,615.More than $56,000 of Berke’s funding came from outside the Chattanooga area this reporting period, amounting to nearly 23 percent of the money raised. Of that, $7,000 came from two unions: United Auto Workers and Service Employees International Union, which contributed $2,000 and $5,000, respectively.Mayoral contender Larry Grohn, a city councilman, raised $23,947 in the same period. He spent almost half of it and, as of Jan. 15, had $12,097 on hand.Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, and Mark West, founder of the Chattanooga Tea Party and president of the Citizens for Government Accountability and Transparency, make the shortlist of top donors to the Grohn campaign. Gardenhire donated $500 and West gave $1,500.Candidate Chris Long, an architectural consultant, raised $4,720 and spent all but $137.Long is neither “shocked nor embarrassed” by the disparity in campaign fundraising, campaign manager Jack Floyd said in an email, citing the campaign’s grassroots.The election website does not have any financial disclosure for David Crockett, a former three-time city councilman, who also seeks the mayor’s seat. Neither Crockett nor the Hamilton County Elections Office could be reached for comment.
Crime has topped the priorities lists of all four of Chattanooga's mayoral candidates, but each has a somewhat different vision on how to fix it.
Last Monday, they shared their crime-fighting thoughts during a forum hosted by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women at the packed fellowship hall of Greater Tucker Missionary Baptist Church in Brainerd. The contenders - Mayor Andy Berke and challengers David Crockett, Larry Grohn and Chris Long - took their cues from written questions submitted by the audience.
All called for supporting the police department, but said that improving workforce development, affordable housing and education opportunities would attack crime at its roots.
Getting good jobs to everyone so they can share in the city's growing prosperity is key, Berke said.
"As more jobs come, we need workforce development so everyone can participate in this resurgence, so it's not just limited to some groups and some people," he said.
Berke underscored his administration's commitment to public-private partnerships to boost learning opportunities and reading programs conducted by the city's Youth and Family Development centers.
"If kids don't get off to a good start, they have less chance to succeed," Berke said.
Crockett, a former three-time city councilman, didn't mince his thoughts on how the city should handle crime and said it would take big thinking to truly transform Chattanooga.
"We will treat criminals as criminals," Crockett said. "We will not run a social experiment with our communities, with our children, with our city or with our economy."
Crockett's vision calls for ensuring a high-speed train connection between north Atlanta and the Chattanooga Municipal Airport to serve as the impetus driving economic prosperity for the entire city.
He said he would support community well-being by offering training used by military personnel and their families to help them thrive and survive, he said.
Grohn, a current city councilman, claimed Berke's crime initiatives only treated a symptom of underlying problems.
"Unless we address these core issues, we may not get a handle on the crime in this city, because that is what is driving the crime," Grohn said.
He attacked the administration for a "severe lack" of workforce development and has called for a revival of vocational education as a means to provide living wages for the disadvantaged.
Long, an architectural consultant and self-described "building codes fanatic," attacked Chattanooga's stormwater program, which he said has strangled development. In turn, stifled development has prevented the kind of private sector investment needed to boost economic prosperity and starve crime throughout the city, he said.
He took shots at "pie-in-the-sky ideas" championed by the other candidates.
"We don't have time for this Emerald City we have going on," Long said. "People have to work."
The candidates also spoke to how they would boost police department performance, focusing on increased diversity.
Long called for more black officers, while Crockett and Grohn noted the need for intense internships to better prepare interested minority and women candidates to serve on the police force.
"We're actually doing that," Berke said, citing intentional pushes for diversity within the city's departments.
Email Paul Leach at pleach@timesfreepress.com.