Chattanooga voters in Districts 7 and 9 will return to the polls Tuesday for a runoff election that will decide their city council representatives.
No candidate in either district received a majority of the votes in the March 7 nonpartisan municipal election, forcing the runoff. In District 7, first-term incumbent Chris Anderson faces Erskine Oglesby, and in District 9, six-term incumbent Yusuf Hakeem is challenged by Demetrus Coonrod.
With two days of early voting to go last week, only 3.4 percent of voters (642 of 18,737 eligible voters) in the two districts had cast a ballot.
We hope that tally will pick up on Election Day. Residents, after all, should have someone of their choosing representing them and not simply the candidate who motivated the most voters to go to the polls. Indeed, residents' day-to-day lives are affected far more by their local governmental representative than they are by anyone at the state or federal level.
Chris AndersonDISTRICT 7: In the municipal election, we endorsed Anderson for the results he had reaped for his district, which includes the Alton Park, Downtown, East Lake and St. Elmo precincts.
During his term, District 7 had the largest investment of city funds and the most paving of any district. A new playground was built at the East Lake Youth and Family Development Center, East Lake Park is in the beginning stages of being renovated and a new park has been planned for the former Charles A. Bell School site in Alton Park.
Anderson says he has developed a knowledge on how to get things done on the council and wants to continue that work - especially on strengthening neighborhoods and pushing for a higher minimum wage for city employees - in a second term.
Where we fall out with the councilman are in his sweeping negative characterizations of those who oppose him, in his unbridled social media posts and in his tendency to bring national politics to a local level where they don't necessarily belong.
Just recently, for instance, he referred on his campaign Facebook site to his "opponent and his Tea Party-supported campaign." Oglesby, in fact, has received contributions from well-heeled Lookout Mountain families (as has Anderson), but he also has been monetarily supported by former Chattanooga City Commissioner John Franklin, former Chattanooga City Judge Walter Wiliams and numerous average Joes. The incumbent's characterization holds little water.
Oglesby is a nice gentleman who has had a variety of jobs in the for-profit and nonprofit worlds, and we believe he would be an adequate representative for folks throughout his district. Nevertheless, we still believe Anderson deserves the edge for his demonstrated ability to get things done.
Demetrus CoonrodDISTRICT 9: In the municipal election, we endorsed businessman John Kerns, whose home and business is in the district, which includes East Chattanooga, Eastdale, Glenwood, Missionary Ridge and Ridgedale, but he finished third in the four-person race.
Between Hakeem or Coonrod, we believe Hakeem represents the status-quo in a district that needs anything but the status-quo. The district, which spans Missionary Ridge and areas on either side, is in need of economic development, better housing choices and improved solutions on crime.
The incumbent has had most of six terms to help turn the district around but has not.
Coonrod, a hard-working mother of five with a compelling backstory, says she wants to champion early childhood education, end the "complacency" in the community and create "opportunity for everyone."
She also has said she wants to "take the city council to the streets" and treat those in the neighborhoods as a part of a family.
We like the fact Coonrod is young. Even with the 36-year-old Anderson, the current average age of council members is above 60. If Coonroad, 40, is elected and Anderson re-elected, they would join the recently elected Anthony Byrd, 41, in significantly lowering the age of the council. While youth doesn't necessarily mean wisdom, it can mean energy, passion and new ideas.
She also would give the council a second woman. Carol Berz, who represents District 6, is presently the only woman on the council.
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Both incumbents have the upper hand in the election. If the same people who voted on March 7 vote again on April 11, Oglesby would have to convince 85 percent of voters for third-place finisher Manny Rico to vote for him. Coonrod would need to persuade 74 percent of voters for Kerns and fourth-place finisher Pat Benson Jr. to cast a ballot for her. Still, in a two-person race anything can happen.
In the nonpartisan election, neither Anderson nor Coonrod are the type of conservative candidates we would wish for, but we believe for this body at this time their enthusiasm and desire to get things done make them the right choices for the Chattanooga City Council.