No matter the resolution of a charge of extortion against Hamilton County Commissioner Tim Boyd, one would have to conclude something more than meets the eye is going on.
The extortion charge will be made to stick, or dropped, based on a recorded phone call, or calls, between the two-term commissioner and his District 8 challenger, East Ridge Mayor Brent Lambert. What was said, what was not said, what was implied, what was not implied, how it was was interpreted, how it should have been interpreted, what the law says - all of that will be at the crux of the extortion case.
But this is not the two candidates' first go-round. They were two of three contenders in the 2014 Republican primary for the seat Boyd first won in 2010. Boyd won the race fairly handily, and Lambert finished third. Former longtime Commissioner Curtis Adams was second.
Lambert then went on to stand for - and win - re-election as East Ridge mayor in November 2014, helped engineer significant new development at Interstate 75 Exit 1 and is eligible to run for a third term this fall.
Meanwhile, Boyd, who views himself as somewhat of a financial watchdog, was making no friends in Hamilton County government or the tourism industry by questioning the spending habits of the Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau, which receives 100 percent of the city/county hotel tax. In time, because of the commissioner's crusading, the tourist bureau agreed to make some changes in how it accounted for some expenditures.
The commissioner also let it be known he didn't appreciate how suddenly Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger's adjusted millage rate/tax hike late last summer was proposed, and, despite supporting what the tax would pay for, voted against the budget.
Earlier last summer, the Lambert-led East Ridge City Council approved $4 million in bonds for development at Exit 1. Within days of approval of the bonds, five men - on the same day, according to Lambert's campaign financial disclosure statement - each gave $1,000 contributions to what was filed as the Brent Lambert For Mayor committee. Three of the men were developers for Exit 1 property.
The same disclosure statement also noted that Lambert had made a $5,300 payment on a 2014 loan that had a balance of $9,100. The actions were't illegal but certainly eyebrow-raising.
By early 2018, the always questioning Boyd didn't have an opponent for a third term, undoubtedly frustrating those in government and in the community who'd prefer a commissioner who asked no questions and made no waves.
Could some of those individuals have put pressure on Lambert to run, and what kind of promises might have been made to get him to do so?
The East Ridge mayor, only two weeks before qualifying, picked up papers to run for commissioner again and officially qualified two days before the Feb. 15 deadline.
Yet, as of last weekend, with early voting starting Wednesday, Lambert had no signs up in the district and no online campaign presence. And in recent endorsement interviews with the Times Free Press, he was nervous, reticent and not the happy warrior candidate he was in 2014.
A late - desperate? - fundraiser for him Monday was hosted by a who's who of developers, property owners and CVB backers, including Emerson Russell, John Healy, John Foy, Allen Corey, Matt Wood, Ethan Wood, Jon Kinsey, Dr. Keith Helton, Jay Helton, Tim Hennen, Mike Rhyne, Ben Probasco, Jeff Sikes, Paul Brock, Mitch Patel, Johnny O'Brien and Ken DeFoor. Erlanger CEO Kevin Spiegel also was listed as an event host.
It all makes us wonder if he really wants to be elected to the commission and, if so, if he is counting only on the interpretation of a recorded phone call to make the case for him.
In Lambert's interpretation of the call or calls he made to Boyd, Boyd threatened him to leave the race or face the connection of dots over the legal but ethically questionable donations last summer. In Boyd's interpretation, he was suggesting to Lambert in a fatherly way that his reputation, his family and his job at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum could be exposed over the revelations.
Did someone propose to Lambert to bait Boyd about the information? Certainly the commissioner has made enough enemies, who could make calls, to help Lambert engineer such a scheme.
For his part, Boyd thinks it was a set-up and that he fell for it. The indictment for the extortion charge was made the day before early voting began for the May 1 primary. Boyd had to post a bond Wednesday at the Hamilton County Jail, then walk up one block to the Hamilton County Courthouse for a commission meeting.
Lambert, in a statement, says he's done nothing wrong but is not answering further inquiries about what happened. Both he and Boyd say when everything comes to light, they'll be vindicated.
But they're wrong. Neither the innocent nor the guilty party wins when behind-the-scenes manipulation plays a tawdry part in a public election.