Chattanooga District 9 City Council candidate John Kerns.John L. Kerns is a man who's done his homework on city issues, and he's the best choice for voters with fantastic choices in District 9 where Yusuf Hakeem is the incumbent council member seeking re-election. Two other candidates include an impressive, no-nonsense woman and ex-con who has turned her life around, as well the young whipper-snapper grandson of the late-council member Jack Benson.
We wish you could elect them all.
Kerns, 37, of Highland Park, says Chattanooga "has done some great things in the last 20 years, but that success hasn't touched every neighborhood, or benefited every taxpayer, like it should."
He will focus on four main issues that overlap: Crime reduction, closing Chattanooga's opportunity gap, creating the Smartest City in the South, and ensuring that Chattanooga remains the Scenic City for generations.
He already has a record of what he calls "opportunity creation." Having grown up in Greeneville, Tenn., and attending the University of Tennessee, he moved to Chattanooga in 2009 after living in Knoxville. Here he started a business from scratch.
That business, Preferred Care at Home, provides in-home care for senior citizens and is based in the district. He has 75 employees - most of them from the district - and his firm was a finalist for the Chattanooga Hamilton County Small Business of the Year award in 2015. He is a graduate of Leadership Chattanooga and serves as vice chairman of the board for Welcome Home of Chattanooga, which provides end-of-life care for the needy.
Kerns says it's no coincidence that Chattanooga's highest crime numbers happen in areas where we have the highest concentration of poverty. Chattanooga has done a good job of recruiting big employers, but a poor job of preparing a work force. We can't wait for the county schools to get their act together, so that means we must inventory sites where employers and the city can get involved in education and develop both vocational training and early childhood learning in the communities where those things are needed.
One example: Little Miss Mag Early Learning Center is a private, nonprofit, downtown, United Way Agency and is licensed by the Tennessee Department of Human Services that has a long waiting list.
"I toured that facility - a wonderful organization. Why not satellite Litte Miss Mags?" Kerns asks.
Indeed. He also believes exploring light rails in Chattanooga is a wonderful idea, along with more sidewalks and greatly improved CARTA service.
Hakeem says much of this is already happening, and "with this foundation, District 9 is in a good position."
Demetrus Coonrod, 40, is franchise owner of JanPro and vice chairwoman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party. But she once ran afoul of the law when "friends" used her car in a robbery. She was convicted as an accomplice and did her time - while using that time to gain education and skills. Then she set about changing her life, getting her citizen rights back and becoming the very impressive woman that she is today.
She says District 9 - East Chattanooga, Eastdale, Glenwood, Missionary Ridge and Ridgedale - needs economic mobility and help to peel away the problems hindering its families from getting out of poverty.
"You have to invest in whole family offer mental health care, jobs, GEDs, nutrition and community support. You get the community and churches involved. And once you do that, they have a view. Once you get that view, you get faith. And then it's a domino effect."
The city's new Baby University is an excellent example of the kind of family-building programs she is talking about, she says.
Pat Benson Jr., 27, is the telefund coordinator for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Born and raised in Chattanooga, he earned his bachelor's degree in political science from UTC in the spring of 2013. He serves on the board of the Missionary Ridge Neighborhood Association, as well as Family Promise of Chattanooga.
Benson is most concerned with Chattanooga's affordable housing crisis. Eastdale alone has 300 abandoned homes, he says, but our council gets tied in knots "over things like doughnut murals, chickens and same-sex marriage."
We wish we could endorse and elect all of these folks.
Maybe someday we can.