Chattanooga's four mayoral contenders shared the stage today in a candidate forum hosted by the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors.
Mayor Andy Berke and challengers David Crockett, Larry Grohn and Chris Long fielded questions about their plans for crime, public education and economic development. They generally viewed all three topics as interconnected, but gave their own take on how to make Chattanooga a better place to live, work and play.
"I'm an expert on building codes, planning development and I'm in tune with the community, the developers, because I've been one," Long said.
Long, an architectural engineering consultant, regularly blasted the city's stormwater program as a hindrance to development.
Crockett, a former three-time member of the city council, said Chattanooga leadership required bigger thinking, claiming the city is running on "a dead-stick glide" from transformations he pushed for in the 1990s.
"You cannot do photo ops, Facebook posts and political projects and transform a city," Crockett said.
Grohn, who currently serves on the city council, called for reinvigorated investment in technical school training and increased government transparency. He specifically questioned why the mayor's office only gave a one-week suspension to Lurone Jennings, the director of Youth and Family Development, who misused nearly $30,000 in nonprofit funding.
Last month, the Berke and Grohn campaigns wrestled over Jennings' discipline.
Berke pointed to successes achieved over the last four years.
"If there's one thing I've learned over the last four years, is we can make progress," Berke said, citing public-private partnerships investing in young people, economic growth and quality of life.
Berke said Chattanooga need to continue taking more guns off the streets, figuring out how to grow wages and bringing more business to Chattanooga.