They say freedom isn’t free. The city of Collegedale is realizing that through its recent election, which cost nearly $5,000 since it is out of the normal November election cycle.
Collegedale Commissioners Larry Hanson, left, and John Turner are sworn in after the city’s recent election. Commission members then voted to re-elect Turner as mayor and Tim Johnson as vice mayor.Only 175 of the city’s almost 5,000 voters participated, amounting to a turnout of approximately 3.5 percent.
“There are some citizens arguing against moving it [to November] because that would lose the local flavor of the election,” City Manager Ted Rogers said. “As evidence has shown, even when you have local issues, there is not a huge turnout.”
Collegedale has a roughly 15 percent voter average, fluctuating between its lowest turnout on record when 3.16 percent cast ballots in 1991 and its 2001 high of 28.26 percent.
Collegedale is transitioning to be in line with state and federal elections. Along with Chattanooga, it is the only area municipality on the special March cycle, according to Election Commission Administrator Charlotte Mullis-Morgan.
The small city will have one more March election in 2013, again costing around $5,000 to advertise, purchase ballots for, and staff.
Incumbents Larry Hanson and John Turner won the open offices this time around. The third candidate, Ronnie Ennis, tried to remove his name from the ballot but did not meet the deadline to do so, said Mullis-Morgan. The largely uncontested battle could have led to lower voter turnout, as Rogers said “there weren’t a lot of signs put out.”