Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield admits there are some aspects of city and county relations that are unclear as the Hamilton County Commission continues to wrestle over who takes the county’s top job.
The city and county need to start looking at a sales-tax agreement between the two bodies since it expires in May, and consolidation of some city and county services could be stalled.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” he said.
Commission Chairman Jim Coppinger and Mike Carter, special assistant to County Mayor Claude Ramsey, are vying for the job. Ramsey steps down Tuesday to take a job with Gov.-elect Bill Haslam’s administration.
The commission has twice deadlocked in a 4-4 tie between the two. Although the commission plans to vote again Monday, if the tie is not broken, Coppinger, as commission chairman, would assume the position of interim county mayor. The commission then has until April 9 to select someone to serve until the general elections in August 2012, when voters will select a mayor.
Littlefield said that could be somewhat problematic since the sales tax agreement expires the next month. The agreement determines the share that the county and city pay to such jointly funded agencies as the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library and the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department.
“It appears that agreement is going to expire,” he said. “I don’t think they [the County Commission] have focused on it at all.”
Coppinger said Wednesday that, no matter what happens in the mayoral vote, he is confident the sales-tax agreement will be resolved.
“I do think we’re behind,” he said. “There’s time to do that and it will be dealt with.”
Littlefield also expressed concerns about consolidation discussions. Whoever is chosen as county mayor will have to be running for re-election almost from the moment he takes office, Littlefield said, and that could be a distraction.
Coppinger said he also sees no problems with consolidation talk, no matter who’s in the mayor’s seat.
Carter could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
WHAT’S NEXTThe Hamilton County Commission plans to vote again for county mayor on Monday. If a clear winner is not selected between Commission Chairman Jim Coppinger and Mike Carter, Coppinger steps in as interim mayor. The commission then has until April 9 to fill the position of county mayor until the general elections in August 2012.
Ramsey warned commissioners Tuesday morning that there needs to be stability in government as the city and county continue to talk to companies interested in coming to the Chattanooga area. He told commissioners he was confident they would select someone for interim county mayor shortly to maintain that stability.
Littlefield and Coppinger said Wednesday they thought there was stability in place and were not worried about future prospects.
J.Ed Marston, spokesman for the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Chamber of Commerce, said he did not see any problems or risks at this time. He said there is a succession plan in place to make sure someone fills Ramsey’s shoes and keeps economic development rolling in Hamilton County.
“That will be provided for,” he said.
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