Mayor Andy Berke speaks to a large crowd answering questions Monday night at the first of two forums. The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Chattanooga Chapter, INC. sponsored the forum at the Greater Tucker Missionary Baptist Church on N. Moore Road in Brainerd.Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke says opponent Larry Grohn is mistaking an employee’s school homework for damning evidence of Berke’s wider ambitions.
At a news conference Thursday morning, Grohn passed out copies of documents he said show Berke’s “major focus” in recent months has been Nashville and Washington, D.C., rather than the city he is hoping to govern for a second term.
He said the papers were detailed plans for Berke in anticipation of either a federal appointment under President Hillary Clinton or a 2018 gubernatorial run.
“Chattanooga is Andy Berke’s third choice of where he wants to be,” Grohn said in a printed statement. “Based upon his personal calendars, to even the casual observer, the facts show Andy Berke does not want to be in Chattanooga at all.
“The last four years of the Berke Administration have been a PR campaign to promote Andy Berke for his gubernatorial run. What Chattanooga needs now more than ever is a mayor who is focused on Chattanooga and issues facing all the people,” Grohn said.