We could see this coming. When crude back-room politics trumps public processes and public accountability, politicians invariably stumble, make bad decisions, or make no decisions at all. In this light, the County Commission’s 4-4 deadlock Monday on the appointment of a successor to County Mayor Claude Ramsey was almost predictable.
The County Commission has blatantly, shamefully shunned the opportunity of having a public process to interview the nine candidates who are seeking an interim appointment to the seat that Ramsey will leave vacant when he steps down Jan. 11 to become incoming governor Bill Haslam’s chief deputy. Commissioners wrongly decided not to hold public interviews of the candidates, or to allow a public forum or debate among their top choices.
Commissioner Chester Bankston, for example, claimed he didn’t want to see the appointment process “turn into a public circus.” (Translation: He had already committed to Ramsey’s wish to see his cousin, Mike Carter, get the job.)
Instead, commissioners opted for an insider circus — clubby, quick, private interviews of the candidates. And when they convened in their needlessly rushed meeting Monday morning to appoint a successor to Ramsey (just 18 days after Ramsey had announced his decision to resign his office, leaving unused more than 100 days of their lawful 120 days to make a choice) Chairman Fred Skillern simply asked for nominations.
He got two: County Commissioner Jim Coppinger, formerly chief of the Chattanooga Fire Department, and Carter, a former Sessions Court judge who has served as a special assistant to Ramsey for most of the past year.