Staff Photo by John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Mike Carter talks with reporters outside the Hamilton County Commission room on Monday morning after commissioners deadlocked on making a choice between Carter and Commissioner Jim Coppinger to replace County Mayor Claude Ramsey, who will resign Jan. 11.The Hamilton County Commission chairman found some vindication in the commission’s failure to pick a new mayor Monday, saying it proved the selection was not a “done deal.”
But that hardly matters to critics who insist on a public process.
Commissioners tied 4-4 between fellow Commissioner Jim Coppinger and special assistant to the mayor Mike Carter to replace Claude Ramsey, who leaves in January to join Gov.-elect Bill Haslam’s staff.
At the end of Monday’s meeting, Chairman Fred Skillern noted the lack of consensus.
“All of those people who said it was a done deal, it wasn’t,” Skillern said.
The deadlock showed an “equal process” in selecting the new county mayor, Skillern said Tuesday.
Commissioner Larry Henry also hoped the deadlock would put some of the public’s concerns about “back-room dealing” to rest.
Delores Vinson, chairwoman of the Hamilton County Republican Party, said she knew of no one who claimed that the matter of who would be mayor was certain. What they didn’t like was the commission conducting the process in a “secretive” way, she said.
“I don’t think that proves jack,” she said of the commission’s stalemate.
The commission has not held any public discussions on the selection process nor has it publicly interviewed any of the nine candidates.
Commissioner Warren Mackey on Monday said he planned to hold a public hearing on the mayoral selection Thursday, but soon withdrew the offer, saying he had a scheduling conflict.
Chris Brooks, founder of Chattanooga Organized for Action, said he was expecting a decisive vote on Monday but became more concerned when Skillern asked the public for nominations during the meeting.
Skillern asked the public to recommend people interested in the mayor’s job, but advised people not to make “political speeches” to the commission.
“That to me was emblematic of the real charade here, which is they really don’t feel any true obligation to the public,” Brooks said. “Ultimately, we don’t know why they’re making one decision or another.”
Jim Folkner, one of the leaders of this year’s failed effort to recall Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield, said that, regardless of how the commission voted, he still would favor an election and, barring that, a public interview for the new county mayor.
“We need to let everybody have a chance to be involved,” he said.
Mark West, president of the Chattanooga Tea Party, said he felt as if the commission was doing what is allowable under state law. But he also said it would have been helpful to the public to hold some forums in which people could ask questions and hear the candidates’ views.
Coppinger and Carter both said they would attend such a forum if invited.
Contact staff writer Dan Whisenhunt at dwhisen hunt@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6481. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DWhisenhunt.