Many officials in Ringgold, Fort Oglethorpe and Catoosa County say the relationships between the three governments are as strong as they ever have been.
The four men vying to be Fort Oglethorpe’s new mayor say they want to keep it that way. But all four have been on city councils or the County Commission when the governments were often at odds.
Former Fort Oglethorpe councilmen Richard Egeland, Harold Silcox and Lynn Long, who also was a county commission chairman, and former Fort Oglethorpe Mayor Judd Burkhart are running in the Nov. 2 election to replace Ronnie Cobb, who died in August.
“There’s been an attitude in the past that it’s Fort Oglethorpe or nothing,” said Richard Egeland. “A lawsuit is not the way to go, an olive branch is.”
The tension came to a boil in 2008 when Catoosa County filed suit in Superior Court against Fort Oglethorpe, asking the court to declare illegal the city’s 1998 annexation of parts of Mack Smith Road and Cloud Springs Road and another annexation in the same area in 2006.
Egeland, 57, said both cities’ desires to grow had turned into a land grab, which led to the tension and lawsuits. He said smart, planned growth can help keep the problems from returning.
“Any city wants to grow, but you have to grow in the right way and you can’t bring animosity,” said Egeland, who described his relationships with other leaders as “good with anyone.”
He said “the landscape is different” now and the current leadership realizes that everyone needs to get along.
“What’s good for Ringgold is good for Fort Oglethorpe,” he said. “You have to have harmony between the cities and the county.”
Silcox, 70, said the relationship “has really gotten a lot better than it was,” and personalities have made the difference.
He said he has built a rapport with other leaders and, even though he doesn’t always agree with them, he has friends on the commission and both city councils.
The relationship with Catoosa County can be particularly tricky, according to Silcox, because county commissioners can make decisions that the city must follow up.
“They may make some policies and the city’s got to do it, but Fort Oglethorpe likes to pilot its own ship and I’m sure Ringgold does, too,” Silcox said.
Lynn Long, 66, said leaders need to realize the relationship between cities and county is a partnership, and he thinks each body has the “friendly personalities” to get along.
“I think all of the hard feelings have faded away,” said Long. “We need friendly faces. We’re too old to fight.”
He credited Cobb with bringing the groups together and touted his own experience on both the commission and council as an important factor in working with the boards.
“I’ve been there and done that, so I know where they’re coming from,” he said.
Burkhart, 63, said “it’s a win-win situation to get along,” but admitted that the cities will inevitably butt heads.
“We’re always competitive in trying to get businesses,” he said. “We’re after the same businesses.”
He said that he has “always been in good relationships” with the current city and county leaders, and said he would work to forge compromises between the boards.
“It’s give and take and that’s what it takes,” he said.