Chip Henderson was one of seven new Chattanooga City Council members elected in 2013.
Four years later, he says he feels “a lot more qualified than I was the first time. I know how to work within the council [and] the administration to get things accomplished within the district.”
We believe that experience gives Henderson, a construction company owner, the edge for re-election in District 1 over his two worthy opponents, auditor Susan Miller and businessman Jay Nevans.
Admittedly, his priorities list is similar to that of many of his colleagues, various council contenders and several mayoral candidates – infrastructure, public safety and workforce development. Some candidates may put them in one order and some in another as to importance, and many will have different ideas as to how to accomplish them, but a variety of issues in the city revolve around those three.
Henderson, for instance, said years “where [the paving budget] never really increased” led to the city doubling the paving budget in the last four years to around $3.5 million per year, including District 1 jobs on Brown’s Ferry Road, Westview Road and Boy Scout Road. A 4-year-old study indicates the city needed to fund paving at $5 million just to maintain conditions annually, he noted.