Chattanooga City Councilman Russell Gilbert is a glass-half-full kind of guy, and for that he is unapologetic.
“I want this city to be the best city in the nation,” he said in an interview with the Times Free Press editorial board ahead of his March 7 re-election bid in District 5. “We have more good here than bad. But I want to provide opportunity for everybody.”
For Gilbert, who manages food services for Parkridge Valley Hospital locations, those aren’t platitudes but are the way in which he lives his life, on the council and off.
The representative for District 5, which includes Bonny Oaks, Dalewood, Eastgate, Woodmore and Lake Hills areas, won a special election for his seat in 2008 and ran without opposition in 2009 and 2013. His work ethic – “I don’t say things to be seen; I just try to make sure [the district] receives what they need” – may be one of the reasons why. And although he has opposition this year from Cynthia Stanley-Cash and Jeffery Evans, we endorse him for a third full term.
Gilbert, 56, points to district accomplishments such as infrastructure improvements on Lightfoot Mill Road and Tunnel Boulevard, sidewalks adjacent to schools and a new subdivision going up in the long-dormant Woodmore neighborhood, but he says what’s important is figuring out “what can we do to work together. We need more of that.”