The fact that economic development and job growth was the No. 1 concern in each of the nine Chattanooga City Council districts, according to a recent poll, should give mayoral and council candidates their marching orders both for the race and for the next four years.
That doesn’t mean other issues aren’t important, but that having jobs and having the ability to get better jobs trumps all others.
Indeed, economic development and job growth as an entity relates in some way to each of the other categories. For instance, crime and public safety, civil unrest and racial tension, and homelessness, mental illness and addiction – three of the other categories mentioned in the poll conducted by the Hamilton Flourishing organization – all demonstrably improve if unemployment is low and the ability to move up through additional economic development is fluid.
One need only look to 2020 for examples. When the COVID-19 virus forced job layoffs and business closings late last winter, crime, civil unrest and addiction increased across the country.
Homicides increased 50%, 40% and 30% in Chicago, New York City and Los Angeles, respectively.