As the Homebuilders Association of Greater Chattanooga and citizens of unincorporated Hamilton County continue to spar over the comprehensive plan for the area, some county residents have raised concerns over campaign contributions from the housing industry to county commissioners and how those funds could sway their votes.
“After all, if you made that kind of investment, it seems you would kind of feel obligated if they came to you and said, ‘Hey buddy old pal old friend, can you help me out with this?'” Paul Newbourne, a resident of unincorporated Walden’s Ridge, said by phone.
Forty-four percent of county commissioners’ campaign contributions came from donors connected to the housing industry, according to a review by the Chattanooga Times Free Press. That includes builders, developers, architects, real estate agents, property managers, building material suppliers, real estate investors and associations and political action committees related to the industry.
(READ MORE: Plan Hamilton: Home builders say they’ve compromised on changes)
“I find that to be disturbing,” Ooltewah resident Gary Boles said, “and if you look at the way they vote, some of them almost always vote for building, unless it’s in their district, and then they play the NIMBY (not in my backyard) card.”