As Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly threw out the first pitch for the inaugural game at the new Lookouts stadium, Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp was elsewhere.
Instead of Erlanger Park’s sold out opener, Wamp chose Tuesday to attend a dinner hosted by Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Justin Robertson. The dinner honors the best performing high school seniors in the district, inviting the top 10% of each graduating class to share a meal with Robertson — and this year, Wamp was the keynote speaker.
Wamp, a vocal critic of the public financing deal to build the stadium and develop the area around it, said during an interview Wednesday that he felt it would have been inauthentic of him to attend.
“I thought it would be disingenuous for me to attend the opening in the first place,” Wamp said. “This country lacks people who are in elected office that are honest and consistent.”
Wamp attends Hamilton County school district dinner instead of Lookouts stadium opening
He has been opposed to the stadium’s financing even before he was elected, when it became an issue on the campaign trail. The deal was put into place just before Wamp took office in 2022, when it was put together by then-County Mayor Jim Coppinger and Kelly. The deal has since put Wamp and Kelly at odds with one another.