Democrats on the Hamilton County Commission objected Wednesday as the commission’s six Republicans appointed a Republican to a school board seat left vacant by a Democrat, with one commissioner saying a “party mess” was getting in the way of children’s lives.
The new school board member, Sherrie Ford, R-Lookout Valley, fills the District 11 seat on the Hamilton County Board of Education, representing parts of Chattanooga including Alton Park, East Lake, Missionary Ridge, St. Elmo, Lookout Valley and Lookout Mountain. Jill Black, a Democrat, resigned the seat at the end of August to move to Canada with her family.
The seat could have gone on the Nov. 3 ballot. Instead, a September vote of the commission, also along party lines, gave commissioners the power to appoint a replacement to serve the rest of Black’s term.
The commission has six Republicans and five Democrats following August elections.
The five Democrats backed Vanessa Jackson, nominated by District 11 Commissioner Montrell Besley, D-Alton Park. Besley said his colleagues should have respected his choice for his own district.