Max Lowe is Soddy-Daisy's newest commissioner.
Curtis Jones now represents Lakesite on its Board of Commissioners.Changes at the county level
Hamilton County’s District 3, which comprises the Hixson area, favored its School Board representative and Republican candidate Greg Martin for a seat on the County Commission. Martin bested independent candidate and Y-Cap founder Joe Smith for the position, at a vote of 10,310 to 6,537.Martin will serve the last two years of a term won by Marty Haynes in 2014. Haynes vacated the seat in September after his election as the county’s assessor of property.Martin, who still has two years left on the school board, will leave the post open to appointment by the County Commission, to which he will be sworn in at the first meeting after the Hamilton County Election Commission certifies the election results, which must occur by Nov. 28.
Ban the box
Chattanooga city residents last week got the chance to vote on an amendment to the city charter to “ban the box,” changing the charter requirement that applicants for city jobs must be registered or eligible to vote in Tennessee.Generally, anyone with a felony criminal record cannot register to vote. The move is aimed at helping ex-felons become employable and self-supporting.The referendum saw 40,668 votes cast for the amendment and 13,990 against.Chattanooga voters also approved an amendment to remove the City Council management analyst position from the city charter, with 41,224 ballots in favor and 12,309 against.
Several changes will be taking effect in North Hamilton County before the end of the year, due to the results of last week's elections.
Residents of the city of Soddy-Daisy and unincorporated areas of Hamilton County will soon be able to pick up a bottle of wine with their groceries, as voters in referendums in both areas passed a measure allowing the sale of wine in retail food stores. Soddy-Daisy residents voted 3,549 to 1,208 in favor of the measure, and unincorporated residents of the county voted 38,493 to 10,977.
Before the measure can be implemented and customers actually see wine hit store shelves in Soddy-Daisy, City Manager Janice Cagle said the city must pass an ordinance allowing the sale of wine in retail stores. The process of passing the ordinance could be complete by the end of the year, she said.
The city of Soddy-Daisy, as well as unincorporated areas of Hamilton County, have potentially been losing tax dollars to cities such as Chattanooga and Lakesite, which began allowing the sale of wine in grocery stores in July.
Several North Hamilton County boards of commissioners will feature fresh faces in December. Max Lowe, a lifelong resident of Soddy-Daisy and a volunteer firefighter in the city for 45 years, will soon join longtime commissioners Geno Shipley and Jim Adams, who were both re-elected for another term, on Soddy-Daisy's board.
Shipley garnered 3,364 votes; Adams, 2,850; Lowe, 2,317; former vice mayor Patti Skates, 2,135; and newcomer William H. (Bill) Layne, 1,351.
Lifelong Red Bank resident Carol Rose prevailed in the city's District 2, garnering 2,036 votes to Red Bank Planning Commissioner Bill Cannon's 1,012 and engineer Paul Thompson's 744. Vice Mayor Eddie Pierce ran unopposed for commissioner-at-large.
In Lakesite, where three seats were up for re-election, voters ousted incumbent John McPherson in favor of newcomer Curtis Jones, a retired TVA mechanic. Retaining his seat is David Howell, who captured the most votes at 626, followed by Jones with 620, incumbent Bill Neighbors with 516 and McPherson with 471.
Email Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com.