NOVEMBER 9 POST-ELECTION UPDATE:

604 LaFayette residents voted in the Ward 2 race, and a sizable majority preferred Ben Bradford to Dell Montgomery or Keith Talley. Bradford got 349 votes for 58%, a clear win over Montgomery’s 209 votes, or 35%. Talley, who we said wouldn’t be a factor in this race, received support from only 46 voters.

The Underground endorsed Montgomery in this race, but Bradford contributed some excellent ideas to the election and he’ll hopefully be able to make them happen. Since Ward 2 was a vote to fill the uncompleted term of Norm Hodge, Bradford will be sworn in almost immediately and will be part of the City Council during next Monday night’s regular meeting. That means we’ll soon see how many of those ideas will be implemented, or if the young lawyer simply becomes a clone of his useless predecessor.

In the Ward 3 race, former city judge Chris Hollis, the Underground-endorsed candidate, collected 218 of the 618 votes cast, for 35%. That put him well ahead of former councilwoman Judy Meeks, who got support from 178 voters (29%). Stacey Suttle was right behind Meeks with 174. Jerry Rogers, another candidate we said wasn’t making an impact, was chosen by 48 voters.

Since none of the Ward 3 candidates got the legally required 50%-plus-one, the top two finishers will go head to head in a runoff election scheduled for December 6th. Hopefully Hollis will retain his lead over Meeks, but Stacey Suttle voters may circle around Meeks because she’s about as bad an idea as their preferred candidate was. Hollis and Meeks have a starkly different approach to almost every issue, and their December face-off will be the most significant vote this year.

In the five-way Ward 4 race, our endorsed candidate Kevin Robinson surprisingly came in fourth place with only 86 votes. Joe DeBoard was fifth with 47 votes, which makes one wonder if it was the same people who supported Talley and Rogers. In third place, performing slightly better than we anticipated, was former councilman Melvin Bridges, with 121 or 141 votes (23%), depending on which news source you prefer.

News media is also unsure about the top finisher in Ward 4. According to the Catoosa County Messenger, Chris Davis came in second place with 172 votes and Donnie McGaha came out on top with 173. Channel 9 in Chattanooga credits Davis with a winning 177 votes to McGaha’s 173. That’s only a five-vote difference, but it changes the outcome – both outlets need to recheck their numbers and make sure their reports are accurate. Variations between reports on the votes for Bridges and Davis swing the vote count from 599 to 624, which is a significant percentage.

(According to a poll worker, the county’s unofficial count gave Bridges 121 and Davis 172, with one outstanding provisional ballot cast by someone whose eligibility to vote is questionable. If the provisional ballot is deemed valid there will be one additional vote in each race, but it may not go to Davis. If it does he will be exactly tied with McGaha.)

Regardless of which man came out on top, both got 28% of the vote and will have to face each other again on December 6th. Kevin Robinson received the Underground endorsement for this race originally, but Davis was noted as being a close second and has our endorsement for the runoff. McGaha seems to be OK on the surface (a man with goats inside city limits can’t be too bad) but he’s harder to evaluate because he refused to respond to our e-mail interview questions. Either man will probably serve the city well, and the one who doesn’t win will probably run for mayor in 2013, which Robinson has hinted he will also do.

The Underground previously reported that voters who didn’t participate in yesterday’s election would be ineligible to vote in the runoff. That was in error. In LaFayette, at least, there are no restrictions on that type for runoffs. So even if you couldn’t make it to the polls on November 8th, you still have a chance to influence the outcome of the Ward 3 and Ward 4 races. This is far from done.

ORIGINAL NOVEMBER 7 POST:

This Tuesday is decision day, election day – the moment of truth where we learn if LaFayette’s residents are tired of the way things are, or happy to continue swirling down the drain. A total of four City Council seats are up for a vote, but only three are competitive races with multiple candidates. Several of the candidates represent the ways of the past, the old guard and old ways of thinking, while several are relatively unknown, and a select group represent the future.

The Queen City has suffered enough abuse at the hands of crooked leaders who put their own interests and their own hobbies ahead of the needs of regular citizens. We need new blood that will stand and demand transparent city government that asks permission from voters before making decisions, who will refuse to support corrupt appointees like Richie White and Johnnie Arnold, who will say “no” to ridiculous wastes of money like the $900,000 softball fields – and who will put a muzzle on our dangerous, hateful, 21-year-incumbent mayor who thinks it’s wise to make threats against the Chattanooga newspaper.

CITY COUNCIL WARD 2

In the Ward 2 race pitting Ben Bradford, Dell Montgomery, and Keith Talley against each other, the Underground endorses Dell Montgomery. He has business experience and understands the needs of real people. Talley’s campaign hasn’t been much of an impact on the race, and he’s relatively unknown. Ben Bradford is well educated and has a vision, but he supports some of the wasteful projects we’ve railed against here, and hides non-answers to questions in chapter-length comments that go around in circles. He’d make a good politician – but a politician isn’t what we need to change the city’s current direction.

Our informal Facebook poll, which in no way represents a significant portion of the city’s voters, shows Bradford and Mongomery neck to neck. That’s probably the way voting will turn out, but we’re hoping this one won’t require a December runoff. Whoever wins the Ward 2 vote will be on the council immediately since they’re running to complete the unfinished term of Norm Hodge.

Ward 2 Facebook Poll

Ward 2 Q&A Interview

CITY COUNCIL WARD 3

Ward 3 features two candidates previously elected to city positions: ex-councilwoman Judy Meeks and ex-judge Chris Hollis. Meeks and Hollis are up against newcomers Jerry Rogers and Stacey Suttle.

Meeks served on the council before, a single term, and did nothing for the city except change policies to benefit one of her two city-employee sons. Her campaign represents the worst of LaFayette’s past politics, a return to what we need to be rid of. A vote for her is a vote for the current leadership, which she regards as “the kind of guys who are up front” even though they’re anything but.

Rogers is an OK guy but he’s out of touch and isn’t offering any new ideas. Some of Suttle’s campaign tactics have been questionable, his placement of campaign signs on public property all over town shows a disregard and disrespect for the city and the law, and he too has added no new ideas to the campaign.

Of the 12 total candidates, Chris Hollis has shown the most willingness to go toe-to-toe with current leaders and challenge them to do the right thing. He has ideas, a vision, and a real desire to move the city forward – and that’s why he gets the Underground endorsement for Ward 3. Facebook poll participants seem to feel the same way, picking Hollis over Meeks and Suttle more than 4 to 1.

Ward 3 Facebook Poll

Ward 3 Q&A Interview

CITY COUNCIL WARD 4

A former councilor is also running for Ward 4. Melvin Bridges served twelve years on the LaFayette council, on top of one term as mayor of defunct Linwood and dozens of years working for the fire department. He has experience, but his experience is stuck in the past. Like Rogers, he’s a nice enough guy – but he’s not in touch with the city’s needs of 2011. If we want to revisit the 1980’s and run city government the way it was run thirty years ago, Bridges might be our man – but if we want to move forward, he’s not.

The other candidates in Ward 4 are Chris Davis, Kevin Robinson, Daniel DeBoard, and Donnie McGaha. McGaha is a bit of an unknown, and DeBoard supports too many projects LaFayette has no business being part of. Davis or Robinson would both be an acceptable councilor, but our endorsement goes to Robinson because he seems to be the better of the two. Dividing votes among too many people (five total candidates in the Ward 4 race, a guaranteed runoff) could lead to weaker candidates few people support getting a majority of the votes.

Ward 4 Facebook Poll

Ward 4 Q&A Interview

VOTING

Voting will be held at LaFayette City Hall on Duke Street. Voters can vote for candidates for EVERY ward, not just the one where they live. Voters who don’t participate in the regular election will not be eligible to vote in any likely runoffs.

In 2009 city elections had fewer than 1,000 total voters, and most candidates won by less than a hundred votes. This year, with the addition of electronic voting machines, voters can be sure their voice is being heard, that their vote will count. A few dozen people can greatly change the outcome in any of these races, so please turn out this Tuesday and vote IF you know who and what you’re voting for. If you aren’t educated on the candidates or their issues, don’t vote at all. If you’re only familiar with candidates for one race, don’t vote in the others – but using the resources here, you should be able to make an informed decision and vote to send LaFayette into a better direction for the future.

Past or future – it’s up to you.