Mayor Calls For Unity

   Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield called for unity after the recall movement lost in court. Past mayors and politicians, who disagreed with Littlefield in the past, stood behind him at a news conference in the lobby of City Hall.

  Mayor Littlefield says the recall effort was trying and a distraction. He extended an olive branch to those opposing him and says the city must move forward. As Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey approached the podium to speak, Mayor Littlefield said, "We're talking about unity here. We're having a real Kumbaya meeting here."

   Mayor Littlefield several times mentioned "unity." He says the recall effort shouldn't slow Chattanooga's momentum. "As a group, we have an unprecedented opportunity. Chattanooga has never been better positioned than it is right now," Littlefield said.

   County Mayor Ramsey said he and Littlefield have disagreed in the past, but doesn't want to see Chattanooga's opportunity "squandered." Ramsey added, "We will always have disagreements, there is nothing wrong with that. How we deal with those disagreements is pretty significant."

    Councilwoman Deborah Scott voted against the Mayor's property tax increase, which was the crux behind the recall movement. Scott sees how thousands of people feel the democratic process let them down. "I think the obligation is great for the city of Chattanooga to make sure that it gets its charter revised where it actually represents something that is not in conflict with the state," Scott said.

 Former mayor Jon Kinsey said this recall happened for the wrong reason. Kinsey says general elections, not recalls, should settle policy differences. "If we always have to, because there's a disagreement about a policy, have an other election then that's not America. That's not how we've been built."

   Congressman Zach Wamp added recall movements apply to unethical actions, fraud or corruption, not taxation which was voted on. "You know the mayor of Knoxville raised taxes by about the same amount and he's going to be the governor of Tennessee," the crowd chuckled and then erupted in laughter when Wamp walked away from the podium, saying nothing else and spinning back into his place in line behind the podium.

    In reflection, the mayor says the recall movement will bring a change in how he governs. "The one thing that I will attempt to do better is to reach out those people that feel like they're not being communicated with and invite them in," Littlefield said.

    Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Edd Wilson says with all the national attention Chattanooga has received, the Chamber would "hate to see anything disrupt that."