Mayor Stays In City Hall

     A decision has been reached in a divisive battle over Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield's fate. Circuit Court Judge Jeff Hollingsworth ruled the recall will not happen. Judge Hollingsworth says "state statute controls every aspect."

     Mayor Littlefield left with hopes of mending fences, while the three recall groups were extremely disappointed and felt misled by the advice given to them by the Hamilton County Election Commission.

     The Citizens To Recall Ron Littlefield, Chattanooga tea party, and Chattanooga Organized For Action followed the City Charter. It required 8,957 signatures. The groups gathered 9,903 valid signatures, leaving them 4,951 signatures short of the state required amount of 14,854.

   Mayor Littlefield called the effort "relentless" and one that wore him down. At the end of the hearing, a visibly relieved  Littlefield said, "I'm glad that it's done." He referred to it "as the toughest campaigns" he's ever had to go through. The mayor said he went through waves of doubt, but "I got little assurances all along, just little messages from God that said it's going to be okay."

   Those behind the effort say they lost on a technicality and 15,000 petition signers (total collected but not all validated) were in effect ignored. Chattanooga tea party president Mark West said, "The more this continues to occur, the more the people are going to feel disenfranchised and something is not right at City Hall." Jim Fokner, organizer of Citizens To Recall Ron Littlefield, added "It's the kind of thing that makes people not vote." Tea party member Charlie Wysong said the legl hair splitting will not sit well with petition signers, "I think they feel the frustration that we're almost in a carnival shell game with our rights."

    Judge Hollingsworth ruled the 5,400 undated signatures also didn't count. Chattanooga's Tea Party president says the Election Commission and its attorney steered them in the wrong direction. Specifically, in how many signatures they needed, and how to format the petitions.

   West said, "This whole thing pivoted on bad advice by people that were put into power, in a position of leadership that should be giving proper, legal, valid advice." The mayor says he spent his own money, not taxpayer money, to defend himself. "Suffice it to say it was a very expensive undertaking and it was not just expensive for me personally, it was expensive for the whole community because our attention was diverted from things that we needed to be doing," Littlefield said.

   Folkner said the legal loss won't derail the grassroots movement, "I think the people of Chattanooga want Mr. Littlefield to be recalled, they want him to leave. I think this is a roadblock on the way to prosperity for our city."

   West and Chris Brooks of Chattanooga Organized for Action both questioned the democratic process. West said, "And nothing that happened in this courtroom today is going to change the feelings they have and the reality that they're sensing that their taxes have gone up in a very difficult time."

   The recall groups say their efforts aren't dead. Mayor Littlefield says if he had to do it again; he would still raise property taxes because it "had to be done."

Judge Hollingsworth also issued an injunction. It stops the Election Commission from certifying the collected signatures.