Healy on Ballot is the Right Decision

Chancellor Peoples has spoken, and Rob Healy is on the ballot.

Chattanooga Mayoral hopeful Rob Healy has been waiting on the courts to decide whether he will be able to run for Mayor in the Spring ‘09 Chattanooga city election. The original issue was whether Mr. Healy met the durational residency qualifications under section 8.27 of the city charter. From the beginning this should not have even been an issue. It was black and white. Based on the Chattanooga City Charter, Rob Healy met the charter qualifications to be Mayor of Chattanooga.

What was the Hamilton County Election Commission thinking? What was city attorney Randy Nelson thinking? What was everyone but Chancellor Howell Peoples thinking? Apparently they weren’t. The entire situation smells of political hooey! Rob had a run-in with Mayor Littlefield back when Mr. Healy was the city Parks and Recreation director. My guess is “they” had it out for him from the beginning.

Here is the exact quote from Section 8.27:

No person shall be elected to the office of mayor unless he or she has been a resident of the city of Chattanooga for at least one year prior to his or her election and unless he or she shall be at least thirty (30) years of age.

Is there anything confusing about that? It doesn’t say that he or she must be a resident for one year prior to qualifying. It says he or she must be a resident one year prior to the election.

It amazes me at how elitism runs rampant in our wonderful city. Congratulations Rob on getting what you should have gotten on September 24. The Hamilton County Election Commissioners should all issue a formal apology to Mr. Healy and the residents of Hamilton County. If not, they should resign and cite “incapacity to fulfill job duties” as their reason. They took an oath of office and have failed to uphold that oath.

It should be noted that I’m not writing this to support Rob Healy’s bid for Mayor, or to personally attack the election commissioners or the Election Commission. Our form of government only works if the people we elect and trust uphold their end of the bargain in a fair and honest manner. Chancellor Peoples’ decision was a victory for every citizen in Hamilton County.