It's easy to complain about taxes, schools, roads and public safety.
After all, most of us pay taxes, not get paid by them. And most of us understand school policy only through the papers our kids bring home for us to sign. Most of us dodge the potholes in roads rather than figure out how to prioritize which ones get fixed first. And we usually don't think about who weighs in on police and sheriff's department work until we have to call 911.
What we often don't realize, however, is that we - voters - are the ultimate bosses in all of those areas.
We hire and fire our local leaders who decide those issues. But only if we vote.
With early voting set to start Wednesday for the May 1 Hamilton County primaries, the Times editorial page today offers endorsements in the primary elections for four county commission seats. On Saturday, we'll endorse in the races for a Circuit Court judge and for the primary contests for register of deeds and county mayor.
In all, 18 county seats are on the ballot, although only 11 are contested either in the Democratic and Republican primaries or in the August general election. The seven other seats are held by incumbents who are unopposed both in their primaries and in the August general election.
Make no mistake: These local elections will most likely have more impact on your day-to-day lives than any state or federal election.
Further, at this local level, party is largely unimportant. District locale may be unimportant, as well. No matter our party colors or our neighborhoods, we're all Hamilton Countians. And on a nine-seat commission, one commissioner's vote won't pass a new resolution or tax plan. It always takes five.
So study up, and go vote.
District 8: Re-elect Tim Boyd to ask more questions
Hamilton County Commissioner Tim BoydTim Boyd is one of the few - perhaps the only - incumbent county commissioner who is consistently inclined to ask important questions about county services and taxpayer money. Best of all, he is not afraid of asking his questions and discussing the answers publicly on the dais of the county commission meeting room.
That's vital to good government so we residents, taxpayers and voters can see and hear how commissioners decide the policies we live by.
Boyd asked questions over the lavish expenditures of the Convention and Visitors Bureau - which has a robust $7.8 million budget (80 percent of it taxpayer funded) - that allowed 25 staffers to use expense accounts to lure an estimated $1 billion in tourism dollars here. Yes, that's a nice return, but other cities do it for less. Huntsville, for example, spends about $2 million to bring back $1 billion. If we could do that, we could redirect $5 million to something else - like education and roads.
Boyd's questions played out with controversy last May and June, as the CVB, along with publicly funded county auditors, stymied Boyd's and the Chattanooga Times Free Press' requests for CVB spending receipts. County officials labeled the receipts and early county audit drafts as "financial working papers," which are protected under state law.
Sadly, most of the remaining county commissioners and the county mayor were OK with that - praising the CVB for the gift horse it is, but turning a blind eye to the gift horse it could be.
But in October, state auditors released some shocking findings: Detailed receipts were not kept for 36 percent of the $378,298 in credit card charges made by CVB from July 2015 through June 2016. There was much more, but you get the point. The CVB is under new management these days.
Boyd, 65, also was the only commissioner to vote against a recent property tax increase, but not because we didn't need one. We did, and he acknowledges that. In fact he had also voted against a county budget before that didn't include a tax increase to fund $24 million in additional needs identified by school district officials. He made his second no vote because - again - it happened with virtually no discussion on the dais, and came out of nowhere. In fact, neither the county mayor nor the commission as a whole would even call it a tax increase. They called it a "tax rate change."
Boyd then asked the county commission to require two separate votes to raise property taxes in the future - rather than a hurried-through vote. But that motion came and went in mere seconds, dying for lack of a second.
Boyd the bulldog didn't let it go, sarcastically noting that County Mayor Jim Coppinger didn't give him a one-on-one briefing about the proposed tax increase as he had the other eight commissioners. The one-on-one meetings allow the commission to skirt the Sunshine Law and pesky public discussions.
Boyd's Republican primary challenger, 41-year-old East Ridge Mayor Brent Lambert, has his own transparency issues. Lambert accepted $5,000 in donations in June 2017, including $3,000 from three developers working on the big Interstate 75 Exit 1 remodel and redevelopment in East Ridge. He used the money to pay off part of a $9,100 debt left over from his 2014 re-election campaign as East Ridge mayor.
Lambert filed a complaint against Boyd, alleging that Boyd had "threatened" him over some campaign contributions. Lambert won't tell the Times Free Press exactly what the threat was. Boyd said Lambert had called him and raised the issue of the contributions. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has been asked to investigate the alleged threat.
"I didn't threaten him. I asked him to withdraw because I felt like what information was going to be disclosed may not be good for him, his family, his political aspirations or the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum [where Lambert is president and CEO]," Boyd said.
No one has ever accused Tim Boyd of being tactful. But frankly a bit of brutal honesty is exactly what our back-room, go-along, get-along county commission needs.
District 5: Katherlyn Geter would be welcome change
Katherlyn Geter is a candidate for the District 5 seat on the Hamilton County Commission.In another hot contest, Katherlyn Geter, a 43-year-old health care advocate, is our choice in her challenge to longtime incumbent Greg Beck, a 70-year-old court security officer. They each want to serve the District 5 communities of Bonny Oaks, East Chattanooga, Eastdale, Eastgate, Glenwood, Kingspoint, Lake Hills, Ridgeside, Summit, Tyner, Dalewood, Woodmore and the airport area.
Geter, a mother of two, was born in Colorado and grew up in Italy in a military family, but she has been here now for 34 years. She gained an appreciation of local politics by watching the federal government as she worked as health care navigator for the Affordable Care Act. She says she chose to run for county commission because "education is important to me," and there are three failing schools in District 5.
She hopes to use her skills at connecting agencies - developed as a health care/social work navigator - to better connect county government to schools and her own district representation back to the community.
"[District residents] are ready for change," she says of the conversations she has with voters as she knocks on doors. "The most consistent message I hear is that they are tired of people being elected and never coming back into the community. The only time they see them is when its time to be re-elected."
Beck counters that he has worked hard for voters - all voters not just those in his district, and he points to Howard - a "universal" school in the county community but not in his district - as an example. He says he has worked successfully to bring a middle school and new stadium plan for Howard.
Beck, however, acknowledged that he didn't know until the new school facilities plan was announced that his district will be the new location of CSLA, or the location of a new school.
Although Beck didn't mention it, Geter doesn't now live in District 5. She lives in District 7, but she says she will abide by state law and immediately move if elected. Her church and her work and her heart are in District 5, she says.
District 4: Give Warren Mackey another term
Hamilton County Commissioner Warren MackeyIncumbent Warren Mackey, a 68-year-old retired Chattanooga State history professor and Democrat, is a stronger choice than 48-year-old Kelvin Scott, a substitute teacher, former six-year election commissioner, former youth coordinator for the Hamilton County Democratic Party and disabled veteran, for the Hamilton County Commission District 4 seat.
Mackey believes the county is "in a good place," but must focus "hard" on job training and strengthening public schools. He also wishes all commissioners would be more "county-minded instead of just [thinking] of our little corner." His corner includes Alton Park, Amnicola, Avondale, Bushtown, East Chattanooga, East Lake, Eastside, Kingspoint, Murray Hills and Ridgedale.
The fly in the ointment for a Mackey vote, however, is a big one - transparency. He's not for it.
"I'm not that guy" who discusses things on the dais, he says. "I'd rather go behind closed doors" and get issues worked out.
If you vote for him, make it clear to him that you want his work and discussions in front of you, not in a back room.
District 1: Re-elect Randy Fairbanks to push transparency
Hamilton County Commission Chairman Randy FairbanksIncumbent County Commissioner Randy Fairbanks, 62, is the clear choice for District 1, which encompasses Soddy-Daisy, Sale Creek, Northwoods, Mowbray, Flat Top Mountain, Falling Water, Dallas and Bakewell.
While challenger and political newcomer Steve Coker, 65, and a Hamilton County telecommunications specialist, wants to ask more questions - a good thing - he doesn't really want to specify what those questions would be about.
Meanwhile, Commission Chairman Fairbanks is not only gaining an increased interest in asking questions, he also is pushing the idea of putting the county's meeting agendas online in a more timely fashion and getting the county meetings live-streamed online so the rest of us can watch the meetings in real time without having to take off from work to attend them at the courthouse.
Game-changer.