by Joe Sullivan
When Knoxville voters imposed term limits on elected city officials, there was also a prevalent belief that it would foster healthy competition for City Council seats. The advantages of incumbency had become so great, the reasoning went, that would-be challengers were deterred from running. Only by limiting incumbents to two four-year terms it followed, however debatably, would the city and its voters get the benefits of having multiple candidates with fresh ideas and diverse viewpoints contesting for council seats and thus invigorating city government.
In 2001, the first year in which term limits came to bear, this proved to be case. A total of 31 candidates contended for the five (out of nine) Council seats on the ballot that year. While some of them were marginal, there was intense competition among worthy candidates for all five of those district seats. Granted, voter turnout was still disappointingly low, but it was higher than it would have been in the absence of competition. And the five winners brought a stronger imprimatur to their posts as a result of having been tested in vigorous campaigns.
Unfortunately, as the June filing deadline for 2003 Council races draws near, there hasn't to date been a similar outpouring of candidates for the four seats on the ballot this year. As was the case two years ago, all four incumbents are term-limited. That includes the three at-large seats presently represented by Nick Pavlis, Jack Sharp and Ed Shouse along with the North Knoxville district seat (District 5) held for the past 20 years by Larry Cox.
As of this writing, meaningful competition has emerged for only one of the three at-large seats (Seat B), and there are only two declared candidates for District 5. Joe Bailey, who narrowly lost a bid for a district seat two years ago, faces no serious opposition for at-large Seat A. And a newcomer to the political arena, Marilyn Roddy, towers above the field in her bid for at-large Seat C.
Why the dearth of candidates, especially at a time when the city is facing its most serious set of challenges in a generation? This year's budget crunch promises to worsen because of pension funding shortfalls in the years ahead. Yet vital commitments to downtown redevelopment are also impending. A property tax increase seems almost inevitable to meet these demands, not to mention others like a restoration of city street paving which mayor Victor Ashe is suspending.
Possibly, and perversely, the severity of the situation could be one of the deterrents to more candidates stepping forward at this time. But woe unto a city that doesn't have civic-minded citizens who are prepared to face its challenges.
Another possible deterrent is the rigors of running for an at-large seat, which require both more time and money than a district race. That's because both the primary in September and the general election in November are contested on a citywide basis, whereas district primaries only require mailings, appearances, organizational efforts, etc., within a given district. A flaw in the city's election code requires the top two finishers in an at large primary to run again in the general even if one of them gets an outright majority—or for that matter 95 percent—of the votes cast in the primary. This provision of the City Charter should be changed to place it on the same footing as mayoral elections, where an outright majority in the primary spells victory.
The biggest factor contributing to the dearth of candidates, though, would appear to be that Bailey and Roddy have established an aura of invincibility. Bailey has been working hard, almost since the day he lost two years ago, to build a strong base of support for this year's run. Roddy, who's been a civic activist, has been working hard as well. Both of them make attractive candidates with well-honed messages and lots of money behind them. Just scan mayoral candidate Bill Haslam's lengthy contributor list to get a sense of where it's coming from.
It's certainly no criticism of Bailey or Roddy if they turn out to preempt the field. Indeed, both of them profess to lament the lack of competition, and Bailey goes further to lament "lack of interest by more candidates, but also the low level of interest on the public's part."
All of this could change as election day draws nearer, but it must change by the June 19 filing deadline for more candidates to get into the fray. One who might have is Larry Cox who, while term-limited out of his 5th District, had been considering a run for at-large Seat C. On Tuesday, though, Cox announced he wouldn't run this year, while proclaiming that, "like MacArthur said, 'I shall return.'"
The one at-large seat for which the competition promises to be intense is Seat B. A veteran of 28 years on council, Jean Teague, was term-limited out of her district seat two years ago. But now she's eligible to run again, and by all reports she's running hard. As a champion of neighborhood interests over the years, she still commands the allegiance of many homeowner groups. But she figures to get a stiff challenge from Chris Woodhull, who brings an unusual admixture of well-heeled business and more liberal, activist backing to his candidacy. For the past 10 years Woodhull has been executive director of Tribe One, a mentoring organization for troubled inner-city youth that he co-founded with the late Danny Mayfield. In addition to gaining a lot of respect for Tribe One's accomplishments Woodhull has also gained the backing of a lot of church groups—backing that should carry over to his campaign. In addition to being close to Bill Haslam, he's also aligned with such notable anti-establishmentarians as former City Councilwoman Carlene Malone. But Woodhull still has to prove himself as a campaigner.
Another worthy aspirant for Seat B is Norris Dryer, long-time music director for WUOT Radio, who is also a violinist in the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and a member of its board. A downtown resident himself, Dryer is an ardent advocate of downtown redevelopment. But he's got to be rated as a long shot.
The 5th District race is shaping up as a two-person contest between a liberal Democrat, Bob Becker, and a conservative Republican, Tim Wheeler. Yet the two hold each other in high personal esteem, so the race should be a civil one. Becker is best known as a champion of the "living wage," while Wheeler is well known in the district from a prior unsuccessful challenge to Madeline Rogero for a County Commission seat that overlaps it.
There are also a handful of other prospective candidates for at-large seats. But at the risk of sounding too disparaging, they mostly fit the profile of perennial also-rans.
What's needed are more fresh faces with strong qualifications and, hopefully, the next month will bring some out.
March 8, 2003 * Vol. 13, No. 19
© 2003 Metro Pulse
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