by Joe Sullivan
By all indications, Madeline Rogero remains an underdog in her race for mayor against Bill Haslam. (Two other putative candidates, Steve Hall and Randy Tyree, have yet to declare for sure.) Conventional political wisdom has it that underdogs need to go on the attack, especially when their opponents have got a lot more campaign money, as Haslam does.
So the question becomes what sort of an offensive can be expected from Rogero as the campaign heats up in the months leading up to election day in the fall. Will she attack Haslam personally or for the alleged sins of his family's company, Pilot Corp., of which Haslam was president until he recently took a leave of absence? Worst case, are we looking at a campaign that could degenerate into finger pointing and mud-slinging negativity?
Rogero has already taken a couple of stabs at linking Haslam to what she considers transgressions on the part of Pilot. For one, she brought out at a candidate forum that two Pilot officials (not including Bill Haslam) had written letters supporting the commercial rezoning for a Target store of property on Washington Pike in contravention of a Metropolitan Planning Commission sector plan. Then, she blamed him for Pilot's seeking a larger commission for the sale of lottery tickets—commissions that she mistakenly asserted would come directly out of funds available for college scholarships.
There are other Pilot connections that one can speculate might get thrown into the fray, such as underage beer sales and past opposition to constraints on the size of signs. There could also be demands for Haslam to disclose his income as a way of getting at the wealth issue and whether someone as rich as Haslam is believed to be can relate to the interests of ordinary folks. So what's to be expected?
Spurning conventional wisdom, Rogero rejects a campaign based on attacks or negativity. "That's the old school of politics that the only way you can win is by being nasty and dirty," she says in an interview. "You may win that way, but people will have held their nose when they've gone to the voting booth. It means people thought of you as the lesser of two evils, whereas I want people to think of me as the better of two goods. I'd rather that they say we've got two good candidates, but Madeline would be better."
So Rogero has no plans to make an issue of Haslam's wealth or his own or Pilot's business dealings—at least not in isolation. "When I've got 10 minutes, I'm going to talk about greater participation in decision making. I'm going to talk about economic development and link it to environmental protection and strong neighborhoods and a strong downtown...You've got to stay on your message," she says. But there's a caveat. "If any of these things feed into your message, if they add value to your message, then you use them," and she goes on to say that the negativity she spurns, "shouldn't be confused with aggressive discussion of the issues that brings out differences."
For example, she cites the issue of smart growth and avoidance of sprawl. "A lot of the people who are supporting Haslam are the developers who've built that sprawl. So I think it's a fair to raise how does he see us growing as a community. Does he have any concept about linking growth to the environment?"
Similarly she links his stake in Pilot's gasoline and diesel fuel sales to his position on air pollution and other environmental issues. "Is his commitment to roads and cars and selling gas?" she queries. "Does he really understand the need for mass transportation? How does he deal with the issue of air pollution and traffic congestion. Does he agree that ultimately what we need to do is minimize the use of cars?"
She'll also be revisiting the issue of adherence to sector plans. "When Pilot lobbies for City Council to go against a sector plan, then I think that's an issue. People fought hard to develop a sector plan that had a balance between commercial and residential issues. How does Bill feel about sector plans?"
Haslam, for his part, voices resolve to keep the campaign on the high road, as front runners are wont to do. "I agree with Madeline that what people want is a full discussion of the issues and that people are tired of the personal brick throwing," he says.
As for Rogero's questions about his position on environmental issues, Haslam responds by acknowledging that "we do have a problem with air quality, and we do have a problem with sprawl. And the best way the mayor can impact that is by making it as attractive as possible for people to build in the city and to encourage as much center-city residential and business growth as we can have. When I hear home builders say it's a lot easier to do business outside the city, well, you're just asking for longer commutes and worse air quality and that's something the mayor can directly impact."
He goes on to reject "the whole idea that in the back of Bill's mind he's just trying to further the interests of Pilot. If that's what I was interested in I wouldn't be running for mayor. My primary interest is how are we going to help Knoxville."
The city is fortunate to have two outstanding candidates for mayor and will also benefit from a spirited campaign. While their divergent backgrounds beget divergent points of view, there's also a lot of common ground between them. It's comforting to think that one point of commonality is conducting a campaign that is focused on the issues and free of negativity.
May 15, 2003 * Vol. 13, No. 20
© 2003 Metro Pulse
| 
