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July 22, 2008
There is more drama on Signal Mountain..
..than can fit inside the MACC, so it has spilled out onto the local news outlets today.
Two-term Hamilton County School Board incumbent Chip Baker, CEO of Friends of the [Riverbend] Festival, faces a challenge by Joe Dumas, a UTC professor and political activist. District 2 encompasses, through the miracle of gerrymandering, three of the wealthiest residential areas around: Lookout Mountain, Signal Mountain, and Riverview. (The mappers threw in Red Bank to make it look legit.) Both candidates hail from Signal Mountain.
Signal Mountain has other contingents besides Chattanooga's nouveau riche, however. Along with a middle-class component, the escarpment has long been home to scrappy leave-me-alone types. And, well, there's your occasional murderer, but this post is not about them.
No, this story starts with an email message sent by Chip Baker supporter and former Signal Mountain Town Councilman Bob Linehart to a bevy of buddies. The message was designed to cast aspersions on Joe Dumas. The "To:" line must have had one too many trusted addresses in it, as the proverbial cat got let out of the bag, and Dumas then contacted local media, accusing Linehart of a smear campaign. Dumas' broadcast didn't fail to mention that Linehart had been among several officials recalled by the citizens of his town.
Linehart fired back with a lengthy missive defending his statements about Dumas, and clarifying some facts related to the recall. For their part, the Bakers apparently told Linehart, in effect, "thank you Mr. Helper Bob. You will please refrain from sending emails on our behalf."
You can follow some of the saga at Chattanoogan.com, where there is also a poll posted so that you can weigh in with your unscientific choice between the two candidates.
TennesseeTicket encourages voters to focus on the merits of each candidate's positions, rather than on personal attacks or counter-attacks. I had hoped not to see an episode like this, but school board elections tend to bring out high emotion.
Hamilton County Elections | By joe lance | 9:32 PM
Comments
Thanks for the fair article on the subject, Joe.
I, too, had hoped this election would be decided solely on the issues - since I believe we hold superior positions on the issues that are important to our schools and our school board. We had been running on the issues since day one.
When we found out that the other side was planning a smear campaign, we decided to force the issue and get it out in the open immediately rather than letting them choose the time and place of the attack.
I hope this unpleasant episode will end here and we can get back to the real issues for the last two weeks of the campaign - but we will vigorously defend ourselves if need be.
Posted by: Joe at July 23, 2008 6:10 AM
Character assassination is par for the course of any election. Dumas is lucky that Bob Linehart did such a poor job making his case.
Posted by: anon at July 23, 2008 11:18 AM
I knew it wasn't going to be a "clean" campaign when Baker's supporters started "cleaning" out our signs early on.
Posted by: mc at July 25, 2008 9:35 PM
After reading the comments about Joe Dumas supporting legalizing drugs, there is only one choice for district 2 and thats Chip Baker. How can anyone with children vote for someone is for drug use? The choice is clear.
Posted by: Godfather at July 26, 2008 7:59 PM
Maybe you should check with Joe directly about his stance on the issues instead of getting your information from a recalled council member. Joe Dumas wants to keep drugs away from our children. And he cares about the kids in the rest of the county, too, not just Signal Mountain.
After reading the comments about Chip Baker wanting the school board to have the authority to tax citizens directly, and after his vote to extend the superintendent's contract more than two years ahead of time, how can anyone with or without children vote for such an arrogant and self-important incumbent? The choice is clear, for positive change in our school system vote for Dr. Joe Dumas.
Posted by: Mountain resident at July 27, 2008 10:10 PM
I'm not endorsing either candidate, but I have a feeling Chip Baker's days are numbered...
Posted by: Kevin at July 27, 2008 10:22 PM
Dumas seems like a good man, but I come from a family that has invested a lot of time, money, and effort into improving UTC's athletic department. Dumas has been one of the most critical opponents that the programs have had to face over the last few years.
I admit, UTC football has struggled, but Dumas has been advocating for removing the program.
This would affect all of the other programs, and perhaps knock us out of the Southern Conference, as it did to ETSU. Our successful sports teams, such as men and women's basketball would decline, and we'd be well on our way back to obscurity were that to happen.
Posted by: T. Oliver at August 5, 2008 6:05 PM