VOTING DISTRICTS, POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS, RESIDENCY RULES — ALL UP IN THE AIR

CHATTANOOGA’S SECRET REDISTRICTING

Chattanooga’s redistricting committee let this city down. Holding meetings — procedural or not —to redraw new political boundaries using 2020 census data and doing so behind closed doors with no public notice or access is at best a bad look and at worst a possible violation of the open meetings law.

What’s worse, the council’s redistricting chair, Carol Berz, certainly should have known better.

On Friday, Berz, of Brainerd Hills, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press of the process and meetings, “When I tell you this is the most kosher thing that’s ever happened, it is.”

She said council members did not communicate with each other about their districts.

Say what? Then how did they move lines to accommodate shifting populations and other concerns that impact what streets and neighborhoods are in what city voting district? Did it all just happen by osmosis? Did a fairy wave a magic wand over the maps? Did someone just spill coffee on the pages?

Last fall, after several Hamilton County commissioners blew their tops over county redistricting via email to the commission chairman, those meetings became open and public. Hamilton County commissioners spent at least five acrimonious meetings to expand county voting districts from nine to 11. There was much gnashing of teeth and more than a few accusations of favoritism and horsetrading, but the public got to see it all.

It’s a sad day indeed when the Hamilton County Commission can out-public the Chattanooga City Council.

The council on Tuesday evening held a public input session — but only after receiving a March 14 letter from the Hamilton County Voters Coalition questioning the closed meetings. The council is scheduled to vote on the proposed new nine-district map next Tuesday.

You can see the proposed new map here: bit.ly/ChattaRedistrict. If you don’t like what you see, say so.

CONGRATS TO JUDGE GREENHOLTZ

Get ready for another round of the musical-chairs among Hamilton County officials. And, yes, we’re talking beyond the upcoming May county primary elections.

The newest round was set up this week by Criminal Court Judge Tom Greenholtz’s appointment by Gov. Bill Lee to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals for the Eastern Division.

Greenholtz, of Ooltewah, was appointed to serve as our Division 2 criminal court judge here in September 2015 by former Gov. Bill Haslam. Greenholtz filled the vacancy left some months before by the retirement of Judge Rebecca Stern. (And, no, that retirement didn’t work out: Stern, a Republican, now is seeking election again as a criminal court judge for Division 3. She has opposition from two other Republicans: Boyd Patterson and Amanda Dunn. Watch this space.)

Appointments are in the water here of late. Even today, the Hamilton County Commission is expected to name an interim replacement for former Tennessee Rep. Robin Smith, who resigned recently one day before she pleaded guilty to federal charges in an alleged kickbacks scheme at the state Capitol. Commissioner Greg Martin, who also is on the May Republican primary ballot unopposed to retain his commission seat, is hoping he’ll be Smith’s replacement at least until November. If he gets the nod to be interim state rep, there will be yet another appointment in store and made by the commission.

Of course in the meantime, the governor will be looking around to appoint a replacement for Greenholtz to complete the panel of judges at the Hamilton County Courthouse.

Congratulations, Judge Greenholtz.

SHE’S NOT FROM AROUND HERE

You have to wonder about Tennessee lawmakers and their residency bills of late.

First, they passed a bill last month and sent it this week to Gov. Bill Lee enabling Tennessee first responders to live anywhere they want statewide. The bill was aimed at cities and counties that required their police and firefighters to live in the locales they serve. Specifically it was a slap to Memphis, which requires new hires to live in Shelby County.

No, said our lawmakers and governor. Memphis can’t require that.

But this week, our lawmakers passed a rather draconian residency requirement for Republican and Democratic U.S. House and Senate hopefuls.

Certainly candidates always must live in the communities they represent, but now they must already have lived there for seven years.

As with all things dreamed up by our state lawmakers — it’s a political proposition.

The majority-GOP General Assembly redistricted Rep. Jim Cooper, a Democrat, out of his long-held Nashville seat, basically by carving the 5th District up like a pizza to introduce many more Republican voters. But then GOP hopefuls — and not just the Nashville favorites — came running out of the woodwork from everywhere to seek a spot in Congress.

One of those hopefuls was Morgan Ortagus, a recent transplant to Tennessee who served as a State Department spokesperson in the Trump administration and is endorsed by him.

Whoops! She’s a carpetbagger who hasn’t been here long enough, was the reasoning in Nashville. This bill nudges her out of a crowded candidate field.