Boyd Will Not Seek Re-Election

Hamilton County Commissioner Time Boyd will not seek a fourth term on the commission.

Boyd, who represents District 8 which includes all of East Ridge, made the announcement at Wednesday’s county commission meeting. Boyd said he wanted to focus on family and a new business venture in Dunlap.

Boyd told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that he believed 12 years was enough of his life to give as a public servant. “I’m an elected official and a very bad politician,” he to the TFP. “I call things the way they are. I like transparency. I say the issues, and a lot of people don’t like that.”

Boyd, a Republican, was first elected in 2010 by defeating Hamilton County School Board Representative Kenny Smith. Former East Ridge Mayor Brent Lambert made two attempts to gain the seat and was defeated both times in the primary. In the 2018 primary, Boyd trounced Lambert, who had accused the incumbent of threatening him to drop out of the contest.

Boyd told the TFP that one of his biggest accomplishments was spearheading legislation that requires a 21-day period of discussion before any vote on property tax increases takes place.

As of Wednesday, no candidates filed with the Hamilton County Election Commission to run for what will be a vacant seat.

Hamilton County Commissioner Tim Boyd, left, speaks with Governor Bill Lee during the groundbreaking for the Red Wolves Stadium.

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.