Grohn New School Board Representative for District 8

Court Clerk Measure Rejected by Voters

Larry Grohn is the new representative for District 8 on the Hamilton County School Board.

Grohn, a Republican, received 1,776 votes while his Democratic opponent, Katie Perkins, garnered 1,544 votes in the Hamilton County General Election.

Tracy Cox will become the new East Ridge Municipal Court Judge. Cox received 970 votes, while Kevin Wilson, who was appointed to serve when former Judge Cris Helton resigned, garnered 497 votes. Chris Dixon received 279 votes, while Rich Heinsman had 230.

We all worked very hard in this race, and I am grateful to my supporters and volunteers,” Cox said. “The citizens of East Ridge have made their choice. I am honored they have placed their faith and trust in me as the first woman judge to serve the City of East Ridge. I am ready to uphold my duties, carry out my responsibilities, and make this community proud of me.”

The voters of East Ridge overwhelmingly rejected a referendum that would have made the Municipal Court Clerk an appointed position under the direction of the City Manager rather than an elected position. The results were 1,464 against the measure and 603 votes for.

“I would just like to say ‘thank you’ to the citizens of East Ridge and I am honored and humbled to know they stand with and behind me when it comes to the rights of the citizens,” said Patricia Cassidy, the two-term court clerk who will now stand for a third term in November.

The voters approved a referendum that will allow the East Ridge Municipal Judge to hold a judgeship in another municipality. The vote there was 1,513 for the measure, 557 against.

East Ridge Vice-Mayor Mike Chauncey will become the new Hamilton County Commissioner in District 8. He ran unopposed in the general election after besting Tucker McClendon in the Republican Primary this spring.

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.