City Council candidates write their names on a piece of paper before placing them in a hat during the “tent lottery” at City Hall on Tuesday.
All the candidates for City Council gathered at City Hall at high noon on Tuesday for a lottery that would determine where they may place campaign tents on Election Day on the lawn of City Hall.
And the candidate who got first pick of the 12 designated spots was former City Councilman Jim Bethune. Bethune, who ran unsuccessfully for Mayor in 2014, chose the Northeast corner of Tombras Avenue and David Mays Boulevard, the road heading into the voting precinct at the Community Center.
“I’m very pleased with this,” Bethune said after the 10-minute session of drawing names from a box. “I’m glad the City Manager attended. I wanted him to run it. It couldn’t have been more fair.”
Bethune’s 12 by 12 piece of property is not where he pitched his tent in past years, he said. It’s on the opposite corner and closer to Tombras Avenue.
This first-ever tent lottery came about from a suggestion by Vice Mayor Marc Gravitt – who is not seeking re-election to city office, but is running for his second term as State Representative for District 30. During the process of the Council amending the city’s political sign ordinance, discussion turned toward candidates placing tents earlier and earlier before election day. Allegations had been made that in 2014 a disagreement between two parties (depending on which version a candidate and a candidate’s father, or two opposing supporters) during a cover-of-darkness tent-pitching episode nearly led to outright physical confrontation.
Gravitt – who picked in the fifth spot – said he was pleased with Tuesday’s lottery.
“It’s an example of the democratic process,” he said after the meeting. “I think it’s a fair and impartial way of where a candidate can place their tent without argument or bickering, which has happened in the past.”
Gravitt also stood in during the lottery for Todd Gardenhire, who is seeking re-election the the State Senate in District 10.
The fact that candidates running for state office were included in the lottery was the only complaint voiced by any of the City Council candidates.
Political newcomer Gregg Shipley said that he didn’t really understand why a tent lottery was needed. He also stated that he was under the impression that candidates had to personally be present to participate in the lottery.
“When we do it next time,” Shipley said, “I think that candidates running for city office should have the first picks. Then other candidates running for state office should follow.”
Robert Stahl, who got the seventh pick, said after the lottery that he believed it was a fair system that “put everyone on an equal playing field.”
He also said that he didn’t subscribe to the idea that tent placement at a polling place has much of an impact on the results of an election.
“I think when people pull in they’ve already decided who they are going to vote for,” Stahl said.
City Recorder Janet Middleton, who ran the lottery, told the candidates that they would be permitted to put up their tents on the lawn 24 hours prior to the election. Initially it was voiced that tents could be erected at 7 a.m. It was then pointed out that the polls are open on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
So, 8 a.m. on Nov. 7 is when the candidates will pitch their tents.
Those seeking election for the two open East Ridge City Council seats and their pick in the lottery in parenthesis are as follows: Jim Bethune (1), Matthew DeGlopper (9), Esther Helton (6), Doris Rogers (4), Gregg Shipley (8), Robert Stahl (7) and Brian Williams (2).
Gardenhire, who is being opposed by Democrat Khristy Wilkinson, got the third choice, while Gravitt, who has opposition from Democrat Katie R Cowley and Independent Patrick Hickey, got the fifth pick in the lottery.
City Council candidates look over their assigned areas to erect their campaign tents, Tuesday in front of City Hall.
