Republican Brad Wardlaw running against Hamilton County Commissioner Chip Baker by Siena Duncan @ TFP
Brad Wardlaw says he's running for a seat on the Hamilton County Commission to bring in a more proactive perspective, rather than a reactive one.
He's challenging incumbent Commissioner Chip Baker, R-Signal Mountain, in the Republican primary on May 5. Wardlaw and Baker are running to represent District 2, which encompasses Signal Mountain and Walden, and stretches as far as Mowbray Mountain.
Some portions of the district are within Chattanooga city limits, but the majority of the area is either made up of small towns or unincorporated.
Wardlaw, 45, was raised in Hamilton County in unincorporated Hixson, near Dallas Bay. He has lived in his home in the Falling Water area for a decade, he said, with his wife and two children, plus a dog and a cat. He manages about a dozen rental homes across the county and does remodeling and renovation work on them when necessary.
His decision to run came a day before the filing deadline, Wardlaw said.
"I feel our county is at a really big impasse as far as leadership and accountability," Wardlaw said. "We have to have people that are willing to step up and challenge them on that. A lot of people want to be involved in politics from the sidelines and say, 'Oh, I hate everything that's going on.' There's very few people who will actually step up and run."
Wardlaw has kept up with politics in the county over the years, especially because his work in real estate is impacted by local taxes and zoning. His primary issue with how the Hamilton County Commission has operated is the way its members often approve developments without asking enough questions, in his view, Wardlaw said.
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Schools and roads across the county are strained by new developments adding people to the area without proper infrastructure already in place, Wardlaw said.
The Signal Mountain area is especially vulnerable to those poor development decisions because of its topography, he said.
"Infrastructure should lead development," Wardlaw said. "You have areas like Mowbray Mountain and Signal Mountain that have two-lane windy roads going up them. Plopping in two to three hundred houses at a time puts a big strain on those roads and the existing citizens on both of those mountains."
Hamilton County needs a thorough plan for getting proper infrastructure set up soon, he said. Plan Hamilton, a set of county guidelines about development in unincorporated areas, was not sufficient enough, he said.
Baker voted in favor of the plan last summer after proposing amendments reducing density in agricultural zones and adding considerations for stormwater and steep slopes.
(READ MORE: Chip Baker to seek third term on Hamilton County Commission)
The County Commission also recently voted in favor of pulling funding from the Regional Planning Agency serving both the county and Chattanooga and redirecting it into a county planning department for unincorporated areas. Wardlaw said he viewed that move as a step in the right direction.
As a whole, he thinks decisions about growth and development are coming after residents begin to experience deterioration in their quality of life, Wardlaw said, rather than coming from a place that's planning for the future. That's what he finds reactive, he said.
"If we don't have infrastructure that is proper, if we don't have a school system that is proper, we're not going to be able to bring in the good type of jobs that we need for our county to help sustain it long term," Wardlaw said. "We will lose out."
If he were elected, he said he'd find ways to reallocate funding for infrastructure projects. There's $11 million in the county's roads fund, but he doesn't see that going very far in terms of how much improvement is needed on county roads, he said. He also would like to find a way to get more money to the volunteer fire departments that operate in unincorporated areas.
(READ MORE: Signal Mountain now responsible for Mountain Arts Community Center)
He'd also push for building a school like Ivy Academy in the Signal Mountain area, he said. Ivy Academy is a charter school in Soddy-Daisy that focuses on classes surrounding environment-related trades. Students can pick pathways focused on horticulture, plumbing or mechanical and electrical engineering, and earn certifications before graduation.
He also thinks there are ways to balance industry and job growth in the county with conservation, he said. He pointed to buildings that will soon become vacant close to Chattanooga's core as the right place to look, saying there would be better infrastructure to support jobs there than in outlying areas with more green space.
His opponent, Baker, has held the seat for two four-year terms, and is now running for a third.
The key difference between how he would approach governing and how Baker is doing so now would be better communication, Wardlaw said. The district is large, and it would be important to him to ensure he's connecting with all of the residents who live there, not just the densely populated areas, he said.
Whoever wins the Republican primary for the seat is set to face Democratic challenger Amanda Sovago-Royal in the county general election Aug. 6.
Contact city and county reporter Siena Duncan at sduncan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.
