One of the most talked about issues in the mayor's election this year will probably be education. No surprise there, but what's interesting is that it appears the mayor really has very little to do with education in the city of Chattanooga. Take a look at these quotes from some of the candidates' websites.

Dan Johnson puts it bluntly:

OK. Let's all understand the obvious: the city of Chattanooga has no direct responsibility for the operation of the schools within the city limits.

Ron Littlefield takes a softer approach, but says basically the same thing:

It might be said that the City of Chattanooga is no longer in the business of operating a school system

Ann Coulter doesn't inform us of the distinction, but makes it plain how she feels about it:

...she in no way advocates a return to separate city and county schools

All three of the above candidates mention at least one specific education-related goal or promise in their issue statements. Coulter, who volunteers regularly at Battle Academy, "will work tirelessly with the County to achieve the Education Summit goal of having all Hamilton County students reading at grade level by the end of third grade." Littlefield believes that "our local library system can be modeled into a more modern, more readily accessible learning resource." Dan Johnson, though, was the quickest to get my attention with this tidbit:

"As mayor of Chattanooga I will encourage the council to join me in doing the things we can to support our schools. And please don't be misled. ‘Support’ doesn't have to mean 'money'.

I've always loved the thought of living downtown in a big city. A real city, more like New York City, less like Atlanta -- which I've always thought of as a loose collection of suburbs. One of the things I like about Chattanooga is that the leadership here has a vision for a vibrant downtown. Recently the city released the Chattanooga 2025 plan, an ambitious plan for the continued development of the downtown sector, which has been responded to eloquently by local businessman Tim Kelly. Kelly argued that the 2025 plan has a "disdain for automobiles" that, if left unchecked, could end up hurting downtown businesses more than it would help them. His arguments are well-informed, well-reasoned, and a perfect mixture of common sense, realism and idealism.

Unlike some opinion writers, Kelly doesn't underestimate the importance of downtown. Every time there's a big proposal for downtown Chattanooga, there are some naysayers who sound like they'd be happier if the entire region was nothing but strip malls, fast food restaurants, and cookie-cutter subdivisions. What I'd really like to know, as the Mayoral election approaches, is which of the candidates has a balanced vision for downtown as well as the rest of the city. Whether you live downtown, in North Chattanooga, in St. Elmo (as do a lot of Chattabloggers), or in East Brainerd, as I do, we all face issues related to continuing development. How the mayoral candidates approach these issues will have an impact on who earns my vote this year.