Oak Ridge Today

Tonight: Republican Party candidates forum in Oak Ridge

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Anderson County Republican Party Primary Candidates Forum April 3 2018

The Anderson County Republican Party has a candidates forum in Oak Ridge tonight (Tuesday, April 3).

The forum will feature candidates for these seven Anderson County offices: mayor, sheriff, circuit court clerk, clerk, trustee, register of deeds, and road superintendent. The candidates are running in the May 1 Anderson County Republican Party primary.

The forum will start at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 3, at the Wildcat Den at 102 Robertsville Road in Oak Ridge. The doors will open at 6 p.m. for light refreshments, seating, and mingling with Republican primary candidates, a press release said. [Read more…]

Anderson County Republican Party has candidates forum on Thursday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Anderson County Republican Party Logo

The Anderson County Republican Party will have a Republican Candidates’ Forum in Oak Ridge on Thursday.

The forum is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, September 7, at Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, at 101 Bus Terminal Road in Oak Ridge, a press release said.

“The Anderson County Republican Party has elected primaries to welcome growth and opportunity into the party,” the press release said. “Candidates running as a Republican must adhere to the standards and practices of the Republican Party. The Republican Party is an earned label, not a charitable distribution of the representation that it holds. In addition, the Tennessee Republican Party is not a public entity. It is to be revered and respected. The name, logo, reference and (R) belong to the party. Therefore, the state party is required to list the candidate as an approved ‘bona fide Republican.'” [Read more…]

Candidates: Tax incentives not a ‘silver bullet,’ a ‘last resort’

Posted at
By 10 Comments

Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Warren Gooch

Warren Gooch

Like their counterparts running for Oak Ridge City Council, the two candidates running for Anderson County mayor disagreed on the use of tax incentives to assist commercial developments.

Warren Gooch, an Oak Ridge Democrat, said one type of tax incentive known as tax increment financing, or TIF, is “a tool that can be used to spur retail development.”

It has been used in Oak Ridge to help the developers of Woodland Town Center, a commercial project on South Illinois Avenue that will include an Aubrey’s restaurant and Panera Bread.

[Read more…]

Council candidates differ on tax incentives, high school debt

Posted at
By 6 Comments

Chuck Hope

Chuck Hope

Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

One candidate seemed more willing than the other to use tax incentives to spur commercial development in Oak Ridge, but neither appeared ready to build a senior center.

A difference also emerged between the two Oak Ridge City Council candidates, Chuck Hope and Trina Baughn, on paying off the debt on the $66 million renovation of the city’s high school.

Hope, owner of Chuck’s Car Care Center, called the question over whether higher Anderson County sales tax revenues should be used to help pay that debt the “800-pound gorilla in the room.”

“That’s our biggest divide,” he said. Sales tax revenues in Oak Ridge need to be increased to help solve the problem, Hope said.

[Read more…]

Candidates forum at Clinton Community Center tonight

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge has a forum tonight for Anderson County and Oak Ridge political candidates.

The forum starts at 7 p.m. at the Clinton Community Center. It will feature candidates for Anderson County mayor, property assessor, County Commission District 8, School Board District 3, and Oak Ridge City Council.

[Read more…]