Oak Ridge Today

Nineteen candidates for Oak Ridge City Council, School Board

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Note: This story was last updated at 2 p.m.

Ten candidates have qualified to run for Oak Ridge City Council in the November 4 municipal election, and there are nine candidates for Oak Ridge Board of Education—a total of 19 candidates.

It’s the largest field of candidates in recent memory, and it’s not immediately clear when, or if, there has been a field as large.

The deadline to qualify as a candidate in this fall’s municipal elections in Anderson County was noon Thursday.

There is a mix of incumbents and newcomers in Oak Ridge, Clinton, Rocky Top (Lake City), Norris, and Oliver Springs.

Oak Ridge

In Oak Ridge, two incumbents, including Mayor Tom Beehan and Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller, are not seeking re-election. Meanwhile, the other two incumbents whose terms expire this November, Anne Garcia Garland and David Mosby, are running for another four-year term.

In addition to Garcia Garland and Mosby, the other Oak Ridge City Council candidates are:

  • Kelly Callison,
  • R.G. “Rick” Chinn,
  • Warren L. Gooch,
  • Gary L. Love,
  • Pedro J. Otaduy,
  • Aditya “Doc” Savara,
  • Ellen D. Smith, and
  • Eric Tobler.

[Read more…]

Thursday deadline to qualify for municipal elections across Anderson County

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Thursday is the deadline to qualify for municipal elections across Anderson County, and so far, there appears to be a mix of incumbents and newcomers in Oak Ridge, Clinton, Rocky Top (Lake City), Norris, and Oliver Springs.

Eleven people, including the four incumbents, have expressed an interest in running for four seats on Oak Ridge City Council in November, and seven candidates have qualified so far.

Meanwhile, three people, including one incumbent, have qualified to run for three seats on the Oak Ridge Board of Education. A total of nine potential candidates, including the three who have qualified, have picked up petitions to run for Oak Ridge school board.

The November 4 election is the last in a series of three elections this year. The deadline to qualify is noon Thursday, August 21. A candidate needs 25 verified signatures on a nomination petition to qualify.

Those who have qualified to run for Oak Ridge City Council are: [Read more…]

Frank, Iwanski, Hope win election in Anderson County, Oak Ridge

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Business owner Terry Frank, a Clinton Republican, has defeated attorney Warren Gooch, an Oak Ridge Democrat, in the race for Anderson County mayor.

Frank received 7,074 votes, or 58 percent, while Gooch collected 5,032, or 42 percent, according to unofficial results Thursday night.

She will serve a two-year term, completing the unexpired term of former mayor Rex Lynch, who resigned in January 2011.

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Frank, Iwanski, Hope lead in early election returns

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Business owner Terry Frank, a Clinton Republican, has an early voting lead over attorney Warren Gooch, an Oak Ridge Democrat, in the race for Anderson County mayor, according to early results posted Thursday evening on the Anderson County Election Commission website.

Results continue to be tabulated, but Frank has been collecting about 56 or 58 percent of the early, absentee, and election day votes, compared to about 42 to 44 percent for Gooch.

Also taking an early lead was City Council candidate Charles J. “Chuck” Hope Jr., who had about 58 percent of the vote around 8:42 p.m., compared to 42 percent for Trina Baughn.

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Anderson County mayoral race could be most expensive ever

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Warren Gooch

Warren Gooch

CLINTON—The two candidates for Anderson County mayor have raised and spent a total of about $175,000 since April, possibly making it the most expensive race ever, county officials said.

And the two candidates, Democrat Warren Gooch and Republican Terry Frank, are running to serve only two years, or half a regular term.

“I think that’s unprecedented,” Anderson County Election Commission Administrator Mark Stephens said Tuesday.

The latest financial disclosures filed by the campaigns last week show that Gooch continues to raise and spend more money than Frank. Gooch raised $19,332 in contributions from July 1 to July 23, roughly double Frank’s $9,685.

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Gooch raises four times as much in campaign contributions as Frank

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Warren Gooch

Warren Gooch

Warren Gooch, the Democratic candidate for Anderson County mayor, raised more than four times as much in campaign contributions as his Republican opponent, Terry Frank, in the three-month reporting period that ended June 30.

Gooch, an Oak Ridge attorney, reported total contributions of $64,680, while Frank, a Clinton business owner, reported $15,193.

If a $6,479 loan from Frank to her campaign is included, Frank’s total receipts were $21,672, about one-third of Gooch’s.

Gooch also spent about four times as much as Frank—or $60,147 in total disbursements, compared to $14,070 for Frank, the campaign finance reports said.

In his 77-page report, Gooch reported he received 233 donations of more than $100 each. Those donations are called itemized contributions.

In her 17-page report, Frank reported 31 itemized contributions.

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Letter: Anderson County needs civility, Gooch the model

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To the Editor:

Early voting began last week, and there’s a clear choice on the ballot for Anderson County mayor—one candidate who is open to input and reasonable discourse on issues, and another whose opening line in a recent opinion column was, “If I hear the word civility one more time, I’ll puke” (Terry Frank, Knoxville Journal, Jan. 28, 2011).

I would hate for anyone to be sick on the courthouse floor, as Anderson County is home to a very diverse group of people, and civility is something of a necessity to get anything positive accomplished.

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Letter: Gooch the only logical choice for mayor

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To the Editor:

During a 1980 Presidential debate, candidate Ronald Reagan famously said to President Jimmy Carter, “There you go again,” changing that election completely.

That’s exactly how I felt when I read Alex Moseley’s letter to the editor. Alex, there you go again, trying to turn an important local election here in Anderson County into some great referendum on the liberal/conservative divide.

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

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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…]

Moseley, Gooch duel over partisan politics

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Warren Gooch

Warren Gooch

Alex Moseley, chairman of the Anderson County Republican Party, suggests the Democratic candidate for county mayor is a liberal politician.

But the candidate, Warren Gooch, says Moseley is trying to confuse voters.

[Read more…]

Letter: One logical choice for Anderson County mayor

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To the Editor:

I have learned that a little research on candidates can help us avoid a great deal of frustration later.

Terry Frank is indeed the only logical choice for the position. Mrs. Frank is the only one on the ballot who has stood by conservative principles throughout her public career. She has operated a family business in Anderson County for many years. Terry even went to Washington and testified before Congress on behalf of our area’s small business owners.

[Read more…]

Gooch opens mayoral campaign headquarters Thursday

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Warren Gooch

Gooch

Warren Gooch, who is running for Anderson County Mayor, opens his campaign headquarters on Thursday. The public has been invited to a reception from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at 25 East Tennessee Ave.

Gooch, an attorney and business leader, is seeking the County Mayor’s office in a special election for a two-year term on August 2. Early voting in the special election begins July 13 and continues through July 28.

[Read more…]