Election and Referendum Victories in Oak Ridge!

Written by: Mark Naccarato on Jun 8, 2007 8:44 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Democracy for Tennessee

Democracy For East Tennessee beat back the special interests trying to spend public dollars on the wealthy and helped elect a new progressive voice to the City Council... Ellen Smith!

Ellen is the newest member of the Oak Ridge City Council and she ran for office saying, "Oak Ridge can thrive if we maintain and enhance (our) assets. I believe that many Oak Ridgers share this perspective, and I think we deserve more of a voice in city affairs. I want to help provide that voice on City Council.”

It's a message that resonated with Oak Ridge residents who gave Ellen the second highest vote count out of seven candidates.

Ellen's voice, with grassroots support from DFET, battled a proposed shopping development that would have been supported with tax dollars. Said Ellen, "This is the wrong proposal for Oak Ridge. We need more retail and more tax revenue, but I think Oak Ridge can and should do better than this proposal. The finances of this deal are not in the public’s interest (the city would spend $800 per household in the hope of increasing sales tax by an amount equal to the revenue from raising property tax by $20 on a $100,000 home). By relocating the center of retail activity to the Pine Ridge site, Crestpointe would doom our efforts to revitalize the city center while harming existing retail businesses."

The win for Ellen and against special interests took a lot of work and know-how from DFET members.

"We did some serious manipulating of Excel databases to get our calling and canvassing done smartly," said Joan Nelson, a DFET member.  "Also, grassroots defeated big money and we defeated the bond issue.  There is a behind-the-scenes power structure in Oak Ridge and I think we may be putting a crack in their fortress."

The DFET team has demonstrated once again the power of people-powered politics.

Thanks to Ellen for running, for all the people who helped her win, and to the voters who voted for a better Oak Ridge!

To read more about Ellen's victory and other Oak Ridge election results, read the feature at the Oak Ridge Observer (subscription required).

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Location: Oak Ridge, TN