Peter Murphy for Chattanooga

From the March 28, 2009 edition of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Tennessee: Political committee endorses Murphy
By: Cliff Hightower

The Southeast Tennessee Political Action Committee said Friday it was endorsing District 9 City Council candidate Peter Murphy in the April 14 runoff election.

The committee made its decision after Mr. Murphy and his opponent, J.T. McDaniel, talked to members at the Table 2 restaurant in downtown Chattanooga.

Both candidates focused on crime and job growth as key issues for the district.

Mr. McDaniel said one area of job growth could be building a distribution center along Amnicola Highway that would utilize both the river and railways that run through the area.

“Chattanooga’s wide open to job growth besides auto manufacturing,” Mr. McDaniel said.

He said he wanted to see the council take on youth initiatives and issues for senior citizens. He also promised to be accountable.

“I plan to hold meetings with my constituents,” he said.

In turn, Mr. Murphy concentrated on how crime needs to be addressed and said he wanted to see more police officers involved within local communities.

He said he could see mentorships with students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga as beneficial for Chattanooga youth and helping to decrease gang violence.

He said he also has a vision of seeing Civil War sites in the district revitalized so more tourists would come, specifically mentioning Orchard Knob and the Sherman Reservation at Glass Street.

“What would Glass Street look like with 350,000 visitors a year?” Mr. Murphy asked. “A lot different than it does now.”

From the February 25, 2009 edition of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

In District 9, Peter Murphy

With Deborah Gaines’ decision not to run again, the open City Council seat in District 9 has generated wide interest, several good candidates, and one particularly outstanding candidate: Peter Murphy. We strongly recommend his election.

We are well aware that District 9, in the city’s racial and political geometry, is typically considered to be a black district. Indeed, the other four candidates in the race are black, and three of them — Jackie Thomas, Quenston Coleman and Thomas Mott — are experienced and worthy neighborhood advocates.

Still, we recommend Mr. Murphy, who is white, because of his uniquely incisive and broad view of the district’s overall needs, and because of his uncommon energy and vision both for District 9 and the city at large.

Mr. Murphy brings an impressive mix of civic, neighborhood and professional credentials to this election. As an attorney, a small-business owner and a member of the county’s Industrial Development Board, he’s grounded in the nitty-gritty of economic development. As the legal advisor and treasurer of the Missionary Ridge Neighborhood Association, he’s also rooted in neighborhood issues. He works for kids and greenspaces, serving the YMCA in several capacities, and as a member of Friends of the Park.

In addition, Mr. Murphy, a practicing attorney, serves the Chattanooga Bar Association as an arbitrator on fee disputes. He also did a stint with the Congressional Economic Leadership Institute in Washington, working with corporate, union and advocacy groups on economic development and competitiveness issues.

The result of his varied experiences is evident in his uniquely insightful views of what District 9 and the city needs.

He is quick to emphasize that District 9 has a “severe” crime problem, worse in some areas and categories than Detroit and New York. He wants to focus attention to the crime problem, and get the police department to admit and seriously address the problem of gangs. He laments the city’s way “of not talking about” such issues and, as a result, letting them slide while citizens suffer the consequences.

Mr. Murphy sees a district without recreation facilities, but with a closed, long-neglected, 50-acre park — Montague Park, on 23rd Street, the biggest urban park in the city. He wants to rehabilitate it. Built over an old dump, it needs a clay cap and a thick layer of good dirt, which could have been provided years ago. In the interim, he points out, Mayor Littlefield has poured $16 million into a new softball complex on the outskirts of the city in the Apison area.

Mr. Murphy also believes the City Council has been excessively passive, rubber-stamping the mayor’s agenda without much scrutiny, while the city’s administration and budget, which he has studied, remain insufficiently transparent. He, correctly, can’t understand why and how the City Council has ignored its charter responsibilities to control the city auditor’s office.

He wants to help change the council’s approach to oversight of the administration and strategic planning. He clearly asserts the city’s need to create a broad strategic vision to chart the city’s future path, particularly with the need for regional planning to coordinate the wave of development expected with the arrival of the Volkswagen plant.

Mr. Murphy’s concerns and prospective projects run the gamut — from the need to rehabilitate unused housing, to city’s dysfunctional 311 call center, to the interminable and unproductive controversy over the homeless issue and the Farmers’ Market site. He believes the homeless need help, but not a building there.

Mr. Murphy has a more constructive agenda, and more deeply incisive views, than virtually any candidate in any race in this round of city elections. He would be an excellent representative for District 9, and a valuable addition to the City Council. We strongly urge his election.