Authored By chloe.morrison

Editor’s note: This Q&A is one in a series that aims to allow voters to get to know candidates who are running in the March 7 election. Nooga.com sent questionnaires to everyone running for City Council and mayor. We will post responses as we get them.

Incumbent Mayor Andy Berke is up for re-election March 7.

The former state senator was elected in 2013 when he won more than 70 percent of the votes in the mayoral race.

He succeeded Mayor Ron Littlefield, who served two terms.

David Crockett, Councilman Larry Grohn and Chris Long are also running for mayor.

What is the most crucial challenge facing the city, and how do you plan to address it?

Chattanooga is headed in the right direction, and I’m proud of the progress we have made over the last four years. But even when you’re headed in the right direction, there is always more work to do, problems to solve and challenges to overcome.

When I’m out knocking on doors or visiting with residents at a neighborhood meeting, I hear time and again that addressing gun violence is Chattanooga’s No. 1 challenge. We’ve made progress on that front, from hiring an engaged and dynamic police chief and putting a record number of officers on the street to creating a department of officers that spend more time out of their cars and in neighborhoods, building relationships with our community.

There is no doubt these efforts have shown results. Property crime is at an all-time low, and overall violent crime is down 10 percent. Nevertheless, there are still too many illegal guns on our streets and in the hands of those intent on harming others.

Decreasing gun violence will take both short-term tactics, including key investments in technology to help officers respond quicker and more effectively, as well as long-term initiatives.

Over the next four years, we will build upon our foundation of work, addressing the issue in the long term by continuing to invest in early learning to ensure that children ages 0 to 5 are off to the right start and workforce development strategies that help adults acquire skills, get a job with benefits and create their own path to the middle class.

What opportunities do you see in Chattanooga’s near future, and how do you plan to help seize them?

As we see our Innovation District and economy grow over the next four years with new jobs, we must ensure that success is not limited to a select few.

We are working hard to connect more of our city to paths to the middle class and high-income jobs. This means making investments in neighborhoods, while focusing on ways to connect people throughout our city to good-paying jobs with benefits.

We’ve already started many of these efforts-building and preserving over 1,000 new units of affordable housing, investing in new parks like East Lake Park and Bell School Park, new community centers like the new Avondale [Youth and Family Development] Center, doubling our paving budget to pave more roads, and creating a new pedestrian action plan to connect our neighborhood sidewalks. We need to continue investments like these that make every neighborhood a great place to live.

We also know that our economy is booming with over 8,000 new jobs created in the past four years.

We need to focus on workforce development to help connect people to training so that they have access to these good-paying jobs with benefits. We will build upon existing initiatives like Tech Goes Home [Chattanooga] and NetBridge that give adults and young people access to technology, high-speed internet and tech skills.

We will bring job training to people in neighborhoods through a new Office of Workforce Development, and we’ll focus on helping ex-offenders get a second chance so that they can get a good-paying job rather than living a life of crime.

Workforce development and investing in neighborhoods are two key opportunities that will ensure every Chattanoogan has a path toward success.

Crime has surfaced as an important issue in the campaign. What policies would you have the CPD pursue to curb crime, specifically violent crime?

My administration will continue to combat gun violence by adding every tool and resource available to support officers and build upon the foundation we’ve already put in place.

We will put more officers on the street, invest in technology like public safety cameras and maximize our real-time intelligence center to get more illegal firearms out of the hands of violent criminals.

Success also depends on partnerships with the community, including groups like the Citizen Safety Coalition, to activate churches, businesses and community members to find ways to help keep our neighborhoods safe.

Chattanooga’s first responders support this plan, and I have received the endorsement of both police and firefighters for re-election.

Gun violence is a complex issue, and unfortunately, the solution is also complex. Through the strong leadership at CPD and our dedicated police force, we will continue to take a multilayered approach and use every tool available to respond to and prevent violence through education and job training initiatives.

What can city government realistically do to improve education outcomes for all Chattanooga students?

The city is doing more than ever before to improve education outcomes for Chattanooga students.

Through the Chattanooga 2.0 community process, several initiatives have been identified that the city can and should be involved in to help improve education in our area.

Even though public schools are under the jurisdiction of Hamilton County Department of Education, the city has sharpened our focus on early learning as we continue to supplement the work of HCDE teachers when kids are out on break or after the school day ends.

Through initiatives like Baby University (which helps new parents become a better first teacher for their baby) and Head Start to a reading initiative in each of our Youth and Family Development centers throughout the city, we have created the foundation for the future success of our students.

In the next four years, through our newly created Office of Early Learning, we will continue to expand Baby University and roll out new need-based scholarships for families to get their kids in a high-quality early learning experience.

We’ll continue our partnership with the school system to keep children learning in our YFD centers after school and in the summer months.

In addition, we will continue to address digital equity and get more young people ready to enter the workforce through my four-point workforce development plan.

What does transparency in government mean to you, and what actions would you take, if any, to increase transparency in city government?

Transparency in government means citizens have easy, free and open access to information important to their lives and also that they have a voice in the process.

The city of Chattanooga has become more transparent over the last four years by making city government information and data freely and openly available, striving for diverse participation and engagement from our citizens, communicating to citizens the important issues that impact their day-to-day lives, and ensuring we are fiscally responsible by making our budget easy to understand and easily accessible online.

A commitment to open government and accountability has been a guiding principle of my administration.

Over the last four years, I have worked to make our city more ethical and transparent.

Upon taking office, I strengthened the city of Chattanooga’s ethics code to ensure every employee has a clear understanding of ethical expectations as well as consequences, and [I] signed an executive order creating an open data policy to improve transparency of government functions and provide more access to public information through an open data portal.

Our budgeting process is also more transparent. We have put into place budgeting for outcomes, which promotes collaboration and public engagement in the budgeting process and launched an open budget app that allows citizens to easily view our budget online.

We have also worked to make interacting with government easy and more open by launching a new 311 app where citizens can report city issues on their phone, modernizing our open records request process, allowing for streamlined submissions and convenient payment and download functions, and opening up our [Department of] Public Works GPS data so citizens can see in real time a variety of services, including what streets have been cleared following inclement weather.

Finally, we want more citizens to engage with their city, so we opened up our boards and commissions so that any citizen can apply for a position and participate in city government.

I meet regularly with neighborhood associations, faith leaders and our nonprofit partners to discuss issues they see and how we can work together to solve them, and my office is open for citizens to make an appointment or get their issues resolved through email, social media, phone or in person.

What specific ideas do you have to make Chattanooga a better place to live for everyone, including minority groups and the disadvantaged?

As a city, we are strongest when we help all of our citizens realize their true potential. A major piece of that is ensuring citizens have the skills they need to be successful.

Over the past two years, my administration has worked with community partners to establish a workforce development plan that creates more paths to the middle class for all Chattanoogans, specifically women and people of color. This plan was heavily influenced by the work of our Mayor’s Council for Women and Minority[-Owned] Business … Task Force, as well as the great work and research produced by our Chattanooga 2.0 community process.

Through the creation of an Office of Workforce Development, we will continue to work with our partners to bring more job training to neighborhoods and meet people where they are, increasing access and breaking down transportation barriers. We’ll work to offer training to build tech skills and increase opportunities for women in STEM fields.

In addition, one of the most impactful things we can do to make our city a better place for all Chattanoogans is to invest in early childhood education. We met with partners throughout the city to produce our My Brother’s Keeper action plan that identifies ways we can work together to reduce opportunity gaps for young people of color. Less than half our children currently have access to a quality early learning opportunity.

The city is addressing this issue head-on by establishing a new Office of Early Learning, partnering with United Way to provide new early learning scholarships, expanding Head Start slots to include more children and through the success of Baby University.

In partnership with Signal Centers, our Baby University initiative currently provides intensive case management services to 119 families (228 adults and 296 children).

Baby U equips new parents with the tools and support they need to have a healthy baby that is learning and on the right track to success. Our good work with Baby U will only continue to grow as we add more families to our existing East Lake cohort, establish a Baby U in Alton Park and enter The Howard School on a part-time basis.

What measures, if any, would you take to support small business owners and entrepreneurs?

Small businesses fuel our growing economy and provide good-paying jobs to Chattanoogans. I have worked to support small business owners in our city through our Growing Small Business incentives [program].

Under this program, we’ve helped local small businesses create 156 new jobs.

We’re also working to make starting a small business in Chattanooga simpler. Through our Start Up in a Day initiative, we unveiled a new online tool at Chattanooga.OpenCounter.com to make the process of starting a business easier and quicker.

Our Innovation District, anchored by the Edney [Innovation Center], is serving as a hub for entrepreneurs and small business owners to network, learn and grow. Over 24 businesses have now moved into the Edney, along with Society of Work, The Enterprise Center, TechTown and Co.Lab. Last year alone, the building hosted 200 events, bringing together over 4,000 people.

It’s also important that we help our minority-owned businesses grow and succeed in the city.

We’re working to boost the number of minority businesses that do business with the city, and we’ve made progress in boosting this number from 2 percent when I took office to 14 percent.

Our Minority[-Owned] Business Task Force is working on strategies and recommendations to help minority businesses across the city grow. I want to see more women-, African-American-, Latino- and veteran-owned businesses succeeding in Chattanooga, and we’ll continue to find ways to make this happen.

What direction do you think the city needs to go in terms of transportation infrastructure?

Infrastructure forms the backbone of our city, connecting us to friends, family, jobs and businesses. That’s why I created the city’s first Department of Transportation immediately after taking office in 2013.

Since then, we’ve increased investments in transportation every year I’ve been in office, and we’ve more than doubled the amount of our paving budget. Our city’s footprint is large, with over 1,100 miles in the city limits, and we are using our funds to help as many as possible.

But strengthening our infrastructure doesn’t just mean paving streets and filling potholes (even though we do a lot of both-in 2015, we paved miles of city streets and filled more than 11,000 potholes).

A city must think strategically when planning a transportation infrastructure, consider future growth and provide options for all citizens, including pedestrians, mass transit riders and cyclists. That means working on large-scale transformational projects to build better connections and make our streets safer, like changing our Third and Fourth street corridor, as well as smaller initiatives like building new sidewalks through our pedestrian action plan, which impacts the health, enjoyment and safety of our neighborhoods.

Over the next four years, we will continue to increase our investments in the important transportation and infrastructure projects that build connectivity and value in our city while addressing the day-to-day needs of Chattanooga citizens.

What does affordable housing mean to you, and do you think Chattanooga needs more of it?

Government defines affordable housing as housing that is affordable according to federal guidelines defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

HUD looks at something called the area median income to determine whether housing is affordable within a certain area.

Our city does need more affordable housing, and over the past four years, we’ve worked with partners to build and preserve 1,100 units of affordable housing.

We’ve done this with increasingly limited federal funds by building and leveraging our partnerships with private developers and nonprofits.

We created the city’s first affordable housing incentive that’s helped to build affordable housing within the downtown core, and it has been so successful at spurring new affordable housing development that we’ve revamped this incentive to target neighborhoods throughout the city.

In addition, we offer incentives to developers who repair and renovate existing housing stock in exchange for ensuring the rent is affordable for a designated amount of time.

We’ve worked with the National Resource Network and other partners to come up with a clear road map for how we address affordable housing in our city, and we are working to align housing with jobs so that people have a pathway to grow their wages.

Some residents say too much emphasis is placed on improving downtown and not enough on outlying neighborhoods. Do you agree or disagree, and how do you think the city should balance these two priorities?

City government has worked to do as much as we can to ensure every neighborhood is a great place to live. While much of the media attention goes to downtown, in reality, we have worked hard to improve both neighborhoods and our core.

In our downtown, we worked with partners to create a new Innovation District that is fueling downtown growth and getting attention from cities around the world. Meanwhile, we have doubled our paving budget and worked with neighborhoods to create a pedestrian action plan to build networks of sidewalks.

We have started a Blight Reduction initiative and Decode Days to help clean up rundown housing in neighborhoods, and worked with our private and nonprofit partners to fund the creation and preservation of over 1,000 units of affordable housing.

We’re reclaiming brownfields and blight in areas around the city, like the old Harriet Tubman homes site or the Lupton City Mill, and working to make these areas places where new jobs and housing can help create opportunity.

We are investing in parks throughout the city-a new Miller Park district downtown, a renovated East Lake Park, a new park at the Bell School site and even more investments in parks planned over the next four years.

We’re also investing in our 18 Youth and Family Development centers in neighborhoods all over Chattanooga.

Many centers are getting major upgrades, and in Avondale, we are building a brand-new center.

Investments like these in parks, infrastructure, jobs, housing and community centers are making neighborhoods better places to live.

There is still work to do in many neighborhoods throughout Chattanooga, and I will continue to focus on ways we can improve quality of life for every Chattanoogan.

How do you believe a leader should handle people they don’t get along or agree with?

Every person has value, and we work to build an inclusive community. That includes people with different opinions and backgrounds and walks of life.

Leaders take responsibility-they inspire others to come together and take on big challenges.

There is no place for pointing fingers or divisiveness when it comes to leading others.

There are some who have disagreed with choices I’ve made or policies we’ve enacted, and my door is always open for those individuals to meet with me or a member of my staff.

I believe in listening to each other, putting aside our differences and finding points that both parties agree on so that we can move forward together.

I’ve worked to make the mayor’s office more accessible to citizens. We listen to people’s concerns via email, phone call, in-person appointment and social media, and I work to make sure I am out in the community often to meet people where they are and listen to them.

What values do you believe should drive the mayor’s administration?

I believe in an administration that is open and inclusive, fighting for citizens, focused on results and solving problems creatively.

City Hall works for everyone, and we have made extra efforts to ensure we are including young people, women, African-Americans, Latinos, veterans, LGBT folks, and people of different cultures and incomes in our work.

We strive to be an open government, being easily accessible and opening up our data and records through new policies and procedures.

We believe in a government that is focused on the citizen, figuring out innovative ways that we can solve your problems and provide a higher level of service to you every day.

Finally, we are focused on results.

Each month, I gather administrators in my office and go through the results each department is producing.

We hold each other accountable and work creatively to find ways to get true outcomes to issues that we are all working together to solve.

What do you want the public to know about your background or personal life if anything?

I was born and raised in Chattanooga, and I have spent my career working to help the citizens of Chattanooga live the life of their choosing by taking down barriers and helping to provide justice and opportunity.

As an attorney, I represented citizens of Chattanooga who were wronged, helping them achieve fair treatment and justice from our legal system.

As state senator, I fought for Chattanoogans in Nashville, getting people back to work and improving education for our children.

As mayor, I am working to help lift up every Chattanoogan and help them find more opportunities for a better life.

I am able to do this work because of the support and love of my wife, Monique, and our two daughters, Hannah and Orly, who help me every day be a better husband, father and leader of Chattanooga.

Why should residents vote for you and not one of your opponents?

I have a track record of getting results for Chattanoogans, and I have four years of experience as the chief executive of the city and a decade of experience as a public servant.

During a campaign, it is one thing to make promises, talk about ideas and use divisive rhetoric to try to score political points. It is an entirely different thing to have worked with others to fulfill those promises, have a plan to put your ideas into action and have a positive vision for where the city needs to go.

That’s the difference between me and my opponents. I believe that our city has made great progress in the last four years. Chattanoogans have seen the results under my administration. I am ready and eager to help lead our city forward to continue to make progress over the next four years.

What is your personal motivation for running for this office and wanting to lead the city?

My motivation for becoming mayor has always been to break down barriers to ensure Chattanoogans can live the life of their choosing.

As mayor, I get the privilege of hearing directly from Chattanoogans, including our most vulnerable and those all too often left behind. They tell me about their dreams and their struggles, and it’s these real-life stories that motivate me to work harder as a public servant.

I understand the reality of our challenges and the impact on the families and communities of this city.

I receive a text every time someone is shot in Chattanooga; if the victim succumbs to his or her injuries, I call to offer comfort to their relatives or stop to sit with their families as they grieve.

When an electrical fire displaced all 267 residents of Patten Towers, I walked through the empty building and, appalled at what I saw, fought for improvements and increased safety measures.

I have visited countless hospital rooms, attended more funerals than I can count for people who were taken from us far too early [and] held prayer vigils to help Chattanoogans begin to heal from unimaginable grief.

But I’ve also been there when a young CAP student graduates high school.

I also get to hear from a new mom in our Baby U program, ecstatic after delivering a healthy baby, and a previously homeless veteran who now has a home to call his own.

Getting to hear from these brave, strong Chattanoogans drives me to make the most of my time as mayor, to put in place the things that can help improve their lives.

Their personal journey is connected with my own, and I am grateful and humbled to have this opportunity.