BusinessTN

Standing backstage at Chattanooga’s showpiece Tivoli Theatre waiting to be sworn in as the city’s 57th mayor, Ron Littlefield was asked how he felt about succeeding Bob Corker. “Mayor Corker is a hard act to follow,” the 58-year-old Georgia native replied. “I would almost rather inherit a disaster than a raging success.”

Used later in his April 18th acceptance speech, that line produced laughter and applause from the full house. But there is an important segment of Mayor Littlefield’s community that is less amused following a campaign that saw him attack the RiverCity Corp., the nonprofit public development company previously led by his primary opponent Ann Coulter and the engine of much of the downtown redevelopment effort.

“I think he truly believes in what has gone on with the revitalization of our waterfront, our Southside and our downtown,” says Coker Tire President Corky Coker. “He just wants to make sure that all have the opportunities downtown and not just a chosen few.” Adds developer Fletcher Bright: “His challenge is to step back and let things cool down.” Once that happens, the mayor’s economic agenda appears to be one that should win over skeptics in the business community.

To begin with, Littlefield plans to continue the “visioning” processes used so successfully in rebuilding the riverfront area—processes that include the community whenever major transformational activities are embarked upon. Calling it “almost a religious exercise in Chattanooga,” Littlefield cautions that it will be more challenging in the future. “The world has changed. It is not as easy to get all the media coverage we had with Vision 2000, which was critical to getting people to participate.” Referring to the Internet, he says “we have to rethink ways to incorporate the new technology with the idea of getting people’s ideas” because Vision 2000 hinged on letting ideas emerge from the public rather than trying to steer the community to a predetermined agenda.

One project that might require some steering, though, is the long-discussed fast rail project. Littlefield, who as a private consultant in 2000 worked up a feasibility report on the MagLev rail proposal, defends the project. “People can say, ‘Oh well, that’s Star Wars, that’s dreaming.’ But so was manned flight at one time.” With traffic already worsening between Chattanooga and Atlanta, “and soon between here and Nashville, the idea of high-speed rail linking Atlanta to Chattanooga and Nashville is a good practical solution to what is coming over the next 10 to 20 years.”

In the more immediate future, Littlefield sees the Enterprise South industrial park as an important piece of the area’s economic development. An automotive plant at Enterprise South would be “a dream come true,” Littlefield said following the Tivoli ceremony. “But we are not eliminating [from consideration] the smaller businesses, the smaller manufacturers who provide family wage jobs. Rebuilding the manufacturing base in Chattanooga would be a great legacy for my administration.”

Luring companies to Enterprise South or elsewhere could involve incentives, which the mayor sees as a necessary evil. “It is easy to criticize those incentives, but until everyone else agrees to not use incentives, we have to be willing to use them as well. If Birmingham or Knoxville or any other city that we are competing with is going to pull incentives out as part of their bag of tricks, then we’ve got to be ready to do it, as well.

These business priorities look a lot like those of the old mayor. But it might take a few years to see if Littlefield has the critical salesmanship and leadership skills of his predecessor.