And that’s exactly what happened over Thanksgiving 2011 to hundreds of Walker County families who found themselves victimized by debit card fraud.

Initial reports of fraud came in Wednesday November 23rd on the LaFayette Underground Facebook: Shortly after lunchtime, a reader posted “If you have used any cards at walmart to purchase things. You need to check your accounts I heard they got hacked and got alot of people’s info. The police said they got people’s info from using cards at walmart.”

Other readers echoed that warning, saying at least ten Gateway Bank customers had been impacted and were in line to cancel cards there. Cohutta Bank reportedly told a customer “there have been cards compromised from almost every bank in LaFayette.” That confirmation prompted the Underground Facebook team to warn readers to check their own banks. Many did, and most found suspicious activity in their accounts. A torrential flood of fraud reports quickly followed.

News outlets were initially dismissive of the problem (Channel 9 did a cursory report on the evening of November 23rd concluding nothing had really happened), and at least one local bank said it was a minor issue being “magnified” by Facebook. (For what it’s worth, LaFayette Underground will proudly take credit for bringing this problem to people’s attention.) By the time most heard of the problem, banks had already closed for Thanksgiving break – but even without official confirmation it was pretty obvious by Thanksgiving day that someone (or something) was stealing money from bank accounts of people living in and around LaFayette.

Lucky victims (if any victim can be considered “lucky”) had their debit cards deactivated when banks noticed unusual charges made on the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Other victims had hundreds, even thousands, of dollars taken from their accounts through fraudulent debit card activity. Both types of victims were at least inconvenienced, finding themselves without access to money at gas stations, restaurants, and retailers – and some were left without funds for days waiting on bank refunds while bills went unpaid.

Many feel thefts were precisely timed to fall during Thanksgiving week. With people traveling across the country to visit family, unusual charges for out-of-town hotels, restaurants, and gas stations were less likely to raise banks’ suspicions. Many of the banks were additionally blinded by their limited Thanksgiving schedules, closing early on Wednesday the 23rd and not opening at all on Thursday the 24th. On top of that, many of the victims were saving up to do Christmas shopping, leaving more money in their accounts than usual for thieves to take.

To date, as this is written, authorities and banks speculate well over $100,000 has been stolen from at least 600 victims, almost all in Walker County with a few from Catoosa and Chattooga. Thefts have impacted customers from 17 different banks, and most victims have made transactions at the same store in the last few months. The majority of fraud activity happened in a four day period around Thanksgiving, but new victims and new incidents of fraud are still showing up into 2012.

Investigation of the incident has been turned over to the GBI and FBI. But after two months no law enforcement agencies – GBI, FBI, LaFayette PD, or Walker Sheriff’s Office – have provided exact answers to how, where, or when the thefts occurred and whether or not they’ve completely stopped. That leaves some residents wondering if they can safely shop at all in local stores.

Thoughts about the theft’s origin have varied widely. Police officers informally told victims that Walmart was the source of the information, but no official announcement blaming that retailer was ever made. An early Walker County Messenger report quoted Walker Sheriff Steve Wilson blaming a “company that manufacturers credit cards for several of the banks” for the leak, but that laughable article was taken down shortly after it first appeared.

Over the next ten days, law enforcement officials said the thefts were “not connected to any particular store,” then blamed card processor Elavon, “a single retailer,” a “clearinghouse,” Little Caesars, Hardees, online retailers, local restaurants, and “cyber terrorism” in various conflicting reports.

Nobody in law enforcement or banking would officially discuss suspicions that the crime originated at the LaFayette Walmart. However, several banks denied the “card issuing source” theory and told reporters “scammers stole the information directly from a retailer.” Off the record, banks quietly cited Walmart as the likely source and even a few Walmart employees carefully warned customers about using cards there despite management refusal to comment about the thefts.

Since the authorities can’t or won’t do anything to reduce confusion, here’s a look at some things we do (and don’t) know about the wave of debit card fraud:

It’s Not the Banks

None of the victims’ banks are the cause or source of thefts. Involved banks range from small locals with one or two branches all the way up to multinational giants like Wells Fargo. The wide variety of institutions involved, each with different software systems, security policies, employees, and vendors, makes it impossible for this to have originated with all of them at the same time. About the only thing they all have in common is customers who have shopped in LaFayette area stores and restaurants.

If the banks have any responsibility, it’s for the ways each one responded to fraud reports and individual incidents. Some were johnny-on-the-spot, noticing unusual account activity early on and suspending cards as necessary to keep customers from losing money. Others slipped into denial and hid from the problem until it grew too big to ignore. Every bank bears the cost of refunding customer money, but few did an adequate job of contacting affected customers to notify them of card suspensions or tell them what to do in response to the thefts.

Bank of LaFayette President Henry Gi—–t said on December 4th his company had over 200 compromised accounts and “everyone has been reimbursed.” But several BoL customers complained weeks later that the bank had yet to refund any of their stolen funds while “sorting out” all the fraudulent charges, and some didn’t get replacement debit cards until January. If those claims are true, it’s a poor response compared to quick actions of competing chain banks.

It’s Not a Processor, Either

We’re equally certain (despite conflicting claims of law enforcement) that a central credit card processor or card manufacturer isn’t the source of leaked numbers, either. Most card processors handle transactions from all over the country, and there’s no company that only processes cards used in Walker County or Northwest Georgia. A processor hack or leak would have customers from all over the country involved, a few here and a few there – not hundreds all at once primarily from LaFayette. The same thing applies to companies manufacturing debit cards or card equipment. Any suggestion of a processor or manufacturer being at fault is just a distraction from the core issue.

Thieves Didn’t Use Numbers Directly

Transactions using stolen card numbers occurred in hotels, gas stations, restaurants, and various retail stores in Lawrenceville, Lithonia, Atlanta, Florida, Ohio, Idaho, Vermont, Arizona, New Jersey, California, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, Pakistan, and dozens of other places around the world. That doesn’t mean thieves are international criminals, terrorists, or traveling the globe at record speed – it just means the people using stolen card numbers weren’t the same ones who stole those numbers in the first place.

The most likely scenario is whoever stole the numbers collected a good number of them, bundled them into packages of 25 or 50, and then sold the packages for a set price to others over the Internet. Criminal sites hosted in foreign countries work somewhat like a black-market eBay, where “trusted” vendors sell stolen card numbers for $30-$50 each, regardless of each individual card’s limit or bank balance. Buyers can resell information to others or record the numbers onto blank cards with embedded magnetic strips, similar to programmable hotel key cards. To bypass PIN numbers, criminals run the fake cards as credit – initially buying something small to check its validity, then buying big-ticket items until cards stop working.

The Monday before Thanksgiving, police in Woodstock, GA arrested 30-year-old Ben Achampong at a BJ’s Wholesale store trying to use stolen credit card numbers. Investigators there, who said Achampong had already gone on a spending spree, found 16 other stolen cards in his possession and located equipment for making additional cards in his home. The numbers belonged to people in four states, including Georgia.

We don’t know if that specific incident is related to the LaFayette theft, but even if it wasn’t, it is typical of what happens when numbers are stolen. Even though Mr. Achampong was arrested, the person who originally stole the numbers he used isn’t likely to be caught because the two probably never met face to face and payment for the stolen numbers would have been handled through an untraceable Web site.

Methods for Stealing Numbers

There are a limited number of ways to steal a stranger’s debit card information. Sometimes cashiers or waiters copy down numbers, but something a bit faster and more automated would be needed to get more than 600 numbers from the same area. Over-the-air theft also isn’t a possibility; RFID chips that “broadcast” information are only found in high-end credit cards, not debit cards.

That really just leaves two possibilities: card skimmers or a network security lapse.

Card Skimmers

Card skimmers are small devices installed inside or on top of the card-reader slots on ATM’s, cash registers, and vending machines. Skimmers read the magnetic strip on every card swiped and forward that data over WiFi or Bluetooth to waiting thieves. Some more advanced skimmers include tiny cameras or keypad overlays to capture PIN numbers for each card swiped.

Card skimmers have been in the news a lot lately, as technology has gotten smaller/cheaper and knowledge of how to implement them has become widespread. Last fall a slick skimmer was found on a Regions Bank ATM machine in Dalton, but that one (obviously) only impacted customers of one bank.

Several years ago three RedBox kiosks in Arizona and New Mexico were violated with bulky card skimmers. Only a few RedBox customers were impacted before those were detected, and the company contacted every customer to warn them about the risk. RedBox machines were then modified to make skimmer installation more difficult. LaFayette has two RedBox locations (Walmart and Kangaroo on Chattanooga Street) but both have skimmer-blocking features and neither is used by enough local theft victims to be a single source of the card breach.

On December 12th a 25-year-old UGA student was sentenced to spend six years in a Tennessee prison after confessing to stealing $150,000 last summer with skimmers in restaurants all over the southeast. Another ex-UGA student stole more than that with a single skimmer in an Athens liquor store where he worked. He fled to his native India in 2010, but police are still rounding up his accomplices. Neither instance fits the timing of LaFayette’s thefts, but what happened here could be comparable to (or even a copy of) either crime.

The most blatant example of card skimming happened in May 2011 at 80 different Michael’s Arts and Crafts stores around the country. In that case, people claiming to be repairmen actually swapped out cash register hardware with skimmers that stole information from thousands of customers during a three-month period. The company ended up replacing registers in 7,000+ stores just to make sure the problem had been taken care of. There’s no Michael’s store in LaFayette, but a similar scenario in one local store is highly possible.

Skimmers could have been installed at several local stores or in one single large store with multiple compromised cash registers. The store, or stores, involved would have to be fairly busy in order to capture 600+ working card numbers in a short period of time. Generally card skimmer scams end when the skimmers are located, but to our knowledge none have been found in any LaFayette stores – meaning thefts could still be ongoing (highly unlikely), the store(s) where it happened discovered a problem and didn’t report it, or thieves used some other method. None of those possibilities can be completely ruled out.

Computer Security Breach/Hack

The only other possible method is a computer security breach. That means someone might have hacked a single cash register, hacked into a store’s point-of-sale (POS) server, or somehow intercepted network traffic between the two points. A hack of that type would only be implemented at a single store, and the only store in Walker County with enough business to lose 600+ debit card numbers in a short period of time is the LaFayette Walmart – so if it was a hack, Walmart has to be the point of origin.

Network security lapses are nothing new for Walmart. In 2005 and 2006 developers coding software for the company’s global processing systems were hacked, giving Eastern European thieves access to information that could have made future network breaches easier. At the time years of customer data was stored insecurely, but afterwards Walmart began taking security more seriously – or claimed to, anyway.

Of course that wasn’t the last Walmart breach. In May 2010 residents of Greenville County North Carolina began experiencing unauthorized debit card transactions, with two area Walmart stores identified by police as the likely source. Authorities there also suggested a “credit processing center” could be to blame. Walmart was eventually cleared in that case but no source for the theft was ever identified, and six months later at least one more incident was connected to one of the same stores. The theft mirrors what happened in LaFayette: a surge of mysterious fraud with a small number of stores in common, law enforcement initially blaming Walmart and then an outside company, investigation turned over to the feds, and no culprits ever found.

A small number of LaFayette fraud victims specifically said they never shopped at the LaFayette Walmart. Those exceptions to the assumption could be unrelated thefts, or cases where a husband or wife used each others’ cards without communicating with their spouse. And since we don’t know exactly when the thefts originally occurred, it’s possible that a forgotten transaction from months earlier could have caused the breach.

Again, we don’t know for sure. Maybe a skimmer in any number of local stores, maybe a network breach at Walmart, maybe something else not considered. But those are the most likely possible scenarios – and at this point we’ve all given up on getting better answers from the authorities.

So Now What?

Some people proactively canceled debit cards to avoid having their numbers abused. In most cases it was unnecessary (or too late) but may have kept a few from being scammed. At this point canceling cards isn’t going to do anything; any debit card users who haven’t been affected probably aren’t going to be. If numbers were stolen and sold before Thanksgiving, most of the fraud that’s going to happen has already occurred. If by some slim chance numbers are still being collected, a new card is just as vulnerable to being ripped off as an old one.

The last round of thefts in LaFayette seems to be done, but debit card fraud is happening more and more often. It’s only a matter of time before this hits us again. The best way not to be a victim of the NEXT instance is to learn lessons from the last one.

The best advice for anyone concerned about debit card fraud is to reduce their usage of debit cards as much as possible. Cutting back card swipes lowers the changes of having a card compromised. Cash and checks are a hassle but safer than debit plastic – however carrying more cash might present opportunity to more old-fashioned thieves. (Consumer protection expert Clark Howard recommends eschewing debit cards entirely, in favor of credit cards that have more protection built in and aren’t tied to a checking account.) Those who do continue using debit cards are advised to be careful where they’re used, and avoid unprotected outdoor ATM’s and vending machines.

Everyone, regardless of debit card use, should carefully check bank statements or online banking on a regular basis and keep an eye out for suspicious or unauthorized/unrecognized activity. Banks caught a lot of fraudulent activity in November, but quite a bit would have gone unnoticed if not for media attention and Facebook discussion that led people to check for it.

Once fraud is found, impacted customers should notify their bank immediately. Banks will gather information to return the stolen money (with delays depending on each bank’s internal policies) but won’t automatically notify police. In order to help authorities track down the source of fraud, customers should also file a report with local law enforcement: LPD in the city or Walker Sheriff’s Office in the county. Some banks incorrectly told victims they would need to contact police where fraudulent transactions occurred (call the police in Pakistan?) but that’s not necessary for prosecuting whoever stole the numbers initially.

After the Thanksgiving thefts started getting attention, a separate scam broke out taking advantage of fear. Thieves called random people on the phone, claiming to represent various banks in need of account numbers, card numbers, and Social Security information. Banks did call people to notify them of account breaches, but no real bank would ever ask for personal information over the phone – especially when it’s information they already have. When in doubt, go visit the bank in person. Never give out personal information over the phone during a call you didn’t initiate.

Common Sense

At this point it’s pretty obvious we’ll never get help or clear answers about the Thanksgiving fraud from any authorities. The best protection and response is to use common sense: reduce debit card usage as much as possible, keep an eye on bank statements for fraudulent transactions, report anything suspicious to banks and law enforcement, and don’t let fear make you a victim of secondary crimes.

Fear isn’t necessary, and panic leads to making mistakes. But caution isn’t the same as blind fear; careful thought and planning can help reduce the chances of becoming the next victim and provide peace of mind during stressful situations like the one we experienced back in November.

…and that’s probably the last you’ll ever hear of it.

During the Holidays we tend to think more about the less fortunate, neighbors and relatives struggling with unmet needs or physical disabilities. But those needs aren’t seasonal – there are people in LaFayette and Walker County who need help all year long.

More than a few of those people receive services from nonprofits, groups providing everything from food and counseling to education and medical care. Unfortunately, over the last few years things have not being going well economically in Walker County, resulting in fewer donations for these organizations just as demand for their services has increased.

The LaFayette Underground is operated as a community service; we don’t sell subscriptions or advertising and have never asked for donations, and we never will. But we are going to ask (if you see value in the Underground or not) that you consider giving to a local nonprofit, making a donation to one of the organizations listed below. They work every day to help people with real-world needs far beyond the silliness of politics and social issues discussed here.

Please note that none of these groups are affiliated with the Underground and none of them have requested inclusion here. This article has been written as a community service.

There are other nonprofits in the area doing good work, but we cannot recommend any group without reviewing its financial information. Local organizations like North Georgia Animal League, Stocking Full of Love, and Hope Rebirth Homeless Shelter in Summerville (SOW, Inc. of Rome) were investigated but we weren’t able to access annual 990 reports showing their financial conditions. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with them, we just couldn’t locate their financial reports.

If you have experience with any of the groups mentioned here (good or bad) or want to recommend another one worthy of support, please discuss them in the comments below.

Before giving to any charitable organization, including the ones listed, you should thoroughly check them out. Always look at financial information – a good place to find that online is GuideStar. (That’s where the 990′s linked from this article were found.) Some don’t have reports posted to GuideStar, but every legitimate non-profit is required by law to open its books for inspection when asked. Any group that can’t or won’t share financial info should be avoided when it’s time to give. Be careful – some organizations aren’t all they claim to be.

Money tends to be the most pressing need for every group, but even if you can’t give financially many of the organizations mentioned here also need your time. There’s no better way to live in 2012 than by volunteering one day a month or a few hours a week to help neighbors in need.

This Christmas, remember that we’ve been given the greatest Gift of all. That Gift can never be matched or repaid, but we can show gratitude by giving some of our own blessings back to the community we call home. Giving back makes Christmas more meaningful than any worldly gift or trinket we might happen to receive.

Merry Christmas from The LaFayette Underground!

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that Chris Davis and Judy Meeks won today’s election. Davis topped Donnie McGaha 147 to 203, while Meeks bested no-show Hollis 206 to 146.

As we noted, the Ward 3 race was Chris Hollis’ to lose, and he did exactly that – lost an easy contest by committing political suicide. His disappearance from the race is a real disappointment for those of us who believed in his ideas and fought to give him a chance to implement them. He won’t find such eager support if he ever decides to run for office in this community again.

The LaFayette City Council is scheduled to meet next Monday night at 7:30. New councilor Ben Bradford, who’s taking the remainder of Norm Hodge’s unfinished term, should be a member by then. Davis and Meeks will attend their first meeting in January.

ORIGINAL POST:

Today (Tuesday December 6th) is the runoff election for LaFayette City Council. Polls will be open at City Hall on Duke Street from 7 AM until 7 PM. Voting in the previous election on November 8th is not required to vote in the runoff, but registration and residency requirements still apply.

The two contested races are City Council Wards 3 and 4.

In ward 4, retiree Donnie McGaha faces real estate agent Chris Davis. Davis came in second on November 8th, but only lost to McGaha by a single vote – 172 to 173. This one will be a nail-biter and may come in close again once every vote is counted.

The Underground originally endorsed Kevin Robinson for Ward 4, but in his defeat our endorsement falls to Chris Davis. Davis provided some solid answers to the questions asked of Ward 4 candidates, although he did skip a few – but McGaha refused to respond to any of them, making him relatively unknown and hard to evaluate. Either man will probably be fine on the council, and either will likely surpass their Ward 4 predecessor, Eric Tallent.

Q&A With Ward 4 Candidates

Meanwhile, the Ward 3 race has gone weird.

On November 8th, former LaFayette City Judge Chris Hollis came out on top of the Ward 3 race, beating former councilor Judy Meeks by forty votes (218 to 178). Meeks barely squeaked by political newcomer Stacey Suttle, who was only four votes behind her. That set up Hollis and Meeks for the runoff vote.

Hollis presented the best ideas of any candidate and was the only one we truly felt would be willing to buck the system and go against entrenched leaders like Mayor Florence. His campaign was well run, and he connected with voters by making door-to-door visits all over the city. But now that the runoff is at hand, he seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. Outside of a single Facebook post on December 1st, he’s made no contact with anyone we’ve talked to and has (so far) not returned phone calls from Underground reporters.

Unconfirmed rumors of infidelity and family problems have circled around Hollis since the regular election ended, and one claims that he’s moved out of the city – which would make him ineligible to serve on the council if he wins today’s vote. Hopefully none of it is true; not only would that be an embarrassment and disappointment for those of us who have endorsed him and worked hard to help him win, it will put the city in real hot water with Judy Meeks likely taking back her seat as Ward 3 councilor. That means a police department with no accountability, and a return to the way things have been in LaFayette for the last three decades.

Voters should still pick Hollis today. Regardless of what’s going on in his personal life, he has solid ideas and he’s a better candidate than Meeks. The Underground endorsement of Hollis still stands. If voters choose him but he for whatever reason does not serve, the city’s problems will be his responsibility, not ours. All we can do is vote – the rest is up to him.

Interview with candidate Hollis begins at the 1 hour mark.

Elections officials contacted by the Underground were unsure what would happen if Hollis wins but is deemed ineligible to serve. Either his closest opponent will take the seat, or (more likely) the seat will be declared vacant and require another special election early next year. Another election would be preferable to just handing the seat over to Meeks, which is what will happen if Hollis voters don’t turn out to support their candidate, wherever he is.

This article will be updated if we hear from Mr. Hollis before the polls close.

Q&A With Ward 3 Candidates

Facebook Election Poll

Before the fire, buildings on the block housed a variety of businesses and a government office. Martin’s TV Radio Shack was in a narrow building on West Villanow Street. Behind Martin’s, touching at the back, was a building containing retailer Honeyland Fashions and Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole. The structure next door had an outlet store for Durham Knitting Mills on the ground floor and an outpatient drug/alcohol treatment center, Vista, upstairs. State Pardons had an entrance on Withers Street facing LaFayette Presbyterian Church; the other involved businesses faced North Main Street.

The Abney-Patterson Building (which had housed part of Abney’s Department Store until a few years earlier) dominated the corner and was surrounded on two sides by buildings that were destroyed, but managed to avoid catastrophic damage due to its firewalls. On the other side of Martin’s TV, Gabby’s Deli sat where Melinda’s Catering and Debbi’s Flowers are today. That building too was spared from major damage and reopened within days of the fire. Walker County DFCS (where LaFayette Physical Therapy is now) was next door to Gabby’s but separated by a narrow alley. It was unaffected by the fire and moved to Rock Spring in the mid-90′s.

State Board of Pardons and Parole, Durham Outlet, and Vista all relocated to other buildings after being burned out. Honeyland and Martin’s TV never reopened, leaving LaFayette without a Radio Shack franchise until the current one opened next to Walmart in 2001.

The three burned structures were deemed a total loss and – after delays to remove asbestos from the TV store and fill a 60-foot-deep well beneath the Parole office – were leveled. Charles Shell, owner of the Martin’s TV building, had the site paved to serve as a parking lot for his other properties, Gabby’s Deli and the Abney-Patterson Building, depicted below.

State investigators ruled the fire an arson. Martin’s TV employees claimed several items had been stolen from that business and further reports pointed to a fire set there to cover up a burglary.

A careful search of newspaper archives well into 1991 found no additional mention of an arson investigation. There was apparently no suspect named and no charges filed in connection to the fire – making it a 21-year-old unsolved mystery.

LaFayette Presbyterian Church obtained both sites from the Henry family in 1999, apparently planning to make them into parking for the church. A parking lot never materialized and nothing was done with the site until this summer when volunteers from LaFayette Presbyterian and the city’s Downtown Development Authority shaped it into an art park with ornate glass sculpture “Enduring Trust” on prominent display.

Abney-Patterson Building, which was being remodeled before the fire, sustained major damage to its firewalls and roof. The building’s northern outside wall, which now faces the park, had to be torn down and rebuilt before interior renovations could continue.

Damage repairs revealed historical signage, upper floor windows, and the building’s original brickwork, which had all been covered during the 1960′s with a horrible mess of copper-color metal siding, as seen below in 1975:

When renovation was finished, the Abney building had brown brick on its northern and western walls, and the same brickwork recovered the old drug store and Coke ads on Main and Villanow from halfway down. Only the upper sections of the southern and eastern walls were left with their original brick facing, and that didn’t exactly match the brown brick chosen for the other walls. That brown brick now looks somewhat dated, being the style of the early 1990′s – but it’s still vastly superior to the metal siding it replaced.

PHOTOS: Contributors, Walker County Messenger

We looked for other period photos of the Abney building or others that surrounded it before the fire, but nothing was close enough to be usable. Friday Photos are becoming a regular feature of this site, but we still need your help to get historical local photos not available elsewhere. If you have a photo of downtown or anything else interesting from LaFayette’s past (or present) please e-mail it to photo@cityoflafayettega.com.

NEXT WEEK: Fun With Signs

NOVEMBER 9 POST-ELECTION UPDATE:

604 LaFayette residents voted in the Ward 2 race, and a sizable majority preferred Ben Bradford to Dell Montgomery or Keith Talley. Bradford got 349 votes for 58%, a clear win over Montgomery’s 209 votes, or 35%. Talley, who we said wouldn’t be a factor in this race, received support from only 46 voters.

The Underground endorsed Montgomery in this race, but Bradford contributed some excellent ideas to the election and he’ll hopefully be able to make them happen. Since Ward 2 was a vote to fill the uncompleted term of Norm Hodge, Bradford will be sworn in almost immediately and will be part of the City Council during next Monday night’s regular meeting. That means we’ll soon see how many of those ideas will be implemented, or if the young lawyer simply becomes a clone of his useless predecessor.

In the Ward 3 race, former city judge Chris Hollis, the Underground-endorsed candidate, collected 218 of the 618 votes cast, for 35%. That put him well ahead of former councilwoman Judy Meeks, who got support from 178 voters (29%). Stacey Suttle was right behind Meeks with 174. Jerry Rogers, another candidate we said wasn’t making an impact, was chosen by 48 voters.

Since none of the Ward 3 candidates got the legally required 50%-plus-one, the top two finishers will go head to head in a runoff election scheduled for December 6th. Hopefully Hollis will retain his lead over Meeks, but Stacey Suttle voters may circle around Meeks because she’s about as bad an idea as their preferred candidate was. Hollis and Meeks have a starkly different approach to almost every issue, and their December face-off will be the most significant vote this year.

In the five-way Ward 4 race, our endorsed candidate Kevin Robinson surprisingly came in fourth place with only 86 votes. Joe DeBoard was fifth with 47 votes, which makes one wonder if it was the same people who supported Talley and Rogers. In third place, performing slightly better than we anticipated, was former councilman Melvin Bridges, with 121 or 141 votes (23%), depending on which news source you prefer.

News media is also unsure about the top finisher in Ward 4. According to the Catoosa County Messenger, Chris Davis came in second place with 172 votes and Donnie McGaha came out on top with 173. Channel 9 in Chattanooga credits Davis with a winning 177 votes to McGaha’s 173. That’s only a five-vote difference, but it changes the outcome – both outlets need to recheck their numbers and make sure their reports are accurate. Variations between reports on the votes for Bridges and Davis swing the vote count from 599 to 624, which is a significant percentage.

(According to a poll worker, the county’s unofficial count gave Bridges 121 and Davis 172, with one outstanding provisional ballot cast by someone whose eligibility to vote is questionable. If the provisional ballot is deemed valid there will be one additional vote in each race, but it may not go to Davis. If it does he will be exactly tied with McGaha.)

Regardless of which man came out on top, both got 28% of the vote and will have to face each other again on December 6th. Kevin Robinson received the Underground endorsement for this race originally, but Davis was noted as being a close second and has our endorsement for the runoff. McGaha seems to be OK on the surface (a man with goats inside city limits can’t be too bad) but he’s harder to evaluate because he refused to respond to our e-mail interview questions. Either man will probably serve the city well, and the one who doesn’t win will probably run for mayor in 2013, which Robinson has hinted he will also do.

The Underground previously reported that voters who didn’t participate in yesterday’s election would be ineligible to vote in the runoff. That was in error. In LaFayette, at least, there are no restrictions on that type for runoffs. So even if you couldn’t make it to the polls on November 8th, you still have a chance to influence the outcome of the Ward 3 and Ward 4 races. This is far from done.

ORIGINAL NOVEMBER 7 POST:

This Tuesday is decision day, election day – the moment of truth where we learn if LaFayette’s residents are tired of the way things are, or happy to continue swirling down the drain. A total of four City Council seats are up for a vote, but only three are competitive races with multiple candidates. Several of the candidates represent the ways of the past, the old guard and old ways of thinking, while several are relatively unknown, and a select group represent the future.

The Queen City has suffered enough abuse at the hands of crooked leaders who put their own interests and their own hobbies ahead of the needs of regular citizens. We need new blood that will stand and demand transparent city government that asks permission from voters before making decisions, who will refuse to support corrupt appointees like Richie White and Johnnie Arnold, who will say “no” to ridiculous wastes of money like the $900,000 softball fields – and who will put a muzzle on our dangerous, hateful, 21-year-incumbent mayor who thinks it’s wise to make threats against the Chattanooga newspaper.

CITY COUNCIL WARD 2

In the Ward 2 race pitting Ben Bradford, Dell Montgomery, and Keith Talley against each other, the Underground endorses Dell Montgomery. He has business experience and understands the needs of real people. Talley’s campaign hasn’t been much of an impact on the race, and he’s relatively unknown. Ben Bradford is well educated and has a vision, but he supports some of the wasteful projects we’ve railed against here, and hides non-answers to questions in chapter-length comments that go around in circles. He’d make a good politician – but a politician isn’t what we need to change the city’s current direction.

Our informal Facebook poll, which in no way represents a significant portion of the city’s voters, shows Bradford and Mongomery neck to neck. That’s probably the way voting will turn out, but we’re hoping this one won’t require a December runoff. Whoever wins the Ward 2 vote will be on the council immediately since they’re running to complete the unfinished term of Norm Hodge.

Ward 2 Facebook Poll

Ward 2 Q&A Interview

CITY COUNCIL WARD 3

Ward 3 features two candidates previously elected to city positions: ex-councilwoman Judy Meeks and ex-judge Chris Hollis. Meeks and Hollis are up against newcomers Jerry Rogers and Stacey Suttle.

Meeks served on the council before, a single term, and did nothing for the city except change policies to benefit one of her two city-employee sons. Her campaign represents the worst of LaFayette’s past politics, a return to what we need to be rid of. A vote for her is a vote for the current leadership, which she regards as “the kind of guys who are up front” even though they’re anything but.

Rogers is an OK guy but he’s out of touch and isn’t offering any new ideas. Some of Suttle’s campaign tactics have been questionable, his placement of campaign signs on public property all over town shows a disregard and disrespect for the city and the law, and he too has added no new ideas to the campaign.

Of the 12 total candidates, Chris Hollis has shown the most willingness to go toe-to-toe with current leaders and challenge them to do the right thing. He has ideas, a vision, and a real desire to move the city forward – and that’s why he gets the Underground endorsement for Ward 3. Facebook poll participants seem to feel the same way, picking Hollis over Meeks and Suttle more than 4 to 1.

Ward 3 Facebook Poll

Ward 3 Q&A Interview

CITY COUNCIL WARD 4

A former councilor is also running for Ward 4. Melvin Bridges served twelve years on the LaFayette council, on top of one term as mayor of defunct Linwood and dozens of years working for the fire department. He has experience, but his experience is stuck in the past. Like Rogers, he’s a nice enough guy – but he’s not in touch with the city’s needs of 2011. If we want to revisit the 1980′s and run city government the way it was run thirty years ago, Bridges might be our man – but if we want to move forward, he’s not.

The other candidates in Ward 4 are Chris Davis, Kevin Robinson, Daniel DeBoard, and Donnie McGaha. McGaha is a bit of an unknown, and DeBoard supports too many projects LaFayette has no business being part of. Davis or Robinson would both be an acceptable councilor, but our endorsement goes to Robinson because he seems to be the better of the two. Dividing votes among too many people (five total candidates in the Ward 4 race, a guaranteed runoff) could lead to weaker candidates few people support getting a majority of the votes.

Ward 4 Facebook Poll

Ward 4 Q&A Interview

VOTING

Voting will be held at LaFayette City Hall on Duke Street. Voters can vote for candidates for EVERY ward, not just the one where they live. Voters who don’t participate in the regular election will not be eligible to vote in any likely runoffs.

In 2009 city elections had fewer than 1,000 total voters, and most candidates won by less than a hundred votes. This year, with the addition of electronic voting machines, voters can be sure their voice is being heard, that their vote will count. A few dozen people can greatly change the outcome in any of these races, so please turn out this Tuesday and vote IF you know who and what you’re voting for. If you aren’t educated on the candidates or their issues, don’t vote at all. If you’re only familiar with candidates for one race, don’t vote in the others – but using the resources here, you should be able to make an informed decision and vote to send LaFayette into a better direction for the future.

Past or future – it’s up to you.