Candidate for Ringgold mayor fighting claims of being ineligible
Pro wrestler, actor and Ringgold business owner Paul Lee plans to become Ringgold’s next city mayor in the upcoming election. He’s already paid $180 to get in the race and spent thousands of dollars on a campaign. But now his bid to become mayor is in jeopardy based on where he sleeps at night.
"My competitor started a petition to challenge my residency; that I’m not a full time resident of the city of Ringgold," Lee said.
Ringgold city vice-mayor Nick Millwood started the argument about Lee’s eligibility.
Millwood who is also a teacher at Ringgold Middle School was unavailable for comment because he was on a field trip with his students. News 12 was directed to Millwood’s website where he specifically wrote about Lee’s eligibility.
Here is the exact blog:
Paul Lee and I have never met. This is in no way an attack on his character. However, the evidence strongly suggests he doesn’t live in the city, which is a requirement to run for the office of Mayor in the City of Ringgold. Click the link HERE for the city code which spells out the 12 month residency requirement. Many people have approached me over the coarse of the last two weeks about the fact that he lives at a county residence outside the city (in what I’ve heard is an exceptionally large home) and has for quite some time. One of my jobs is to protect the citizens of Ringgold from being hoodwinked, so I did some research in public record. First, I was curious about the address he used in my neighborhood (Bluff View) in order to qualify, so I went to the tax assessor web page to look up info on who owned the house. On August 7th, 2015 the house was transferred to Paul for $0 as a gift from a family member. The link to the transfer is HERE (sale info at bottom of page). Next I went by the Registrar’s office to see when he registered to vote in the city. On August 11th, 2015 he changed his driver’s license address to my neighborhood and registered to vote in the city at that time.
Mayor Barger had also been approached by many people about his residency and wanted to challenge Paul’s candidacy formally. Collectively the Mayor, myself, and the two other candidates for Mayor have filed a challenge at City Hall on the grounds he does not meet the requirements (specifically Sec 2.11 of city code linked above) to run for Mayor. At this point, there will be a public hearing at City Hall in which Paul will have to defend his candidacy in order to have his name on the ballot. He would have an opportunity to appeal to a higher court, so the process would need to be expedited in order to have closure before ballots are made.
In such a small city, the election can be easily swayed. We deserve to have a fair election. He may or may not have a shot at winning, but if he gets even one vote, it could change the outcome of the election and make it illegitimate. When Mayor Barger won his seat, he was only 3 votes ahead of his closest rival. I was only nine votes away from 4th place when I ran for council, which would have knocked me out of having the honor to serve. As I don’t know Paul, I have nothing against him personally, but I do believe in playing by the rules. I’ll post updates along the way to keep you informed.
Vice-Mayor Millwood
Lee was more than willing to explain his status as a Ringgold resident.
"I own a house in the county. It’s a big house which my competitor tried to make a big point about. It’s 6800 square foot. I’ve owned it for 12 years. I’ve owned my house in the city for six years. I bought if for my mother-in law. Since December of 2013, we have been living with her on and off," Lee said.
He told News 12 that he originally put the city residence in his mother-in-law’s name then eventually switched it to his name. He said he always paid taxes on his city residence.
News 12 contacted the city election office about the issue but was told that only city manager Dan Wright could talk about it. Wright was unavailable for comment.
In the meantime, Lee feels that he’s being targeted because he’s a wrestler and Hollywood actor who often plays the villain.
"I can be an entertainer and a business man. At the same time. I’ve got five successful businesses. I don’t want the position for the money. The money is nothing. I want to see my city grow," Lee said.
On Wednesday, city leaders are holding a meeting to determine if Lee is in fact eligible to run for office.
Lee told News 12 that he is prepared to file a law if he is forced out of the race. He said election officials told him he met the requirements long before he paid the fee to run in the race.
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