To all my East Ridge friends and concerned citizens: As a former Assistant District Attorney in Hamilton County, former City Attorney for the City of East Ridge and former Municipal Court Judge of East Ridge, I urge each of you to vote against the referendum to make the East Ridge Court Clerk an employee of the City of East Ridge as opposed to an elected official.

You may ask why this is a very important decision. It is important because the clerk needs to be under the direction of the judge not the city manager. The clerk needs to be a neutral and detached magistrate. The clerk must make a determination when a police officer brings her an affidavit attempting to charge someone with a crime. The clerk must make a determination that there is probable cause that a crime has been committed and that the defendant committed that crime. If the clerk is under the direction and supervision of the city manager, the city manager could order the clerk to sign off on the affidavit even if there was no probable cause. This is why there is a separation between the different arms of government.

I urge you to vote no on this amendment to the charter.

On another issue, I urge you to vote no on the amendment which allows the East Ridge Municipal Court Judge to hold a judge position in East Ridge and elsewhere.

It is the Constitution of Tennessee that states that an elected official cannot hold two different offices of public trust. I have nothing against the judge holding this position. My fear is that if it were determined that this was a violation of the constitution then East Ridge could lose jurisdiction over the criminal cases that are now handled in East Ridge and they would all have to go to General Sessions Court, therefore costing the City of East Ridge thousands of dollars in overtime.

Thank you for reading and I strongly urge you to vote no. I have no dog in this hunt other than my love for the city I still call home.

_ J. Cris Helton