State Rep. Marc Gravitt addressed the monthly meeting of the East Ridge Optimist Club Tuesday night at the Community Center, delivering something of a civics lesson to the organization’s members and presenting them with a new American flag.

That lesson included a stark one that Gravitt experienced during his first day on the job that involved the first amendment and freedom of speech. He said when he went to Nashville there were hundreds of people beating drums, chanting and laying down on the grounds of the Capitol. They were protesting mostly Insure Tennessee and bills related to abortion.

“I was absolutely stunned,” Gravitt said. “I thought I was walking into a riot.”

Gravitt said many people may be of the opinion that protesters should’ve been run off, as they were somewhat disrupting state business at “The People’s House.”

“But there’s this little thing called the First Amendment and Freedom of Speech,” Gravitt said. “You can’t just shut them down because you don’t like the message they are trying to send.”

Gravitt, a Republican who represents District 30, which encompasses all of East Ridge, said he never imagined he would be serving in the state legislature. The businessman had served two years on the East Ridge City Council when he was approached by incumbent State Rep. Vince Dean about running for the seat Dean was vacating to become Hamilton County Criminal Court Clerk. Gravitt said further encouragement by members of the Republican party convinced him to run.

“I feel like I’m one of the luckiest men alive,” he told the audience of about two dozen. “If you had told me that I was going to be a State Representative I would have thought you were crazy.”

Gravitt said that he ran for City Council because he was “mad.” “I really don’t have any political ambition.”

He informed the group that he serves on various committees and sub-committees which is suited to his skill set. Among those committees are the Business and Utility Committee and Local Government Committee. Gravitt is a small businessman and served as Vice Mayor of East Ridge.

Gravitt was a sponsor of a bill that would not allow the Hamilton County Water & Wastewater Treatment Authority to hold third parties _ like landlords of rental houses or new residents moving into those rental properties _  responsible for unpaid bills.

“That’s just night right,” he said.

Gravitt continued with his civics lesson by telling the Optimist Club members that there are 132 state legislators, including members of the House and Senate. He said there are 270 registered lobbyists in Nashville, double the number of legislators.

He characterized those lobbyists as “salesmen” and that he allotted about 30 seconds of his time to them when they call or e-mail him. He said lobbyists receive much bad press but doesn’t think they out and out mislead legislators.

“If they lied they would burn a bridge with me,” he said.

Gravitt crowed about the state’s increasing surplus during his tenure in Nashville. It has risen from about $300 million to perhaps as much as $800 million. “So, we are in good shape.”

The surplus prompted a question from one of the Optimists. “If the state has such a big surplus what are we spending it on?”

Gravitt said the legislature is pouring money into education and TennCare. He said 70 percent of the state’s budget goes to those two programs. He said the state’s Basic Education Program funding increased $38 million this year.

Another Optimist member asked about the condition of roads in Tennessee. Why does our state’s roads not measure up to those in Georgia and other neighboring states?

Gravitt quickly pointed out that the legislature put $142 million back into road building this year. He said that Hamilton County received 52 percent of TDOT ‘s spending last year that went into projects on Highway 27 and East Brainerd Road.

Gravitt told the group that Phase II of the road work at Exit 1 where new development is taking place is moving forward. He said that the city has gotten a contract back from TDOT to move forward and that the city can now send out RFQ (request for qualifications) to engineering firms to begin the design of the exit ramp.

“In my discussions, as of late (Monday), it’s anticipated that construction may start in January,” Gravitt said.

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