Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield has $75,000 in the bank for next March’s re-election bid, an election in which he faces no declared challenger.

But Mr. Littlefield said he anticipates “significant opposition” in the spring.

“I can’t remember an election where I didn’t have plenty of opposition, yet somehow I have survived. (I) haven’t always won, but I’ve always survived,” the former city Public Works commissioner and city councilman said.

Former Parks and Recreation Administrator Rob Healy is looking at running, but first he must determine if he meets residency requirements. Attorney Peter Murphy said he has been encouraged to challenge the mayor and is considering a bid.

The mayor raised a little more than $20,000 between the middle of January and the end of June, according to campaign finance disclosure forms recently filed with the Hamilton County Election Commission. He said he plans to continue fundraising but does not have a monetary goal.

“It will depend on what kind of opposition emerges,” he said. “I don’t want to pile up a lot of money and then not have a need for that kind of a campaign war chest.”

Asked if the recent announcement that Volkswagen will open an automobile manufacturing plant here would ward off any potential serious challengers, the mayor said, “That helps things, certainly.”

But Mr. Littlefield said the VW project was the work of many people.

“I certainly don’t claim any kind of singular responsibility for making it happen, but I do claim responsibility for a community, a city that is working very closely with the county and the Chamber (of Commerce) almost seamlessly pursuing every job opportunity,” he said. “We want to keep that working.”

Meanwhile, after some confusion regarding residency requirements, the Hamilton County Election Commission is expected to get an update on Mr. Healy’s eligibility at its meeting Monday morning. City Attorney Randy Nelson recently issued an opinion stating that a person must live in the city a year before qualifying to run for a city seat.

However, Mr. Healy has said he has been going by the current form of the City Charter, which states that a person cannot be mayor unless he lives in the city for at least 12 months before the election date. Mr. Healy has said he has had city residency since February and the election is next March.

Mr. Nelson has said that the requirement of residency for a year before qualification wrongly was omitted from the City Charter in its current form.

Mr. Healy, who was fired from his Department of Parks and Recreation job by Mr. Littlefield in March 2006, said he is waiting for the Election Commission to decide if he can run.

“It’s kind of hard to ask someone for support when you don’t know if you’re a qualified candidate or not,” Mr. Healy said.

As for Mr. Murphy, he said he has no timeframe to make a decision on whether he will run.

“I am considering running for mayor, but I’m really looking for the way I can find to be the most effective to improve what all of us love about Chattanooga,” he said.

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