RINGGOLD, Ga. — The three men vying for votes in Tuesday’s special Ringgold City Council election all say their experience will help them understand how the city and its government works.

Randall Franks, Lee Tubbs and Lamar Bryson are running for the seat vacated when former Vice Mayor Tom Clark died on March 12. The seat will be up for grabs again in November, when Mr. Clark’s term would have ended.

During interviews, each man touted experience and plans for economic development as key reasons for voters to choose him.

Mr. Bryson, 50, served four years on the council in the 1990s and said those years should help him fit into the cogs and wheels of the city’s government.

“You know what to expect, the people you’re sitting up there with already know you and the people coming in (to meetings) from the town know you,” he said.

Mr. Franks, 44, said his work covering the council and county commission for the Catoosa County News for the past eight years gives him a solid understanding of the issues.

Mr. Tubbs, 50, chairman of Ringgold Planning and Zoning Commission, said he would draw on his experience as owner of Enviro-Guard Pest Control to make sure the city’s government acts as efficiently as a business.

He said his perspective would be important in regards to economic development. The city should work hard to recruit new industries and suppliers for the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, but should not forget about the business already here, he said.

A University of Memphis graduate, Mr. Tubbs said industry leaders would probably like what Ringgold has to offer if civic leaders make sure to get their attention.

“They need to know that Ringgold is a great place to start a business and to raise a family,” he said.

Mr. Franks, who graduated from Georgia State University and played Officer Randy Goode on the television series “In the Heat of the Night,” said the city needs to work closely with the Catoosa County Commission and other regional groups to draw industry.

He said the should do more to promote its historic sites and added that improved signage might lure in a tourists, who would buy from local merchants.

“We’ve got several stories about the community that are essentially untold,” Mr. Franks said.

Mr. Bryson said the current council had steered the city in the right direction and his biggest project would likely be installing additional sidewalks near the schools.