Ron Littlefield, City of Chattanooga Mayor

A group responsible for forcing a scheduled recall election of Mayor Ron Littlefield has intervened in the case and will be allowed to participate in a hearing set for Friday.

Jim Folkner, Charles Wysong and Darrell Silvey appeared before Circuit Judge Jeff Hollingsworth today and asked if the recall group could be part of the hearing.

Hollingsworth is scheduled to hear arguments on whether to issue a permanent injunction to stop the August recall election. He allowed the three men to be included in the case, saying it would allow their group, Citizens to Recall Mayor Littlefield, to appeal if necessary.

The mayor and the recall groups have been battling in court for more than 18 months after the Citizens group, along with the Chattanooga Tea Party and Chattanooga Organized for Action, acquired thousands of signatures on petitions calling for his ouster.

The Hamilton County Election Commission certified the recall petitions in November and then set a recall election for August.

For more information, read tomorrow's Times Free Press.