CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke is dismissing an opponent's suggestions that internal documents show the incumbent was preoccupied with statewide office or a Cabinet post had Democrats won last year's presidential election.

Berke tells the Chattanooga Times Free Press (http://bit.ly/2kAJDfj) that the papers distributed by rival Larry Grohn were in fact written as graduate school assignments by his chief of staff, Stacy Richardson.

A presentation titled "Making 2016 the Best Berke Year Yet" focused on raising the mayor's statewide profile, which the mayor said is part of his re-election effort.

Another called "Reaching Peak Performance" details plans to hire and train staff and resolve issues at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Berke says the second assignment was for Richardson to assume she herself had been appointed to the federal agency.