Chattanooga native Wade Hinton took over the role of city attorney five years ago, but nearly 30 years before that, he worked for the city in a slightly different capacity.
City attorney Wade Hinton is photographed in his offices in the City Hall Annex on Wednesday, March 8, 2017, in Chattanooga, Tenn.Beginning at just 14 years old, Hinton was an intern for the Department of Public Works two summers in a row, and that's where he got his first real taste of what it was like to work for his hometown. After the internship program dissolved for many years, the Public Works department has once again allocated funding to restart it this summer for 25 high school students, ages 16 to 18.
"I had a better appreciation for the city overall," said Hinton about working in the program. "I think understanding that folks every day are working on projects to make this city a little better - that was something I just wasn't aware of before."
For 10 weeks this summer, the teens will work across six different divisions in the city's Public Works department.
The students are from three area high schools - Brainerd, Howard and Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, according to Public Works administrator Justin Holland. The students will first complete a training at the end of the month before beginning work, which will entail tasks such as mowing green spaces, cleaning out storm drains, picking up litter, working in the mail room and more.
City communications director Richel Albright said it's an opportunity to give teens a new experience that's different from the typical summer jobs they might find, like bagging groceries or working at a restaurant.
"(Public Works) does a lot of great things for our city and they are a huge part of what makes our city thrive and run." she said.
Holland said the program is funded this year through "temporary services" in the 2018 fiscal year budget, but next year the program will be its own line item to make it sustainable year over year.
For the more than three months, the department will use $130,000 for salaries, training, safety equipment, seasonal tools, equipment repair and an employment closing banquet.
Hinton said that when he went through the program, a small group of them would get matched up with supervisors and complete work orders, like clearing brush to make streets more visible for drivers or cleaning overgrowth on city lands. The intern-turned-city attorney said it was one of the first paychecks he ever received. He said he knows of a few friends that went through the program with him and who ended up working in the city department later on.
"It really helped solidify to me the necessity of teamwork to get things done," Hinton said. "It was hard work. It helped give me that work ethic."
Contact staff writer Allison Shirk at ashirk@timesfreepress.com, @Allison_Shirk or 423-757-6651.