SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. - While most of the municipal leadership across Marion County remained intact after the Nov. 8 election, South Pittsburg's city commission will see a dramatic shift next month.
Virgil Holder defeated Mayor Jane Dawkins, Jimmy Haley Jr. beat Vice Mayor Jimmy Wigfall, and Samantha Rector won over Ray Powers. Those changes might affect the dynamics of the board when the winners are sworn in Dec. 13.
Holder said his main goal as mayor includes getting all the city offices in order and "running properly."
What that means for positions like city administrator remains to be seen, he said.
In July and August 2015, attempts to remove City Administrator Sammy Burrows failed by a single vote each time.
However, Holder said that's a move he hasn't discussed with any of the current or incoming board members "at this point."
"That's something that is a decision that's made by the board," he said. "We're going to look at every department that we have, and see what, if any, changes are needed."
Another point of contention during the election was South Pittsburg's 99 cents-per-$100 property tax rate, which was nearly doubled from its 2013 rate to pay back $802,890 from an illegal transfer of funds by a previous administration under former mayor Mike Killian.
The state gave the town five years to pay that money back, which it has done. But the tax rate - the highest in the county - hasn't gone back down.
"December 14, I will be in [city hall] asking for a financial report to see what our obligations are and how much money we have in the bank," Holder said. "Then we will see what revenues we have coming in. We're going to adjust our tax basis accordingly. I'm like everyone else. I want a lower tax rate."
He said other priorities include building South Pittsburg's youth programs and recruiting businesses.
South Pittsburg's two city parks are overdue for renovations, Holder said, and he wants to examine what can be done to improve them and even add to them.
"We are going to be vigorously going after grants for rebuilding our parks and ball fields at Loyd and Moore Park," he said. "We're going to promote the basketball, baseball and the football programs. We're going to support our youth. We've got to have our youth."
Holder has been the South Pittsburg Housing Authority board's chairman for years, and he said he wants to collaborate with that organization to find space in town for youth soccer fields, too.
"We'll lay us out a game plan, and we will proceed with it," Holder said.
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com