The city of Chattanooga’s former chief operating officer is leaving Mayor Tim Kelly’s administration, according to an internal email.
Ryan Ewalt, hired three years ago to run the city’s day-to-day operations, is the second high-profile resignation in less than a month, as Kelly appears to move more urgently on public projects and his second run for mayor nears.
“While I did not come here to start a long career in government, I felt like I was called for a period of public service, however long it may be,” Ewalt wrote toward the beginning of an email sent to many within city government. “I had never met Mayor Kelly before, and a friend arranged for us to have lunch.
“Quickly I could tell it was about leading operations at the city, and I tried to talk the mayor out of it,” Ewalt continued. “I wasn’t from Chattanooga, I didn’t know many people here, I don’t like politics — he said none of that mattered. Then I told him my faith and family were very important to me and that I was right of center politically — he said he wanted a leadership team that represented all of Chattanooga.”
Before taking the job with the city, Ewalt was an assistant vice president and officer at Chattanooga-based Unum Group (the largest provider of disability insurance in the world) with 17 years of experience in operations management in the insurance, automotive and consulting industries, according to the news release announcing his hire.