Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Rick Smith speaks to the media in this file photo.RELATED ARTICLES• Chattanooga: Rick Smith identifies key central office appointments• Smith new Hamilton County schools chief• Chattanooga: Favors says Thurman should step down
The chairman of the Hamilton County school board insists the 5-3 vote to hire Rick Smith as superintendent Thursday night was not forced by political “good old boys” and said he didn’t push the vote because he is a puppet of the County Commission.
But Board of Education members who voted against Smith’s hire and the four-year contract stipulating his $163,500 annual salary said they are embarrassed by the decision, calling the process to select Smith unprofessional, secretive and politically motivated.
“I have never talked to a single county commissioner about (Jim Scales’) buyout or the contract. Rick Smith is not a good old boy. He’s a lifetime educator,” board Chairman Mike Evatt said after the meeting in which discussion was brusque, lasting no longer than 30 minutes.
Board member Linda Mosley, who voted with George Ricks and Jeffrey Wilson against the hiring of Smith, said, “We are really selling ourselves short.”