There was a terror attack, a tragic school bus wreck, a multi-day water outage, a tornado, civil unrest prompted by police brutality in other cities, a pandemic and two recessions – all in the eight years that Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke held office.
He – and we – remember these trying times well. But we also remember the city’s triumph coming through them.
“Our struggles are real, but so are our blessings,” Berke told us Thursday in recalling Chattanooga’s perseverance story during his final State of the City address.
Along the way through Berke’s eight years in office, we’ve seen:
* Savings that are expected to approach $227 million over 20 years in fire and police pension fund payouts, thanks to Berke’s early negotiations with the unions;