The remainder of 2022, and likely 2023 as well, will be the perfect time for Hamilton County residents to begin paying more attention to our local leaders. Why? Because Chattanooga and Hamilton County’s new leadership from the top down is unfolding in front of us right now. Starting this week, our community leader relationships will form, get tested and grow. Or not.
We’ve made no secret on this page about how excited we are for change locally — for bringing fresh new thinkers into the county courthouse and city chambers and onto the various boards throughout our locale.
That happened with mostly good success 16 months ago as Tim Kelly took over as mayor in Chattanooga City Hall. We anticipate it happening again now in the Hamilton County Courthouse and on the Hamilton County Board of Education.
The proof, of course, will be — or not — in the meetings held and the votes taken in the coming weeks and months. How will still-new Mayor Kelly and new County Mayor Weston Wamp get along? How will they navigate sticky issues like the planned new Lookouts Stadium that Kelly supported and Wamp still thinks was too rushed and could be improved to require less public money? How will they find common ground and come together on their shared and most passionate subject: education — from early childhood to K-12 and vocational training?
The stakes are high. We’ve a good new start in these public offices, but we all need to be paying more attention.
What’s more, it’s easier than ever to do so, as most commission and council meetings these days are streamed live and are even available to watch later. Just get some popcorn.
It’s the nuances you’ll often find important. For instance, consider some of the parting words of outgoing Hamilton County commissioners this week as they said goodbye during their last meeting.
Ken Smith, a Chattanooga City Council member and most recently a county commissioner, called outgoing Commissioner Tim Boyd the commission’s biggest bulldog: “No matter the size of the challenge or the bone, when you pick it, you don’t let go,” Smith said, “and it can be misconstrued by many people, but let me tell you, the way you hold true to what you believe in and never waver is truly honorable, and I have truly enjoyed serving alongside you and watching you for years as you pursue those to get to what you believe is rightfully true.”
It was a compliment, and a good one.
Another example: Commissioner Randy Fairbanks, who lost his primary in May to Commissioner-elect Gene-o Shipley, remembered outgoing Commission Chair Sabrena Smedley telling him about a call she had received from a startled constituent who was shocked to hear that Fairbanks, a Republican, was spotted eating lunch with Commissioner David Sharpe, a Democrat.
“When you get up on here to serve, it’s not Republicans or Democrats,” Fairbanks said. “We all have our passions and what we stand for, but it’s not Republicans or Democrats. I’ve worked as closely with my Democrat friends up here as my Republican friends.”
Indeed, it’s not always about party. Smedley, after she didn’t succeed in her bid to win the county mayoral Republican Primary, agreed to explore working for Democratic mayoral nominee Matt Adams should he win the election. Adams didn’t win, and the rest is soon to be history.
Making that history Thursday, the new county mayor swore his oath to the office.
The ceremony made it official that we’ve traded in Hamilton County Mayor Jim “staying-in-his-lane” Coppinger for 35-year-old political firebrand Weston “we’re gonna-bring-a-new-sense-of-urgency-from-day-1” Wamp.
None of this is to say we do not appreciate and respect former Chattanooga Fire Chief Coppinger’s always calm, always steady, usually congenial hand on the wheel of local government. We certainly did. Still do.
And we’re sure — as long-seasoned public watchdogs ourselves, with or without the popcorn — that the new and youthful Wamp and other green elected officials will sometimes stumble.
We must accept and understand this (even with a grumble) just as we sometimes begrudgingly accepted and understood years of stay-in-the-lane caution.
Wamp himself acknowledged as much earlier this week as he talked about some aspects of the county government running well and some aspects being “stuck in the 90s.” Still, he said, he plans on doing his “due diligence” and sitting down with county administrators and directors to learn the vastness of a county government.
“As shot out of a cannon as I am, I’m not in a hurry,” he said. “I’m not in a hurry even in terms of my biggest projects.”
And his planned projects are big. So much so that he is adding two deputy mayor positions — one focused on education and workforce development, and the other focused on economic and community development.
As the song goes, the times — they are a’changing. Google “where can I watch Hamilton County TN commission meetings.” Then google the same for Chattanooga (or any city) council meetings. Get involved. You live here, right? Shape the discussions.