(Editor’s note: Second of two parts)
From a childhood as a first-generation U.S. citizen to service during World War II, followed by leadership positions in Chattanooga, including as superintendent of Warner Park and a member of the City Commission, Rudy Olgiati gained a reputation as a leader who understood the needs of a growing city and knew how to leverage state and federal aid to move the city forward in the post-war era.
In a Jan. 4, 1950, address to citizens, Commissioner Olgiati announced his plan for a “major resurfacing job for the third straight year in the campaign to make the city’s streets reasonably acceptable to the citizens.” Funds for the extensive undertaking were available from the $100,000 remaining in the 1948 bond issue and the $100,000 accumulated by monies “saved” through careful expenditures. Additionally, Olgiati pushed forward on “new fire alarms, the Ridge Tunnel and interceptor sewers.”
Two days later, the commissioner spoke to the Chattanooga Co-Operatve Club International and shared news that 1949 had been the “largest single year of community improvements in Chattanooga history” and that 1950 would include several major projects including “the elimination of stream pollution by the sewer construction work.” Olgiati added that the city was within “about $3 million of success” on a program that would eliminate railroad crossings on city streets, already funded at $12 million. The rerouting of most major railroad lines would open the city, which was “hemmed in on the one side by Missionary Ridge, on the other sides by mountains, down the middle by the river and webbed with railroad lines crossing the main thoroughfares.” Economic growth required better traffic patterns for workers and major industries alike.
Touting 15 years of construction industry experience, 12 years in public utilities, streets and sewers for the city, and four years in the Corps of Engineers during World War II, Olgiati announced on Jan. 14, 1951, that he would challenge incumbent Mayor Hugh Wasson in the next election. “I sincerely believe that Chattanooga is standing on the threshold of a progressive future … I shall appreciate the opportunity of serving you as mayor, using all the knowledge and strength that God in His mercy will bestow upon me, in building a greater Chattanooga for our people.”