The mayor of Chattanooga’s pick to lead the city office that handles community engagement and neighborhood needs is out of the running and her former job after the City Council declined to reconfirm her.
Carol Hunter led Chattanooga’s Office of Community Development starting in 2024. But a plan to keep her in the role failed in June after the City Council chose not to support it. Mayor Tim Kelly has since appointed Cedric Henson as the department’s interim leader. Interim appointments don’t require council approval.
The Community Development Office oversees the city’s community centers, neighborhood services and its office of family empowerment, under Chattanooga’s charter.
Hunter, who’s worked for the city for 10 years, has since moved to a role in the city’s Public Works Department. She was paid $145,000 yearly as the administrator of the Community Development Office, as of February. Henson previously worked as the city’s deputy administrator of public works, where as of February he drew a salary of $131,026.
And Henson is taking the helm of an office in flux. The Community Development Office could soon face changes past personnel, given changes to state law on diversity, equity and inclusion.
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FIT
Hunter’s personnel file, obtained by the Chattanooga Times Free Press, shows no evidence of misconduct, disciplinary actions or poor performance. Hunter did not respond to a voicemail left Wednesday.
Hunter was the first of Kelly’s nominees not to be confirmed by the City Council, which has seen major changes in recent months as longstanding incumbents have left the panel. Carol Berz of Brainerd Hills, the council’s longest serving member as of 2024, died in December and was replaced by her daughter, Jenni Berz, also of Brainerd Hills. Four other new council members — Dennis Clark of Cherokee Woods, Ron Elliott of Missionary Ridge, Cody Harvey of East Brainerd and Jeff Davis of Hixson — were also elected this year, either ousting an incumbent or filling an open seat.
For at least one council member, the choice for community development administrator was about fit.
“I think Carol offers a lot to the city, and I think she could really be an asset. I just didn’t think that was the best fit at that time,” Elliott said by phone. “I think there were some opportunities for growth that were not captured early, on the front end, that I think was initially the goal when Carol first got confirmed.”
Elliott has in the past expressed reservations about other appointments from the Mayor’s Office, including a recent choice to lead the city’s Parks and Outdoors Department.
Asked for a response to the leadership transition, Kelly Press Secretary Stephanie Cepak referred back to comments made by the city’s deputy chief operating officer, Steve Wilson. Wilson in June said that the administration was confident in its choice of Hunter, though it respected the council’s role in the confirmation process.
OTHER OFFICE CHANGES
The Community Development Office is split into three primary divisions and contains a Department of Equity and Community Engagement. The Equity Department, like office leadership, is set for some shifts, according to Kelly’s chief of staff, Kevin Roig.
“What we’re going to do is basically take the component parts of what is today ECE, move most of those into community development and then we are also looking at moving the Office of Community Health … moving that into community development as well,” Roig told members of the City Council.
Henson spoke to the council Tuesday as well, introducing his vision for his interim appointment.
“I see this as a real shared effort with our stakeholders, and definitely guided by transparency and some real collaboration,” Henson told members of the council during a meeting Tuesday. “We have to have a willingness of having candid conversations about what’s working and what’s not.”
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HIRING PROCESS
The job posting for a permanent administrator should be up within 30 days, Kelly’s deputy chief operating officer, Steve Wilson, told the council Tuesday.
The council’s chair, Jenny Hill of North Chattanooga, said she’d prefer to wait to hire until after a budget vote set for later this summer.
“Is the job description going to be focused on getting community development and our community centers to become the community hubs that the administration has been talking about for the last 4 1/2 years?” She asked. “Is where we’re headed? Are we headed somewhere new? Do you even know, because we haven’t finished this budget?”
“For the administrator, I think the assumption on my part would be that the department is going to exist,” Wilson replied in part. “We don’t see that is going away, so that there would still be a need to have someone at the helm of that department, so my plan has been to continue to move forward with putting a new administrator there. But if it’s the wish of the council that we hold on to that, we can certainly have discussions about that.”
Contact government reporter Mariah Franklin at mfranklin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.