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Chattanooga mayor urges localism in speech to business leaders

Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Chattanooga mayor Tim Kelly spoke at the regular month Rotary Club of Chattanooga, at the convention center, on June 5, 2025. Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Chattanooga mayor Tim Kelly spoke at the regular month Rotary Club of Chattanooga, at the convention center, on June 5, 2025.

By Mariah Franklin June 5, 2025 5 min read

Chattanooga’s mayor urged business and community leaders to look locally for support and a path forward in the face of fast-changing national law and policy.

Mayor Tim Kelly won election to a second term in the city’s March 4 elections. In a Thursday speech to the Chattanooga Rotary Club, he noted recent accomplishments and outlined a distilled version of his One Chattanooga plan for the city over the next four years with a heavy emphasis on localism.

Three topics — opening opportunities for all, supporting Chattanooga’s neighborhoods and fostering a more effective, responsive government — dominated his remarks Thursday and, he said, will guide his administration going forward.

Look to your neighbors in the years ahead, he told a crowd gathered in the Chattanooga Convention Center.

Chattanooga mayor urges localism in speech to business leaders

Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly spoke June 5, 2025, at the Rotary Club of Chattanooga meeting at the convention center.

“There’s never been a more important time to think about place,” he said. “It’s no secret to anybody in this room that we are living through a very disruptive time, at the federal level, and culturally, generally.”