Chattanooga’s mayor is talking over a change that would reshape the way the city government runs — and who runs it.
In recent remarks to the Chattanooga Rotary Club, Mayor Tim Kelly said the time has come for the city to invest in structural shifts. His own office, he said, might stand a few.
Like many mayors, Kelly has the authority to hire and fire department heads and draft the city’s spending in annual budgets. He shapes the way city presents itself to itself and represents Chattanooga in talks with leaders in the county and in state and federal government.
But it might be best for the city if that changes in the future, he said Thursday. He suggested that the city’s structure of government — what he described as a “strong mayor” system where the city mayor oversees daily operations as a typical executive — could shift.