Crossville Resident makes case to council to at least consider hiring David Rutherford back as city manager

With the top six city manager candidate pool down to only 3 left, a letter to council members from Crossville resident Liz Denton has come to light encouraging them to hire David Rutherford back.

Crossville has been without a professional city manager for 9 months since Rutherford was forced out in April 2016. 

Former Crossville city manager David Rutherford

Liz Denton is a Crossville resident who has been involved in the Horizon Initiative but her letter dated January 24 and addressed to all 5 members of the council states she is writing as a concerned and engaged citizen as well as a professional with 30 years experience in the area of organizational psychology 

Denton states, "In two years' worth of my observing both work sessions and Council meetings, it is clear that the different roles of Council (Board of Directors) and City Manager (CEO/President) are not always respected or followed. I question if this occurs because of a lack of clarity or understanding about the differing roles, or, perhaps more problematically, because of a lack of acceptance of this division of roles. Either way, this issue may be part of our city's history of a ridiculous amount of turnover of city managers."

She continues offering the following recommendation, "Since we're at the very beginning of a new year and a new Council and will soon have a new City Manager, professionally I would recommend the Council have a full analysis, discussion and agreement on the specific roles and responsibilities of the Council and the City Manager. There seems to be underlying misunderstanding and disagreement on these issues that by their very existence will create dysfunction and chaos and mistrust on the part of Council members and definitely mistrust on the part of citizens (and, ultimately, it will continue the dysfunctional pattern of city manager turnover)."

Denton said she felt that the manager candidates currently under consideration did not have the experience or qualifications of previous manager David Rutherford who also applied for the position.  She recommended that the council consider Rutherford for the position.  

Denton listed a number of reasons for her recommendation that council consider Rutherford:

• There was standing-room-only attendance during the first special-called suspension meeting and full attendance during the second special-called suspension meeting. This full turnout of concerned citizens occurred despite these two meetings being called with extremely short notice and during the middle of the day, a hardship for those with daytime jobs. And, obvious to anyone listening or paying attention, the overwhelming majority of angry and upset citizens who attended (or were unable to attend but talked extensively about it afterwards) wanted him to stay on board as our City Manager.
• He had an excellent working relationship with the majority of city employees, from department heads to office staff. At political risk to themselves, a significant number of city employees signed a petition to keep him as City Manager.
• His two years experience as our City Manager and familiarity with our entire governance and management system would mean that no time would be wasted with a brand-new person coming on board and having to learn everything and everyone. 
• The majority of citizens I've heard from, including in emails related to a survey I conducted last summer, believed there were no substantive reasons for his termination and who have expressed a wish that he was again our City Manager. You may not realize the anger that his termination generated among the citizenry at large, and I've heard comments related to that ever since and as recent as last week.

Denton talked about the history and her concern about "shady and sweetheart deals in Crossville's past and summed up her letter with the following statement, "Our community needs to heal. We need to collectively develop trust, optimism, citizen engagement and support of our elected officials, and more respect for citizens on the part of Council members. I strongly believe a re-hiring of David Rutherford would help heal the relationship of our Council and our citizenry and would show such good faith on the part of this new Council that the majority of citizens would rally round and support the Council. We could all move forward working together to solve our problems and realize more of the potential of our very wonderful community."

Crossville city council to interview four manager candidates Monday and Tuesday. See full resumes here

After interviewing the four candidates for new city manager in a video conference, the council agreed that they liked all of them well enough to bring all four in for face to face interviews that will take place on Monday and Tuesday January 30 and 31.  

Council members did an initial round of video interviews. 

Here candidate Dennis Sparks is interviewed.

The council has set an hour for each interview and will talk to Dennis Sparks on Monday at 5 PM and Steve Foote on Monday at 6 PM.  The meetings are listed as workj sessions so no final decision can be made officially and they will be held in the third floor conference room 317.

Sparks Resume 1

Sparks Resume 2

Foote Resume 1

Foote Resume 2

On Tuesday the council will meet with Greg Wood at 5 PM and Mark Reeter at 6 PM.

Wood Resume 1

Wood Resume 2

Wood Resume 3

Reeter Resume

City Council's Friday work session for manager interviews moved to 6 PM

In order to allow Crossville council members to attend the visitation for former Crossville Mayor Earl Dean, the time of Friday night's interview with candidate Greg Wood will be at 6 PM and Steve Foote will be interviewed at 7 PM.  The third interviewee Tina Tuggle has removed her name from consideration.  

The visitation for Earl Dean is from 5-7 PM at Bilbrey's Funeral home and this will allow council and city employees time to attend before the meeting.

Two in final 6 city manager candidates picked to interview drop out of the running.

With two work session set for this week council has two less candidates for city manager to choose from.  The council picked 6 candidates to interview by video conference but two of those 6 have notified the city they have pulled their names from consideration.

The two candidates who have withdrawn are Tina Tuggle from Kingston TN who was city manager at Oliver Springs and Cary Colaianni of Eagle Idaho.

Tonight the council will interview

Dennis Sparks of Hopewell Virginia at 5 PM and Mark K. Reeter of Bristol VA at 6 PM.

On Friday the schedule may change but tentatively council will interview Greg Wood at 5 PM and Steve Foote at 6 PM.

Mayor James Mayberry has called for a special meeting Tuesday at Noon, subject Steve Hill's job

Crossville mayor James Mayberry has called for a special meeting Tuesday at noon to discuss the removal of Steve Hill as city manager.  The text of the single agenda item, removal of city manager says, "Due to pending litigation, revelations from grievance at Personnel Board meeting, and insecurity among employees, Mayor Mayberry feels it is in the best interest of the City to terminate Mr. Hill."

Mayor Mayberry calls for Hill's dismissal

In addition to possible action firing Hill as interim city manager, council will also discuss an interim city manager to replace Hill until a new city manager can be hired.

It is extremely rare for a special meeting to be called in the middle of a holiday weekend.

Steve Hill

Crossville council meetings back on Tuesday evening, discussion on city manager hiring and land for animal shelter

The Crossville city council returns to holding their regular meetings on Tuesday evening January 10, 2017 and will consider the selection of a new city manager, donating land for a possible new animal shelter, and the possibility of a city special census among other items on the agenda.

The council's schedule for the evening starts with the audit committee meeting at 5:15 PM, moves to the Beer Board at 5:45 PM and regular council meeting starts at 6:00 PM. Also for the first time, public comment from the public has been moved to near the start of the agenda.

Several of the agenda items were discussed at last weeks work session and the council was to have a list of their initial top picks from the candidates for city manager for tabulation by the meeting. Three additional candidates submitted resumes late last week. The council is accepting resumes through January 16 but is hoping to get a jump on possible interviews as soon as possible.

At the work session, councilman Scot Shanks said, I really feel like we need to move forward with interviewing for the city manager position.” Mayor James Mayberry agreed saying they could start interviewing finalists before the deadline by having each council member come up with a list of names and see how that narrows down the list.

Councilman Scot Shanks

Initial interviews may be done through the internet and city clerk Sally Oglesby said the city staff was working on setting that up for the council's use. There was some discussion of what kind of questions and how that would be handled. The main thing councilman Shanks felt was that the process needed to be started. He said he had a list of 6 or 7 names he'd picked out and other council members said they also had chosen names from the list.

Council was given a deadline of Monday to send in their lists and a breakdown would be available at the meeting.

During the work session, council also heard from Dr. Mark Hendrixson on behalf of the local group that wants to see a better facility for the city/county animal shelter. The group FOCCAS (Focus on Cumberland County Animal Shelter) is seeking to raise some $500,000 for a new adoption center that will be built next to the animal shelter but they are seeking a better location for the shelter then its current location.

Dr. Mark Hendrixson, standing, talks to the council about FOCCAS plans

for improvements of the city/county animal shelter during a work session.

According to Hendrixson, the county is planning to redo the animal shelter and FOCCAS is attempting to raise additional funds for the adoption center. Hendrixson described what a poor site for the shelter the current location is and is asking that the city donate 3 to 5 acres behind the current city dog park that a new shelter could be built on with the adoption center adjacent to it. The city and county have budgeted $180,000 together for building program of shelter in the current fiscal year.

FOCCAS had asked the county to delay the start of the project as they work to raise the additional funds but the county wants to get the project underway. The project would be in the location of the current shelter that FOCCAS describes as not community friendly while the location near Centennial Park would be more easily accessible and easier to get donations for. Council will consider the group's request at the meeting.

Based on discussion at the work session, it appears likely the council will put off a special census until next year. There are several time lines that must be met for a special census including a January first deadline to notify the state and a March deadline to have the census complete so it can be reviewed for certification. Dave Warner, who managed the last special census recommended that the city wait until 2018 to do the census.

Warner has said he does not want to do the census again and it may be difficult to find a firm to take over that work. The council had approved the first reading of a budget amendment for $30,000 to fund the census at the December meeting. It is unclear what action the council will take at the meeting.

Council will also consider providing sewer service to a property on Deep Draw Road that is out side the city limits and removing lumber on the city's Maryetta Road property being considered for an industrial project.

First meeting for new city council expected to restore work sessions and look toward new city manager

The first regular city council meeting after new members Scot Shanks and J. H. Graham are sworn in will be Thursday December 8 and may see the return to monthly work sessions and possibly a return to council meetings on Tuesdays.

In addition, council will elect a mayor pro-tem, and appoint a city judge.

The council's evening starts off at 5:00 PM with the monthly audit committee meeting and will be followed by a closed executive session with city attorney Will Ridley at 5:30 PM. The council meeting as the beer board is scheduled for 5:45 and a public hearing on annexation progress report for 103 Meadowview Ln will be held at 5:50.

The council's regular agenda starts at 6:00 PM. Under the consent agenda, council is expected to approve first reading on the removal of two sections of the city code. One section, 11-703 concerns the circulation of unsigned material that J. R. Blankenship was prosecuted under but the city has agreed to rescind the charges at the $1500 fine assessed by the city judge in the case. The second section 11-705 addresses “posting notices and the like” and is also proposed for removal.

Section 11-703 states:

(A) It shall be unlawful for any person, organization or corporation, or other entity, to circulate or cause to be circulated, or to aid in any way the circulation of, or to attempt to circulate in the city, any unsigned printed, typed, reproduced, mimeographed, written or other papers or materials containing print, type, reproduction, mimeographed, written or other reading matter, excepting for the circulation of the regular newspapers in their routine business in publishing and circulating their papers.

   (B)   All written or printed circulars, advertisements or other statements with reference to any person who is a candidate for any public office in the city or with reference to any election in the city for any purpose, shall be signed by the writer thereof, or, if the same purport to be issued by any committee, or organization or other similar associations, the same shall be signed with the names of the principal officer of the association.

   (C)  UNSIGNED means any papers or matters as are described in section one thereof which do not contain the genuine signature of the person, or the principal of any organization causing same to be produced or reproduced or having same produced or reproduced.

   (D)   The possession in the city of more than three of any unsigned printed, typed, reproduced, mimeographed, written or other paper or materials containing such as described in this section, excepting the circulation of a regular newspaper, will be prima facie evidence that there has been a circulation of such in violation of this section.

11-705 states:

No person shall fasten, in any way, any show-card, poster or other advertising device upon any public or private property unless legally authorized to do so.

Other items under the consent agenda include a contract with Larry Kidwell of Kidwell & Co. for financial consultations and a contract on the transfer of waterlines from South Cumberland Utility District to the city.

After over 5 years, the bids on construction of the sidewalks on Fourth Street and Myrtle Avenue have been approved and work has started on the project. The TDOT grant will fund nearly $403,000 of the work and the city will fund just over $146,500 of the total project. On the agenda is the first reading of a budget amendment for $250,000 necessary to fund the city's match and additional work to complete the project.

Council will consider approval of a TDEC grant for site preparation on a 20 acre site in the Interstate Business Park. The grant along with the city's matching funds will construct a pad ready for construction of an up to 200,000 square foot industrial building. The grant will be discussed during council's Monday work session.

Council will consider the possibility of a special census in the city limits, an activity that has be financially beneficial to the city in past years. Other items council will consider is health insurance for the city judge and city attorney as well as a property tax freeze for eligible senior citizens.

A discussion on the process for interviewing candidates for city manager is also up for discussion on the agenda and council will revisit the request from CCHS for assistance in renovation of the Jets football field. The project has a total estimated cost of $100,000 and CCHS has a commitment so far for $10,000.   

Three new Crossville applicants for city manager position including interim city manager. 36 applications in place

Even though he came within one vote of being dismissed at the last council meeting, interim city manager has put in an application for the regular city manager position that the city council will fill sometime after the upcoming election.

The deadline to accept applications has now passed and there are a total of 32 applicants for the position and all the resumes will be forward to the Municipal Technical Advisory Service for review and ranking. That information will then be returned to the council for their review and selection of the applicants they would like to interview.

The newest applicants are:

Steve Hill, currently serving in the position of interim city manager after taking early retirement as the city's parks and recreation director in 2015. Hill has a BS in Business Administration from Tennessee Tech.

Bill Atkinson of Crossville currently is self employed and runs his own internet marketing firm. His previous work include management of several newspaper groups from 2003 to 2012 and he holds a BBA in Business Administration from Tarleton State University.

Bert Kenyon of Crossville currently operates Bert Kenyon & Associates, a consulting firm. Kenyon's previous employment includes Sr. VP of Yard World from 2008 to 2013 in Springville Utah. Kenyon has many years of sales and marketing experience and college classes in engineering and business.

James Hubbard of Bedford Texas currently serves and the assistant to the city manager at Colleyville Texas. Hubbard has held that position since January 2016 and prior to that served as the city's parks manager and a management analyst. He holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington.

James E. Ayers II of Asheville NC currently serves as the general services director of Asheville, a position he has held since October 2014. Prior Ayers served as assistant town manager and director of engineering and public works of Bluffton SC from 2008 to 2014. He holds a Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University and a BS in Engineering from Vanderbilt.

Ryan Schmidt of Nashport Ohio is currently manager of Stone division and landscape design. From 2010 to 2016 her served as general manager of the Vista golf course at Nashport OH. He has a BS in Horticulture and agriculture from Ohio State University.

Calvin Anderson of Coconut Florida currenlty serves a VP and chief audit executive of internal audit business consulting. He's held that position since 2014. Prior to that he served as director and chief internal auditor of the Ghazi District Council in Botswana South Africa. He holds an MPA and a BS in Accounting from Long Island University.

Micah Chappell of Moscow Idaho serves as building official for the city of Moscow ID. From 2007 to 20013 he served as supervising building inspector and Sr. plans examiner at Big Bear Lake California. Chappell holds a BS in Administration and Management from Columbia Southern University.  

Previous applicants include:

Terence Arrington of Greenville SC whose last job is county administrator for Darlignton Co. South Carolina. Arrignton served in that position from 1-2015 through 8-2016. Arrington has a Masters of Public Administration and is working toward and MBA. He has government experience since 2011 including deputy city administrator of Salisbury MD from 1-2014 to 1-2015.

Wayne R. Bodie of Orlando Florida currently serves as a captain in the Orange Co. fire and rescue department. He has worked for the department since 2005. Bodie holds an MBA and also works as a fire instructor. He has previous experience in financial services.

Robert G. Bray, Jr. of Pinellas Park Florida is seeking the position after retiring as the Community Planning Director for Pinellas Park Florida between 1995 and 2016.  Prior to that Bray had additional planning experience from 1985-95.  He also has a Masters of Public Adminsitration.  

Carl Brown of Tampa Florida is currently the senior financial analyst for the City of Tampa Florida and has held that position since June 2015. He oversees the fire department and police department budgets. From July 2014 to June 2015 he was a budget and management analyst for the Department of Homeland Security at Santa Fe New Mexico. Mr. Brown has a Masters of Public Administration in city management, economic development and urban planning from East Tennessee State University. He was an actor in Los Angles for 11 years.

David R. Burkett of Apple Valley CA currently serves as the project construction manager of Hesperia CA, a position he's held since 2005.  Previously he served as a project engineer for Yucca Valley CA and he has a BS in Business and Public Administration from University of Phoenix.

Mike Chesney of Knoxville holds an MBA and is currently the administrator of the First Baptist Church of Morristown. The church has 70 employees and $3.1 million budget. From 2013 to 2015, Chesney served as the interim city manager of Millington Tennessee. Prior experience included many years of telecommunications and cable management.

Cary Colaianni of Eagle Idaho holds a masters in public administration as well as a Doctor of Jurisprudence (Law degree). Mr. Colaianni has 20 years of experience in municipal government including from 2004 to 2014 as the city attorney and law department director for Bosie Idaho. The department had 51 employees. From 1991 to 2004, he served as the Ada County prosecuting attorney in Bosie Idaho.

Steve Foote of Dunwoody Georgia serves that community as the Director of Economic and Community Development. He has served in that capacity as the employee of a contractor starting in 2014 and now as a direct employee of the city. Previously Foote served as director of planning for Mt. Juliet Tennessee from 2009 to 2014. Foote's education includes a BS in Geography and Biology and graduate work toward an Masters in Geography.

Bobby Goney of Crossville is a registered nurse that has worked in intensive care for the last several years, curently in Sparta and prior for Cumberland Medical Center. He holds an MBA in healthcare administration. In addition, Goney has previous experience in banking and accounting.

Jason Hall of Lyons Georgia where he has served as the current city manager since april of 2013. His previous experience includes serving as city administrator of Varnell Georgia between 2011 and 2013 and a codes enforcement officer for Ringgold Georgia from 2004 to 2011. Hall has an associates degree in education and additional course work in business management

Steven Hicks of Orlando Florida who previously worked as chief compliance officer for MasterCorp, Inc. 

Frank Horvath of Crossville whose resume lists his current position as business and project manager of Crossville Smiles since January 2013. Mr. Horvath holds an MBA from University of Indianapolis and previously worked as project manager for SciSaves, LLC

Lane Hayden Jones of Bonham Texas served as the deputy chief of staff-CEO of business operations for the Marine Corps community services for Camp Pendleton California. He currently works as a business analyst for the firm of Mason, Norris & Associates.

Daron E. Jordan of Madisonville Kentucky serves as that city's community development director, a position he has held since 2005. He holds a masters degree in organizational management, is a certified economic developer and also operates a consulting firm that specializes in grant writing and administration.

Holly Lockhart of Holly Springs NC currently works as an inside sales representative for Boon Adams where she has worked since 2014.  She has experience in sales, consulting and insurance. She holds a Masters in Public Administration and her cover letter says she would consider negotiating a lower salary because she does not have the years experience requested.  

Catrina Maxwell of Milwaukee Wisconsin currently serves as the deputy clerk of the court for Milwaukee county. Ms. Maxwell holds a Master's degree in public service with a specialization in criminal justice administration.

Allen May of Urbanville IA last held the position of city administrator of Coal Valley Illinois. He started serving in that position in 2014. Prior to that position, May has zoning and planning experience back to 1974.

Jennifer James-Mesloh of Marquette MI holds a PhD in public affairs and a Masters in Public Administration.  Since 2013 she has served as assistant professor and program coordinator of the MPA program at Northern Michigan University.  In addition, she has worked for Advanced Research, Inc, a consulting business since 2003 as a consultant to public and non-profit agencies.

Louis A. Ogaard of West Valley City Utah holds a PhD in Botany and has 20 years experience with the state of North Dokota where he manage and environmental restoration program. His latest position was providing environmental support at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.

Michael P. Putt, Sr. of Memphis seeks the city manager position.  He has worked for the Memphis fire department since 1984 having retired earlier this year as director of fire services, a position he held since 2014.  He served as deputy director of fire services from 2008 to 2014.

Adam R. Rabe of Marengo Iowa. Mr. Rabe has served as director of the Iowa Co. Iowa EMS since 2008. Part of his tenure was as a hospital employee then the EMS service became part of the county operation. In addition, Rabe served 8 years on the Marengo city council, currently serves on the local 911 board and holds a BS in public administration.

Sammy J. Ragsdale of Dodge City, Kansas is the assistant county administrator of Ford County Kansas and from September 2015 to March 2016 he was the chief financial officer of the High Country Council of Governments at Boone County North Carolina. Previous positions incude a city management consultant in Burlington Colorado, City manager of Clifton Texas and a US Navy veteran. He has a BS degree and graduate work towards an MBA.

Christian Saxe currently holds the position of assistant public works director at Spring Hill Tennessee, a position he's held since October of 2015. From 2008 to 2015 Saxe was deputy director of public works for the city of Orange California. He holds a bachelors degree in public administration.

Rod Shoap of Crossville TN has a Masters in Public Administration and is a graduate of the FBI Academy.  He served as interim Crossville police chief until July 2016.  Previously Mr. Shoap served as Maury County magistrate, director of planning for the Williamson County sheriff's department and sheriff of Lee County Florida after many years working for that department.  

Harry Staven of Richland WA most recently worked as the finance director of Bandon OR and before that as city administrator/planner of Hoona AK.  He worked in municipal management since 1989 at various levels.  He served 6 years on the board of the Richland WA housing authority.  He holds a Masters of Public Administration.

Dennis Sparks of Hopewell Virginia has experience as various city/village managers from 1999 to 2005 in several different states. Sparks is currently a management and aviation consultant as well as a pilot and flight instruction. Sparks has an MBA.

Tina Tuggle of Kingston Tennessee is currently a municipal finance trainer and previously served as the city manager of Oliver Springs Tennessee from June 2012 to November 2014. She also served as Oliver Springs' city recorder from 2010 to 2012. She holds an associate degree in legal science. 

Greg Wood of Baker Florida has a masters of public administration from the University of Florida. From 2013 to 2016 Mr. Wood has served as the county administrator of Harris County Georgia. From 2010 to 2012 he served as the county manager for Jasper County Georgia and from 2007 to 2009 as the county administrator of Holmes Co. Florida and similar experience back to 1984.

Previous applicant Jordan Shaw of Franklin TN requested that his name be removed from consideration for the position.  

Rod Shoap and 23 other candidates seeking Crossville city manager position

Six new applicants have submitted resumes for the Crossville city manager position including one name most local residents will recognize.

Former interim Crossville police chief Rod Shoap has submitted his resume seeking the position of city manager, a position expected to be filled around the time 2 newly elected council members take office on December 5.

5 additional applications have been received and according to Crossville HR coordinator Leah Crockett, one previous candidate has requested his name be removed from consideration.

The new candidates include:

Rod Shoap of Crossville TN has a Masters in Public Administration and is a graduate of the FBI Academy.  He served as interim Crossville police chief until July 2016.  Previously Mr. Shoap served as Maury County magistrate, director of planning for the Williamson County sheriff's department and sheriff of Lee County Florida after many years working for that department.  

Rod Shoap

David R. Burkett of Apple Valley CA currently serves as the project construction manager of Hesperia CA, a position he's held since 2005.  Previously he served as a project engineer for Yucca Valley CA and he has a BS in Business and Public Administration from University of Phoenix.

Holly Lockhart of Holly Springs NC currently works as an inside sales representative for Boon Adams where she has worked since 2014.  She has experience in sales, consulting and insurance. She holds a Masters in Public Administration and her cover letter says she would consider negotiating a lower salary because she does not have the years experience requested.  

Jennifer James-Mesloh of Marquette MI holds a PhD in public affairs and a Masters in Public Administration.  Since 2013 she has served as assistant professor and program coordinator of the MPA program at Northern Michigan University.  In addition, she has worked for Advanced Research, Inc, a consulting business since 2003 as a consultant to public and non-profit agencies.

 Michael P. Putt, Sr. of Memphis seeks the city manager position.  He has worked for the Memphis fire department since 1984 having retired earlier this year as director of fire services, a position he held since 2014.  He served as deputy director of fire services from 2008 to 2014.

Harry Slaven of Richland WA most recently worked as the finance director of Bandon OR and before that as city administrator/planner of Hoona AK.  He worked in municipal management since 1989 at various levels.  He served 6 years on the board of the Richland WA housing authority.  He holds a Masters of Public Administration.

Previous applicant Jordan Shaw of Franklin TN requested that his name be removed from consideration for the position.  

The other remaining candidates are:

Wayne R. Bodie of Orlando Florida currently serves as a captain in the Orange Co. fire and rescue department. He has worked for the department since 2005. Bodie holds an MBA and also works as a fire instructor. He has previous experience in financial services.

Robert G. Bray, Jr. of Pinellas Park Florida is seeking the position after retiring as the Community Planning Director for Pinellas Park Florida between 1995 and 2016.  Prior to that Bray had additional planning experience from 1985-95.  He also has a Masters of Public Adminsitration.  

Carl Brown of Tampa Florida is currently the senior financial analyst for the City of Tampa Florida and has held that position since June 2015. He oversees the fire department and police department budgets. From July 2014 to June 2015 he was a budget and management analyst for the Department of Homeland Security at Santa Fe New Mexico. Mr. Brown has a Masters of Public Administration in city management, economic development and urban planning from East Tennessee State University. He was an actor in Los Angles for 11 years.

Mike Chesney of Knoxville holds an MBA and is currently the administrator of the First Baptist Church of Morristown. The church has 70 employees and $3.1 million budget. From 2013 to 2015, Chesney served as the interim city manager of Millington Tennessee. Prior experience included many years of telecommunications and cable management.

Cary Colaianni of Eagle Idaho holds a masters in public administration as well as a Doctor of Jurisprudence (Law degree). Mr. Colaianni has 20 years of experience in municipal government including from 2004 to 2014 as the city attorney and law department director for Bosie Idaho. The department had 51 employees. From 1991 to 2004, he served as the Ada County prosecuting attorney in Bosie Idaho.

Steve Foote of Dunwoody Georgia serves that community as the Director of Economic and Community Development. He has served in that capacity as the employee of a contractor starting in 2014 and now as a direct employee of the city. Previously Foote served as director of planning for Mt. Juliet Tennessee from 2009 to 2014. Foote's education includes a BS in Geography and Biology and graduate work toward an Masters in Geography.

Jason Hall of Lyons Georgia where he has served as the current city manager since april of 2013. His previous experience includes serving as city administrator of Varnell Georgia between 2011 and 2013 and a codes enforcement officer for Ringgold Georgia from 2004 to 2011. Hall has an associates degree in education and additional course work in business management

The only local applicant so far is Frank Horvath whose resume lists his current position as business and project manager of Crossville Smiles since January 2013. Mr. Horvath holds an MBA from University of Indianapolis and previously worked as project manager for SciSaves, LLC

Lane Hayden Jones of Bonham Texas served as the deputy chief of staff-CEO of business operations for the Marine Corps community services for Camp Pendleton California. He currently works as a business analyst for the firm of Mason, Norris & Associates.

Daron E. Jordan of Madisonville Kentucky serves as that city's community development director, a position he has held since 2005. He holds a masters degree in organizational management, is a certified economic developer and also operates a consulting firm that specializes in grant writing and administration.

Catrina Maxwell of Milwaukee Wisconsin currently serves as the deputy clerk of the court for Milwaukee county. Ms. Maxwell holds a Master's degree in public service with a specialization in criminal justice administration.

Louis A. Ogaard of West Valley City Utah holds a PhD in Botany and has 20 years experience with the state of North Dokota where he manage and environmental restoration program. His latest position was providing environmental support at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.

Adam R. Rabe of Marengo Iowa. Mr. Rabe has served as director of the Iowa Co. Iowa EMS since 2008. Part of his tenure was as a hospital employee then the EMS service became part of the county operation. In addition, Rabe served 8 years on the Marengo city council, currently serves on the local 911 board and holds a BS in public administration.

Sammy J. Ragsdale of Dodge City, Kansas is the assistant county administrator of Ford County Kansas and from September 2015 to March 2016 he was the chief financial officer of the High Country Council of Governments at Boone County North Carolina. Previous positions incude a city management consultant in Burlington Colorado, City manager of Clifton Texas and a US Navy veteran. He has a BS degree and graduate work towards an MBA.

Christian Saxe currently holds the position of assistant public works director at Spring Hill Tennessee, a position he's held since October of 2015. From 2008 to 2015 Saxe was deputy director of public works for the city of Orange California. He holds a bachelors degree in public administration.

Dennis Sparks of Hopewell Virginia has experience as various city/village managers from 1999 to 2005 in several different states. Sparks is currently a management and aviation consultant as well as a pilot and flight instruction. Sparks has an MBA.

Tina Tuggle of Kingston Tennessee is currently a municipal finance trainer and previously served as the city manager of Oliver Springs Tennessee from June 2012 to November 2014. She also served as Oliver Springs' city recorder from 2010 to 2012. She holds an associate degree in legal science. 

Greg Wood of Baker Florida has a masters of public administration from the University of Florida. From 2013 to 2016 Mr. Wood has served as the county administrator of Harris County Georgia. From 2010 to 2012 he served as the county manager for Jasper County Georgia and from 2007 to 2009 as the county administrator of Holmes Co. Florida and similar experience back to 1984.

City council extends deadline for city manager applications--council candidates appreciative but discussions less then friendly

The regular September Crossville city council meeting had moments of anger and shouting between some members as discussions of the hiring of a new city manager came up on the agenda.

In addition, apparent angry words from one council member to one candidate were caught on security video.

L-R, Council members Souza, Wyatt, Mayberry, Harris and Kerley

Councilman Pete Souza asked for the item on the agenda and requested three minutes to speak on the matter, saying he did not want to make a motion. Mayor James Mayberry supported his motion to speak but councilman Jesse Kerley immediate called a point of order saying that a motion to suspend the rules was required as you can't just make a motion to give the floor away.

Kerley looked to city attorney Will Ridley who said that a motion had to be made to do something and then speak to the motion or a motion to suspend the standing rules was needed.

Mr. Souza argued saying, “I've set her over and over when people have made motions and discussed stuff with no action over and over.”

Ridley answered, “The mayor runs the meeting and it's his call. If you want to overrule him, you're welcome to appeal the decision.” Ridley added that to suspend the rules requires a ¾ vote that would need 4 votes for approval.

Full discussion of city manager deadline extension

Souza then moved that the city council not act on the appointment of a city manager until after the upcoming city council election. Mayor Mayberry gave the second. That elicited a point of order from Mr. Kerley saying that the previous motion on hiring the city manager from July needed to be rescinded again.

Mayor Mayberry said, “You all voted out having work sessions and you said that we didn't need work sessions because we needed transparency by doing more things at the council meeting and here we are at a council meeting and we can't discuss items.

After a comment by councilman Danny Wyatt, Mr. Ridley stood to say that if Mr. Souza wanted to restate his motion but before he could finish the statement Mr. Souza jumped in saying, “All I want to do is talk for 3 minutes. That's all I want. I don't even want to do a motion. It is pretty poor when the city elects me to represent them and I'm not even allowed to speak at a council meeting for three minutes? That's pretty ridiculous.”

Souza finally agrees to make the motion and takes the floor. Souza discusses the petition from the candidates for city council in the upcoming election asking that the council put off the hiring until the new council takes offices. Souza says if the current council hires a manager in October, they could be removed by the new council in December at a cost of up to 6 months of salary.

When Souza is through, Mr. Wyatt says there seems to be some confusion, “The action in July didn't say anything about hiring a city manager by this council, just that we were going to accept resumes for 60 days.”

Wyatt continued by making a motion to rescind the previous action and extend the acceptance of resumes to October 15 and those would all be forwarded to MTAS, the Municipal Technical Advisory Service for rating and ranking to be returned to the council by November 15. Council member Pam Harris seconded that motion though Mr. Souza's motion remained on the floor.

Harris then addressed the controversy, “I don't know what in the world has got this all blown out of proportion. Lets use some common sense here, if you take resumes until September 30 and then you turn them over to MTAS, obviously they got to have time to rank them. The whole idea was to get the ball rolling down the road.”

Mr. Souza thanked Mr. Wyatt and Ms. Harris and the motion to extend the deadline to October 15 passed unanimously.

During the time of public comment, council candidate J. T. Brownstead got up to speak and thanked the council for changing the timeline.

City Council Candidate J. T. Brownstead thanks council for the action on hiring city manager.

After the meeting ended, Brownstead tried to go to each council member and thank them individually but got a cold reception from Mr. Kerley. In the video below you can see Kerley refuses to shake hands with Brownstead and then shakes his finger at Brownstead making several comments. According to Brownstead Kerley accused him of making signs for J. R. Blankenship, something Brownstead said he had nothing to do with. Blankenship and Kerley have made numerous accusations against each other for several months. In addition Kerley accused Brownstead of being in the parking lot with Blankenship but Brownstead was in the council chambers sitting with another council candidate Terri Neal Manning instead.

Silent video of interaction between councilman Jesse Kerley and candidate J. T. Brownstead

Crossville council candidates petitioning city council to delay hiring a new city manager.

UPDATE: Terri Manning has signed the petition as of the evening of 9-6-16.  Seven out of 8 candidates have signed to ask the current council to delay the hiring of a new city manager.

In a unique action, most of the 8 Crossville city council candidates have agreed to jointly sign a petition directed at the current city council requesting that they delay the hiring of a new city manager.

Council candidate Jerry T. Brownstead came up with the plan and worked to contact the rest of the council candidates to see if they agreed with signing the petition. Brownstead said he plans to present the petition to the council during the time of public comment at the regular September meeting on Thursday.

The city is currently accepting city manager applications until September 30 and with just over a month between that deadline and the November 8 election the current city council could easily hire a new city manager before the election.  Councilman Pete Souza has put an item on this weeks agenda hoping for action to delay the hiring until after the two new council members replacing Souza and councilman Jesse Kerley take their seats on the council. 

Seven of the candidates have signed the petition and one candidate, former mayor J. H. Graham declined to sign the petition.  Brownstead said he had left a message for candidate Terri Manning who has now signed the petition as well.

Brownstead said he felt the joint effort shows that the candidates that are running are willing to work together.

The petition says,

To the Crossville city council:

We, the undersigned candidates do uniformly petition the Crossville city council council to refrain from appointing the city manager until such time as the newly elected council members take office.  
It is our belief that as two of us must work in harmony with the council and city manager, we should all emerge from this election in concert with our goal of unity.

The signatures of the six candidates are below. Those signing include Mr. Brownstead who instituted the petition, Charles Cooper, Jr., Rob Harrison, Jeannette Parsons, Scot Shanks, and David Warner.