Mayor Tim Kelly announced the realignment of city government earlier this week.
Every new mayoral administration has the opportunity + the directive from Chattanooga’s City Charter to reorganize city government within 60 days of taking office.
Let’s break it down.
What’s staying the same?
The Police, Fire, Finance + Administration, Purchasing, IT, and HR departments will retain their current structure.
What’s changing?
✅ The Department of Economic and Community Development will split into 2 departments.
- The Department of Economic Development | Manages both economic + workforce development as well as real property and brownfields.
- The Department of Community Development | In addition to managing community centers, it will also include neighborhood services and assistance programs + will still coordinate with the Department of Economic Development on workforce assistance.
✅ The Department of Transportation and the Department of Youth and Family Development will not continue as separate departments.
✅ Parts of the Department of Transportation will continue to function under the Department of Public Works — planning functions will operate under the new Department of City Planning, which includes the Regional Planning Agency + Smart Cities, as well as transportation planning, strategic capital planning, and sustainability.
Other new departments
- Department of Early Learning | Manages Head Start and family child care navigators + manages partnerships with Hamilton County Schools and early learning centers.
- Department of Equity and Community Engagement | Contains the functions previously served by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the newly created Office of New Americans, and will also perform community engagement and outreach functions + focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Department of Innovation Delivery and Performance | Oversees the 311 Center, the Office of Performance Management and Open Data, and special performance improvement projects.
- Department of Parks and Outdoors | Consolidates a number of functions from other departments to create a more streamlined department focused on outdoor activities.
Read the full announcement here. (NewsChannel 9)
