People

Beverly Holloway, city clerk for Piperton, was named the 2023 recipient of the Tennessee Association of Municipal Clerks and Reporters (TAMCAR) Clerk of the Year award. Piperton Mayor Henry Coats was also present to help honor Holloway at the 2023 TAMCAR Fall Conference held in Murfreesboro...

Richard Hall, police chief of Germantown, is retiring after 38 years of service with the city. He will be taking a new position as the national director of a training company that works with law enforcement officers and dispatchers. Hall graduated from the University of Memphis – then Memphis State...

Debra Murrell, longtime employee of the city of Lakeland, died Sept. 9, 2023, after a battle with cancer. Murrell was first hired by the city of Lakeland on June 29, 1998 as a utility clerk/minutes clerk and audited the MLGW and sewer accounts and established trash service for new residents. She...

Stephanie Pugh has been selected as the new downtown director for the city of Covington. The newly-created position will coordinate activity within the city’s downtown revitalization program that utilizes historic preservation as an integral foundation for downtown economic development. Pugh...

Jason Miles has been selected as the new public works director for the city of Johnson City. Miles brings more than 25 years of experience to the department and its five divisions: engineering, solid waste, stormwater, streets, and traffic. Miles comes to Johnson City from Fayetteville, N.C., where...

Blake Walley has been selected as the new city manager of Savannah. Walley has been serving as the city’s assistant city manager since 2021. Prior to that, he served in several roles in planning in both the public and private sector including as a planning manager with Oxford, Miss.-based Slaughter...

Holly Kirby has begun her term as the chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court after being elected unanimously to serve a two-year term. She is the fourth ever female chief justice of the court and succeeds Justice Roger Page. Kirby was the first woman to serve on the Tennessee Court of Appeals...

Cheryl Ball has been selected as the new chief policy officer for the city of Knoxville by Mayor Indya Kincannon. Ball has three decades of experience with business operations, strategic planning, marketing communications strategy and stakeholder development. She also has owned and operated her own...

Rebecca “R.J” Justice has been selected as the new chief of Urban Design and Development for the city of Knoxville by Mayor Indya Kincannon. Justice has been involved in the local design and development community for more than 15 years. She started at the city in 2017 as the first urban wilderness...

Jason Quick has been selected as the new city manager for the city of Tullahoma. Quick had previously served as the principal of Tullahoma High School until the end of the 2022-2023 school year. Quick was selected following a process involving input from Tullahoma’s Citizens Committee, an evaluation...

Tom Solomon, longtime city recorder and city manager for the city of Dayton, retired on Sept. 1, 2023. Solomon began his career with the city as a police officer before becoming the city recorder and then holding dual roles as city recorder and manager. David Shinn, former prosecutor for the state...

Harvey Ellis has been selected as the new town manager for the town of Oakland. Prior to the appointment, Ellis served as the town’s director of public works. Ellis has been with the city for 23 years. Dennis Mullins was selected to take on the position of public works director following Ellis’...