People

Ron Shultis, former policy and researcher director for the Beacon Center of Tennessee, has been selected as the new chief of staff for Jackson Mayor Scott Conger. Prior to spending seven years with the Beacon Center, Shultis worked for several years as a corporate immigration paralegal for Zulkie...

Tracey Thurman has been selected as the first director of the waste services department for the city of Nashville. The new department will oversee the city’s trash and recycling operations. Thurman comes to Nashville from more than a decade as the director of solid waste for Lexington, Ky.  Thurman...

John Chambers has been selected as the chief of police for the city of Chattanooga. Chambers most recently served as the assistant chief of the department. Chambers has been with the Chattanooga Police Department since May 1999 where he has served as a lieutenant, captain, and major. He began his...

Emily Wood has been selected as the new assistant city administrator for Morristown. Wood has more than 10 years’ experience in municipal government, most recently serving as the town administrator for Mount Carmel. Prior to that she served as a transit planner, city recorder, and certified...

Scotty Smith has been selected to fill the unexpired Camden alderman term left vacant by the death of Travis Pierce in July of this year. Smith will serve the remainder of the term, which expires in November 2026. He is the owner of J & J Equipment in Camden and is a member of the Benton County Fair...

Chris Cummins has been selected as the new fire chief for Columbia Fire and Rescue. Cummings has been serving as the interim chief of the department since March. He has more than three decades of experience with the fire service in Columbia, joining the department as a firefighter in 1990. He served...

Samantha Burnett has been hired as the first full-time city attorney for Mt. Juliet. She comes to the city from serving as an associate at the Howell & Fisher, PLLC law firm for the past five years and will replace the previously contracted legal services for the city. Burnett served as a public...

John Drake, chief of the Metro Nashville Police Department, has been elected president of the board of directors for the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), the nation’s preeminent independent research organization that focuses on critical issues in policing. Drake began his career in law...

Mark Gwyn, former director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), died at the age of 61 at his home in Nashville from natural causes. Gwyn served as director of TBI from 2004 until his retirement in 2018. A native of McMinnville and a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, he began...

Randy Dowling has been hired as the new city manager of the city of Athens. Dowling presently serves as the county manager of Harris County, Ga., and has a long career in government management. He served in county roles in Berrien, Lee, Gordon, Barrow, and Harris counties in Georgia as well as city...

Katrina Amos-Atkins has been appointed the first deputy town administrator for the town of Collierville. She comes to the town from serving as director of the Cape Girardeau, Mo., Regional Airport, where she excelled in capital project management, budget oversight, and grant administration. She...

Jessica Morgan has been selected as the city administrator of Sweetwater, a newly created position by the Sweetwater City Commission. Morgan has been serving as the city recorder for Sweetwater since 2005. Morgan has also been a certified municipal finance officer (CMFO) for the city since 2010. She...