People

David Smoak, town administrator of Farragut, has been named president of the Tennessee City Managers Association (TCMA) and will serve as president for one year. Smoak has spent the past year serving as the organization’s vice president and this marks his fourth year on the TCMA Board of Directors...

Jenny Bess Hibbett, the first female mayor of Mt. Juliet, died on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, at the age of 86. Hibbett earned her bachelor’s degree at Tennessee Technological University and her master’s from Peabody College. She was an educator for 54 years, serving in Metro Nashville and founded the...

Former Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton, family members, and community leaders were present to unveil a monument honoring Wharton at the beginning of the Shelby Farms Greenline. Wharton led the efforts to convert the nearly 11-mile stretch of railroad tracks into a paved path for use by walkers, runners...

Mary Aveni has been selected as the new city administrator of Decherd. A native of Franklin County, Aveni returns to Tennessee from Villa Rica, Ga. She most recently served as a business analyst for the Clay County, Fla., Sherrif’s Office since 2020. Prior to that, she was the owner and consultant...

The city of Huntingdon has renamed its city hall the Dale R. Kelley Center in honor of late Mayor Dale Kelley. In addition to his long service to the city as mayor, Kelley also served as a state representative, county commissioner, county assessor, commissioner of transportation, commissioner of...

Bruce Applegate, deputy city manager of the city of Alcoa, recently received the credentialed manager designation from ICMA. He is one of more than, 1,300 local government management professionals currently credentialed through the ICMA Voluntary Credentialing Program, which requires a member to...

Larry Cox, former Knoxville city councilman, died on Oct. 18, 2023, at the age of 81. A graduate of Fulton High School, Cox served 15 years in the Air National Guard. During that same period, he earned an associate’s degree from Cumberland University and then a bachelor’s degree at Middle Tennessee...

Maurice Shults, police chief of Newport, has announced he will retire in January after marking 20 years as the town’s police chief and more than 40 years in law enforcement. Of those 40 years, 36 have been spent with the Newport Police Department. During his career with NPD, Shults also served as...

Greg Patterson has been selected as the new city manager of Gatlinburg when current City Manager Cindy Cameron Ogle officially retires next March. Patterson presently serves as the assistant city manager for Gatlinburg and has since 2021. Prior to that, he served as the Sevier County trustee, chief...

Janet Hooks, a former Memphis city councilwoman and director of the city’s department of parks and neighborhoods, died Oct. 10, 2023, at the age of 70. Hooks had been serving as a special advisor to the Shelby County Clerk at the time of her death, a position she had been appointed to by the Shelby...

Jamey Owen has been hired as the new assistant finance director for the city of Columbia. She has nearly a decade of experience, including serving as the finance director of Shelbyville and Fayetteville. She has also served in the private sector as a finance manager at Marelli and a senior cost...