People

Max Winitz has been selected as the new public information officer for the Franklin Police Department, becoming the first PIO for the department who isn’t a sworn officer in the department. Winitz spent more than two years as the media relations coordinator for Blood Assurance before coming to...

Eric Ault has been selected as the new personnel director for the city of Oak Ridge. Ault has been with the city since February 2020 when he was hired as a process improvement specialist in the city’s electric department. He was then promoted to assistant to the city manager, a role he has served in...

Kevin Haynes, fire prevention officer with the Johnson City Fire Department, has received a designation of fire investigation technician from the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI). Haynes’ designation was the result of passing an exam following 44 hours of training as well as...

Jim Jones has been named the sixth police chief for the city of Hendersonville. Jones has been serving as the city’s assistant police chief and will take over the department following the retirement of Chief Mickey Miller at the end of March. Jones is a 38-year veteran of the Hendersonville Police...

Brian Rose has been selected as the new city planner for Gallatin. Rose holds a bachelor’s degree in urban planning and master’s degree in urban planning and environmental engineering both from Arizona State University in Tempe. He also spent several years studying architecture. He was employed in...

Jeff Lewis, chief of the Dickson Police Department, has retired after more than 35 years of service to the city. During his tenure with the city, Lewis served not only in the police department but also as interim director of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department and interim director of the city...

Local elected officials and state economic leaders recently participated in the inaugural “West Tennessee Ford Fly-In” to Detroit/Dearborn. 

Southwest Tennessee Development District Executive Director Joe Barker planned the fly-in as an opportunity to thank Ford Motor Company’s leadership for the...

Jeff Story, a driver/engineer with the Johnson City Fire Department, recently achieved managing officer (MO) status through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) U.S. Fire Administration/National Fire Academy. Story completed the two-year program and a capstone project focusing on...

Valerie Hale has been selected as the new city manager for Crossville once current city manager Greg Wood retires on March 31. Hale presently serves as Crossville’s city clerk, a position she has held since 2017. Hale began her career with the city of Crossville as an assistant city clerk in 2010...

Matthew Bushell has been hired as the new GIS technician for the city of Elizabethton’s GIS and Engineering Department. Bushell has more than eight years' experience working in the collection and curation of spatial data at the Gray Fossil Site and continues to write scientific papers on the project...

Herman Davis, the first African-American mayor of Coopertown, died at the age of 88. Davis served as alderman for District 1 and vice mayor of Coopertown from 1998 to 2000 and then as mayor from 2000 to 2004, only the second mayor in the town’s history. A native of Alabama, Davis joined the U.S...

Gerald C. Smith Sr. has been selected as the new director of general services for the city of Nashville. Smith has more than 30 years’ experience in public administration. serving as city manager, department director, assistant city manager, and municipal management consultant for communities...